The Reaping of the Gods

Chapter 6

"Hello" I get to the bottom of the stairs where he steps forward and puts out his hand to help me with the bottom step.

"Hello Larissa. How are you today?" he asks with an almost pretentious tone, as he is still holding onto my hand almost like he isn't sure what he's supposed to do next.

"I am well." I say monotone mimicking his pretentious tone and then let out a giggle.

"Larissa!" Anaya snarks.

I hear a stifled laugh come from this gorgeous mans direction.

"I'm sorry Anaya."

Anaya gives a shake of her head, then turns to my visitor. "You understand that without an official invitation I shouldn't even be letting you two talk."

"I understand. I am here just as a friend. That is all." He replies. For some reason being called a friend by him disappointed me.

She gives him a nod and walks down the hall towards the kitchen.

"Nice to see you again....." I leave a space hoping for him to tell me his name.

"Oh you can call me, Luke." he replies.

"Nice to see you again Luke. What can I do for you?" I smile. Luke, I love that name.

"I was wondering if you would like to accompany me on a walk around town." he leans forward on his toes in a sort of rocking motion and clasps his hands behind his back. For some reason this whole interaction seems awkward for him. It's adorable.

"Right now?"

"If you have time." He asks with a smirk.

"I would love to but I have a prior engagement." I say remembering my lunch date with Set. How I wish I could on this walk. "But if we're back in 20 minutes it should be okay."

"Wonderful. Shall we?" I nod. He puts out his arm for me to hold onto. Still so awkward in his movements.

He starts leading me down the sidewalk heading away from down to the market. He seems to be leading me towards the outskirts of the city near the wall that surrounds it. Over the past day or so I've been getting history lessons on Sovengrad from Josie and Hanna. The wall separates the forest and city since the beginning of the Great Divide. A huge war between the Gods and Demons. Demons were then banished to the forest and ever since this wall has stood.

"That's a beautiful necklace." He says pointing to the gawd awful thing on my neck. His words didn't sound sincere.

"Um thanks. It was a gift." I say shrugging my shoulders a little.

"Oh, for your prior engagement?" He seems to drop his head a little. Is he upset?

"Yeah. Set gave it to me. It's not exactly my style though."

"Oh. Ha ha. That makes sense. Set only cares about the monetary value of things. Doesn't realize there is beauty in simplicity."

I look over at him. He seems to be in thought. I understand the beauty in simplicity. Like a single diamond ring, a sunrise picnic or the smell walking through a meadow.

"So how are you settling in? I heard of your quick introduction to all of this." I look up at him and get lost in his eyes for a second.

"Umm...I'm doing ok. There's still alot to get used to. All the other girls grew up knowing about this. Most were already friends before they came here. I'm just lucky I found Josie."

"She's the Faerie right?" I nod. " Asclepius was ecstatic to meet her at the dinner last night."

"Did you find your soulmate or whatever you call it?" I ask realizing how bold it was. And none of my business but I couldn't help it.

"Ummm...no I didn't." He replies. I don't know what I expected him to say. But somehow still felt a twinge of saddness but also hope?

"So what kind of god are you?" I ask unsure If I'm allowed to ask that.

"Haha....just a boring one. Nothing too special about me." He smiles at me and my heart skips a beat.

"Well I don't see how being a God could be boring? Like do you have any powers?"

"I have a few." he smirks

"Can I see?"

"Maybe another time. We should start heading back if you're going to be back in time for your date." He seems upset. Did I say something wrong? Josie and Hanna talk about their powers all the time I didn't think it was off limits.

I nod and we turn around and start heading towards the Reaping house.

The walk back was just awkward silence. I screwed up and now I didn't know how to fix it. As we enter the gate to the front garden of the reaping I see Anaya and Set standing on the front steps.

"Thank you for the walk, Larissa." Before I can reply, Luke turns around and swiftly heads out the gate and down the street.

How could a simple walk go from nice to awkward? I still have no idea what I did wrong and it's now put me in a mood. Just in time for my date.

"Larissa, You're late." Anaya condemns from the steps.

"I'm sorry, Headmistress."

Set walks towards me and takes my hand in his and places a kiss on top.

"Are you ready for lunch?" Set asks.

"Yes. I'm starving." I reply.

He laughs and holds out his arm for me. We walk to the town square making small talk. He told me about some of the wars he won back in Ancient Egypt. He was clearly trying to impress me. It just made me feel even more inadequate.

"So what was your job in the human world?" He asks.

"Oh I work in a bakery." I say with a smile.

"Oh well thank goodness you're here now. You won't have to do such menial work if you decide to stay." The condescension was palatable.

"I actually like baking. It's relaxing." I quip.

"Well it's good to have hobbies." Set replies. He definitely had an arrogant aura. We walk up to a restaurant in the town square that looks way too fancy for my liking.

"This is the hottest restaurant right now. No one can get a table but luckily you're with me." I give him a nod and find myself already rolling my eyes. He wanted me to know how important he was and it was off-putting. We walked in and a waitress sat us right away in a booth by the front windows. Being able to look out the windows at the square was nice.

"You are one of the Reaped right?" The waitress said as she handed us menus and filled up water glasses.

"ye-' I go to reply

"Yes she is. Quite pretty for a human isn't she?" He interjects. For a human. Yeah this was going to be my last date with Set.

"Yes she is, Set. Would you like the usual?" She asks giving me a sad glance as if she knows something I don't.

"Yes please." He hands her the menus and she walks away. I don't know what the usual was but not letting me choose my own meal is like a huge red flag.

"So how are you liking Sovengrad?" He asks taking a sip of his water.

"It's nice. I haven't gotten to see much of it but everything seems beautiful so far." I answer. It was the truth this is a beautiful city the buildings are amazing and there's a warmness that is missing in the human world.

"Well maybe I can take you on a tour sometime. Show you some of the places I enjoy."

"That would be lovely." I'd have to find a way to get out of that later.

Our waitress brings out a bottle of something. Looks like a red wine. She pours a glass for each of us. I take a sip and its alot stronger than I'm used to and I usually only drink white wine. But it was okay.

"So how was your walk this morning?" He asks.

"Oh it was good. Relaxing."

"So should I be worried I'm not your only suitor?" He asks almost interrogating me.

"Oh Luke. No. He is just a friend." I reply.

"Luke, haha, that's the name he gave you." He laughs hardily.

"Why? is that not his name?" I question.

"Oh.....I don't know. I just haven't heard that name before." Set smirks. He was lying to me.

I don't know what to say. Now that I think of it Luke wasn't really a god sounding name. Maybe he just used a nickname because he thought I wouldn't be able to pronounce his real name. I mean people tend to think I'm stupid here because of me being human.

"So are you ready for the auction tonight?" Set asks.

"Auction?"