A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter Sixty–One 

“...What did you just say?” I asked, my voice thick with disbelief. 

“I said they‘ve declared war,” Alexander repeated. “They‘ve said that if we don‘t release Caius before sunset tomorrow that they will officially announce their intent to bring him home by force.” 

Less than twenty–four hours. I had less than twenty–four hours to free him or we would be initiating a war. 

...And it would be my fault. 

“It‘s not enough time,” I whispered, the panic rising inside me once more. “...It‘s not enough time... It‘s not enough time.” 

I took a step backwards as my mind continued to whirl. This was it. Everything had been leading to this moment and it was finally here. 

“Is there anything else I need to know?” Aleric asked him. 

Alexander frowned as if he‘d expected him to have a different reaction.“... No? Just that we received a letter from the Silver Lake just now... —” 

“You can go then,” Aleric interrupted. “Thank you for telling me as soon as possible.” 

“What? ....Uh, yeah, okay...,” Alexander said, confused. 

He took a few steps backwards, still unsure as to why he‘d been dismissed so quickly, before finally turning around to leave. 

As soon as Alexander was out of sight, Aleric immediately turned his attention to me. 

Everything was spinning, making it hard to focus. What could I possibly do to stop this now? Maybe confronting Thea myself and trying to get her to confess again? But no... that energy inside me had become disconnected, like a flickering light whenever I tried to grasp it. I remembered how sick it made m e last time and didn‘t think I could force anyone to follow my orders right now even if I wanted to. A parto fme knew that doing so would be reckless... potentially deadly. 

“Aria,” Aleric said, his voice cutting through my thoughts. It was enough to make me look up to him, meeting his gaze directly. “Breathe. In and out.” 

As he said the words, I realised my breathing had become shallow, my concentration on thinking taking priority. Slowly, I breathed in deeply and back out again. 

“You‘ve got that same expression that worries me,” he said. “The one where I leave you alone to calm down, only to find out you’re acting completely insane a few days later. We don‘t have time for that anymore. I need smart Aria right now, not self–destructive Aria.” 

He was right, I needed to slow down and think properly. Confronting Thea myself was far too risky and 

almost certainly wouldn‘t work out in my favour. 

And so, I closed my eyes, my breathing still shaky, but I did my best to focus. 

I went over it all in my head, thinking through the different possibilities, the different outcomes... but with the limited time we had left, there wasn‘t much we could do. 

Shaking my head, I frowned. “There‘s no time, Aleric... our best hope is that Jonathan accidentally reveals himself tomorrow or Thea slips up.” 

“... That‘s cutting it pretty close,” he said. 

“I know... which is why I have one more solution as a backup plan that is almost guaranteed to work.” 

He crossed his arms, his brow furrowed. “If it‘s quaranteed then why don‘t we just implement that one first instead?” 

I bit my lip, unsure if I should tell him. I already knew what his reaction would be. 

“Well... because..,” I started hesitantly. 

His frown deepened for a second before finally, he understood what I meant without me even needing to finish. I could see the recognition on his face when he realised what I was planning. 

“No, no way,” he said, a tone of finality in his words. “You‘re not doing that.” 

“Aleric, I don‘t have a choice.” 

“You‘re throwing your life away,” he argued. “Everything you‘ve worked towards, everything you‘ve fought for. You‘re going to give it up for him?” 

“I‘m not giving it up for him... I‘m giving it up for the pack. Both packs. I‘m giving it up to save innocent people.” 

shook his head. “Aria,

“I can‘t let thousands of people die for my mistake. If the worst–case scenario really does happen... I‘m going to confess. There is no other way. The side effects of my punishment do not overrule the lives of innocents.

the destruction they left behind. This time the cause wasn‘t even for power

help him see reason. “Aleric, if you really cared about the Winter Mist, and I know you do... you‘d let me do

to death? What then, huh? I can‘t save you from that, Aria. You know as well as I do what the punishment for

I reassured. “He can‘t. He‘d chain me to a pole for the rest of my life before killing

Goddess devout nutcase on our doorstep demanding their Saintess‘ freedom. You‘ll

desperately trying to help him see reason. “That‘s at least a more manageable problem. One thing at a time here. First, I‘ll call an emergency meeting scheduled for just after lunch tomorrow. In the morning before that, we‘ll see

he said

dealing with the devout follower backlash or is this about something else? is it Cai?

He sighed in frustration, giving up

What were you going

“Nothing. Forget it.” 

Chapter Sixty–One 

this,” I said, not bothering to hide my irritation. “I say something

knowing when some things are better left unsaid. Would you like me to teach you how

sake of avoiding a smaller confrontation. Wars don‘t solve all your problems, Aleric. What are you really afraid of here? Is it that you‘re insecure over whether I‘ll usurp you one day? Gather followers of the Goddess around me and take over what

retorted harshly. “You can‘t just pick and choose which title you

I had overstepped that line. Instead, a moment of icy silence hung between us, neither of us wanting to concede. Finally though, his

have snapped at you first,” he said quietly in defeat, running a hand through his dark wavy hair. “Just... do what you think is right, Aria. We‘ll deal with whatever happens after when

we were both now in each other‘s faces the second that war was finally at our doorstep. It was a cocktail for short fuses and high tempers. Which was exactly why the best decision here was for us to walk away

presented was the best decision here. Both paths ahead had their own obstacles, their own pros and cons. And whilst it felt as though Aleric‘s opinion on this right now seemed off, I had to give him credit where it was due. If it hadn‘t been

his life on the

to do this, Aleric. Just... trust

rubbing tiredly at his eyes. “Aria... that‘s not... Yep. Okay,

with a small smile. “Maybe we‘ll catch Jonathon tomorrow and be dragging his ass

“Hopefully.” 

of us moving. I could see on his face that he looked as though he wasn‘t exactly pleased with the outcome, but

towards the car. “I‘ll drop

are you going?” he asked, starting to

Chapter Sixty One 

exactly where I needed to go next. Only it wasn‘t somewhere I wanted to

for

an echo as I went. I‘d come here frequently enough that I was now familiar with these walls, but their contents

James, positioned on guard duty. He was the warrior who had escorted me from m y cell to the trial grounds in my previous timeline. James barely knew me in this life when compared to the last but my respect for him had remained. Those last moments he‘d gifted

he greeted me, inclining

nodded back in acknowledgement. “James. How is the prisoner

“Same as always.” 

say anything further and instead opened the door, accompanying me inside.

my eyes immediately darted around, searching until they fell on a pair of familiar

neck, and wish for the thousandth time that this wasn‘t real… but I couldn‘t. Not here, not today, and definitely not over the last few months, had I been able to do

are you?” I

of guilt always hitting me hard whenever I got to see him. He hadn‘t hinted at any complaints even once since coming here but I knew it had to be hard. I could see the circles forming under his eyes and how he‘d lost a little bit of weight. It was all signs

replied. “It‘s good

voice almost made me lose my composure. I could see in his eyes what he was really telling me and it only made things

cleared my throat and tried to

what that meant, what two paths would potentially be waiting for me now. But, more importantly, he would know that this was goodbye. Regardless of how it went, tomorrow Cai would

you‘re still hanging in there,” I half lied,

–y. Kind

slightly but I couldn‘t bring myself to give him a smile

freely with him and yet there was so much I wanted to speak about. It was torture. He was right there in

to Cai silently. James was at the door within listening range

desperately that he saw just how sincerely I meant that. How much weight I really meant behind

as if he was sensing exactly what I was feeling, and inside I could

okay,” I said, no longer having the strength for this anymore. I felt overwhelmed, like I couldn‘t breathe. “I should be

and was about to stand up when his hand suddenly shot out, clasping my wrist to pause me.