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Chapter XV - Farewell

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Soap bubbles burgeoned out of the tub of water. They flew up into the air, twinkling in the torchlight. All the colors of spring and pastels and rainbows—likely never seen before in the castle—bounced about in the soapy circles.

Athena wet her rag, drowning it a few times in the tub before picking it back up and rolling it over the floor. The girl sprawled out on her knees, and every minute or so, her hair swooped over her shoulders and landed in the tub. The tips of her honey curls became a drenched dark brown. Each time, she huffed, threw her rag across the floor, pulled her hair to the back, and poked it down into the hem of her dress. Water, soap, and sweat trickled down the inside of her gown, prickling her lower back. She then grabbed her rag and began rolling it over the floor once more.

After several minutes, the girl reared up onto her knees and massaged her lower back. She threw the rag down and dust launched into her nostrils. "Mary an' Joseph!" she yelled, wiping her nose with her sleeve and staring down the wet rag. "No one likes ye anyway!"

Cold laughter poured into the hallway from the common room. Athena's cheeks flushed and her ears pricked. The white hairs on her arms and neck stood as tall as trees.

"Hollering at the rag, are we?"

Athena spun around. Leaning on the doorframe of the common room, novel in hand, gloves pulled as tight as possible on his muscular forearms and hands, was Sir Claudius. A grin crept onto his silver snake face.

"You should let me know when you are spying on me, Sir Claudius."

His cheeks puffed out, then he leaned back so far in laughter he nearly dropped the book. "Spying?!"

"Yes!" She gave into laughter as well. "If I hadn't known you were here, I could have made an even bigger fool of myself!"

"More than you already did?"

"Of course." She turned her body to face the withered rag, but her glowing, moonlit eyes remained latched on him. "You don't know what I'm capable of." Athena batted her eyelashes.

Sir Claudius gulped, tossing water on the flames roaring inside of him. His rib cage was a massive forest of evergreens, burning down. "I cannot argue with your logic, Miss Everleigh." He bowed. "I shall forgo my 'spying' now."

"Don't go!" He lifted his head, hair falling over his forehead and eyes. Athena faltered, crossing her thin, pink arms. "I have to tell you something."

He straightened. "And what would that be?"

"My Aunt Helena… I don't believe I've spoken to you about her… She has always wanted me to come and spend time with her and her two daughters in Dublin. I have always declined these requests until now…."

Sir Claudius lifted his brows and bit the insides of his cheek. "For how long?"

"Well, I only planned to go if you allowed me to, Sir. That was the reply my Father sent this morning."

The man turned away, facing the common room. He pressed one of his palms against the doorframe, and the other fell at his side, still clenching the book. "How long would you like to visit, Miss Everleigh?" he asked—a gruff, broken sound lurching out of his throat.

Athena pinched her curls. "I-I wanted to stay until she felt that I was… a lady. A proper lady. She wants me to enter into society, Sir."

"Yes, but do you want to enter into society?"

If only I could see his eyes….

"I do, Sir."

"You lie." The man spun about, trudging toward the girl—he towered over her and she cowered under him. "I thought you loved this land. You said so yourself! You love your family and want to care for them! You love— You love working here and being with me!" The flames in his eyes spread to his sockets, singeing them to pieces. Burnt flesh tore off his face.

Athena stepped backward, breathing heavily, shoving tears into her eyes, trying not to blink. "Sir, please, I won't go if you don't allow it."

"But you already said so yourself: you want to go. You want all the lovely things this world has to offer. And I know you. You will do anything to get what you want—even lie… lie to me."

"Sir Claudius, I would never—"

"You already have! Don't act like you didn't lie to me—"

"It was only to protect my secret!"

"Even so! You lied to your parents!"

"Sir Claudius, I won't go! I won't go. I won't go." She walked the other way, repeating the words, shaking. She picked up the tub, spilling great slabs of water out as she sped to the supply room.

The man laid the book on the stone floors, following her. "Miss Everleigh, wait!" He sprinted to the supply room, reaching out for her dress. "Miss Everleigh, I- I… I've been such a fool!" He held her skirts in his hand, his face tearing apart, his mouth splitting open.

"Sir Claudius, I won't go. I won't. Nothing more needs to be said."

The man let go of her skirts, clearing his throat and recomposing himself. "I apologize, Miss Everleigh." He choked the flames back down into his chest and stomach.

"It is… fine, Sir."

He stared at his shoes.

"You really want to go…?"

"Yes, Sir." She nodded.

"Why?" he asked, his heart in his throat.

"I don't intend to be gone for terribly long, Sir. Only long enough to enter society—"

"Which could be months…."

Athena rubbed her arms then pressed her palms into her skirts, where Sir Claudius's hands had been.

"I intend on coming back home."

"Miss Everleigh, once you enter society there, you shan't return…."

"And how would you know?" she asked, biting.

"Because I did it!" he snapped. "I once had a home in Dublin! I was in society, too! I had friends and money and a life! For God's sake, the only reason I moved back here was that I don't age!" The castle walls rumbled. Smoke filtered out of his nose. "I didn't come back until people started whispering about me. I didn't want to leave Dublin. I still want to be in Dublin instead of in this old, rank castle!" He gestured to the stone walls, hundreds of years old. "I want to be telling stories and writing plays and socializing but… I can't." He huffed, ashes escaping his nose and mouth. Athena leaped back, her pretty pink shoes dancing about on the floor. "I don't want you to leave, Miss Everleigh, because…" He squinted, blinking slowly, then opened his eyes—they reminded Athena of her own, on late nights when the seas crashed into cliffs and dogs and wolves howled, and she was entranced by the moon, and the moon became her eyes and her eyes became the moon.

"You don't want me to leave because you have no one else to be with."

"Yes." His eyes were like the reflection of the moon in the ocean—glassy and rippling. "But, just because I don't want you to leave… That doesn't mean you shouldn't."

Athena held a hand up to her mouth. "Sir Claudius, my place is here."

"No, Athena, you don't know enough of the world to know where your place is," he corrected. "It is selfish of me to expect you to remain here for your entire life."

The girl smiled, exasperated. "So, I can go?"

"Yes, Athena, you may go—only if you promise me something first."

"Anything, Sir!"

"You will write?"

"Every day!"

"I shall write you then every day as well." He grinned, ever so slightly, but his eyes remained broken in two. "I apologize for how foolish and selfish I have been. You are young and need to see the world. You need to be out in society, if you so wish."

"There is no need to apologize. You have already done so much for my family and me. We have enough gold to live plentiful lives for months and months!"

"Oh, Miss Everleigh!"

"Yes?"

He ran in the opposite direction, back to the common room. "Just one moment!"

"Oh, alright!" She clutched her arm.

Upon his return, he held a sack full of gold coins and a small letter. "What's this?" she queried, eyes wide.

"Open it."

She tore open the letter and her eyes grazed over it. Once finished, the girl exclaimed: "Oh, Sir Claudius, you are so kind to me!"

She took him by the hands, and he stepped back but soon returned. He caressed her palms, hoping he would have them again someday, perhaps for his own.

And, to Athena's surprise, his gloves weren't black stone to be shaped by a blacksmith, as she had imagined, but rather were like the pelts of two soft black dogs she had encountered on a walk into town one day.

He leaned over and ran his thumbs over her knuckles, bringing them up to his purple lips. Athena melted under the intense heat that spewed out of his mouth. Steam traveled up over her hands and arms, as though he were kissing her hundreds of times, all over. She closed her eyes, feeling the color red, the color purple, the color yellow, seeping into her, rising into her body from where his lips touched her skin.

His lips parted; he stiffened and rose. "I have sincerely enjoyed getting to know you over this past month, Miss Everleigh."

Athena opened her eyes. "What?"

"I have enjoyed getting to know you… Miss Everleigh."

"So have I…." She blinked, her mouth ajar, lost in his eyes.

"Until we meet again. I will finish the rest of your duties for today. When you return in a few months, I hope we can continue your apprenticeship."

"I want nothing more in the world, Sir." He tried to let go of her hand, but she would not budge.

"Miss Everleigh, it is almost time for you to go home. I wouldn't want your—mother to be worried about you."

Athena creased her eyebrows. "Sir Claudius, I-I-" she swallowed. "I apologize for taking up so much of your time." Her head fell.

"And I apologize for taking up so much of yours. Good day, Miss Everleigh."