The Eventide Child by C.A Hines Read Free Book Online Page A

The dock fostered a sparse town, the people, seeming mostly fishermen and merchants, stopped over for supplies on their way elsewhere.
    A hand clasped her shoulder, drawing Alexandra from her thoughts as the flame haired Cass appeared at her side with a grin on her face. The woman stood several inches taller, with skin paler than any she’d seen before.
    “Head out of the clouds, dearie.”
    “It’s just so ... new. Overwhelming,” she finally admitted, breathing out a sigh. “I’d always daydreamed about going on adventures... But I didn’t think...”
    “Best not to dwell on it. No sense mourning the dead if we don’t know for certain they’re dead.”
    Alexandra appreciated the effort to make her feel better, especially after their earlier conversation.
    She offered a small smile in return. Cass gave a nod before beckoning toward Alexandra with her hand as the two of them set inland. It didn’t take long for that small town to fade away into a long dirt path. Trees passed them by and the sounds of strange animals and insects filled Alexandra’s mind. They were making the journey on foot, alone. The crew had stayed with the ship upon the insistence of Cass.
    “Where are we even going?”
    “There’s a temple up the way. Old one.”
    Alexandra stopped, staring at Cass as if she were out of her mind at that exact moment. A temple? It seemed a tad insane to drag her this far just to take her to a temple. There were plenty of temples back in Greece, back in Arkadia that she could have simply visited.
    “Why come this far for a temple?”
    “It’s a special one. Really old, even.”
    The girl had so many questions she wanted to ask but knew she’d receive no more a clearer answer from Cass. Many different thoughts swirled around in her mind making it so that she could hardly enjoy the fact that she had finally gotten her life's wish—adventure. She should have known better. All the old stories spoke of the wrath of the Gods. Hubris. Hubris was always the downfall of man, it was always to be the downfall of man, and it seemed Arkadia had been no exception. She had been no exception. To dream beyond one’s station, that was her sin.
    “Miss ... I don’t know who you thought I was ...” Alexandra started, her stride stopping as fists clenched at her sides. Tears fell from her eyes the idea that she’d never see her family and friends again crushing down upon her like the very fist of Jupiter. “I’m ... I’m just a shepherd’s daughter. I’m nothing, really. The only reason I had that dress on was because Father’s friend insisted on it...” She sighed now, hands raising up to wipe the tears from her eyes. Cass seemed rather surprised at the words, whirling around to march right up to Alexandra.
    The strange woman slowly removed her glove, a gentle hand extending until her bare flesh was upon Alexandra’s cheek. The girl shifted, a thumb brushing a teardrop from her eye.
    “Now I’m only going to tell ya this once. You’re special, girl. There’ll be plenty a folk that’ll tell ya otherwise from here on, but don’t you forget it.” The woman’s voice, which had commanded such power earlier, had changed. Her tone far more motherly and caring now. That raspy voice suddenly offered her a world of comfort and Alexandra’s eyes closed, leaning into the hand for a moment. The warmth. She enjoyed the warmth of that brief contact before Cass quickly withdrew her hand and returned it to the leather glove.
    “Onward,” she announced, leaving Alexandra paused in her steps as she pushed down the path. There was no point looking back, now. She couldn’t go back even if she had wanted to, really. Alexandra didn’t even know where here was, so the way forward was all that remained to her. She quickly composed herself and pressed on after Cass.
    Tree and brush slowly began to give way to ruin. Ruined marble, toppled statue, and broken columns with vine wrapped around them soon began to line their path.