Chapter 15 Chapter Seven Part Three - Orenda
Not a second later, the forest is gone, and I find myself standing in Merlos’ living room. I’ve only been here a handful of times, but I can tell you, the word ‘opulent’ doesn’t do it justice. Floors of white and gold marble, plush suede couches to match and white marble tables with gold and crystal legs perfectly matching the white ornate walls with golden fixtures and just a hint of plant life. If you looked around the two-story mansion you’d find the same colour palette everywhere. It’s the embodiment of Merlos. Gold just like her essram, hints of black like the darkness she wields and white like the light she seeks to grant her reprieve from the blackness she sees in all things. It’s poetic if you think about it.
Merlos takes a seat on the couch, lounging back against the cushions as a glass of sparkling wine appears in her hand.
“You wish to speak, the floor is yours,” she announces with a flourish of her hand as she takes a delicate sip of her drink. “Though you may wish to put that essram of yours back under lock and key first.”
I glance at my hair, still a vibrant technicolour rainbow. I take a slow breath, pull back the magic of my essram and watch my hair return to its natural dark-brown state. I take a seat on one of the other couches and take a steady breath.
“I wanted to ask you about Azadou.”
She rolls her eyes, “I should have seen that coming. He’s an impetuous little child who sees himself as my competition, which only demonstrates how much he has to learn.”
“You have the power to see darkness in all things. What I want to know is…do you only see darkness inside him?” I nervously ask.
She pauses with the glass to her lips, lowers the glass and stares me dead in my eyes. “Yes. I see not a shred of light within him.”
“Oh.”
My stomach drops, and I feel a wave of heartbreak crash over me. I was so sure there had to be some light inside him somewhere. Zarseti pairs beings who are perfect fits for each other, the yin to the other’s yang. But how can Azadou and I be perfect for each other when we are so glaringly different? It feels as though Zarseti is setting me up to fail.
I look up hearing a sigh and see Merlos placing her glass down on a nearby table.
“I will never understand this yearning you all have for romance and affection. It all sounds so complex and frustrating,” she says with genuine confusion and mild disgust.
“You know they have a word for people like you now.”
“Bitch is hardly a new word,” she scoffs.
“No, I was going to say aromantic,” I correct her.
She looks at me offended, “There is absolutely nothing romantic about me. I detest the very concept.”
I shake my head, “There are humans, who – much like you – experience little or no romantic attraction to people. They feel love, but the idea of romance or affection is not of interest to them. They call themselves aromantic,” I explain.
“Well, I’m not a fan of the name; seems rather contradictory, but I’m glad to hear there are some humans with a good head on their shoulders,” she chirps.
I half smile in amusement. Of course, the Goddess of the Abyss would be put off by things like romance and affection. She tends to see the world in black and white, which as I recall has caused some conflict with the other Gods, not that she cares.
“That being said, I can’t stand to see people sulking,” she whines in annoyance. “While there is an abundance of darkness inside Azadou, there is something else,” she reluctantly informs me.
“You just said there’s no light inside him,” I remind her in confusion.
“And there’s not. What there is, is nothing.”
My brows knit tightly together in confusion. Okay, now I’m pretty sure she’s just screwing with me.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means inside Azadou is an empty space, it contains neither darkness nor light. Just a gaping hole waiting to be filled. Perhaps that is a space Zarseti hopes can be filled with your light.”
Slowly a smile splits across my face as her words sink in. There is a place for me inside him! Of course, there would be no light inside him, Jartre never gave him any. But through our bond, my light can fill that empty spot inside him and make him complete.
“If you weren’t so averse to affection, I’d hug you,” I cheer.
“I would have you out of here before you could blink,” she warns.
“Thank you,” I say brightly. “You don’t know how much better that makes me feel. Just to know there’s hope, means everything to me.”
“Hope is a dangerous thing, Orenda. While I have come to accept that Zarseti’s pairings are never wrong, it does not make them all-powerful. I’ve seen time and time again someone’s inner darkness snuff out the bond that Zarseti makes between two souls with catastrophic results. You’ve felt the darkness of the eyti, and I’m sure you’ve felt the darkness within Azadou. Do you really think your light is enough to tame it?” she cautiously asks.
“I don’t know. I have no idea if my love or light is strong enough to break through to him, but I know I have to try. I know he deserves to have someone fight for him for once and I’m willing to be that person,” I vow.
“But at what cost?”
“If people didn’t fight for love Merlos, then all you would ever see in this world is darkness. Love doesn’t always win, but if you stop trying then what’s left? You are the Goddess of the Abyss; you command darkness and shadow and yet you loathe it to your core. Would you have me give up and let darkness and hatred win?” I question, staring directly into her eyes.
She sits back crossing her legs. “I’m just warning you that this may not go how you hope. Azadou is a raging tempest and you’re willingly walking towards it.”
“I’m a raitruum. I was made to ride storms. Azadou is no different,” I say confidently.
A sly smirk creeps up Merlos’ face. “In that case, I hope you give as good as you get.”
With a broad smile, I rise to my feet. “I intend to. I just need to figure out where he lives. Gabriella teleported me there, but I never saw the outside, so I don’t know how to locate it from the air.”
“I don’t know why I’m in such a giving mood today, but here.”
With a disinterested wave of her hand, a map appears on the table in front of me. I lift up the map and notice a glowing golden dot marking a specific location in Romania.
“Romania?” I squeak in surprise, looking over at Merlos. “He’s in Romania?”
“I’ll hand it to him, he may not have the years under his belt that I do, but he’s certainly got a poetic flare to him that I can appreciate. Leave it to the Demon God to choose to reside on land the locals think is haunted. If it wasn’t before, it certainly is now,” she chortles, sipping her drink.
I smile at the map, hope blooming in my chest and rejuvenating my essram. For the last couple of days, I felt I was getting stuck in my head, convincing myself that everything was hopeless, but now I feel galvanised and ready to fight for my man whether he likes it or not. Who would have thought the Goddess of Darkness would be the one to offer me newfound hope?