Chapter 52

As expected, the town decided to celebrate their Goddess, and as evening turned into the night, it didn’t seem like it would end any time soon. At least Aki took the role of entertaining the people, so I was left sitting quietly and smiling at everyone.

I was happy the others seemed to enjoy themselves at least, and I was surprised when I understood that the townspeople knew about Uruk. Lugal of Fa’a, the one who led the army into battle. He had never once mentioned that he held such an important title, but after all, it was so much like him, focusing on what had to be done rather than who you were.

I finally managed to sneak out when Karim took everyone’s attention by sharing a tale of one of his journeys. The elders had invited me to stay in their home, insisting that they could find themselves another place for the night. It had taken a while and the help of Karim to convince them that it wasn’t needed, and in the end, they had relented, giving me a small cabin on the outskirts of the town.

I had just lit a candle when the door opened, and Selene came in.

“Did something happen?”, I asked.

“No, I just...”

“What?”

I looked at her, confused. She sighed and sat down next to me.

“How are you feeling?”

I shrugged.

“Tired…”

I got up, but she took hold of my hand.

“Rina… You know I’m not good at it, but… I don’t want to keep messing up.”

I sighed and sat down again.

“Me neither…”

We sat in silence. So we were back where we’d started. As long as we didn’t talk, things were okay. At least it was better than her thinking I was her Goddess.

“How are you with everything that has happened…?”, she asked quietly.

I sighed. Why couldn’t she just let it be?

“I made my choice,” I said without looking at her.

“Just like she did”

I frowned and pulled away from her.

“Rina… I am sorry.”

I sighed. Why couldn’t we ever have a conversation without things going wrong? I shuffled closer.

“I am sorry, you are right, Selene… I need to believe…”

“Rina…”

She put her arms around me.

“She wasn’t walking her path alone…”

I sighed and wrapped my arms around her, resting my head on her chest.