Lost (The Secret World Of Atlantis)

Chapter 9 - A Late Night Visit

I grab one of the torches from a wall to light my way up the staircase. I can't wait to start learning magic, so I can light up the path with my hand.

I am so absent minded, that I squeal in surprise, as I notice someone lying in front of my door. Thankfully, I don't fall down the stairs, but I frighten my maid so hard, that she jumps up in the air, quickly picking herself up.

“Melite, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? Why aren't you in bed?” I ask her, shocked from the encounter.

“I-I'm so sorry, the King ordered me to wait for you so I could prepare you a bath, but I must have fallen asleep. I'm sorry Princess, please don't punish me,” she mumbles, avoiding my eyes. I sigh, feeling sorry for the girl.

“Don't apologize, dear, I'm the one, that should. If I knew my father sent you up here to wait for me all alone, I would've come sooner. You know it isn't safe with all those drunks roaming the castle tonight,” I tell her worriedly.

“You are too kind, my Princess,” she says, her eyes glowing as she looks up at me. I offer her a small smile and we enter my bedroom. I blow out the torch as Melite lights the candles on the chandelier. She rushes into the bathroom to start filling the tub, while I start undressing and taking the flowers out of my braided hair.

As soon as I descend into the bathtub, I dismiss Melite. Before she leaves, I tell her to get some sleep and she nods, then bows to me before finding her way out. I know she will send a pair of Guardians to stand at the bottom of the staircase as I sleep. I only let them come up in the morning, to wake me up.

Father wasn't very pleased, that I established this rule, but the truth is, I don't want them to hear me screaming at night. Ever since I saw Eros and Elena perform magic, while we were still amongst humans, a terrifying memory haunts me at night.

I shake my head, trying to chase the thoughts out of my head. If I start thinking about that, the nightmare will only be more intense this evening.

As I'm drying myself with a towel, my fingers slip over my belly button piercing. Who would've thought something so tiny can cause so much trouble? I sigh, pulling the silky night dress onto my body. The candles around the bathtub blow out as soon as I leave the room, Melite always enchants them like this.

It goes similar for the chandelier in my bedroom. As soon as I climb under the sheets, the room darkens. But I never go to bed, before I open the balcony door. I enjoy sleeping with fresh air circulating around the room all through the night. I would say I rest better that way, but the truth is, the nightmares never let me sleep that well. I shut my eyes, trying to clear my mind of all thoughts and soon find myself dozing off.

I am pressed into a corner, some older kids circling me like prey. They're showing fingers at me, mocking everything about me. They start laughing, but even that isn't enough for them. Soon stones are being thrown at me. Pebbles at first, but they keep picking up bigger ones. The anxiety in my chest keeps growing, even making me fear for my life, until I stand up, angrier than I've ever been. Who are they to throw stones at me? I raise my palms at them, making them stare at me wide-eyed, then roar with laughter. Anger fuels me and soon the stones they've already thrown, start rising up in the air. Their faces go pale, but they soon become a blur. Everything fades, it's just me and my anger. The stones suddenly charge themselves at them and their terrified screams make me wake up.

I soon realize, it's my own screams, echoing around the room and I go quiet immediately, sweat sticking the night dress to my skin. I sit up, gasping as I notice my hands are glowing. I stare at them, trembling in fear. This has never happened to me before. But thanks to the light coming out of them, I notice a dark silhouette by the curtains.

Before I'm even able to open my mouth to scream again, they are by my side, covering it with their hand. My eyes almost bulge out as the faint light, coming from my palms, lightens the face of none other, than Eros. I just stare at him, shook to my core, forgetting about everything else.

“Good. You aren't screaming,” he whispers softly before moving his hand away from my mouth and straightening up. This affects me like a cold shower, and I look at my glowing hands. “Are you feeling alright? You don't seem in control of yourself,” he notices.

“I'm fine. The better question is, what are you doing in my chambers in the middle of the night?!” I grit through my teeth, my hands glowing a bit brighter as anger boils up inside me.

“I'm going to answer you, after you calm down. Breathe if you don't want to blow up half of the castle. Take long, deep breaths for as long as you need,” he tells me slowly. I would gladly punch him right now for invading my privacy, but he is right.

The dreams are still very much alive in my mind, and I don't want them to repeat themselves. I close my eyes to shield myself from him, then start breathing slowly, filling my lungs to the maximum with each breath I take.

As I open my eyes, I am met with darkness. At least until Eros lights up the room with a small flame, dancing in his palm. Suddenly someone knocks at the door and both of our heads shoot in the direction of the sound.

“Princess, what is going on?” I hear the voice of a Guardian. I sigh in relief and look at Eros, seriously contemplating whether I should expose his presence or not. He shakes his head, placing a finger on his mouth.

“Nothing, just a nightmare!” I yell back, my eyes never leaving Eros. He puts his finger away and smirks. We listen intently, until we can hear the sound of footsteps, going down the staircase. I let out a breath, I didn't even realize I was holding in. Then I grab a spare pillow and smack Eros with it.

“Ow?” he mumbles quietly.

“You! Tell me why you're here immediately, or I swear you'll get much worse than a simple pillow smack,” I whisper-yell at him. He raises his eyebrow, smirking again.

“Oh yeah? What could you possibly do to me in that night gown of yours?” he mocks me. My blood boils, but then I remember my body is covered only by a thin layer of silk and quickly pull the sheets up to my neck. He chuckles like it's the most amusing thing I could do. “What are you afraid of? I've seen you naked,” he observes quietly, making blood rise to my cheeks. I look down immediately.

“Don't remind me of that,” I mumble, feeling embarrassed of the fact, that he's actually already seen my bare body. And that we are alone in my bedroom. He chuckles again.

“It's nothing, really. Everyone sees each other naked every Saturday evening in the Temple. We are all the same beneath those layers of fabric,” he tells me, but I still feel uncomfortable. He startles me, as he sits on the bed, placing his fingers under my chin and pushes my head up. “Hey, look me in the eyes, when I'm talking to you.” I gulp deeply at the intensity of his stare. As he pulls his hand back, I finally start breathing again.

“Eros … What are you doing here, really?” I ask again and he sighs.

“I couldn't sleep … So, I went for a fly around the castle and noticed, that someone has their balcony door opened. I thought they might be in danger, so I went inside and realized this was your room. And that you were perfectly fine. At least until you started tossing around and screaming,” he explains, a crease forming between his eyebrows. I am very tempted to lower my gaze, but I'm too afraid, that he might touch my face again, so I keep my head up.

“Why were you worried? I thought the castle was heavily guarded,” I challenge him and he sighs.

“Do you really think it's safe to leave your door wide open for intruders? And might I add, that Guardians are standing at the bottom of the stairs instead on the top of them?” he says in a serious tone. “Is this because of this nightmare you were having?”

“Oh … I … Well, yes. I don't want them to listen to my screams every night. They'll think I'm mental,” I mumble, watching him carefully. He studies my face for a moment, then stands up from the bed.

“Alright then, go back to sleep,” he says, stepping back to the curtains again. I stare at him with wide eyes.

“And what exactly do you think you're doing?” I ask sharply, narrowing my eyes at him. I can see his smirk in the light of the flame, still dancing in his hand.

“Keeping the intruders away, of course,” he says, as though it should be obvious. I inhale sharply. This is outrageous!

“No way. You are leaving. What if someone sees you? Or worse, what if someone has seen you already?” I panic, while he laughs.

“You worry too much, you know? I'll be fine over here, go to sleep,” he reassures me. I breathe out angrily and stand up, feeling really uncomfortable, knowing how short and thin my night gown is. But Eros behaves like a true gentleman as I walk over to him. His eyes never roam down my body, he simply keeps staring into mine.

I stop in front of him, raising my head, so I can look at him. “Go. Now. This isn't a request,” I tell him sternly, narrowing my eyes at him. He bites his lower lip, trying to hold back a smile, then crosses his arms.

“Make me,” he states, raising his chin, then tilting his head to the left like he’s daring me to put my hands on him. I huff angrily, he really isn't in the place to be challenging me right now. My hair is a mess, I'm all sweaty, he's heard me screaming because of a nightmare and I am dressed improperly. I am so done playing games with him.

I grab his forearm, trying to pull him towards the door, but he doesn't move an inch. I try pushing him from the side, but all I do is make him chuckle deeply. I even lean on him with all my weight, to no avail of course.

Suddenly he pushes the flame up in the air, then grabs me and half drags me half carries me to one of the armchairs. I fight him with all my forces, but I can't stop him. I feel so uncomfortable, knowing he's touching my bare skin, but there isn't much I can do about that.

He plops me onto an armchair with so much ease it's scary, because I'm resisting with every ounce of power I have. He holds down my wrists, sighing as I continue fighting back. “Do you see now? You need protection,” he tells me, beaming with pride. Oh yes, he's an almighty man. But he's still just a man. My knee jerks up towards his crown jewels, and he lets go of me immediately. He holds his treasure, groaning in pain. “Why would you do that?” he pants heavily, dropping to his knees.

“To prove, that I'm more than capable of protecting myself,” I tell him coldly, then smile like the sweet girl I am. He doesn't say anything for a few moments, probably still dealing with the pain I caused him.

“You do have a point there,” he breathes out after a while, still resting on his knees. I already start feeling bad for him. Was I too rough? He is only trying to protect me after all, and I thank him by hurting him. “But kicking me like that … Don't you want children, love?” he asks after a while. I stiffen at his words, and he chuckles. And here I was, feeling sorry for him.

“Now you're seriously crossing a line there,” I hiss, while he continues laughing at his own joke. “Could you just go and let me get back to sleep? Please?” He smirks, picking himself up, then offers me his hand. I stare at him, then clasp it tightly, letting him pull me up.

“If I didn't know any better, I would accidentally make you land in my embrace,” he says before loosening his grip on my hand and I just shake my head. How can someone be so flirtatious all the time? Isn't it exhausting? But I let it go. I'm too tired for fighting.

“Good night. Again,” I declare with a determined tone, practically kicking him out. He chuckles, raising his hands up in defence.

“All right, all right, I'm leaving. But promise you will close the door. I'm not going anywhere, unless you do this,” he says, a crease forming between his eyebrows again. I sigh, then nod. Whatever helps him sleep at night. He takes the flame back into his hand and extinguishes it. 

When I escort him to the balcony, I suddenly remember something. “Eros?”

“Yes? Do you want me to stay after all?” he immediately jumps at the chance, almost making me bang my head against the wall. He can never quit, can he?

“No. I just wanted to ask … Why couldn't you sleep?” I ask quietly and he smirks.

“Let's just say my neighbours weren't really bothering to tone down their screams,” he explains, making me frown in concern.

”Were they having nightmares, too?” I ask curiously, then see his eyes darkening as he chuckles. My face falls and I blush from embarrassment. »Oh …« I mutter quietly, while he shakes his head.

“You are so pure,” he smiles. And it’s genuine, it's not just another one of his smirks. I tuck my hair behind my ear nervously and pull the corners of my mouth up, while averting his gaze. Then I bolt my head back up as I remember he doesn't like me looking away. “I won't be keeping you up anymore. Good night,” he tells me, when he realizes I'm still embarrassed.

“Good night,” I respond, feeling relieved, that he's leaving before anyone was able to see him. I watch as he turns around and starts walking towards the edge of the balcony. I get an odd feeling when I see him raising his leg, climbing onto the railing.

I rush to him without a second thought, but as he looks at me and smirks, it seems like everything is happening in slow motion. It feels like I'm in a dream, running towards him, but never reaching him. My heart stops in horror as I see him leap off.

I reach the railing a second too late, leaning over to look at him falling down. You can imagine my surprise and relief when he comes flying up in front of my face. The rush of air knocks me over and I land flat on my buttocks.

He floats up in the air, smirking at me, then flies over the roof of the castle. That brat. I should've kicked him even harder. I stand up, dusting off my night gown, then retrieve back into my chambers. I close the balcony door, sighing.

I don't know what's the difference between closing the door and keeping it open. These folks are magical. They can just blow it up and they're in. I shake my head, going back to bed without giving Eros's visit a second thought.