stjorthotic Chapter 300: A favor
Chapter 300: A favor
Chapter 300: A favorSomething wasn’t right yet again. She felt herself floating in midair. Everything was dark; she couldn’t even see herself or where she was. Her body felt as light as a feather. She tried to move, but her limbs weren’t obeying her. Apart from the feeling of emptiness and lightness, she felt nothing. If nothing was a place, it would be here. She couldn’t think of anything but live in that moment as her thoughts were as blank as her mind.
She had a feeling, though, that she was here for a reason. The sense of duty overwhelmed her to the point she
A Goddess’s life never ends. She lived for her people and watched over them, and her daughter had been given to her by luck, but she’d lost her to a greedy man, who also happened to be the lover of a friend.
The centuries that had passed had done nothing to diminish her hate and anger, and she had taken pleasure in watching the man who had made her into this suffer every blood moon. She had not sensed the return of her friend because a magical veil had been placed to conceal her true aura until recently. The betrayal cut deeper than anything.
She gave her oath to never return to him, but yet she was with him.
"It’s either you do it or I do it, Rosette. His suffering is not over, and you know when I do it, I will give him much more than you choose to give him."
"Can’t you find it in your heart to forgive him?" Ave heard herself ask quietly, her throat burning with emotions.
There was silence. It stretched on far too long that Ave thought the woman wouldn’t speak again until she said:
"Never."
A tear rolled down Ave’s cheek.
"Can I ask you for a favor at least? For the sake of the friendship between us in the past. I want to request one thing of you."
"Go on."
Ave heard herself ask the favor, and her heart seemed to knot in her chest as she screamed in her head that she didn’t want that favor, she didn’t want any of it because she would never allow Rosette to control her life and heart. They were the same person, but Ave refused to accept that part of herself.
The favor was absurd and plain stupid!
Ave screamed her refusal as she shook her head. Everything swirled right before her eyes, and she screamed as she jerked awake in bed, shaking and struggling to make sense of everything. Her limbs were shaky, and her eyes were brimming with tears as they streaked down her cheeks, her shoulders jerking with her sobs as she suddenly wanted to hug her husband and hold on to him tightly before he was snatched away.
She turned to find the space beside her empty, and she almost went mad when she realized Lucian had left when she’d fallen asleep.
Ave was too disoriented and unbelievably weeping like a child to think of anything. All she wanted was to see Lucian and make sure he was here. She stumbled out of bed and ran out of the chamber in search of him. It was still dark outside, and from the spark of brightness in the windows, she could tell it was dawn, and morning would soon break. There was no one in the halls and hallways as she ran in search of him.
She found him in the library with her brother, and without a care in the world that her brother was there and that for the first time Lucian hadn’t sensed her fear and panic, she flung herself into his arms the moment he turned to the door at the sound of it opening. She closed her arms around his neck and clutched him like a lifeline.
"W-why did you leave me? I—I told you to stay by my side... why did you leave me alone..." She cried out, sobbing and shaking from the emotions that whacked her.
With his brows drawing into a confused frown, Lucian closed his arms around her and held her to him. He stroked her hair and apologized for leaving the bed. His wife had never acted like this before, and the fact that he hadn’t sensed her emotions before she came here made his frown deepen as he locked eyes with Rylan, who he had gone and dragged out of bed.
Lucian had stayed awake until Ave’s breathing had turned steady and he was certain she was sleeping. He had slipped out of her grip and put on his robe, and then before he left, he had taken one of her nightdresses and helped her wear it so she wouldn’t be cold without his body. He had been very careful not to wake her up. And once he was certain she was comfortable and sleeping peacefully, he’d kissed her lips and left the chamber and went straight to find Rylan.
Rylan had only just started sleeping after being awake for hours using his magic tracking ball to try to track down Elara when Lucian’s persistent knock woke him up.
They had been in the library going through many spell books and other books about witches when Ave had banged the door open all of a sudden, tears streaking down her cheeks and her frightened eyes finding Lucian’s amidst the rack of books. She had run into his arms before he could react.
"What’s wrong, love? Did you have another nightmare?" Lucian questioned tenderly as he stroked her hair for a while to calm her down. She didn’t loosen her grip around his neck but she nodded and his breath hitched before he exchanged looks with Rylan, who sat quietly watching them with a worried frown on his face.
"Do you remember what this one was about?" He tried to ease away from the hug to see her face, but Ave didn’t want to let go; she tightened her hold around his neck and began to cry again.
"I saw her again... but... but I don’t remember what we talked about anymore," she cried, realizing that the most important thing that had scared her awake had slipped away from her mind the moment she woke up. However, the feeling was still there; she had made a deal with the woman, a deal she refused to accept had come from her. But what was it? Why couldn’t she recall it anymore? Why was she being played like this when she’d finally found the one and only?
Why did it feel like her worst nightmare was about to come true? What was going on? Ave cried in her head as she felt her eyes burn until tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks and soaked into her husband’s robe.
"Aveline..." Lucian whispered as he began to console her, but she shook her head.
"I don’t remember it but I know I never want to awaken my Rosa. I don’t want it, it will take me away from you. She’ll never forgive you... she will take me away from you, I can feel it. If my powers ever awaken, I... I will... I don’t want it. I don’t want to be the Rosa witch... I only want you... I only want..." She was saying through her tears that she could barely talk.
As she clung to him, trembling with fear and tears streaming down her face as she tried to talk, Lucian’s expression darkened. His amber eyes, usually warm and steady whenever she was with him, flared with an intense possessiveness as the weight of her words sank in. He could feel the deep, raw fear radiating from her, and his heart tightened in response to it as he felt it as well.
The Moon Goddess was onto his life because she didn’t forgive him.
With a growl of frustration, Lucian pulled her even closer, his arms tightening like an unbreakable shield around her small frame. His voice, low and dangerous, was laced with determination as he spoke, every word a vow.
"None of that will ever happen, my love. I will make sure of it. No one will take you from me, not even your own powers." His hand slid to her hair, his fingers threading through it as he gently cupped the back of her head and pressed it to his chest, where her tears had soaked the front of his robe.