Empress of the Gods

Atarah

She was starting to stress after they walked with the sun over their heads, feeling it was like a never-ending road. The only noises she could hear were the wind rustling the leaves on the trees and the high grass on the open field. She saw a farm in the distance between the harvest fields that covered everything in soft colors. They approached the four creatures that were out there. Elysia was leaning in the trunk of a tree under its shadows with her arms folded while she observed the other three souls. An adult man whose experience was marked by his gray hair on his head with his hands behind him supervised the young woman who had her back on them, while another young man that was near them collecting crops in a basket.

The woman was wearing clothes like the ones she saw in the city. They were long trousers made from light fabric that billowed with the wind, and her shirt matched.

A water snake floated in the air, and with a couple of movements from the young woman’s hands, the droplets of water rose from the river that was next to her to be part of that snake. She was so focused that she didn’t notice them in there.

When Atarah stopped at a reasonable distance, she recognized the light brown hair that was tied with a long braid like the ones Rhiannon fetched on herself when she wore her battle attire.

Atarah stared at Elysia until her friend nodded with her head, confirming the young woman was her sister. The man who looked like her mentor stopped moving from one place to another and looked at them. It was when Myrah followed his gaze and broke concentration, letting the water fall instantly on the grass. The young man looked up curiously as soon as he realized Myrah had dropped the water snake. Her sister had a wide smile on her face that she imitated when she saw her. They ran to each other, and Atarah surrounded her sister with her arms, feeling the air returning to her lungs.

“What took you so long?” Myrah asked, responding to her hug. It seemed as if they had not seen each other in years.

Myrah took her hand and presented her mentor and friend. The young male was an attractive man whose name was August that looked to be around the same age as Myrah. He had sky-blue eyes that stood out thanks to his deeply tanned skin richen from the hours of working under the sun’s rays, collecting the crops of his farm. He had short, curly chestnut hair and was a bit taller than her.

Her sister’s mentor was the young man’s grandfather, named Wylan. They let her stay with them when August found her in the port. They both seemed nice, but they stared at William, who looked uncomfortable, and then to Galad, who was next to her.

Atarah noticed the leather braided bracelet Myrah had on her wrist like the one William found when she disappeared. When her sister followed her gaze, she explained that the bracelet helped her use her gifts with ease. It was usually what kids wore until they could summon and control their gifts by themselves. Myrah was thrilled to see her, that she told them everything she’d seen on the island.

Elysia and Myrah never showed any signs of knowing each other. In fact, Myrah treated her as if it was the first time she saw her in her life, but she suspected that William realized that was a lie.

William’s eyes were on Atarah the entire time they walked to the farm, only she didn’t dare to face him. Wylan didn’t take his eyes off Galad on the short journey, which made her feel paranoid while she tried to pay attention to what Myrah was saying. She was grateful Elysia was there because she was watching everything around them too. It was a relief to know that someone had her back.

As soon as they got to their farmhouse, Myrah took her to the room she was staying and when she closed the door Atarah observed the space.

“It must have been a long journey with the hunter by your side,” she began to say.

You have no idea. She thought, but only replied with a smile.

It was strange that they had been sharing the same house for twenty years and they looked like they didn’t know each other like they should.

“Was this your plan or Rhiannon’s?” she directly asked with her arms folded. She didn’t know if Rhiannon had given her a special mission, since everyone only knew part of her plans. She didn’t like to be the last one to find out about them.

Her sister looked at her, confused. “The bounty-hunters were not part of anyone’s plan. In fact, they confused me with you and tried to take me to Drykahria. But somehow, I convinced them to come here,” she replied with her hands on her waist as she shook her head. “That’s what you chose to tell me after not seeing me for a while? But since you asked, I was the one who planned on coming here, and I’m glad I did.”

“I asked because Rhiannon …”

“Mom,” she firmly said, interrupting her. “I know it was hard for you to accept it, but she was our mother, not the one who abandoned us.”

She didn’t argue with her about that. “Mom used to hide things. Like I didn’t know Elysia would be following me, so I assumed she gave you a special task here in Ekkirah.”

Saying the word mom felt weird in her mouth. She didn’t feel she could call her that.

“I was angry at you, and I’m glad I hadn’t been on that trip with you and the hunter. I was so mad that I even blamed you for their deaths.” Atarah hugged herself and her gaze got lost at somewhere in the room. “You shouldn’t have saved him. You deviated from the plan.”

Atarah felt a lump in her throat, but her expression became serious from the last thing she heard. “It may not have been part of the plan, but that’s not why the plan didn’t work, and you know it. What was I supposed to do? Let them take me to Melione when I was supposed to let myself be captured by those on their way to Drykahria?” Her tone of voice remained calm, but she was getting angry. “Plus, Will was captured like me and I wasn’t going to let him die. Maybe you are comfortable with that, but that had nothing to do with Will, so don’t make it about him.”

“Will?” she asked, rising an eyebrow, and then she chuckled. “And there it is,” she said. “That’s why mom sent Elysia because she knew that you would do as you pleased.”

“As I pleased?” She pointed with her index finger to herself. “I’ve always done what Rhiannon wanted me to do. I’ve put my heart, soul, sweat, and blood into my training. I’ve learned every part of the plan by heart and mapped out some others, and always followed what the Silverclaw leader wanted. Thinking about what she wanted. So don’t tell me I do as I pleased,” she argued. “By the way, how do you know about Rhiannon’s plan? If she only gave orders to me and Elysia.”

“Are you seriously asking me that? You know that mom always had a plan for everything and more when it came to you two. What did Sabine say about the dagger?” she asked, getting straight to the point, as always. Atarah froze and wondered how she knew about Sabine. “I knew you two were planning something when you went to the hill for the full moon celebration, and I heard every single part of it. So, what did you give to Sabine in return?”

“She didn’t say anything about the dagger, and we didn’t give her anything in return.”

“Then you just upset her,” she assumed. “Great. Let’s hope she doesn’t wake up one day feeling like she wants to collect what you owe her. And in case you were wondering, I have the dagger. I’ve been looking for information about it in the library, but I still can’t find anything that will help us know what you have to do with it.” Atarah hated every time her sister deviated from the initial topic they were talking about. “There is very little information about it, which is weird. We should stay a couple of days to see if we find anything else about it before we go to Euthoria.”

“We should be on our way. The more time we spend here, it becomes dangerous,” Atarah tried to explain.

“To you or the hunter?” she interrupted her. Atarah didn’t answer. “Yes, it’s dangerous for you two, but I’m not leaving. Not yet. We need to find what you have to do with the dagger,” she said before leaving the room.

“And I’m the one who always does as she pleases,” she whispered to herself.

Atarah stood idly looking at the closed door, trying to understand the conversation she just had. She kept thinking that she would gladly trade her place with her if she could. Myrah seemed to know exactly what Rhiannon wanted.

Myrah was still mad at her. It was as if she was a reminder that the coven was gone, but it was not the only reason. Atarah could guess what it was. She was a reminder of the life she could not have, as if she had just woken her up from a beautiful dream.

Things had gone wrong from the beginning. It should have been her and not Myrah, the one the bounty hunters caught. If it had been like that, then she would have already been in Drykahria and looked for a way to convince them not to kill her before she survived the Tsaraath trials and become part of their court. She would have used the Dimneas dagger to keep her alive, and with Elysia’s intel, they would have convinced Drykahria’s court to gather the assembly of creatures—that congregated every winter solstice—to warn them of what was about to happen. But the truth was that the plan was doomed to fail from the beginning.

Plans could change more than once and that was why she hated making them. She no longer knew what they were doing.

With the coven gone, she didn’t have a clue of what to do next and if someone could have any idea, it was Elysia. Something told her she was already mapping or executing her plans.

Even when her sister was old enough to decide on her own, she couldn’t help to feel responsible for her. Rhiannon told her she had to take care of her sister if something happened to her, but she was barely responsible for her. She hated feeling the whole world on her shoulders when she just wanted to live her life and explore the world around her. She didn’t want to meddle in political affairs or in saving Khrysaor in spite of living there after so many years. She was not interested in saving a society that rejected her for many years. But the reason she kept going was her sister and the coven that took care of her and treated her like family. She would do it for them. At least to honor the memory of the coven.

The Dimneas dagger was another matter. That nymph had been clear about it. She hadn’t even been able to say anything to Elysia and if she didn’t talk to someone about it soon, she was going to start losing her mind.

She heard someone knocked on the door, but she didn’t answer and when she saw William come inside the room, she didn’t say a word. She was fighting with her tears that made her sight blur for a moment. “Is everything okay?” he asked, closing the door behind him. She didn’t look at him at first, only tried to clean her tears that slipped from her face. “This house has thin walls,” he softly said to her.

Atarah looked at the ceiling and took a deep breath. Then hugged him by the waist, resting her head on his chest. For a moment, she needed someone to hold her. For a moment, she needed to feel safe. She was starting to wonder if she was crossing a boundary when William put his arms around her, and for a moment, they just stayed that way.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized, sniveling. “I just …” She didn’t finish what she was about to say, and before she went out of the room, Will gently took her wrist.

“I’m here.” He stared at her before he added, “I’m here if you need me.”

Atarah nodded with her head before she left the room.