The Queen of Elyria muttered something to herself, only the dulcet tone audible from this distance, before combing her dirty hands through equally soiled hair and sitting heavily with a sigh. She rested one cheek on her propped fist, idly tracing patterns in the dirt with the other.
“Whenever you’re ready, Kaos, I’m here,” she called loudly, her voice rebounding off the dead trees. I chuckled dryly to myself as I watched and waited for another few seconds.
What an interesting woman.
“No need to call so loudly, I’m already here,” I said, stepping from between the husks of trees, letting a few of the branches scrape against my leather armor before snapping back behind me. Ellowyn jumped at my voice, spinning where she sat to face me. Where I expected fear and apprehension, I only saw fierce determination and . . . was that a hint of annoyance?
“You are not the girl who released me from my prison months ago,” I mused, cocking my head in observation.
Ellowyn rolled her eyes petulantly before pushing to a stand with a slight groan and dusting off her pants. When her hands came away with dried blood and other matter, she simply sighed and let her arms fall to her sides.
“Yes, I am,” she muttered.
“Physically, yes. You are still Ellowyn, but I stand by my statement; you are not the girl who released me from my prison.”
Ellowyn turned tired steel-blue eyes to me and quirked a singular brow.
“Is that what you called me here for? To tell me that I’m not the same girlyou briefly met nearly a year ago?” Her tone was dry and a bit biting, and I found that I liked it. Maybe a little too much.
“Are you pregnant with my descendant’s child?”
Ellowyn’s eyes flew wide as her head reared back in shock, and a fiery blush coated her cheeks and slowly worked its way down her neck, where it disappeared beneath the collar of her tunic.
“What?!” Her screech was loud, and I winced slightly before shrugging my shoulders.
“It’s a fair question. You married my last descendant, fucked him, most likely. It’s a reasonable question to know if you’re carrying his spawn in your womb.”
Silence hung in the air between us before Ellowyn threw her head back, face tilted toward the sky, and laughed long and loud. The sound was a mixture of disbelief and pure humor, and I found the corners of my mouth involuntarily twitching.
“You think”—she gasped for breath—“that just because I married him and fucked him once that I may be carrying . . . what was it you said? ‘His spawn in my womb.’” She air quoted the last part before descending into further peals of laughter, delicately clutching her stomach.
I stood stoically, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised as she slowly regathered herself, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes as they ran down her cheeks, clearing a path through the grime.
“You must have been blessed with all of the humor; your sister got none, hmm?” Ellowyn mused quietly, gathering herself once more into a mask of haughty impertinence, though there was now an undercurrent of curiosity.
I didn’t deign her question with an answer.
“No, Kaos,” she finally sighed with a shake of her head. “I’m not pregnant with my late husband’s child.”
“You’re sure?” I pressed.
She rolled her eyes.
“Can’t you read my truth and lies? Yes, I’m certain that I’ve bled multiple times since I’ve had sex with Alois. If—gods forbid—I am pregnant, it’s certainly not with his child.”
“The other godling.”
Ellowyn blinked owlishly at me for a beat before nodding her head once.
“Yes. Did you keep me trapped here simply to interrogate me about my sex life? Because if that’s the case . . . I think I’m going to go take a nice jump off the top of that mountain back there.” She jammed her finger over her shoulder in the direction of what was once my prison.
I chuckled at that, and Ellowyn’s eyebrows nearly hit her hairline as her hand came back to rest by her side.
“Youdidinherit all of the humor,” she remarked quietly as I shook my head, braids bouncing against my back.
“No, Ellowyn,” I rumbled, “I did not come here to interrogate you on your sex life. Though I do find it rather interesting. Have you ever tried it with a real god before?”
Her cheeks heated for a second time as her eyes went wide.
