No More Choices (Void and Light Book One)

Chapter Thirty

~Akiriya~

I kicked at the punching bag repeatedly and tried to figure out how stupid I really was. A fight? Really? What had I been thinking? And Yama, he just showed up there and...he was okay. He'd been pale and barely breathing for days and now he was up and sassing everyone like nothing had ever happened. Guilt was crushing my chest and confusion scrambling my brain. He'd almost died protecting me and without even thinking I had been ready to give his job up to someone else.

My kicks became more rhythmic and precise as I mulled over my situation. I had to choose, but was I going to fight them? Was I really going to decide by combat? What felt like an hour passed in seconds and I moved outside to the soft dirt track and did seven laps around the perimeter before I realized that I had amassed an entourage of soldiers both male and female. Some kept stony faces as they ran behind me and others sent nods in my direction when we made eye contact. When I began to speed up, the group behind me followed suit. As I circled the track, more people, who seemingly popped out of thin air, joined until the entire track was full of people running in straight lines. By my fourteenth lap around the track every single person on the track was running in step with me. Something about it filled me with peace. It was like having a physical support system. It was like having an army.

But why would they choose to be led by someone that they didn't yet know?

I jogged off of the track while everyone else continued their laps. I noticed that most of my group was off in the distance speaking to one another and as I watched them, I realized that I didn't know what to say to them. My mates. I had still yet to wrap my head around such an idea. Barely a week ago I had been home in my own bed and now I was royalty. Destined to fight a war prophesied by someone old enough to be stardust.

I took notice of the fact that Yama wasn't there with them and some nagging entity inside me said I needed to talk to him, I knew the air between us needed to be cleared somehow. With him jumping to my rescue and being poisoned and then in a sort of comatose state, there was so much we needed to talk about, not to mention my own confusion. Why would a man who had been so antagonistic towards me, been so against my existence, take a hit meant for me? He'd laid down his life, his life, for me and I had been ready to write him off as a waste of space.

I walked through the halls past the castle doors and avoided looking at several of the paintings of strong mystical looking women. The last one in particular caught my eye though. It screamed, 'look at me'. An ethereal woman stood tall and strong next to a man that looked like her could destroy the universe with a look. I was lost in the snow white gaze of the woman wrapped in armor.

"That's Nyx and her Husband Erebus," Yama stated matter of factly. "They were the first rulers of Selene and the parents of Hemera the first leader of Helios."

I jumped in surprise and looked at him from the corner of my eye. "Where did you come from?"

His eyes lingered on Nyx and then he looked away. He scratched the back of his head and looked towards the ground. "I was looking for you actually." He motioned down the hall and began to walk into the direction. I, for some unknown reason, followed him.

We walked in tense silence for a matter of seconds that stretched themselves to look like eternity. "Thank you." I whispered.

He cocked his head to the side like a cat and raised one of his perfect dark brows, "For what?"

I blinked at him and looked at the wall next to me. We walked along side by side down the hall in silence until I said, "Why'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

I paused and looked at him. He had to be joking right? He couldn't be serious. "You quite literally saved my life."

"Yeah I guess I did. And now you're repaying me by trying to give away my job." He looked at me and chuckled. His eyes were shining with an emotion that I don't think I was ready to define for myself so chalked up the look, and what it made me feel for him, to simple gratefulness. "You know, it's almost comical."