His facial expression did not change, but his voice was harder than it had been before. “You have no idea what you are talking, about and I advise you not to question my motives in my own home. The rules were put into place for a good reason and it has nothing to do with my disdain for females or humans for that matter.”
I took a step towards him, but he backed away behind his desk.
“Are you afraid of me?” I asked incredulously. I could count on two hands the people who had known about my heka at home and most of them were terrified of what I could do. But this guy was a God, he shouldn’t be afraid of a mortalwith barely controllable magic.
There was silence for a moment and it looked as if he was silently counting down before answering.
“I am not scared of you. I am not scared of many things in this world. But to answer your question: I am a God and therefore no one is allowed to touch me. I usually try to keep away from people around me, to respect the holy rules.” I pondered his answer for a moment. It was true, I had not seen him greeting Caelan by handshake, even though they appeared to be friends. He had kept his distance from us throughout the conversations, and he locked himself up in his study most of the day.
“Is anyone ever allowed to touch you?” I asked.
“That is none of your business, wordsmith,” he responded curtly.
And with that, this discussion was over. During the next few hours, Auretheos launched into a history lesson that would have put even the most devoted scholar to sleep. His knowledge was impressive, pulling names and dates out of his head as if it was a recipe for strawberry pie. By the time he had recounted the first centuries of the primal age, my head felt like it was about to explode. I had tried to distract him with sneaky side questions, but he had remained his focus and prattled on about one battle or another.
While at first he was seated behind his desk, at some point he began pacing the room while talking, only stopping occasionally to rearrange some books on the shelves.
I only managed to derail his lectures once.
“How exactly are your books organized?” I asked, glancing around his study.
Auretheos hesitated. Just for a heartbeat.
“By author,” he said carefully.
I raised a brow. “Try again.”
He sighed. “By author first. Then by color.”
I stared at him. “That’s… deeply unsettling.”
His mouth twitched. “I prefer the termaesthetically disciplined.”
“So you admit you’re odd.”
“I admit,” he said dryly, “that chaos offends me.”
I laughed. “You reorganized the entire temple library like this, didn’t you? I noticed it the other day.”
“Yes,” he said, entirely unapologetic. “It took months. But now it’s correct.”
I shook my head. “You know most people would use a catalog system.”
He glanced at the shelves, then back at me. “And deprive myself of beauty and order at the same time? Absolutely not.”
The brief pause in his lecture did nothing to improve my headache. Before I could finish that thought, Auretheos had already launched into another monologue of facts and figures. I tried my best to pay attention, but as he was wandering up and down the length of the room, I found myself watching his body move underneath the robes. It was hard to say what kind of shape he was in because the robes kept everything well-hidden within their folds. His shoulders were wide, that much I could tell and when he gestured the fabric of his robes was slightly straining around his upper arms. He had huge feet judging by the size of his boots, and I could have sworn his ass looked like he had been doing some squats regularly. My knowledge of Gods was basically non-existent, but I was pretty sure that it was aheavenly offense to lust after a God. I was so engrossed in watching his backside move that I didn’t even notice that he had stopped talking. As I looked up to meet his eyes, he raised a quizzical eyebrow.
“As I was saying,” he emphasized, “it’s important for you to understand the layout of the lands and which lord hails over what region.”
Crossing to the desk, he positioned himself beside me, far enough out of reach that there would be no accidental touching.
Bending over the map, he beckoned me closer to look. With a fingertip he traced the different regions of the God Realm, explaining the names of the gods and their areas of expertise.
“Where does your family live?” I asked.
Auretheos did not respond right away, and I thought he might not answer at all.
“My mother was but a vessel to bring me into this world. They took me away from her the minute I was born to raise and protect me at the temple. Last I heard she was alive and well, living in a small village beyond the mountain. I have my sentinels checking in on her regularly, making sure she doesn’t want for anything. Other than that, I have no biological family” he answered matter-of-factually.
