Chapter 17
Yelena stares at the array of books in front of her as Layla paces in the corner, having a conversation with Tawaret that Yelena isn’t privy to. Yelena keeps searching for some sign that Khonshu was there. Tawaret said that he was okay.
Yelena inspects the Egyptian writing and drawings spread out over the desk, moving closer to look at them. Khonshu had taught her Egyptian and Arabic, along with how to read hieroglyphs. On rough nights when Yelena had night terrors or flashbacks, Khonshu would manipulate moonlight in a ball of light in his hand until hieroglyphs were pictured in front of her. He’d make her read through them, often telling stories of other gods.
Yelena peers over the hieroglyphs on the page, reaching out to brush her finger over one of them when her hand is suddenly grabbed and Yelena flinches, twisting to peer up at Layla who had moved across the room without her realizing it.
Yelena had grown so used to Khonshu’s constant presence keeping her safe that her awareness was lacking.
“Do not touch,” Layla tells Yelena firmly, grabbing the drawing and rolling it up so that Yelena couldn’t read it anymore.
“Did you draw that?” Yelena questioned, watching Layla start to close all the books that were open so Yelena couldn’t snoop anymore.
“So what if I did?” Layla inquired, stacking books in a pile until they were relatively neat.
“Because you did it wrong,” Yelena says and Layla paused, her head turning to look at Yelena.
“What do you mean it’s wrong?” Layla demands, grabbing the paper and unrolling it again.
“You’re translating from a derivative of Coptic,” Yelena says, brushing her finger against the same hieroglyph she was looking at earlier. “With a limited knowledge of hieroglyphs.” Yelena starts. “If you--”
“I didn’t write this,” Layla interrupts and Yelena falls quiet, looking up at her. “This is a piece-- a relic that was found recently. This is an exact replica of it, I took down exactly what I saw.”
Yelena looks down at the drawing again before looking up at her. “No, it’s not.” There would be no mistakes like that. Khonshu made sure she knew, Yelena could tell the difference.
Layla lets out a frustrated sigh, reaching up to tug at her hair.
“If…” Yelena starts and Layla glances at her. “If you want, I will help you track down the real one. In exchange for helping me call a meeting. When Khonshu is back with me, I will help you.”
Layla stares at her for a few moments before she reaches up to pinch the bridge of her nose. “Okay. Fine.” She holds a finger out to her right side so Yelena figures Tawaret is there and saying something. “But if we’re going to be partners then I’m making rules.”
“Rules?” Yelena repeats incredulously.
“Rules,” Layla nods her head, grasping Yelena’s wrist and tugging her toward the kitchen. Yelena resists the urge to break Layla’s hand for touching her.
It’s been a long time since Yelena has had kind touch. Khonshu gave her kind touches sometimes but they were few and far between. It would range from grabbing her face in his hands to get her attention when she was delusional on blood loss to a quick yank out of the way of something that would be fatal to save him from having to pilot her body for so long.
“I am not a child,” Yelena comments because Layla sure seemed to think so.
“Right,” Layla said, her tone indicating that she very much did not listen. “I will follow you through until you have your patron back and in turn, you will help me hunt down this relic. Is that agreeable?”
“Are we making a vow?” Yelena questioned. Khonshu wasn’t there to make sure that she didn’t get herself into a contract she couldn’t get out of and vows were tricky when it came to avatars.
Layla paused for a few moments, turning her head barely to look over her shoulder at what Yelena assumed was Tawaret. “Yeah, kid.” Layla finally said. “We’re making a vow.”
“Do you even know how to make a vow?” Yelena regarded Layla with suspicion. Layla glances at her, telling Yelena that no, she didn’t. “Does your patron teach you nothing?’ Yelena doesn’t mean to insult Tawaret.
“Hey!” Layla defended, her voice sharp. “I haven’t been an avatar for as long as you.”
Yelena regards her. Avatars came in all different ages with different abilities but Khonshu had quickly taught her what she needed to learn.
“Okay.” Yelena says quietly, a little unsure of how she was supposed to act around other avatars. She knew Tawaret and knew that she wouldn’t be killed for accidentally saying something rude to her avatar unlike some of the other gods. “I can teach you.”
Layla raised an eyebrow, looking down at her. “Teach me?” She said as if the mere idea of being taught by someone younger than her was foolish.
“Yes.” Yelena peers over toward where Layla had looked last to look at Tawaret. “If that is alright with your patron.” Some gods got finicky about teaching their avatars themselves while others would hoist the duties onto someone else if they could.
Layla lets out a long sigh. “Tawaret says that Khonshu taught you how.”
“He did.” Yelena inclines her head. “My god has been kind and has taught me a lot.” Yelena didn’t have much else to do other than learn. So that’s what she did.
Layla lets out a long sigh. “Okay. Show me how.” She folds her arms, looking down at Yelena like Yelena was about to do some voodoo magic.
“I need a knife.” She said and Layla blinked at her. “For the vow. I promise not to stab you.” She probably could have phrased it a lot better but Tawaret could tell Layla that she wasn’t messing with her.
Layla steps away and fetches a small golden dagger, holding it out to Yelena but pulling it away before Yelena could take it. “Be careful.” She warns like Yelena was a clumsy child.
Yelena huffs and takes the knife from her, turning her palm up toward the sky. “Let me see your hand.”
“What does a vow entail?” Layla questioned, warily setting her hand into Yelena’s.
“It’s basically two avatars making a contract. Because we represent our patrons, should one of us break the vow then it falls onto our god’s head,” Yelena says, holding Layla’s hand open before pausing. “It’s like a pinky promise but if you break it then two gods can fight.”
Yelena gently pressed the blade into Layla’s palm, dragging it across the skin and making a shallow slice. Yelena lets her hand go and then turns her own and does the same. “We will state what we vow and then clasp hands. I will go first.”
“What if I do it wrong?” Layla peers over her shoulder as if to talk to Tawaret, her hand still outstretched and blood pooling in her palm.
“We can start with a simple vow that is impossible to mess up then,” Yelena offers and Layla looks at her. “Shall we do that?”
“Yeah, sure,” Layla says before she looks at Yelena. “I vow to let you keep staying here if you promise not to run away for the rest of the night.”
Yelena scowled at the vow, needing to go out and get supplies and secure her safe house. Still, she sighs. “I vow to not run away if you let me keep on staying here.” She agrees and reaches out. Layla takes her hand, their bloodied palms pressing together.
Layla waits for a few moments. “Is this it? Is it done?”
“Were you expecting fireworks?” Yelena questioned, letting go first. She was startled when Layla’s good hand gripped the wrist of Yelena’s bloodied one and started tugging her toward the sink. “Are we not making another vow?”
“I’m making sure we don’t bleed on my carpet. You’ve bled more than enough for tonight,” Layal says, turning the sink on and sticking Yelena’s hand under the faucet, holding her own over the edge to drip into the basin. “Stay there.” Layla moves toward one of the cabinets, pulling down a first aid kit.
“I’ll be fine,” Yelena insists, pulling her hand out of the stream of water. “I’ll heal up within moments--” She eyed Layla. “Can you not heal?”
“Not magically,” Layla says, staring at Yelena’s hand. “How long does it take?”
“Oh--” Yelena looks down at her hand. “I have to summon the suit.” She paused because she doesn’t think she’s ever summoned the suit in front of someone else before.
Layla, as if sensing her hesitation, looks away. Yelena summons the suit, pulling the hood off of her face immediately and tugging her glove off to watch the skin heal. Yelena can see Layla peeking before the woman gives in to her curiosity and steps closer. Layla reaches out to grasp Yelena’s wrist and inspects the healing wound with fascination. Yelena glances away, squirming slightly as she remembers the stares that the Red Room doctors used to give her after they would perform experiments on her as well.
“Holy shit,” Layla breathes out as the skin finally knits closed and there was nothing but a pale pink line left across Yelena’s palm. “Dude, that’s cool.”
“Does your patron not heal you as well?” Yelena inquired, inspecting Layla. Layla had a few scars on her body but they weren’t healed cleanly like Yelena’s were.
“Tawaret is busy a lot,” Layla says and Yelena can’t help but bristle at that comment. “She has a lot of things on her plate and unless I’m bleeding out then she won’t step in. I won’t call her away to do so.”
Yelena suddenly pulls her hand out of Layla’s grip. “Can we make the other vow now or not?” She vanishes the suit, left standing in the borrowed tunic and Layla’s pajama pants.
“Right,” Layla’s hand is still bleeding. “Do I have to make another cut?”
“Yeah. Can’t use the same one for multiple vows. Only if it’s one vow including multiple people,” Yelena explained and Layla sighs, wrapping a dishcloth around her injured hand and extends her uninjured one to Yelena. Yelena grasped Layla’s hand and made another cut before mirroring the cut on her own. “I vow to help you locate the relic you seek in exchange for you helping me call a meeting.”
Layla raised an eyebrow. “I vow to help you find your god in exchange for you helping me locate the relic I seek.”
Yelena huffs at the changed wording. “Find. I accept your vow to help me locate my god in exchange for me helping you find the relic you seek.” She agrees and grabbed Layla’s hand to shake before dropping Layla’s hand and glaring at her. “You do not change the wording of a vow!”
Layla tilts her chin up stubbornly. “I’m not going to abandon you to go get yourself killed after you talk with the gods!” She tells Yelena harshly and Yelena can’t help but flinch slightly. “I know that gods can be a bunch of assholes and that you’re likely going to receive no help--”
“I don’t need their help then,” Yelena interrupts Layla, ignoring the tugging at her heart. “He is my god and I vowed to be his warrior. He is my god, my-- my master and I am going to bring him back with or without help.”
Layla stares down at her with a frown. “I wouldn’t call my patron my master.” She said, her tone much softer.
Yelena swallows hard, looking away from her. It hadn’t meant to slip out. Yelena had been passed from one master to the next all her life, and Khonshu technically was her master in simple terms. “I didn’t mean to say that.” She says, looking down at her bleeding hand.
Layla lets out a heavy sigh before reaching out to gently grab Yelena’s wrist. Yelena initially flinches before letting Layla take her hand and guide her toward the sink again. Watching the blood run down the drain was the only thing Yelena could focus on. She barely even recognizes Layla standing next to her again until Layla turns the water off and presses a clean dishtowel to Yelena’s hand.
Layla doesn’t ask if Yelena is going to heal it. She simply pulls the cloth away and starts to patch Yelena’s hand up.
The act of someone patching her up is so foreign that Yelena is frozen in place, unable to do anything but peer up at Layla to watch the woman work on her hand.
The last person to take care of her wounds so gently had been her big sister and in the moment, when Yelena was lonelier than she had ever been, she misses her even more.