Chapter 314

314 Negotiations with a Goddess

The rogue king got up from his spot on the ground and began pacing about the clearing in front of the goddess. Celeste remained patient and followed his movement with her celestial gaze as the man gathered his thoughts, “I have so many questions.”

“And I can answer some of them, but not all,” the goddess replied.

“Okay then... are you against me?” the man asked her.

“You would believe that while you still breathe right in front of me?” the goddess sounded offended.

“Yes, I would. Countless of my people have died and you’ve brought up others to oppose me,” the man argued.

“But alas, you’re still standing even after everything that’s come after you. What does that tell you? If I wanted you dead, I would merely order you to choke,” the goddess shrugged.

“Then explain it to me. Why do you continue to tolerate their laziness? Why do you continue to let them live when they turned their backs against you?” the rogue king asked, abandoning his former doubts of the goddess’s loyalties.

Celeste’s eyes suddenly flashed in anger at his words, “They haven’t turned their backs on me and you know it. If anything, you’re the one that’s not listening to what I have been telling you for over two hundred years,” Celeste was livid.

“Oh, I have been listening alright. All I see is someone who wants peace when she should seek revenge instead. I’ll never accept what you said all those years ago. I will follow his wishes to the letter and bring an end to that destructive race,” even after annoying the moon goddess, the rogue king continued talking to her casually.

.....

“You continue to underestimate the Man god. I stopped the war because I knew what he was capable of. The hunters are working with the werewolves that listened to me to bring down the rest of you. I watched you before. I know you don’t have much power left after that defeat in Lycaon,” the goddess countered.

“You have been watching then. You continue to let them do what they want. I will not stop until every one of them is dead or a rogue just like your original wishes suggested and I have no doubts that you still feel the same way about them,” once the rogue king had started talking this way, Celeste was pretty sure he was too far gone.

“No, I don’t and you shouldn’t either. How long will you keep this up? How much longer will it take you to stop this madness?” the moon goddess argued. She was getting even more frustrated with the man, but he didn’t seem to let any of her words through.

“Tell me, Celeste. Have you really forgotten what happened?” the king walked up to the goddess until he was too close to her for comfort. However, the goddess did not take a step back. She’d been rooted to the place she’d appeared since the moment she’d come, “Have you really forgotten what he did to you all that time ago? Do you not remember the sight of your fallen sisters?”

The goddess’s eyes began to well up with tears as she stared off into nothing, “I know what happened, Rana. Unlike you, I was there.”

'

“And I can tell from the tears in your eyes that you’ve never once forgiven him for what he did to you,” the rogue king grinned.

“I found something worth more than senseless revenge, Rana and it is something I wished to bestow on all of you. Why did you reject the blessing I gave you?”

“You speak of that gladiator, don’t you?” the rogue king spat, “What more has he ever done for you other than hang on your every word and follow you like a lost puppy? He’s nothing more than a tool for you and you call that a gift. What worth is he compared to the sisters you lost in one of the Man god’s experiments?”

The rogue king’s words were like sharp blades to the goddess’s heart and even when she was being disrespected like this, she couldn’t bring herself to reprimand him for his way of thinking. The goddess fell to her knees and sighed, “I have really grown tolerant of my creations over the years, haven’t I?”

The rogue king chuckled at her obvious words, “You should put it bluntly and say you’ve grown soft. I can barely call you the goddess that brought my kind into existence. On another note, I would like to ask you about a second moon goddess.”

“I don’t have long, Rana. I’ve devoted so much time to you with the hope that you would see past the anger I showed all those years ago, but you haven’t moved forward one bit,” the woman sighed.

“I have moved forward a lot actually. I’ve learnt so much about divine energy and how the royals have an abundance of it. I’ve been able to reach heights that no one has in two hundred years. Not even that pawn of yours will be able to stop you,” the man chuckled.

“Oh, do you mean Katie? What did you think of her?” the goddess asked, her face lighting up.

“She’s definitely impressive, but after that desperate show of power, I’m not worried about her anymore. She’ll gradually fade away and die from lack of divine energy in a body that has been trained to run on it,” the man smiled wickedly, “So much for that attempt at stopping me. Do you really wish me dead that much?”

The goddess facepalmed, sighing heavily, “You misunderstand a lot, but I won’t blame you and won’t bother explaining myself either. You’ve never listened to me anyway. Talking to you now would never change that fact. What brought you here, Rana?”

The rogue king had finally stopped pacing and noticed the change in the goddess’s demeanour as she asked him the question, “I came to ask about the second goddess. Somehow you are dodging the question.”

“I don’t have much time left, Rana. It’s like I told you... I dedicated my time to you, but you’ve failed to see it,” the woman replied.

“I have been watching. I have been listening. My enemies have been doing so as well. None of your actions has been engineered towards helping me,” the rogue king answered coldly.

“Then why are you here? Why are you speaking to me as you know me? Why do you reject everything I tell you and come back to me all the same? Have I not proven to you that I am not your enemy?” the goddess yelled at him.

“You have done so... many times, but I don’t understand your actions. They are quite contradictory,” Rana replied, “One day, you try to bring me down with force, then the other, you whisper into my ear. You spout nonsense of a world with no violence. What has happened to you? Have you already forgotten how the Man god slaughtered your...”

“Watch your tongue, Rana. You’re not speaking to the right goddess about that. What happened to the goddess of the hunt has nothing to do with what happens to the werewolves,” the goddess snapped.

The conversation had now lost its calm flaw and the two beings were openly arguing with each other. The rogue king was barely shaken by the goddess’s sudden outburst... if not a little shaken.

“Now you’re trying to ignore the past. You’re a mess, Celeste, while my mind is clear. I know what’s wrong and right in this world. I know what’s evil and that there is injustice in letting their crime go unpunished,” the rogue king suggested.

“It’s like talking to...” the moon goddess rubbed her temples, remembering another one of her royals that was just like this one, “There will be a moon goddess that will replace me. I hoped that the world is at peace when that time comes.”

“So you hope for my death at that time,” Rana responded.

“Everything I tell you goes in one ear and out the other. It wouldn’t make a difference even if I told...”

“Just tell me where the goddess is,” the king commanded. This was not lost on the moon goddess and she visibly scowled.

“I tell you a lot because of the colour of your eyes, but I don’t have the power to tell you where Selene is. She’s hidden well... even from me,” the goddess explained. In a dangerously low voice, “And I would ask you to watch your tone.”

Rana skipped over the warning...

“You say you’re not against me. I will ask you to give me the power to spread our kind once again. How’s that sound?” the king smirked.

“It sounds like something I wouldn’t let you have. Why would I do such a thing?” the moon goddess asked, slightly bored.

“You know how reasonable I can be. I could have that girl executed right before your eyes. It would be a waste of her talent and not to mention the fact that she is one of the kinds you blessed. And you know you wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it,” the man continued.

The goddess sighed, finally locking eyes with the Seeker that had been frozen the entire time they spoke. It was just like all werewolves to do so when they saw the goddess for the first time, “I’ll grant you that power then... However, it will be on a condition.”

Rana took his time considering her words, “I know you grant my requests, however, you grant theirs as well. What aren’t you telling me?” the king asked.

“The condition is that you’ll be the only one with this gift. Aren’t you afraid that I’ll be able to command you if you get a blessing straight from me?” the goddess smirked.

“You wouldn’t command me to something I don’t want to,” the king replied.

“Who’s contradicting who now?” the goddess chuckled.

“One more thing... Do you hate me for what I’m doing?” Rana asked.

“I don’t hate any of my people, Rana. I might hate what you have allowed yourself to become and hate what you have done, but I would never hate you,” the goddess’s reply was even more twisted.

“Now that we’ve agreed and you’ve acknowledged the last question you had for me, I will do as I please,” the goddess took on a colder tone, “You will get the power you’ve asked for, but you will be the only one with this ability and you will not be able to spread it.

Every being you bite will become a werewolf, but they won’t be able to spread this curse for you. I created this place to allow any royal to come in, but that’s all I did.” As she spoke, the goddess began to ascend into the sky, the light of the moon was particularly brighter around her.

‘Run, little one,’ the goddess’ voice reached Beatrice’s ear, snapping her mind back into reality with a sense of urgency that spurred her into action. Her wolf reacted faster than she did, shifting and making a break for it.

The trees had begun to rumble and groan at the power that summoned them to move closer to each other once more. The king picked up on the goddess’s tone and meaning and so did Thane, launching straight for the trees.

With a wave of her hand, the creeping vines of the trees barred the king’s way and let the Seeker through all at the same time. Thane weaved past the first tree that barred his way only to be hit by a branch from another, hurling him back to the centre of the clearing. The canopy crept back up from the top of the clearing obscuring the moon’s light. The blue glow of the lotuses died down.

Beatrice ran as fast as she could, her heart bursting with excitement and fear. But none of that was as dominant as another feeling that gripped her every fibre... Freedom.

She didn’t look back and as the groaning sounds of the trees died down, so did the foreboding presence of the beta alpha that had been holding her captive... ‘I’m free of them. Thank the goddess... finally,’ she cried, immediately shifting her goal to finding her missing granddaughter.