Chapter 927 Deathly Woes
Honestly, I was expecting something a bit more… dramatic to happen.
Any second Irene was going to fling me down hard to the ground right out of my comfy spot, start raving about some kind of impending doom I've brought upon this realm for even daring to utter such putrid evil.
Just feeling the word rolling off of my tongue… 'Nara'hym'... has my skin pricking up with a peculiar sensation that I just can't put a finger on.
Or maybe it wasn't just the word on its own, but who I was associating with, who I learned it from. And, yeah, with as large a bias as that, it's got me feeling just a tiny bit uneasy.
Irene, on the other hand, was the furthest thing away from sharing any common thread with my sentiments on the matter.
Actually, she chuckled… reflecting a bliss in her gaze so deeply attuned with the ambiance of the night. So forget threads, she was a different ball of yarn entirely.
"Amanda's new pet name for you?" She asked, exhaling a breath bordering the line between disapproval and admiration. "It's nice. I like it."
"You do?"
"Not what I would have gone with personally," she said. "But it's a top-three contender at least. Still flip-flopping between my one and two."
A part of me would have happily pursued that juicy bit of trivia she split there. But now wasn't the time. Gonna have to swerve this dialogue wheel somewhere else.
"What does it mean?"
"You mean she didn't tell you?" she let out a small scoff. "Gives you a pet name, then leaves you hanging. What a sweetheart."
"It wasn't Amanda."
"The Elf? Hmm, weird that she didn't bother to—"
"Not Ash either," I interrupted. "And you can forget about Adalia too while we're at it."
Slowly but surely, the detective in her was worming its way through to the surface once again; her hazel eyes losing their soft curves, sensing something amiss.
"Why do I get the feeling that you're trying to tell me something?"
Here we were, the endpoint of casual, simple small talk, and the beginning of something much more somber. I almost wish I had kept silent instead, bring this whole matter up some other time. It breaks my heart to have to ruin this moment to ourselves, but alas… no going back now.
"I… well, I don't know if there's really any better way to put it," I began slowly, keeping my gaze affixed to hers, "But… last night, I had someone come visit me in my sleep."
"That just sounds a lot more like a conjugal visit from a certain Matriarch to me than anything else."
"Not in my sleep," I corrected myself. "In my dreams."
"Dreams? What do you...?"
Cue the bewilderment, the creeping confusion lining her expression as she silently crossed out every thought and theory going through her head until she was left with only one. The only one that made total logical sense, no matter how absurd it may be.
Her eyelids fluttered shut. I felt her body tense up. Here's the dramatic moment I had been expecting. Every bit as dreadful as I imagined.
"Because of Ria… wasn't it?" Irene asked, her voice a frailer, graver echo than it once was. "She came to you because… because of what we did back then."
She sounded guilty.
"Don't go blaming yourself now," I said.
"It was my idea, my plan. It's what I wanted to do…"
"I wanted to do it too," I cut her off, sitting back upright, and twisting around to face her directly. "Just as much as you did. But even if you don't believe that there's still no use playing the blame game. It's already happened."
As I expected, the burden of guilt still weighed heavy in her gaze. But luckily she chose not to wallow in it, moving on ahead to more important matters at hand.
"What did she want, then?" Irene asked, her jaw clenched. "What did she say?"
"As you said, she didn't like what we did. Displacing her influence like that. Told me firmly to not try anything like that again."
"And we won't," she said at once, shaking her head absentmindedly. "No more. There's no more of that. Can guarantee her that."
There was a mighty resolve to her declaration that felt off to me. I mean, I agreed with her, I wouldn't dare argue the point against her, but, y'know, it's just…
"You sure?" I asked. "Never again?"
"Never again," she eyed me gravely. "What is it? Me and Ria, you're worried? No, forget it! Forget her, alright? We have nothing more to do with her. Why are you even considering otherwise?"
"I didn't say anything yet."
"No, you were thinking it," she said, raising a hand, stabbing the air with a finger. "Listen, that was one time, only one time. We did something stupid, careless—leave it there. That's it. We learn from our mistakes, don't we?"
Hearing her was… so, that night was a mistake to her, was it?
"Lady Enstar came to you, talked to you," Irene continued on. "You don't need me to tell you that meeting with Death isn't supposed to be an occasional visit. People get one appointment and that's that, and you… you need to stop being so keen on getting another one, please. I'm not losing you too."
Her finger was practically hovering just an inch against my throat. I knew she'd be upset, incensed even, but afraid? No, that one… that one was certainly new.
"Alright, Irene," I said, wrapping my hand around her wrist, laying it down, and slowly burying it between both my palms. "We'll leave it. I'll leave it. Promise."
She didn't look the least bit assured, however. Knowing her, a million, billion thoughts must be swirling around in her head to even begin processing her emotions.
"And another thing," suddenly her eyes turned stern, sterner than ever, and it's been quite a long time since I last saw them that way, much less, my way. "This happened last night and you're only telling me this now? Explain that one to me."
"I dunno, I…" I sighed, deciding the reasons I had weren't enough to justify. "A lot's happened today. Between wondering about Amanda and your training… slipped my mind until now."
"Slipped your mind…" she parroted, only more reproving. "And yet I remembered you calling me just this morning… slipped your mind then, too?"
Nothing gets past this woman, does it?
"Said you had a meeting, thought it was important," I admitted. "Thought maybe it could wait."
"You did not just say that," Irene took another breath, a heavier one. Now she was just fuming outright. "So I'll break my arm, go get shot in the leg. But how about I inform you about it tomorrow instead? You might be on the date, but I'm sure it can wait."
"That's different. Immediate dangers, I get. But I wasn't..."
"You were in danger," she interjected. "You were with Death. Don't chalk that up as nothing. Especially since I'm the reason you were there with her in the first place. You need to tell me this stuff, you understand me? I should have seen this coming. Why didn't I see this coming?"
"Irene, alright, I get it," I said. "You're right, and I'm sorry. I just… I didn't want you stressing over me all day long."
"Well then, welcome to a step in my shoes," Irene said, wearing a derisive smirk. "You're not the only one wanting loved ones to stay happy and stress-free as can be, you know?"
I hung my head. "They're not very comfortable shoes, I realize."
She nodded hers. "I know."
And then after all that, this all wound up being a lesson well learned in the end. What a lecture.
A lingering tension was left swirling the silence between us, turning what was supposed to be a perfect evening, a perfect date, into something a little less than that.
All this mess... all for the best, I hope.
"So, then, Lady Enstar," Irene said after a while, her voice quieter, calmer, and peaking with curiosity. "How… how was she?"
"Sweet," I answered, shrugging. "It was peaceful being with her. She was polite, she was nice…"
"What did she look like?"
I took a small pause to that question, looking at her, peering into her eyes, her beauty, her features, recalling back, and almost expecting them to shift.
"You," I said. "And Ash, Adalia, Amanda. I don't know what she actually looks like if she even has an actual form. She told me I saw only what I could see. Whatever that means."
"Manifesting in the form of women you know, multiple," Irene muttered, musing once again to herself. "Hm, don't remember that detail. Interesting."
I let her stew in her thoughts for as long as she wanted, as much as she wanted. I might not know what exactly there was to take away from my experience, but hey, I'm not the otherworldly being in the room here, was I?
Best leave this matter to the professionals.
The fireplace caught my attention for the time being, sparks expelling from the metal grating as charred logs continued to burn and wither away. I give it a few more minutes until it's all eaten away, until there was nothing left to burn. I suppose not all flames were meant to glow forever, and no, I wasn't just talking about this one...
Was this really it for Ria, after all?
Learn from mistakes, she said... I'm still struggling to figure out what was the mistake back there.
"Nara'hym," Irene then blurted out loud, whirling her focus back to me once more. "I'm guessing she's the one labeling you with the pet name, then."
I blinked back.
"Uh, yeah," I said. "Wouldn't call me anything else either," I added on. "I'm guessing she's got a very good reason for insisting on that."
"Yes, she does," she said dryly. "Because that's exactly what you are."
Great. Now it's her turn to be ominously speaking in riddles.
"Which is what?" I asked. "Just what am I supposed to be?"
"A Nara'hym," Irene answered, the flames from the fireplace draping her face partly in the darkest shade. "A Child of Twilight."
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