Empress of the Gods

Atarah

Atarah heard the door from the entrance to the dungeons. Only she didn’t turn around to see who it was, assuming it was William. That place was awfully quiet. She didn’t even hear Robbie and Myrah anymore, which was strange.

“Are you here to give an explanation or to run out of words again?” she asked coldly, only turning sideways to listen to his answer.

“First, I’m not here to give you any explanation, love, and second, I don’t think I’m ever speechless,” replied an alluring male voice she recognized. When she turned to face him, she realized who he was. The ravishing fae from the golden city that disappeared into thin air with a gemstone that fit perfectly into the Dimneas’ dagger.

“I know you,” she said, approaching to the door of her cell. “You have the gemstone.”

Leander stopped in front of her cell and looked at her, moving his head slightly to the side. “What gemstone?” he asked, as if he didn’t know what she was talking about when he was perfectly aware she was talking about the gemstone.

She was never going to forget his face. How could she? If he was impossible to go unnoticed. Also, she would never forget those words he said to her on that balcony. She had a strange feeling like the one she had with her gifts, but not as if her gifts were ready to come out. It was more as if her gifts were summoned by someone else. Then she thought about the fae soldier that wanted to cross her mental shields. Could it be him?

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” she said. “Tell me something, does your majesty Melione know there is a thief in her ranks? What are you doing here? What are you going to steal from her? Does she know you have the missing piece of the Dimneas’ dagger? Where is the guard you are impersonating?”

“Why so many questions, love?” he asked with a half-smile on his face while he took out the keys to the cell.

“Why are you answering my questions with another question?” she asked, trying to hide her pain with a smile on her face. The moment they stared at each other, she could see his green eyes, which reminded her of the deepest green of a forest. Only she couldn’t hold his gaze. Everything hurt; her heart hurt; her soul hurt, and she didn’t know how she was holding on. “I could tell Melione you have the missing piece of the dagger. Tell me what you plan to steal now?”

Leander looked at the keys in his hands with a slightly closed-lipped smile on his face. “I’m not the one in a dungeon. And what makes you think I’m here to steal something? I may have stolen something for her,” he whispered.

“I once met a fae who told me I was free to do whatever I wanted. I think he took his philosophy seriously without thinking about the consequences of his actions,” she continued before he could answer. “A thief and a guard. What else does Melione’s guard hide? Aren’t you interested in freeing your kind from her claws? Why are you loyal to her?”

“Who told you I’m loyal to her?” he asked when she heard the noise of someone opening the door of the dungeons. That’s when the fae opened her cell and got inside with her, hiding in the wall that was near the bars of her cell. A familiar scent filled her lungs. The fae put a finger on his lips, staring directly into her eyes. He tried to hide as if he wanted to adhere to the wall, but without taking his eyes off her. She looked at the other fae soldier that entered the room.

“I’m here to escort you with the Queen,” said the guard while he tried to open her cell. She didn’t stare at the thief that was hiding next to her. She didn’t know why she helped him, but she kicked the soldier when he opened the door and used her wind to keep him from entering her cell, making him fall on his back. Then she quickly got out of her cell when the guard stood up in a heartbeat. She saw his fist coming towards her face when something stopped him. The only thing that separated the soldier’s fist from her face was Leander’s strong hand.

“Not under my watch, mate,” Leander said with authority to the guard, who paled, and before he could make another move, he knocked him out. She looked at him for a moment before she glanced at the other empty cells.

“Wait, where are Robbie and Myrah?” she whispered, walking to their cells, and not seeing anyone there. She had been so deep in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed they’d took them out of there. She was about to start panicking when she looked at the guard on the floor. Then looked at Leander.

The guard was taking her to Melione and if she didn’t arrive with Melione something horrible was going to happen to Myrah and Robbie. “You need to take me with Melione,” she told Leander when she took the helmet from the other soldier. At first, he looked at her confused, as if he was debating what to do. It was clear he was there for his own agenda, but at that moment, she wanted to know where her sister and her friend were. “I can’t leave without my friends,” she added. Leander stretched out his hand to take the helmet and when he put it on, he took the moonstone shackles from the floor. Before he put them on her without tightening them, she felt a part of his power, feeling electricity with his touch. Something told her he was more powerful than Melione, which made her wonder why he was there. She looked at the strange shackles again.

“Moonstone,” he said when he followed her gaze. “It is said the shackles were forged with a strange stone found on Kenna, so do not waste your energy. Wait until they take them from you,” he suggested. “Are you sure about this, love?”

She nodded with her head.

They went out of the dungeons in silence, and she glanced at him a couple of times. “If you’re not loyal to her, please help my friends to get out of this place,” she whispered, looking into his eyes. “Please,” she urged, and Leander held her gaze. When she heard footsteps coming towards them, that made her turn.

“I can take her from here,” William said to Leander with an authoritative tone, thinking he was a fae guard. He talked to him as if he were the one in charge of the castle. Leander hesitated for an instant and looked her in the eyes before he nodded his head, walking away from them to the opposite side where William and she were heading.

Atarah turned back to see Leander again, but he was no longer there.

William held her by the arm as they walked. She tried to get away from him, but it was useless. “It is not enough for you to stab me in the back, but now you want to take me to my execution, or do you plan to die with me?” she taunted him. “How poetic,” she added without being able to look at him because the moment she did, she would start crying again, not out of sadness but of rage.

“After taking two steps forward, we take two steps back again.”

“Oh darling, we are not taking any more steps. Only you dare to say that to me. Don’t get metaphorical,” she said when she faced him.

Atarah could see the sadness in his eyes as her sight began to blur. “What I am trying to say is that you are very quick to judge my actions.” William sounded like there was an incredible reason for what he was doing which bothered her. So, she started laughing. “And as always, you refuse to listen.”

“Fine,” she said as she looked at him again. “What was the reason? Why did you stab me in the back? Was it worth it?” When she asked, he went silent again. “You told me your family had been killed, and you wanted revenge. Is this about that?”

“Yes,” he replied right away.

“Are you going to be on her side knowing her plan? Are you going to let her cut me in half to get what she wants? Do you plan to be by her side when she builds an empire out of blood and sorrow? Will you be able to sleep at night knowing what you did? Because she plans to destroy everything in her path in case you haven’t noticed.”

“I know it looks bad now, but…” For an instant, he hesitated about what he was going to say. “Melione has a big plan,” he tried to explain. “She promised she wouldn’t harm you if you cooperate.”

“And you believed her?” She looked at him and when he didn’t answer right away continued, “Yes, of course, the great Melione.”

“You don’t understand.”

“I don’t understand?” She looked at the man in front of her that was a complete stranger. She never really knew William. “She plans to kill innocent people to get what she wants, including mortals. But whatever you say to yourself to sleep at night only that it won’t work this time,” William looked at her as if there was more of the story. “All this time you’ve been planning it, haven’t you?” she asked when she looked at him again. With the shackles on her wrists, she could not read his emotions because they blocked all her power. “You killed your men.”

“Yes,” he confirmed without remorse. “Just as you planned to get caught.”

“The difference is that I didn’t plan to kill anyone in my path. Was it even real?”

“Atarah.”

“Did you ever feel something for me?” she interrupted by going straight to the point. He didn’t look at her, so she regretted her question. “You know what? Don’t tell me.”

“I never planned for Rhiannon to link me to you,” he said when he lifted a hand to touch her, but she took two steps away from him.

“No,” she said, holding back her tears. “Don’t you dare to touch me.”