Rune and Ruin

25 - Hedonistic

391 B.C.E. - The Banditiccia, The Ruins of the Acerian City of Caere, Island of the Gods, Spring, Month of Lunius

Thania

Lead them to Ruin

The goddess's voice wakens me from my uneasy slumber. Truthfully, I have barely slept since Falx disappeared into the goddess's tunnel two days ago. Alone, with not a single supply, the Fyrrin Warlord wandered off like an ill-behaved toddler.

Now, the quickly fading words that woke me echo disturbingly. Lead them to Ruin. Falx's army is ready to march. The Flight has scouted the road. Quintus took over command of the belators without a hitch.

Ruin? I don't want to lead them to ruin. Only the words of the goddess have kept me from tearing my hair out in fear and anxiety because of my missing husband.

"Tems?" my voice trembles as I sit up, pushing the covers off myself.

"Sweetheart." Tems is next to me a moment later, worriedly fixing a fresh, damp cloth over my nose and mouth. "You should try to sleep a bit longer."

A coughing fit takes hold of me. Tems wipes my face and gives me another cloth when the fit is over. "She told me to lead them to ruin," I rasp.

"She meant Rune," he soothes me, even though he can't hear her like I can.

"Ruin," I insist. "She said, 'ruin.'"

"Then so be it. We can't stay. All of you are breathing poorly," Tems says grimly.

Lead them to Ruin

"I don't know what that means!" I cry out, causing another coughing fit.

Follow your bond

I slump against Tems's chest, closing my eyes. Leda crawls over to me and curls into my arms. I cuddle her close, pressing my palm against her back so I can feel her chest rise and fall steadily. Despite her small lungs, all the children are faring better than I am. So is Marcus, despite being just as Acera as me.

"It's just us, isn't it?" I whisper to Tems. "Only the priestesses are struggling."

His hand pauses as he strokes my hair. "Yes," he admits. "You and the marked females. We're leaving this morning. Rune or ruin. We're leaving."

"Follow the bond," I murmur. "You and Quintus are here. Where is Falx?"

Tems is quiet momentarily, gently rubbing my back, his lips pressed to the top of my head. "North of Rune," he finally mutters.

"I'm from there. A small village. Intritus."

Tems stiffens under me; his hand pauses midstroke. "Interitus?" He asks, astonished.

"Close," I cough out. "Intritus."

"Interitus is our word for ruin, love." Tems stands up with me tucked under one arm, and Leda bundled in the other. I'll never get used to how easily these men move us around. "Does your village name have any meaning in your language? I've never heard of an Acerian word that sounds like interitus."

"I think it means 'entrance to the Underworld' in Acerian," I explain.

"Sweetheart," Tems says exasperatedly. "Your goddess wants us to lead our people to your village."

I think, feeling ten times the fool for not realising earlier, but then how would I? It's been years since I've thought of my village. I never wanted to think of it. Just a few leagues away, but it feels like eons stretch between the happy, innocent girl from Intritus and the Thania bonded to three Tasuri men. "You're right," I allow. "Falx is in the north, in my... my childhood village. Tems... it was burned down. We all died or were taken," I speak softly, not wanting the children to overhear. As it is, Titus and Cero are watching us intently.