35. Chapter Thirty-Five #2
Northe’s eyes flicked over to Steig in shock and horror. She stood up abruptly, taking a step back as if afraid he would suddenly jump up and attack her. Part of him fucking wanted to, after seeing that reaction.
“You have brought a daemon?! Here?!” she asked, her voice raised in fear.
“Northe, please, hear us out. I promise you, he means no harm,” Greya said, glancing sideways at Steig and giving him a wide-eyed “say something” look.
Steig cleared his throat pointedly, though he still stared daggers at the woman, and knew his dislike of her was probably seething off him.
“She speaks the truth, matriarch. I mean you no harm, and neither do the majority of my people,” he began, trying to speak calmly as Greya had.
“It is, unfortunately, our king’s doing that so many daemons have been sent to cause destruction lately, and we seek to overthrow him. ”
“Your king’s doing?” she asked, scoffing in disbelief.
“Yes, our leader,” Steig replied adamantly.
He’d be damned by Iblis if he’d let this witch continue to hold her small-minded beliefs about his people.
“He is filled with vengeance against witches for the part you all played in forcing us to the Underworld, but many of us want a different way. A new way.”
It was the truth, of course, and it felt good to speak it out loud, no matter how it was received. But Northe just looked away from Steig, as if he was some impossible thing that she willed not to exist.
“You should have consulted me,” she said, pointing her finger accusatorially at Greya. “This is too big of a decision for Auster to make on their own, without Aquilo.”
“This was beyond me, Northe, I assure you. This was Gaia’s will,” Greya said, speaking firmly, yet refusing to get sucked into Northe’s anger.
“Why are you telling me this now? What do you hope to achieve?” Northe asked, placing her hands on her desk and leaning aggressively towards Greya.
“We have come for your help, Northe, Aquilo’s help, in overthrowing the king who has caused so much tension between our two peoples.
We want your support in the transition to new leadership, and your allyship as we embark on a new path for witches, daemons, and mortals alike.
One of cooperation and peace, rather than division and hatred. ”
Northe huffed out a laugh of disbelief, and Steig wondered if Greya and Perse would be very mad if he slapped her.
“You want witches to help daemons? After all they have done? Are you mad? Heran would be appalled to see you championing this path, Greya. I am just glad she is not here to see it.”
Greya went stiff beside him, and she looked like she’d been punched in the gut. Steig knew that Heran was the old matriarch, and Greya’s mentor, but he was not aware of the circumstances of her death.
“You’re right,” Greya said hauntingly and with conviction.
“Heran would not have supported this. She did not see the errors of the old way either—even right up until the end of her life, and now it’s too late.
Too late for her to change her mind. Too late for her to listen with an open mind.
Too late to give me and the other witches who participated absolution,” Greya continued, her voice cracking with emotion.
“But neither you nor Heran saw what I did during the unbinding ritual—witches and daemons working together, and the presence of both gods throughout it all,” Greya added passionately.
“In my bones, I Know a different order is needed, so Northe, please, I beg you to listen,” she said, speaking calmly once more.
“You know better than anyone that witches are no more safe under this current system than they were before. The bond is broken, the deed is done. It cannot be undone, and now, the only true path forward is a new one. One of peace and cooperation—one which serves witches better than this. I Know this is the correct path to protect my Coven, and I took the fides oath just as you did, so I must follow it.”
Northe stared at her, disgust and anger warring on her face, despite Greya’s passionate and truthful speech. “This path serves Iblis, child,” Northe said, her tone sinister. “And I will not help you. Now please, leave my village, before I have you forcibly removed from it.”
Greya stood up slowly, staring eye to eye with the woman. “So be it, Northe. But I urge you to commune with Gaia and the other witches in your Coven about this. They may be of a different mind to you, and you would do well to listen to them.”
With that, Greya whirled around dramatically, giving Steig and Perse a brief glance each as they followed suit and stood to leave.
The three of them rushed unescorted to the hallway, and out the front door. They walked quickly, sensing Northe’s eyes on them through the window, and knowing that they had already overstayed their welcome in the Aquilo Coven.
“Well, that didn’t seem to go very well,” Steig mumbled once they were out of eye and earshot.
It had not gone the way he’d expected, and while he was glad it hadn’t devolved into a fight, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t itching for one after that.
How had Greya kept her cool in the face of such ignorance?
“Not particularly,” Greya granted as she pulled up the hood of her cloak. “But don’t worry. I have a backup plan.”
A backup plan? Steig didn’t know if he wanted to be dragged into more drama, but after the way Greya had defended herself and his people, he reluctantly found his respect for his ally rising. If she would fight this hard for a new path against her own kind, then maybe he could too.
So, as they fled the matriarch’s house together, Steig knew without a doubt that he had made the right choice by agreeing to help, and he followed her.