Decisions of the Heart

by Florence, Jessica

  “What are you thinking?” I voiced.

  “You and I need to get dressed and get married before something interrupts us again. Then we are going to get the blade.” He sat up and leaned down to kiss my shoulder. Slowly he crawled out of bed and stood. Instantly he was dressed in his attire for the wedding. The sheet fell around me as I stood and walked to him. He smirked as he watched my naked body gravitate to his. My fingers reached out and stroked his tattoo. I leaned in and kissed it. Pouring my love into my kiss.

  Chapter 7

  Just as I pulled away from his chest, my body was no longer naked. He had magically dressed me in a beautiful white gown that came to a V right between my breasts. The necklace he gave me was back in its rightful place around my neck. There was a black ribbon around my waist with a gold trim on the edges. It was beautiful. I was glad he had picked something different. Although I loved the dress my mother had given me, it reminded me of sadness.

  His hand reached out and grabbed mine, bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

  “Beautiful, my Thalia. Now let’s go get married.” We disappeared after his words, and sought out Alexander.

  We found him in his library, with a giant stack of books next to him. He looked up at our entrance.

  “Again?” he asked with amusement. I smiled and nodded. A library wasn’t my first choice, but I was afraid to wait any longer.

  “Please,” I told him. I pulled Anubis by the hand so we would stand directly in front of his desk. Alexander stood and started the ceremony. Our hands clasped together as we waited for our vows. It was finally happening, and after this we would set out to stop Orion. It was time to agree to love each other till the end of days.

  “I do,” I said as I stared at my love’s beautiful grey eyes. He was ready for this moment. Alexander had asked him the same question. His mouth opened to utter the words we were finally able to say.

  “I,” then his eyes widened and he was no longer standing in front of me, but was being held back by two men on the other side of the library.

  “Anubis!” I screamed as I moved quickly to get him out of these strangers’ grasps.

  “We will not allow this union. You are not to see each other again” the man who was holding Anubis’s right side said, stopping me in my tracks.

  “Osiris, no! Let me go!” Anubis growled as he fought against their hold. Why couldn’t he escape them?

  “Brother, we are not willing to go to war with the Greeks for a love that should never have happened. You’ll get over her” the man on Anubis’s left said coldly.

  I finally took a moment to register their appearance. They were Egyptian, in the same attire as Anubis. The man on his right was older, and his skin had a green tint to it as if he were a corpse. My skin shivered as I stared at him. He was powerful. Anubis had called him Osiris. He was the God Osiris. But who was the other man. Was he a God too?

  “Leave me be Horus!” Anubis growled. His muscles were flexed, still straining to get away. Horus. Another Egyptian God.

  “Please, let me have him,” I begged.

  “We are sorry, Thalia. But this cannot be,” Osiris said. Anubis’s look of horror was the last I saw before they all disappeared. It was almost too much to bear. My insides twisted as I fell to the ground in disbelief. They couldn’t really keep him away from me. Could they? I didn’t give it another thought. A love like ours couldn’t be denied. Not after everything we had been through. We both knew this would be rough, but we were meant to be. Forever.

  “You’re right, Thalia. You know what you need to do. Now go!” My mother’s voice spoke inside my head. She was right. I had a quest to fulfill. Only once that blade was destroyed could we truly be together. I looked at Alexander, his face a mask of shock.

  “Alexander, I must leave. Thank you for everything.” I ran to him and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

  “Father,” I called him and left. I had to get my armor and my horse ready. Orion had better watch out. I was a warrior and I was coming for him.

  I raced on, driving my horse Apollion to the max. It was getting close to being dark and I knew we would have to stop soon. I felt the desire Aphrodite had spoken of; I felt exactly where I had to go. So south I traveled with eyes wide open. The lands beyond Egypt were filled with large creatures and people who don’t take too well to outsiders near their homes. This journey would take around nine days, nine long days. I missed Anubis; I wanted to see his smirk and dark eyes looking at me. Apollion started to slow down, tired from the travel. We gained some distance, but we would have to take a break and start back up in the morning. We settled under a tree a little distance away from the Nile. After I fed and gave Apollion some water, I dug into my bag and pulled out some pieces of bread to chew on. I needed to ration what I had packed. In my bag were pieces of dried beef, sweet bread, dates, and some celery stalks. I had what I needed to catch my own food on the way if I needed.

  Apollion had lain down and fallen asleep very quickly. A giggle escaped my throat when a soft snore came from him. I sat down next to him and cuddled into his warmth. My mind started to race through everything that happened. Anubis was taken by Osiris and Horus, more Egyptian Gods. I wanted to fight them for him, but they disappeared before I had the chance. I had to find that blade before Orion. It was the only way I could get him back. I would threaten them to let him go, then destroy it if I had to. Maybe they would grant us the gift of marriage for destroying something that could kill them. That thought brought me to another. How would I destroy the blade? Aphrodite’s words ran through my head: Of sacrifice and divinity to the final breath, this blade will raze with a promise of peaceful death.

  Of sacrifice and divinity to the final breath. A sacrifice would have to be made, obviously, and divinity to the final breath. Well divinity was Godliness, to a final breath. A sacrifice of Godliness would have to happen. I didn’t know where to go with that. Maybe I could sacrifice an animal of the Gods. They probably wouldn’t approve, but it would have to be done. The second part confused me more. This blade will raze with a promise of peaceful death. Blade means the blade, and raze stands from destroyed. The promise of peaceful death threw me off. I didn’t know what to make of these words. I wish it were obvious. The Gods like to play with riddles. Everything could have a different meaning than what I thought. The steady breaths of the horse behind me slowly soothed my mind, lulling me to sleep.

  The grass danced with the wind around me. My mind eased being in my homeland, even if it was in a dream. Everything was peaceful here. I just lay there staring up at the night sky. I used to crawl out of bed when I was little and lay in the fields and stare at the stars. They were so beautiful. There were stories of the great heroes that had their own rank in the heavens. I wanted to be like those heroes, remembered with my own place among them. In my dreams there was no war between Greek and Egyptian Gods. But I did wish for Anubis. I wanted his cinnamon scent to surround me.

  “Thalia,” his voice startled me. I sat up immediately to see him. Fear ran though me at the thought that he wasn’t here. But my eyes landed on him; he looked tired. Very tired. Tears sprang from my eyes as I went to get up to run to him, but he appeared with his arms around me on the ground.

  “I’m so sorry, Thalia.” His voice was hoarse. I pulled back to look at those beautiful eyes. There was pain in the depth of them. He was hurting. I’d never seen such a strong man brought to his knees like he was before me. Wrapping him close, I held him against me as we listened to our breaths and the blowing wind.

  “I love you Anubis,” I told him softly, while bringing my fingers to his hair, brushing my nails across his head. He pulled back and gave me a look that made me gasp. That look of pure love was so raw and beautiful.

  “And I love you, my Thalia.” He leaned in and pressed a sweet kiss to my lips. I tried to pour all of my love for him in that kiss. He growled and pulled back. He must have felt it all.

  “You are a true temptress, my love.” His lips turned up into a
mischievous smile. I couldn’t help the light laughter that came up from my throat. I wasn’t even trying to seduce him. It would seem my love did that all on its own.

  “I miss your laugh,” he confessed, sadly ending my laughter. I wanted to ask him when we could be together again, but I wasn’t sure how to.

  “I will never stop trying to be with you, love. Never. I told you no one could keep me away. I will find a way.” The serious tone of his voice made me believe him. While he figured out his way, I would find a way of my own.

  “I know, yours forever, love, remember?” I leaned in and brushed my lips against his softly. We lay there just breathing in each other, kissing, and talking sweet nothing until I felt my body starting to tingle.

  “I think I’m waking up. I’ll see you soon my love,” I whispered onto his lips.

  “Soon,” he whispered back before my dream disappeared.

  Apollion was trying to get up behind me as I came to. I leaned forward as he got up onto his legs and walked towards the water for something to drink. There was barely any sunlight over the land. It was quiet, almost too quiet. I dug into my bag and ate some dried meat before packing everything up. Apollion came back and I settled everything onto his saddle. My muscles ached from the long ride yesterday, so I stretched them out before hopping up on the horse’s back.

  With some haste we continued on our journey. Time passed quickly, and with only short breaks every few hours we were finally making some good distance. The land hadn’t changed much, but the air wasn’t as dry. We were getting into lands with more dangerous animals, lions, elephants, and fierce monkeys. Hopefully we wouldn’t run into anything dangerous, including people.

  As the sun set, I kept us going for a little bit longer. The moon was high and we needed to stop for good. After drinking and eating, I rolled out a blanket and lay down to sleep. Apollion lay down close, but this time I didn’t use him as a pillow. I heard a loud roar in the distance; a lion was letting everyone around know he was there. I quickly rolled over and threw sand on the fire I had made earlier, so we weren’t easily seen. Lying there I closed my eyes and willed myself to sleep.

  I woke up before the sun had risen disappointed. Where was Anubis last night? I had no dreams at all. The sound of grass rustling nearby alerted my inner defenses. I grabbed my kopis and pointed its sharp tip towards the noise. I was ready for whatever may be hidden. Slowly my feet moved towards the grass. Nothing. There wasn’t anything there.

  Just as I started to lower my sword a big body crashed into me, sending me to the ground. Apollion whinnied and stood up from being startled. My face was in the dirt and the person was behind me, pinning me down with the weight of their body. It had to of been a man, a man who did not know who he had picked a fight with. Launching my elbow backwards I caught him in the side. He grunted and his pressure on me lightened. It was all I needed to buck my hips up and kick my leg back towards my head. The man went flying over my head into the sand. Quickly I rose onto my hunches. Ready for attack.

  “Nindigoa, no.” A man with dark skin came into view to my right. I angled my body slightly, ready to fight them both if needed.

  “Flower, you no fear me.” The new man had his hands up in surrender. I wasn’t falling for it.

  “Nindigoa, go.” I looked at the man who had attacked me. His dark brown eyes were trained on me. His muscled body was on display. And I mean all of it. They did not do much to cover themselves. These men were slightly primitive. He held a stick with a sharp point on the end at his side. But what shook me the most was the desire written all over his features. He wanted me.

  “Nindigoa.” The other man shouted and Nindigoa finally let his eyes stray from me to the other man. He said something back in a language I didn’t understand and stormed off. I immediately brought my gaze back to the other.

  “No fear flower. Nindigoa is one of the hunters in our tribe, which you are not. If you catch something, it is yours. He sought to make you his bride. My name is Ganu. You no fear me. Safe.” His words settled in my head. I stood while grabbing my kopis, keeping it close.

  “Thank you,” I told him, but I would have handled everything just fine. He bowed his head.

  “Pleasure. Why are you here in my homeland? Alone.” He was trying to be polite, but I had lost travel time with all of this. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and went to Apollion to calm him down.

  “I’m on a journey of the heart. I seek something,” I told him.

  “The God’s Blade.” My body froze at his words. How did he know?

  “I know many things flower. A man just two moons ago passed through here in search of the same blade. I gave him nothing. But I sense you are after it as well, but for light and not dark like him.” I turned to him with eyes wide. Orion! He must be talking about Orion!

  “He passed through here? What did he say?” The concern oozed out of my voice.

  “Simple, if we knew anything of it. But I gave him nothing. You must know, the trials to come will be difficult. Many fall in the cave.” He turned and started to leave me.

  “That’s all?” I asked loudly. He stopped and turned back around.

  “To face fear with fear in your heart increases the fear. Accept what is and you will not fail.” I tried to understand what he meant but he had turned and left. All he did was confuse me with his words. Shaking myself out of it, I gathered the rest of my belongings and got onto Apollion. I pressed him a little hard trying to put as much distance between me and those men as I could. We passed many creatures on the way, birds, and deer like animals. It was an amazing land to see. We took a few more breaks than yesterday. As I ate some dates I couldn’t help but wonder what lay ahead for me. I knew there were many days to go, but once I made it to the waterfall and the cave, what would I face? Trials everyone says, but what kind? I guess that would be the point of the trials to make you think in some way, challenge you.

  Apollion huffed next to me. I reached up at his lowered head and rubbed him. He always loved the attention I gave him. Once it seemed like we had both cooled down, I walked along side my steed for a while. My legs needed the exercise for a little time. Once the sun started to set, I hopped back on the horse as we gave this day our all.

  Chapter 8

  Days passed with no challenges. We rode, we ate and drank, took a break, and rode some more. Anubis hadn’t been in my dreams since that first night either. I missed him with all my soul. I hoped he was ok. The desire Aphrodite placed in me to find my destination was growing stronger. I wasn’t too far away. Maybe two more days ride. I was feeling antsy when I stumbled upon a little village. I wasn’t sure if I would be welcome there, so I studied it on the outskirts of the town. I came across a well and gathered some water for Apollion. There was a small pond near and I went to rest my feet in it.

  The water was only deep enough to cover my feet. My reflection caught my eyes almost instantly. I looked tired, and dirty. I desperately wanted a bath. Maybe in that village they had a way to bathe themselves. If only I could disguise myself in some way. Looking at my reflection I realized that couldn’t happen. Even if I’d wanted to, I couldn’t change myself. But for a moment, I sat there looking at myself wishing I could blend in and walk about the village.

  Suddenly my brown eyes were darker, my hair started turning really thick and black. My skin begun to darken, to a deep brown. I was beautiful! But I wasn’t me. I stared at my reflection in shock. It couldn’t be, people can’t change how they looked. Then it hit me. Normal people can’t change their appearance, but I wasn’t normal. I was a demigod. Aphrodite’s daughter. Her words came back to me. Beauty changes. I can change my appearance. I still looked like me, but didn’t. This power was amazing!

  I looked down at myself and realized I was still wearing my Greek leather armor, and sandals. That wouldn’t blend in very well. Testing my new powers out I closed my eyes and imagined myself in one of the outfits I had seen one of the woman wearing. I opened my eyes and nothing had cha
nged. I tried not to feel disappointed, this power was new to me. I would get it eventually, I just needed to practice. I took off my armor and hid it in the sand by the pond along with my weapons. Wrapping my cotton material around myself like the women were wearing, I took another look at myself in the pond. I looked like I belonged. I gave a quick rub to Apollion and left him where he was. I couldn’t bring him into the village, and he wouldn’t wonder. This was his break. He was already lying in the shade of a lone tree.

  I grabbed a pitcher that was left by the well and filled it up with water. Getting a better grip on the pitcher, I set off for the entrance to the village. Everyone was talking to each other. Kids were playing, women were do many things like cooking, making pretty jewelry. No one paid me any mind. To them I was just another woman in the village. I looked around as I walked, trying to find where they cleaned themselves. The huts had little privacy but I had heard of places like this. They did not know privacy so to them it was no big deal.

  I heard the sound of giggling and felt drawn to it. As I came around one of the huts there was a deeper pond with two trees around it and what looked like some crops growing nearby. There were three woman in the pond, naked. They were splashing each other playfully. Now was not the time to be shy. I set the pitcher down and shed my clothes. In a way, I was a totally different woman. I walked and submerged myself. It was heaven to finally be clean. When I finally came up for air I noticed the women were looking at me curiously, then went back to their splashing and laughter. I just soaked up the feeling in the water. It was calming, when everything else in my world wasn’t. I stayed in the water for a few more minutes. I didn’t want to attract attention to myself and those women would probably end up trying to talk to me. I quickly got out and put my cotton clothes back on.

  After getting myself adjusted in the garments, I quickly grabbed the pitcher and started back towards the well. Everyone in the village was just enjoying their daily life, and no one even looked my way. I made it to the center of the little village when a sharp pain hit me right below my stomach. Slowly, I walked as best as I could towards the closest wall of a hut to lean on. My body started warming, and sweat broke out on my newly clean face. A deep ache started to form in my lower pelvis. I knew that feeling, and it shocked me realizing what it was. I was needing release. I’ve only felt that need when Anubis was deep inside me, pushing me into oblivion. It was hard to focus on my surroundings.