Downfall

Chapter 10

A series of days had gone by and still she hadn't gotten to the bottom of that bloody writing.

This is no writing at all.

More like signs...ideograms.

"You look lost." Rirgen's remark definitely on point.

"I am..." She sighed. "And unless you know how to read God's runes...I will continue to be."

"Of course I do."

She blinked. "I'm sorry...WHAT?" He voice a few tones higher than usual. "And you tell me NOW?" She blinked again.

"I din't know you where in need of assistance." He stated, kind of obviously.

"You saw me going insane these pas few days." She replied. "Reading this fucking book while eating. I never study while eating." Her tone frustrated.

"I supposed the King put you up with something new, but how could I know it was the language of the Gods?" Rirgen shrugged, evidently unbothered by the situation.

True, he could not.

"Ok. You have a point." Another sigh. "Then help me now. Please." She asked, trying to use those emerald eyes as a bait.

He could not resist for a single minute.

"Alright. But I don't have much time." He put down the spoon he had tasted her porridge with. It was a new habit of his, accepting her offering every morning, enjoying what she cooked even if just for a single bite.

"That's ok. Even just a few minutes will be better than nothing."

"What don't you get?" He asked, getting a little closer, so much she could scent the irony aftertaste of blood in the air, of what he used to work with, but there was something else, a sweet aroma, like flowers blooming in the sun.

His own smell was the epitome of him, strong but sweet. Ase smiled under her teeth.

"Here." She showed the page she had been stuck for three days. "I haven't even finished completing one single sheet. It's gonna take ages for me to translate all of it." A sigh filled the room.

He took one of the documents she kept on the table, examining it. "The King gave you a good deciphering key to start, but it's very basic."

"I know. And I can't even understand that." She slumped in the chair.

"Let's start from what you already understood, and then we'll see."

"Sure." She said, in a very demoralized tone.

After thirty minutes, they were still at it, his knowledge way deeper than she had thought.

"This is light. From how it's written, it could be similar to a sea of light. But then it adds this symbol, which means walls, so I'm not sure. A wall of water?" She blinked, confused, passing a hand through her hair.

"Sea also represents something big, not necessarily the sea itself." He explained.

Oh. Ok.

"A palace of light."

"Yes. That's it."

"So they're talking about the palace of light where they lived?"

"I suppose so." He looked at the paper where she had transcribed what was written on the book, for everyone to see. "Especially because it continues saying there was a forever stillness, but a singular continuity."

"This doesn't make sense." She threw her body on the table, resting her head on an arm.

"The Gods spoke very highly, hard to comprehend sometimes."