Chapter 5

Elex

The conveyance looked like a more modern version of one of the rusted hulks I'd seen in Heraklion. I thought that fitting all of us in might be a bit of a tight fit, but within a few minutes I found myself seated in the back next to Hel. Allard had said something about a "shotgun" before settling in the front passenger seat. Bea stood outside the vehicle for a few minutes giving some final orders to one of her subordinates.

"Are all Illyrian's so great at communicating?" I whispered to Helios. "I thought it was just you, but now I'm beginning to wonder."

Hel snickered.

"Beatrice was one of my commanding officers before… well, before," Hel said, the smile suddenly vanishing from his face. Before Ri died. Of course. "And she's Ri's and Betts' aunt," he finished.

That made her behavior make more sense.

"I don't want to offend you, but what was that she called you?" I asked, anger still burning in my chest at the hurt it had caused Hel. "Spasmenos?"

"It means ‘broken', as in, someone who broke their Bond with their Mageia," he said, his voice quiet.

I could feel the deep ache within him as he explained the meaning behind the insult. For a moment I saw red and would have fought my way out of the vehicle to tear the woman's hair out, but Hel grabbed my hand.

"It's okay," he said stoically. "I've heard worse."

"Doesn't mean you should have to put up with that shit," I growled.

"Kat, please…" he said, reverting to my Legion name. I could literally feel how upset he was. He didn't want me to take it any further.

"Okay, but if she makes another comment like that, I will freeze her mouth shut," I said.

That brought a little more life back into his silver eyes.

"I think I'd like to see that," he said before placing a gentle kiss on my lips.

The city was a true wonder. It was crowded, yes, but remarkably clean. In Alexandria the streets were mostly dirt except for the main cobblestone thoroughfares. When it rained the dirt streets became an impassable sludge that reduced all transport to a crawl. Unless you were an elite who had an Air Mageia slave who could fly you where you wanted to go, of course. Me, bitter? Nah…

The streets of Nymphaeum were straight, cleanly marked, and made of some kind of concrete that shown white in the morning sun.

As crowded as the place was, filled with people and vehicles traveling to and fro, it was also dotted with parks and green spaces. We passed children playing under the watchful eye of parents or older siblings.

"Don't they have training or school?" I asked.

"It's a rest day," Hel said as I looked at him. "Two days of every seven are days when most people are scheduled off work. Unless you work in food service or retail, then you might have other days off during the week."

Rest days. We'd never had rest days growing up. Every day was a day we were expected to be working for our masters or learning to use our powers to kill for them. The idea was completely foreign to me.

"There's a restaurant I want to take you to," Hel said as we traveled. "I met the owner after I completed my Soma training. He and his wife come from Nova Roma, and they make the most amazing pasta dishes I've ever had in my life."

I couldn't hold back a small smile. It was still so strange to me that I suddenly had someone who wanted to share their entire life with me. Even more weirdly, I found that I wanted to share things with him, too.

"I'd like that."

Hel smiled like I had given him the best gift in the world. I slid my hand over his and squeezed it gently. I knew he was still stinging at Beatrice's insults but was doing his best to ignore it for my sake.