Stained By Sin

EIGHTEEN

Elara walked as quickly as she could to get away from Thyone’s creepy gaze. She could make him back off forcefully by fighting him and making him kneel in front of her, begging for mercy, however, she knew that it wouldn’t help her position as a prisoner. She needed to take care of the extraordinary freedom she had been granted inside the enemy’s territory, and so she had no choice but to retreat.

She felt Nero following her. She was now used to his scent, and could detect his presence from quite a distance now. It would be beneficial for her to memorize the scents of the vampires she needed to keep track of, and needed to be wary off. She had already memorized Nero’s. Maybe she should familiarize herself with Thyone’s scent so she could avoid him at all cost.

“Where are you going?” Nero asked from behind her.

“To the library,” she answered. It was one of the places she really missed in her old home. She was a warrior, sure. But she also loved to read books and live the lives of so many other characters and not just her own. Very long life brought out in Elara’s heart the need for adventure, which she couldn’t personally take because of the curse of sunlight.

She felt Nero caught up to her and was now walking beside her.

“You read books?” Nero sounded so surprised, and Elara couldn’t help but feel offended.

“Oh, yes, I do. News flash, the Crow clan is literate, too.” She rolled her eyes at Nero as she continued to walk.

She heard a small chuckle escape from Nero before he could disguise it with a cough.

Even more annoyed now, she sped up her pace and left Nero behind.

“Wait, don’t walk too fast,” she heard him say but she didn’t care. She knew that the Crow clan was known for being barbaric and savage, but she made sure that her current clan wasn’t all that. She made sure that there were more to them than just brute strength, and she was proud of it.

“Hey, look. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way,” Nero said when finally caught up to her again. There was still an amused smile plastered on his face, not helping him with his case on her.

“I don’t care what you mean. Stop talking to me.”

“No, no. I was just surprised that you love books as well. Normally, those who are good at fighting weren’t that fond of reading. Well, that is based on what I have observed with my men. I really didn’t mean anything bad with what I said,” Nero explained as he walked beside her.

Even as he spoke, his eyes were glittering with amusement, and she wasn’t sure whether to believe him. Somehow, though, she was starting to get used to Nero’s incessant bantering with her since they met. And that was something she didn’t like.

Without answering, she continued to walk, threading on the familiar halls that had once been her home. When she finally got to the library, the scent of old books brought an intense wave of nostalgia.

“It grew,” Elara muttered in amazement. Even though the library’s structure itself didn’t change, the amount of books it now held was massive. In the past, all the books that was in this library, Elara had read. But now, there were tons of new books waiting for her.

Elara’s face broke into a smile, the first genuine smile she had made for ages.

In the past, this place had been her safe haven. Whenever she grew tired of all the training she did, she would end her day inside this library, where she could rest her body while her mind went into a separate journey.

“Where did you get all these books?” Elara asked, turning to look at Nero.

“From the humans,” he replied with a smile while he stared at her. He was looking at her weirdly, which made Elara feel uncomfortable. His smile was no longer amused nor joking, his voice softer than before.

Elara looked away from Nero, and started to walk towards the shelves. She lifted her hand and softly caressed the spine of each book neatly lined on the shelves as she walked. Some books were covered with dust, while some were obviously more loved.

As she walked, her eyes wandered ahead of her, searching for a particular title. She was searching for her favorite book, one that had given her comfort multiple times already in the past.

It was easier to find that book before, since the shelves weren’t this stacked. It took her a few minutes before she found the book she was looking for.

It wasn’t really a book, though. The story she held in her hands was thin. It was actually a short story printed as a book, but she still enjoyed reading it either way.

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas?” Nero said, reading the title of the book she was holding. His eyebrows were raised in surprise.

“Problem?” she asked, raising her own eyebrows in defiance.

“Nothing. I just didn’t really expect you to be reading philosophical stuff.”

“That’s because you are stereotyping the Crow clan. Each member of my clan has individuality. We’re not just all savages, you know.”

Nero’s ears were beginning to redden before he could turn around to hide it. Elara grinned, victorious.

The library was quite dark, its only source of light was the candles distributed inside the room and the moonlight that was streaming through the window. Not that the darkness mattered. Her eyes could see in the dark quite clearly, even without the candles. However, the dancing shadows brought by the candles’ flames gave quite a nice ambiance in the room. Sometimes, she worried though that the flames might hurt the books.

Elara found her favorite spot in the library -- a couch placed by the window. She opened the window first, making sure that the cool wind could breeze through the room. Then, she positioned herself comfortably on the couch and started to read.

As she started to read her book, she took a few glances at Nero and saw that he had also already grabbed a book of his own and sat on a chair across her. He was already flipping through the book, obviously trying to make it look like he was already reading.

Elara couldn’t help but smile at the silly antic. She wasn’t sure what it was that Nero was trying to do, but she somehow found it charming.

Hiding behind her book, she pushed Nero away from her mind and started reading.

The story of Omelas was something close to her heart, especially now. It was a story of a perfect community, where the people of Omelas lived unbelievably happy. As the narrator explored the place, it would be revealed that the reason why the city was living happily and without problems. All of these happiness was dependent to the suffering of a child. And for Elara, she felt like she was that child.

Though it was of her own accord, she was the one bearing all the responsibility for the well-being of her entire clan. The Crow clan wasn’t as problem-free as Omelas, that was for sure. But still, she was the one responsible for making sure that it stayed that way.

When she was a child, she loved the story because of how she could engrossed she always were whenever she read it. But now, she loved it for a different reason.

Elara sighed as she read. She was already halfway through the story. Resting her eyes for a bit, she looked again at Nero, who was now seriously reading.

Unlike a while ago, when he pretended to be reading, he was now so absorbed with the book, Elara felt like she could escape and he wouldn’t even realize it. Not that she would do it. She was very comfortable right now, she had no plans of ruining this relaxing time.

Elara was surprised when she realized that she had been staring at Nero for quite some time already. She hurriedly returned her attention to the book she was holding. Maybe it was because of the dark, or maybe it was because of the light dancing in Nero’s face as he read his book so seriously. Whatever it was though, Elara could swear that at one point as she stared at him, her heart started to beat faster than normal.