30 Washing

The dinner went well. Eon was pleased with my attitude. Not all of it was an act though. After hours of trying to climb the wall, it finally sunk in. Eon knew I could never make it over. He just wanted to crush my spirit and teach me to be more obedient. His plan worked. I felt empty.

I was never leaving this place. Unless I left dead. Any wrong movement, any attempt to escape, Eon would catch me and throw out a punishment.

Now I had a different task. I had to wash blood off the hammer head. Gross. At least Eon gave me rubber gloves.

I pulled off the green dress and put on my nightgown. There was nothing else to do after washing the hammer head besides going to sleep.

The hammer head still sat on paper towels. I was a bit worried the blood would stain the white sink. However, Eon would have to understand that the stains weren't all my fault...

The rubber gloves were a little squeaky. I grabbed the hammer head and ran some water. The blood came off pretty easily with a bit of good scraping.

I watched with disgust as chunks of blood washed down the drain. The smell was horrible. I put a little soap on the hammer head and rubbed it around until the hammer smelled nice.

The squeaky clean hammer head sat on a towel while I removed and disposed of the bloody gloves and washed my own hands. Just in case.

I walked to my bed and sat down with the hammer head. Now that it was cleaned, I realized it looked almost new. The symbol dod not include two arrows. It included a hammer and a spear crossing each other.

Wait.

Eon mentioned two symbolic items in the story. The spirits were each imprisoned in one. What if the hammer head was a prison for one of the spirits? If it was the light spirit, I could try and free it. If it was the darkness spirit, I had to keep it inside. How I could I tell which spirit it was?

I needed to tell Eon. Hopefully, I wouldn't be disturbing him. With a deep breath, I held the hammer head firmly in my grasp and walked to Eon's room.

My hand tapped on the door three times.

"Who is it?" Eon's voice came from within.

"It's Lumine," I answered.

"Come in."

I opened the door and walked to Eon's bed. He had glasses on and was reading a long book.

"Eon, while I was washing the hammer head, I thought of an interesting... theory," Eon opened his eyes wide. He removed his glasses and put them along with his book onto a nightstand beside his bed.

"Tell me," he said.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Eon interrupted me.

"Sit." Eon patted the side of the bed where he wasn't sitting.

Nervously, I walked to the bed, climbed up onto it, and sat down. Eon looked pleased.

I explained my theory while pointing to the symbol. Eon nodded his head and examined the hammer head closely.

"Everything you say makes sense. However, we have no proof that either of the spirits are imprisoned in the hammer head. Except for the fact only you can lift it. If you really are the daughter of the king and queen, this may just be a special gift from the Mage," Eon sounded exhausted.

I was a bit frustrated. Most of the information made sense, but we had no proof that it was accurate.

"You may go back to your room," Eon said.

I slid off the bed with the hammer and walked to the door.

"Good night, Eon," I said with a smile.

Eon had put his glasses back on and flipped through his book. He looked rather proud.

"Good night, Lumine," he cooed. I closed the door and shivered.

Once I returned to my room, I went to the bathroom and washed my face off. The water was warm and comforting.

Talking to Eon about the hammer head made me feel something besides emptiness. I looked out my bedroom window. There, I could see beyond the wall. Trees and fields surrounded the wall. The animals living beyond the wall must be so happy.

I put the hammer head on the desk and climbed into bed. It was so soft and comfortable, but I couldn't fall asleep.

Rolling over didn't tire me out. I lay in the bed, miserable and homesick, staring at the ceiling late into the night.

This place felt like a prison. I should have wanted to break free, but that will was lost. A couple of days here had depleted my will to fight. A couple of years would change me completely.