Chapter Twenty-One #2
“Thank you for this, Camille,” I say and she nods once. “You’ve helped me more than you realize.”
“Just remember that when you’re crowned Sovereign Queen,” she teases.
Eve sends her a withering glare.
Grabbing me by the elbow, Eve leads me toward the door. “Not going to happen, Camille,” she shoots over her shoulder and Camille begins to laugh.
?????????????
Eve wasn’t lying.
Good gods, Artemise is pissed.
Over the course of the week, I’ve seen her irritated, angry even.
But this?
This is a level of livid I’ve yet to see—let alone be the source of. Unlike Netharis’ fiery rage, Artemise’s anger is ice cold. A void-like dejection that leaves me questioning my worth.
Leaning over her desk with her hands planted, she stares down at the papers scattered before her. Silver-framed glasses rest low on the bridge of her nose, threatening to fall from her downturned face.
Artemise sighs, a long, drawn out sound.
“Not drawing the attention of the Sovereign King is the only thing Celesta has asked of you thus far,” she says, her voice tight.
Steeling myself against her ire, I clench my jaw and remain silent. I shouldn’t have lingered on the balcony—Artemise is right to be furious. Yet, at the same time, my own irritation begins to rise.
“I will have to commune with Celesta tonight to see what she’d like to do,” she adds, her tone softer.
“For a mother who is concerned about the wellbeing of her daughter, she’s been strangely absent this last week,” I say, my tone defiant.
Artemise’s brown eyes widen with disbelief before darkening with fury once again. “You forget she is also bound to the god of death, Vestaris.”
A quick, white hot flash of humility blazes through my chest.
Straightening herself, Artemise’s mouth becomes bracketed with deep creases of displeasure. “I warned Celesta you would not be ready.”
“Ready for what, Artemise?” I scoff, pulling myself off the far wall, throwing my hands out to my sides. “Because if there’s something I should be preparing for, I’ve not been told what—all I’ve been doing is hiding. Hiding from Netharis, hiding from Kassil, hiding from the Sovereign King—”
“You ungrateful child,” she huffs, her eyes locking with mine.
“No,” I shake my head slowly, “not ungrateful. Tired of letting gods decide things for me.”
Artemise laughs bitterly. “We are all subject to the whims of the gods. All we can do is align ourselves with the god we believe will best protect us from the others.”
“I refuse to believe that,” I argue, my resentment clear. “I refuse to simply relinquish my agency to gods who couldn’t care less about anything other than themselves.”
“And how is that going for you?”
The question cuts through me like the ice cold winds of the Layer of Treachery—and kicks my own rage awake. My innate shudders and stretches, ready to feed.
“Celesta hides you at great risk to herself,” she adds bitterly.
“Another who seeks to use me,” I shoot back, my voice acidic.
Artemise’s eyes grow round.
“Tell me Artemise, what are her plans for this eclipse?” I meet her stare the same way I would when facing Netharis. Unafraid and ready to fight.
She lowers her stare, and a small sense of victory snakes around my heart. With a defeated sigh, Artemise plops into her chair. Reluctant to answer my question. I laugh, a cold, bitter sound.
“At least when Netharis would use me as a means to an end, he was honest about it.” I scowl at her. “Can’t say the same for Celesta.”
Good gods, I never thought I’d say such a thing.
Netharis and honesty are two concepts that rarely overlap.
“Vestaris, she is doing what she said she would,” Artemise says, her tone softer, taking me by surprise. “She is planning to help you. She just—she needs time to prepare. This opportunity won’t come again in your lifetime.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like you, Celesta is Fated,” Artemise explains, the crease between her brows deepening. “But her Fate is contingent upon you. By setting you back on the path Nektos has woven for you, she can fulfill her own Fate.”
“For centuries, I’ve kept you safe. Hidden from Nektos.” Netharis’ words loop themselves in my mind.
“And what is her Fate exactly?” I demand.
“She’s never shared it with any of her High Priestesses,” she deigns quietly. “But she is convinced helping you will free her from her contract.”
My eyes shoot wide as my blood runs cold, dousing my rage in an instant.
“I can’t free anyone from a contract, let alone a goddess.” My voice doesn’t hide my state of shock and disbelief.
“With Celesta’s help, you can,” Artemise encourages gently. “Which is why we need you to stay away from the Sovereign King. He will take you away from her in his own pursuit of power.”
“Because choosing to help a god seeking power is better than a mortal doing the same.” My lip curls in disgust with the thought. “Celesta is going to need to show me she’s better than Netharis. As far as I’m concerned, all of the gods care only for themselves.”
“Celesta is not like the other gods,” Artemise says her tone curt. “She has accepted you into her fold, kept you safe behind her wards, given you her blessing.”
Reaching across her desk, she picks up a folded newspaper and slings it toward the edge of the desk. It falls with a heavy flap.
“If you’d paid attention to what your presence has done to this city, perhaps you’d recognize the things she has done for you,” she says in cutting tones.
Approaching the desk, I turn my sight downward, my eyes drawn to the headline.
PANIC STRIKES CITY RESIDENTS: VAMPIRES AND UNDEAD LURK IN OLLORA AT NIGHT.
A mixture of guilt, fear, and dread causes my fingers and toes to grow cold and numb as I read.
City residents are advised against leaving their homes after dark and to not answer their doors.
Those in the South Ward and Brightstair districts especially, where the latest sightings have taken place.
The tiniest slip of relief washes over me as I read no lives have been lost, thus far, with the sightings.
The next sentence leaves me reeling.
The Sovereign King Alaryc Witherhorn—it starts and I can’t bring myself to read the rest. My eyes linger on his name. There in plain print, the name of the fae I’ve dreamt of for reasons only the gods know.
Bastard knew giving me his full name would be damning. A demon would have done the same thing. I almost laugh with the thought.
If Artemise is trying to convince me of all the dangers I’ve been kept safe from on account of sheltering in Celesta’s temple, she’s failed miserably. The article goes on to detail the Sovereign King’s approach in protecting Ollora and ensuring his people remain safe.
Increased royal guard in the city.
Nightly curfews.
Hiding in Celesta’s temple, within her ward, hasn’t done anything to help with the situation.
While Ryc’s actions as Sovereign King have.
The sudden feeling Artemise isn’t being completely honest creeps into the back of my mind. There are too many things that don’t make sense, things that don’t quite add up. Even if such a thing were possible, why would a goddess need me to free her from her contract?
Surely the moon goddess is more powerful than I am. Especially considering the restraints on this mortal body.
No one is being honest in any of this.
And I can’t blame them for it.
I haven’t been honest either.
But I need more information from all parties involved before I make any kind of decisions.
Artemise’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. “Each sighting places them closer to the city proper. Celesta lied, Vestaris, and Netharis has begun to suspect it.”
“Netharis has asked Celesta about me?” I ask, my brows raising.
“Of course. She’s not going to let him take you back to the hells. Not when she’s just found you.”
The fear in my veins sinks into my bones, chilling my entire being as shame silences me. But it quickly becomes anger, because the gods—whether Netharis or Celesta or even Nektos—will never give a shit about the impact of their decisions on anyone other than themselves.
Snatching the paper from my trembling fingers, she throws it onto a pile of others to the right of her desk.
“Return the kindness she’s granted,” she implores, her brown eyes pleading. “Remain hidden and avoid attracting further attention from the Sovereign King.”
I nod, even though it’s too late for that.