Chapter 18 #3
As one, the Initiates and Hallowed Knights removed their rings and threw them to the ground.
Taseus pivoted as he looked at each of them, flabbergasted.
He lifted the mask off his head, revealing a stunning face with the same golden eyes he’d passed down to my mother and me.
A flurry of emotions fought for dominance on his beautiful features.
Confusion, awe, disbelief, and something akin to sorrow dominated.
“I thought you all hated me,” he whispered as if to himself.
“No, your Holiness! We do not!” Xendia exclaimed while many of the others also shook their heads.
“We did not know what this ring did,” one of the Hallowed Knights said.
The murderous expression that descended over Taseus’ face should have terrified me. But an odd sense of peace washed over me. If Gotia had done this, what other horrors had she perpetrated? She was clearly cold, calculated, and devoid of any morals, so long as she achieved her goals.
He took a step towards her, and she backed away. Ralan—who had picked himself up shortly after his earlier punishment—also cowered in fear behind her.
“I have nothing to do with whatever tampering might have been done to those rings,” Gotia blurted out.
“YOU LIE! Why did you do it? Was it to further isolate me? Did you fear one of them might take your place if I reciprocated their affection? Tell me, Zhara, are her emotions also dampened?” the Divine asked without shifting his murderous gaze away from Gotia.
“Yes. And so are the Chamberlain’s,” she promptly replied.
As messy as this situation was, my chest warmed for my mate.
It now became clear to me why the Oracles claimed that we were all going where we needed to be.
I couldn’t imagine spending decades as an empath thinking that everyone in my entourage either hated or didn’t care about me.
She had truly gone out of her way to isolate him and prevent him from ever having any allies.
And it worked. All this time, he never sought assistance from anyone in his court as his empathic abilities had been fooled by the dampeners.
“Take off your rings, the both of you,” he ordered.
“Taseus, this is ridiculous,” Gotia said in a pleading tone. “This off-worlder is trying to sow discord—”
“Take it off or I will have your hand chopped off,” he warned, the look on his face making it clear he wasn’t bluffing.
Gotia glanced around the room as if to assess if she had anyone who might stand up for her. Failing to find anyone, she looked back at him.
“I am your lifelong consort, Taseus,” she said in a shaky voice as she started pulling the ring off. “I have been your most loyal servant—”
“SILENCE!” he shouted before ripping the ring that she still kept touching the tip of her finger.
As soon as he threw it across the room, a stunned expression mixed with amusement settled on his face.
“By the Goddess, I knew you hated me, but I didn’t realize it was this much.
It’s only fair as it matches the contempt I feel for you.
You stupid female. And you thought I would make you the mother of my children as if you could ever claim the honor meant for Alana?
You tried so hard to ply me with all kinds of concoctions.
But you were too dumb to realize that there are at least two dozen combinations of plants from the garden that kept me from impregnating you. ”
A cruel grin stretched his lips as his words hit her like a physical blow.
To my shame, her distress at the revelation pleased me tremendously.
Worse still, I greatly rejoiced knowing I wouldn’t have any relatives sharing a bloodline with that dreadful woman.
Her going through a pregnancy with Taseus by her side and raising their children together would have been the ultimate blow to my grandmother.
She would have enjoyed everything she stole from her.
“Gothia Konthe, I hereby dismiss you from my court,” the Divine said in an imperious tone.
“You can’t do that!” she cried out, fear thick in her voice.
“SILENCE, I SAID! You will serve at Hyperos Temple with others of your kind. And so will that snake who loved slithering in your wake,” he said with cruelty.
I’d heard of Hyperos Temple. Located in the harshest cold climate of the planet, the temple also served as a prison labor camp.
They only incarcerated the worst Dantorian criminals there.
Gotia would no longer wear these fancy outfits, entertain dignitaries, or enjoy the lavish life of the Consort to the Divine.
“You can’t do that! I am the High Priest—”
Taseus spoke the same word of power he’d used on Ralan, and Gotia fell to her knees. She tore off her mask to cover her eyes with both hands as they bled, including her nose and ears, as had been the case with Ralan.
“Remove them from my sight,” Taseus ordered.
Without hesitation, four Hallowed Knights—including the one who had claimed they didn’t know about the effects of the ring—marched resolutely towards Gotia. They dragged both the High Priestess and Chamberlain out of the hall, kicking and screaming.
Ignoring them, Taseus walked down the stairs towards us.
I swallowed hard, and my pulse picked up as he closed the distance between us.
He was truly majestic as he gracefully climbed down the stairs, his massive wings partially deployed behind him.
He stopped directly in front of me and studied my features as if I was one of the great wonders of the universe.
“Despite what you saw here today, I am not a monster. But I am angry,” he said in an apologetic tone laced with anguish. “They stole all of you from me.”
He carefully cupped my face with both hands, as if he feared I would balk.
I remain still, the warmth of his hands on my cheeks seeping into me, as did the familiar scent of his blood.
I didn’t know this male, and yet he called to me like only family could.
Seeing the pain twisting his features crushed my heart as he caressed the corner of my eyes with his thumbs.
“You have her eyes,” he wistfully mused aloud. “My eye color, but her eyes with those amazing lashes. They would cast shadows on her cheeks whenever she would be shy, which was often. I loved her. I always will.”
“I can see that,” I said softly before giving him a sheepish look. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what to say.”
“There’s nothing that you can say,” he replied gently with a hint of sadness. “I just thank the Goddess that a part of her lives on through you and your mother.”
As I was about four inches taller than him, he drew my face down to kiss my forehead.
And then, to my complete shock, he drew me into his embrace before wrapping his wings around us.
Despite the surprise, I didn’t fight or resist and reciprocated instead.
My heart broke a bit more at the way his body shook.
I instinctively understood that he was fighting tears.
“She loved you, too, Grappa,” I whispered. “She accepted being disowned in order to be with you. And today, wherever she is, she’s smiling down on us to see her chosen family reunited.”