Page 54 of Dark Shaman: Love Found (The Children Of The Gods #99)
ELUHEED
T he mansion had settled into an exhausted quiet, the kind that follows an event so stressful that even the walls seem to need rest. Most of the debris had been cleared from the main areas, the broken glass swept away, the fallen plaster removed.
The servants had retired to their quarters hours ago, grateful for Lady Areana's mercy in allowing them to rest rather than work through the night.
After Tony had been brought over from the hotel, he and Tula had claimed the basement first, disappearing down the stairs with a promise to make it quick.
It had taken them over an hour, and when they emerged with two large throw pillows and a bed cover to bring to Tula's room, they looked more relaxed and happier.
"Those will need laundering," Tula said. "They are covered in dust, but they are so pretty that I intend to take them with me when we return to the harem. "
The items were a sloppy attempt at providing an excuse for Tony and Tula to be alone in the basement, but since none of the staff was around to witness Tula's act, Eluheed wondered why she was bothering.
"I didn't think about collecting items to take with me," Tamira said. "Now that you have given me the idea, I need to do a proper scavenger hunt down there."
Tula grinned. "Good luck."
"Thank you." Tamira reached for Eluheed's hand, remembering at the last moment that she shouldn't hold it. "Let's do it." She smiled at him instead.
She'd bathed and changed into one of her flowing gowns, and his knowing that she was naked underneath was making it hard for him to think coherently. Her dark hair was clean and styled, falling in loose waves around her shoulders, and her face was free of makeup.
She was the most breathtakingly beautiful woman he had ever seen.
They descended into the basement, their footsteps silent on the stairs. The emergency lighting had been turned off and replaced with the regular illumination. However, the space still felt different after the day's events, and not just because of the dust that covered everything.
Their sanctuary was rearranged with clean sheets, courtesy of Tula and Tony, no doubt, and the curtains had been put back to create the hidden cocoon inside .
Tamira kicked off her shoes and crawled onto the bed, pulling back the covers and patting the space beside her.
Eluheed removed his shoes and joined her, pulling the covers over them both. The basement held heat even at night, but there was something about being under the covers that made their sanctuary feel even more private, more removed from the world above.
They lay facing each other, close enough that he could feel her breath on his face and see the gold flecks in her dark eyes that were illuminated from the inside. It was a reminder of how different she was from him, but not in the way she thought.
"It was a close call," she said softly, her hand finding his under the covers. "Too close for comfort."
He nodded. "It was unsettling, and I'm grateful to our jailer for saving the day. In a world run by monsters, it's better to have the scariest one on your side."
Tamira laughed. “I’d never thought of it like that before we were evacuated from the harem, but that's an excellent way to distill the situation.
In there, I was glad to have Lord Navuh's protection from the island warriors that he had warned us about repeatedly, but I still resented him for my lack of freedom.
Now I'm like the canary who has been let out of her cage, discovered that there are vicious, hungry cats outside, and rushes back for the protection of her gilded cage, locking the door behind her. "
Eluheed didn't know what to say.
Captivity as a price for safety ?
That's not what he wanted for her, but then what could he offer her instead?
She shifted closer, until their foreheads nearly touched. "When I thought the rebels were going to break through that door, all I could think about was how many things I've never told you. How many things I've kept hidden because it was never the right time."
The same thoughts had tormented him in those terrible hours. The weight of his secrets had become unbearable, but he hadn't known that she was keeping secrets as well.
He couldn't even ask her about those secrets because that wouldn't be fair. He couldn't demand what he himself was not willing to give. Some of his secrets were bound by oaths, and those he could never share. But there were many things he could tell her that he hadn't sworn to hide.
"I need to tell you something," he said, the words escaping before he could stop them.
Tamira smiled, her hand coming up to cup his cheek. "Are you going to tell me that you love me? Because I already know that, Elias. I see it in the way you look at me, the way you touch me."
"Yes," he admitted, even though he'd wanted to confess first and declare his love for her second.
He took her hand and pressed it against his chest where his heart hammered so hard against his ribs that it felt as if it was about to break free.
"I love you, Tamira, so much that I don't have enough words to express it.
But there are things I need to tell you first. Things about who I really am. "
Her expression grew serious. "I know you are full of secrets, Elias. I was waiting for the day you would trust me enough to tell me more."
"It's not a question of trust. It's a question of burden. If I tell you, you will be forced to carry my secrets, and they are not light. Are you willing to do that?"
"I love you." She put her hand on top of his heart. "Of course, I will carry your secrets no matter how heavy they are."
She'd just said she loved him, and he was still feeling as if he was standing on the edge of a cliff. Once he told her, there would be no going back.
He took a deep breath. "I'll start with the simplest thing. My name isn't Elias. I adopted this name because it didn't raise any questions, and the fewer questions people asked of me, the better. My real name, the one I was given at birth, is Eluheed."
"Eluheed," she repeated, tasting the syllables. "It's beautiful."
"The first part, Elu, is the name of the god my people worship." The words were coming easier now that he'd started. "The second part, heed, means 'dear' in my language. My mother wanted me to be Elu's dear or dear to Elu."
She frowned. "Is Elu a different pronunciation of El? The Biblical god?"
He shook his head. "You've never heard of that god. He's not worshiped by anyone on Earth. "
"I don't understand."
Eluheed gathered courage for the next revelation. "I'm not from earth, Tamira. I come from somewhere else in the universe, and I'm immortal, as you've suspected all along, but not like you. I'm a different kind of immortal."
Her eyes widened, but she didn't pull away. Her hand remained pressed against his chest.
"Where did you come from and how?"
"I can't tell you any more about that," he said. "That secret is bound by oaths I cannot break, and I mean I can't physically say them."
Even now, skirting so close to the full truth about his origins, he could feel the binding oaths tightening around his mind like chains, warning him against revealing too much.
"Are you compelled to keep things a secret? Does someone on your world possess Lord Navuh's compulsion ability?"
He shook his head. "It's part of the shamanic tradition in my world. I guess it's a kind of magic. But maybe it's a different sort of compulsion. There are many similarities between your kind of immortals and mine."
He'd expected her to push back and ask more questions, but surprisingly, she just nodded. "How long have you been on Earth?"
"Over a thousand years," he said. "I came here to hide treasures of immense importance to my people.
They were safe and protected on Mount Ararat, but about two centuries ago, there was an earthquake so massive that it shook the entire mountain.
An avalanche followed, so vast it buried entire villages.
And it buried the entrance to the cave in which my treasures were hidden. "
Tamira smiled. "Now you have me intrigued. What are those treasures?"
He grimaced. "That's another secret that's protected by vows.
I can't tell you what they are. But I can tell you that I've done everything in my power to find a way to recover them.
Every path I've tried has led to failure.
I tried to involve geologists in the area, but no one was interested.
I even tried to go back by myself, but the Turkish government controls access to the mountain.
They say it's because of military sensitivity, given the area's proximity to the border.
But really, I think they know something is there. "
"That must have been so frustrating for you."
"You have no idea. I have to find a way to retrieve them. I can never accept failure even if what I was meant to protect is buried under millions of tons of rock and ice, and I can't get to it."
"Oh, Eluheed." The way she said his real name made his chest tight with emotion. "That's terrible."
He lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. "Not everything is. I was searching for a way to retrieve my charges and found love instead. Now, I just need to figure out how we can both escape this place, dig out half a mountain, retrieve my treasure, and transport us to what’s left of my home."