Arcane Attraction

C H A P T E R 9 - Aurora.

I pulled the door to the girls’ chambers shut behind me, not bothering to give her a last glance, for I was quite fearful of the fact that that last glance would spur her to life, that the door wouldn’t even make it as far as closing before she would be out here again, as ready and eager to challenge me as I had been eager to insult her. I was expecting her to react in this way, because it was how I would have reacted if I had been unlucky enough to find myself in her position. And the reason why I was expecting her to react like me, was because there was something about her—something so small and slight that I wouldn’t have noticed it under different circumstances—that reminded me of myself.

If I had to take a wild guess as to what it was, I would have had to say that it was in the way that she carried herself, in the way that her shoulders had remained squared when she had apologised to me, and even when I had started to talk her down, she did not lose that proud stance of hers. Not once. I had seen it on her face too, in her eyes. Seen it in every ounce of her being. I knew deep down that had it not been for the fact that I was Queen, she would have made sure that I understood who she was—and that was someone who shouldn’t be walked over.

Before I knew it, I had taken off, my feet carrying me at half of the pace that I would have been walking on an average day. It felt like I was using every ounce of my self-control to stop myself from breaking into a jog, a run, a hundred metre sprint. All this time, she had known exactly what she was doing, and I had been so naïve as to trust her, to believe that she would do everything by the book, to think that there wouldn’t even be a need for me object to anything.

Well…

Like it or not, I was about to break some unfavourable news to her.

I had some objections. More than just some. So many that I wasn’t even keeping count of them anymore.

But even as I blindly made my way through the palace, my mind reeling with list upon list of everything that I craved to say to her, lined with insults that I wanted to sling at her, I knew that she wouldn’t be affected by any of it, because she simple truth of the matter, was that she didn’t care. She was a Goddess, for crying out loud, and the possibility of her turning around and laughing in my face once I’ve said what I wanted to, was at an all time high.

I didn’t even slow down, or hesitate, just crouched down and slipped into the ice like water of the water portal, finding that I wasn’t as affected by the cold temperature of it as I would have been on a normal day. But then again, that just worked to remind me of the fact that there was nothing ordinary about today.

It took no more than a moment for me to find myself in the familiar dream-like realm, with clouds of white thickening the air—and no sign of the moon goddess. It felt like she was running away, hiding because she knew that what she was doing was wrong. It had to be wrong.

                “You’re making a mistake. And you know it. So, come on out here so that we can sort this out, because I’m not going to deal with the consequences when all of this falls apart.”

And just like that, she appeared out of a puff of smoke, standing a few feet away from me without so much as a look of regret on her face. No. The only thing that marred her unaged face was a frown as deep as I had ever seen.

                “What are you talking about, Aurora? What mistake have I made?”

                “Oh, don’t play dumb with me. You know just as well as I do that I’m taking about Hera. The simple human girl who came to my palace sporting the name of a goddess.”

She actually had the audacity to smile at the mention of Hera’s name, looking like the cat who got the cream, like she couldn’t be anymore pleased with herself. For a moment, there was nothing I could say to make her see sense—that was until I snapped out of my daze, remembering that I was the only person in the world who possessed the ability to treat her like the buffalo that she was, and I planned to take full advantage of that.

                “Would you mind wiping that smile off of your face? I don’t think that this is an appropriate time to be laughing, since we have problems to fix. Solutions to find. Or have you already forgotten that?”

                “I haven’t forgotten. Tell me what it is that you have decided to deem as a problem.”

                “It’s the girl. What else could it be? How could you have possibly thought that she would have made a good mate to Marcel? You must have been out of your mind! Even I know that they’re a bad match, and the world will see it too. She’s just so—”

                “Just so what?”

Not that I would ever have been able to admit it to her face, but I was thankful for her timely interruption, as I hadn’t had the slightest idea of what I would have finished that sentence with. I had no acceptable or believable reason as to why she was so wrong for Marcel, for the throne and for everything else. But I knew it. I felt it deep within my soul and I was going to trust my instincts on the matter.

                “Say what you were going to say, Aurora.”

                “What I think or do does not even matter to you, so why do I still bother? I can already see by the way that you’re brushing this whole situation off, that you’re not going to listen to a word that I have to say.”

                “Well then, if you knew that what you had to say wasn’t going to change anything, why did you still make the effort to come here? You knew that you would do nothing but waste your breath, and yet, here you are. So, don’t tell me it was all in vain. Say what you came here to say. I’m listening.”

I clenched my jaw, dozens upon dozens of thoughts filling my head, and more than half of them were methods on how I could kill her. It felt like every single atom in my body had become charged with energy, with rage, urging me to snap, to remind her that my bite was twice as hard as my bark. But I knew that that would only make matters worse. I needed to control myself, and if that meant keeping quiet, then I would.

                “I believe that I’ve said more than enough already.”

                “Oh, is that what you think? Do you think that it would be appropriate of me to set you straight on the matter, or would you just end up taking offense to it?”

As if I hadn’t already been offended enough, her statement only made matters worse, but by some miracle, I managed to keep my mouth shut, to not say anything. Speaking from experience, I knew that challenging her now would result in nothing good. She would just shove me back into reality and make sure that it was nearly impossible for me to find my way back here—she had done it before.

                “I don’t blame you for thinking that Hera is no more than an ordinary human, but I’m sure that you’ll be able to see her as I do in due time. You just need to spend more time in her company.”

                “As you do? You see her for more than she is—and that is as fatal of a flaw as they come. How can she be more than she already is? She is a human. How do you even expect her to be enough for Marcel, for the Kingdom? Are you even comprehending what it is that you’ve done?”

                “Oh, believe me, Aurora, I’m well aware of what I’ve done. You don’t need to remind me of it. But I will remind you. I have awoken a longing inside of Marcel, that he hadn’t even known could exist. I unlocked his need for a mate, and even though he’s survived a lifetime without her, he won’t survive another.”

                “All that you seem to care about is Marcel. What does he matter? The girl. This is about the girl. What is she getting out of all of this? Because to me, it just seems like you’re using her.”

For the very first time in the history of my encounters with her, I found that the Moon Goddess didn’t have anything to respond to me with—I had officially rendered her as speechless. And as much of as achievement as it would have been, I felt nothing but disappointment in this moment. Had the situation involved anything else, I might have reacted differently, but it was what it was.

                “I won’t deny it, Aurora. At this point, there is nothing but a mountain of obstacles for her to  survive in the name of giving our people a new ruler. So, yes. She is being used. But who are you, or even I, to say that nothing great will stem from this pairing?”