"It's been 2 months, aren't you at least worried?"
As a god, it was a shame he had never been good with arrows or maybe that was because it had been over a century since he was a proper god. His shots were above average but no way close to perfect.
"Damion, don't act like this doesn't concerns you." Eva was loosing her patience with the annoying god.
Two months ago, he had arrived home without a sign of Eretria and hadn't said a word about her or her whereabouts. She had even checked the royal palace, but the royal family were still in a frantic search for the girl. Damion said nothing about where she disappeared to and it had disturbed Eva because even she couldn't find the girl and with her powers, that was next to impossible. She was one of the few gifted with the ability of detection. The only ones who surpassed that ability were those bounded to another. Something like a mating bond but that wasn't her concern right now.
Damion was awfully quiet as he narrowly missed the apple on Rio's head.
Rio gave him a smug look as he took the apple off his head and took a huge bite. He grinned when Eva gave him a disgusted look.
"Don't you at least care? I mean it's -"
Thud.
Rio's eyes widened as he stared at the arrow pinned to the apple that was halfway to his mouth.
"You seem to care a lot." Damion said, tossing the bow away.
Eva swallowed. "I'm worried for you. You can't keep acting like it's nothing. We at least have to know where she is."
Damion smirked. "It doesn't sound like it's for me. You need her around for yourself." He said, walking past her.
"Why would I want that? I'm not the one with the curse.... Believe it or not, I'm just looking out for you."
"If you're so worried about her, then go look for her."
"For once, just admit you need help." Eva said, crossing her arms.
"Do I?"
"You're dying! What part of that doesn't scream help?!"
Damion turned to face her. "You want to help me? Then stop bringing it up every time you get the chance to." His voice was calm, in a frightening way.
"Fine. Do things your way, as always. Don't listen to anything anyone's got to say and most importantly, don't care about others. But remember, that's what got you to where you are." With that, she brushed past him.
"Eva's been on the edge lately." Rio said, placing a hand on Damion's shoulder, earning a glare. He only grinned. "You never said anything about the princess so I'm not going to ask, you won't tell me anyway, but maybe Eva's right."
"I don't care."
"No surprise there. You never care."
"Are you pointing fingers now?"
Rio removed his hand from Damion's shoulder.
"I'm just saying. You're so invested in yourself you fail to see how your situation affects everyone around you, what it will mean to loose you. You just don't care and sometimes Damion, it's infuriating."
Rio rarely got angry, or annoyed, since he was pretty annoying himself. It was a rare side of him. A frown definitely didn't look good on him, not as much as Damion who had worn one for a rather long time. Rio's face was made for a smile.
"You should be happy. If I'm gone, You become the strongest."
"I am the strongest." Rio said casually.
"No one sees it with me around."
"You're insane." Rio said light heartedly, with a smile. "But you can't die." He said as Damion began walking away with a shake of his head.
"I'll try not to." Damion said, not turning around.
*-*-*-*
"I can't believe I'm getting married."
Gwen ran her fingers on the fabric of her wedding dress. "And Eretria hasn't been found yet. Anything could have happened to her, yet father seems less bothered about it."
"He has duties to the kingdom. The other kingdoms have been threatening and he has to make his army stronger." Ander said, casually flipping through a book. "And Adam's a good man." He didn't sound like he meant the last part.
"Of course, it's always about politics. His kingdom comes first, even with a missing daughter he has no idea of her whereabouts." Her voice was bitter as she spoke. "I always knew I'd marry for the kingdom, but not like this."
"If the other kingdoms overthrows us and she's actually found, she won't have a home to return to. I doubt she wants to return." He murmured the last part.
"Are you mad at her?" Gwen asked, taking the book from his hand. She smiled. It was upside down which meant he wasn't even reading it. Over the last months, Ander had acted like the least concern but they all knew he worried for his twin. Probably mad at her too.
"Who isn't?" He asked back, crossing his legs.
"Yours seems different. Maybe you're mad because she left without a word to you?"
"How could she be so selfish? I'm her twin for god's sake, couldn't she have been a little more considerate? I get things were probably hard for her but she never opened up to anybody and whenever I tried to talk to her, she's always pushing me away. She does that to everybody! Probably except Roman, but I doubt she tells him anything."
Gwen almost smiled at the outburst. All her brothers were like that, always keeping their emotions in check. It was frightening as well as amusing seeing them angry. But she wasn't scared of that side of them. She was amused. Her father had definitely raised fine men, to his taste.
"Then one day, when she decided she's had enough, she just ups and leaves, leaving everyone worried, the worst scenerios playing in our minds. That's being selfish."
Gwen sat next to him. "It's not exactly selfish. She just wants a breath of fresh air. It most have been suffocating. Everyone kept comparing her to the rest of her siblings and all she has are her mistakes. You're angry at yourself for not doing better as her twin, but you're not to blame."
"I'm not angry at myself."
Gwen chuckled. "Yeah, deny it all you want." She got up and went back to her dress. "I'm not looking forward to this."
"Don't tell me you dreamt of marrying for love?" Ander gagged at the word. "Sounds like something Eretria would want."
"I doubt that. I doubt she has any plans of getting married."
Ander laughed, "Remember when she thought she was getting married to King Tate?"
Gwen couldn't help laughing. "I was so lost. I wondered where she got the idea."
"With how father addressed her, he was probably planting the idea in her head. That was the most amazing meal we've ever had as a family."
"It wasn't amazing. Eretria got the idea we all betrayed her. I wonder where she is and how she's doing."
Ander fingered the sleeve of his shirt. He probably blamed himself. He just had to bring up that incident when Eretria finally decided to talk to her siblings. It was no secret she avoided coming in contact with any of them. In as much as he would love to know what inspired the change of heart, he couldn't help but blame himself for what happened afterwards.
He too hoped she was well and okay and had gotten the breath of fresh air she wanted.
YOU ARE READING
Inferno's legacy (On Hold)
Historical FictionA flawed princess with untamed fire abilities and a cursed water god with a century-old vendetta must navigate a treacherous web of lies, betrayal, and ancient secrets. What could possibly go wrong? Everything. As they dance between desire and destr...