“I really am sorry about this.”

“Oh, no,” said Apis. He tried to roll his shoulders and try to bring some feeling back into his fingers, but he was stopped by the rope tied around his hands. “Ah, I’m sure this will all work out well enough.”

“It won’t.” The man was speaking with a heavy northern accent. He sounded rather sad. Apis almost wished he’d succeeded in fighting against him, but he’d been taken quite by surprise. Before he’d realized what was happening, he’d been knocked over, at swordpoint, and tied up and on his way. “Really. What happens next, you must understand, this was not my choice.”

“It sounds as if you should lodge an ethical objection with your employer,” said Apis. He stopped walking and turned to stare at his captor. Not past thirty, by the lines in his face. Messy, pale hair. Drawn dark circles around his eyes. “Are you quite well? Are you here by your will?”

“It’s the ghosts,” muttered the man. “Please, just cooperate. It won’t save you, but it will make things go better.”

Sometimes Apis’s mouth just went rogue. In this case, he was being polite by default. “Of course. Where would you like me?” Why are you cooperating? He’s capturing you. Still, he obediently went along. This is how you end up in trouble. You just can’t stop being nice.

Apis stared at the dirt treading away under his feet. “I feel like I should reiterate,” he said, as they continued along the side of the canal, ducking under tree branches, “That I have nothing of value. Yes, I’m carrying some supplies, but we’re relatively low. Even our wood is mostly damp, and-”

“You haven’t been captured for supplies.”

“May I ask again what-”

“You don’t want to know. Keep walking.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence, although Apis kept trying to break the ice. Questions about the man’s name, his employer, where he was from- all were met with an icy silence or more apologies. Finally, they turned the corner to where the massive statue of Teuthida stood.

Her carved stone eyes looked down on Apis mercilessly. Apis turned away, avoiding her gaze. Yet another goddess that didn’t want him. He swallowed.

They had set up a fire underneath her tentacles. “That isn’t right,” he managed. “You ought to camp outside of the statue. It’s not as if it’s going to rain in here, and-”

“It’s not my choice where we camp,” said the man. “Step forward. Down.”

He shoved Apis in. Inside the cavern of tentacles, there was less ventilation. Apis couldn’t help but cough as he stumbled to a sitting position. As his eyes adjusted to the lighting, he could make out two additional figures, both also tied up and pushed against a tentacle.

“Oh,” said Camilla, wrinkling her nose. “So you’re back. I had hoped you might have died.”

“I remain alive,” said the man. “Do you need to use the bathroom? Are you hungry? I might be able to-”

She sniffed. “Oh, so now you-”

“Yes,” said Balbinus, next to her. “Please. At least let us stretch our legs. It’s not right, leaving us stuck here all day.”

Apis was pulled further inside and lashed to a stone tentacle, watching as they were untied and taken outside of the cavern. Left inside, he was only left to stare at the crackling fire.

So. Here you are again. How did this always happen? Elysia was the hero. She escaped- she triumphed, she saved the day.

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What did Apis do? He got himself captured.

Remembering his time in Kingshome, he stretched his legs while he had the chance. He didn’t know the next time he’d be allowed to move properly. Then he sighed, leaning back against the tentacle. Positive thinking.

In the temple, it wasn’t appropriate to think sad thoughts. In a situation like this, he was supposed to think of five good things that could grow from it.

Apis tried to wiggle the ropes a little looser as he tried to think of a few. The fire is nice. My socks might dry out. Unlikely. His socks had been wet ever since he’d swum up from that grate. Maybe they’ll feed me, and I won’t have to use those other rations. Also unlikely.

He sighed. Andrena, goddess of everything that matters: a blessing would be appreciated. I cannot see what can grow from this situation.

The fire crackled. The smoke thickened.

As usual, nothing happened. He heard a clatter at the entrance and glanced over, hope rising, but felt his spirit fall again when it was only Camilla and Balbinus, led by their captor. He forced himself to smile anyway. “Welcome back,” he offered. “I kept the fire going for you.”

“You don’t need to pretend to like this,” said Camilla. “This is inhumane. They’re planning something horrible for us. Probably going to eat us.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Balbinus. “There’s fish just out there. Why would they eat us?”

“I certainly don’t know. But why else wouldn’t they tell us their plans?”

“Maybe they want companionship,” offered Apis.

“Maybe they want something for target practice,” said Balbinus.

“Or maybe they want something to eat,” said Camilla, ending the exchange as she leaned back. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. We don’t know what the North is like anymore. Obviously, they all went insane once the empire lost control.”

They all turned to stare at their captor. He was poking at the fire. Under their collected stares, he looked up. After a brief glance, he looked back down at the coals. He said nothing.

“You see?” said Camilla. “Cannibals. Who wouldn’t deny being a cannibal?”

“He didn’t deny wanting friends, either,” said Apis, but he didn’t think anyone was listening. To be fair, he didn’t believe himself either.

This was what he got for trying to prove himself. He’d gone with Elysia hoping to leach off a little bit of her spirit, the pure personality that she took into every interactio. It was infectious. No matter what she did, she was so determined.

He had known as soon as he’d watched her negotiate with the guards on the Infamy. She was like a hammer bearing down. Apis had never been that way. If he demanded things, people just… ignored it. Apis was nice. He was friendly. He wasn’t intimidating. Even when he tried, mostly people just smiled at him.

You also hoped Andrena would speak to you. Be honest with yourself.

Now he was stuck and alone. With damp socks and no contact from the Goddess.

He sighed. Without holy intervention, he didn’t have much of a chance.

As he cleared his throat- what are you even going to say? Ask about his family again? The weather? Be honest with yourself- he was mercifully interrupted by someone else stepping into the light of the fire.

The first thing he noticed was the gleam of the blade. Then, along the edge. His heart dropped. There was blood crusted over.

Elysia. Duran.

It was a stocky woman. She looked similar enough to the man that had captured Apis that they must be siblings. She stomped over to a seat across from Apis and began cleaning her axe. The silence stretched out for ages before the man finally spoke up.

“Did you get it?”

He was using the Northern language, Apis noted. For once, he was happy he’d bothered learning it. He leaned back against the tentacle and tried to act like he didn’t understand.

"Yes.”

“Ah.” The man coughed. “Then everything is-”

“She remains free,” she said. “She has one of the blades.” The rag swept over the edge of the axe. “We lost five souls.”

The man didn’t respond for a long moment. “Then we shouldn’t-”

“Everything continues as planned. We have the last one we needed. It will be good to have extra hands for the-” she used a word Apis couldn’t quite understand, at least in context. He’d learned it as ’trash’, but that couldn’t be right. “Besides, no need to waste the bodies.”

“But if she has a blade, why would we risk it?”

“She will be easy to dispose of. Unless you’re a coward?” She finished wiping the blade, then turned to stare at the three of them. “We should do it now,” she said. “I’m ready.”

“You’re still injured,” said the man. “Maybe we should wait.”

“No point in waiting. I want to go.” She pointed the axe at Camilla. “Start with the loud one. She annoys me. You go start the circle. I’ll eat while I wait.”

The man began to speak, but hesitated, looking first at the prisoners and then at the fire. Finally, he stood up and reached for a cloak, pulling it over his shoulders. Apis thought he saw a shimmer of green past the tentacles of Teuthida. A face looking out at him. Then he turned to look at the man again, and out of the corner of his eye it was gone.