A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter 61

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, think

scenario really does happen... I‘m going to confess. There is no other way. The side effects of my punishment do

I‘d participated in too many wars already and knew too well the destruction they left behind. This time the cause wasn‘t even for power or territory... it was over releasing an innocent man. A man

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

you from that, Aria. You know as well as I do what the punishment for treason

killing me. He likes the status

Saintess‘ freedom. You‘ll become a martyr within your

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 how Jonathan goes

said

the hell is going on with you? Is this really due to dealing with the devout follower backlash or is this about something else? is it Cai? Do you really hate him that much? I know you guys don‘t get along but this

whatever.” He sighed in frustration, giving up on whatever he wanted to say

don‘t‘ what? What were you going

“Nothing. Forget it.” 

Chapter Sixty–One 

“You always do this,” I said, not bothering to hide my irritation. “I say something or do something and you just go quiet instead of telling me whatever it is you‘re thinking about.

things are better left unsaid. Would you like me to teach

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 you feel you‘re entitled to? Let me give you a quick tip for avoiding that future;

don‘t give Alpha commands,” he retorted harshly. “You can‘t just pick

had overstepped that line. Instead, a moment of icy silence

do what you think is right, Aria. We‘ll deal with whatever happens after when we get to that

really that we were both now in each other‘s faces the second that war was

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.

his life

too,” I mumbled. “It‘s not like I want to do this, Aleric. Just... trust me. You‘ll have my

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

“Maybe we‘ll catch

“Hopefully.” 

moving. I could see on his face that he looked as though he wasn‘t exactly pleased with the outcome, but I was happy that he seemed to

said, motioning towards the car. “I‘ll drop you off at

asked, starting to

Chapter Sixty One 

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

to go prepare for

come here frequently enough that I was

timeline. James barely knew me in this life when compared to the last

me, inclining his head

“James. How is the prisoner today?”

“Same as always.” 

anything further and instead opened the door, accompanying

of familiar gold ones staring right back at me. He was seated at a small table that had

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 anything remotely close to that. We were forced to strict professionalism due to the ever present eyes of guards

are you?” I asked stiffly.

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

“It‘s good to see

his eyes what he was really telling me and it only made things so much harder.

and tried to refocus.

that meant, what two

you‘re still hanging in there,” I

room it at least feels a little less... prison –y. Kind of feels more like home arrest now… if my home was a white cell with uncomfortable

but I couldn‘t bring myself to

so much I wanted to speak about. It was torture. He was right there in front of me, within arm‘s length, and

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

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 feel that pit of guilt clench.

felt overwhelmed, like I couldn‘t breathe. “I should be going… I’ll come

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

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