The Goddesses Throne

by A. Kingsley

  Clare continued to scoop painful bites of food into her mouth, swallowing in bitterness. As soon as the dessert was cleared off of the table, she rose from her chair and began quickly walking out of the grand hallway. Once she was out of sight, she put two fingers on the creases of her dress, lifted up the ends and sprinted. She could hear Cassius’s voice down the hallway, pleading and begging her to stop. Panting and almost tripping on her heels, Clare pulled open the door of the storage room and slammed the door shut. She was looking for the key to lock herself inside when someone from the outside began to pull and twist on the doorknob that she was holding onto.

  “Just let me in. This won’t end well if you don’t talk to me Clare. I don’t want to have to use my strength or my parents against you, but if you don’t tell me what it was that I just saw, I’m going to have to report you to someone,” Cassius shouted.

  Her eyes were clouding with tears and though she didn’t want to face him, she couldn’t risk anyone in the hallway hearing his words. She let go of the doorknob and he swung the black wood door open and slithered his way inside. The heavy door closed behind him and once they were alone, he looked at her with wide eyes. “What was that? We can’t ignore what just happened. There are only a few people in all of Europe, only a few thousand people in the entire world who can use magic and we both know damn well there are only two kinds. Don’t think about lying to me. What the bloody hell is going on?”

  Whoever Cassius had presented himself as earlier was gone. While he may have been scared of her, she was equally as scared of him. The tears in her eyes began to bubble to the surface and fall down her face in streams. “Please, please you have to promise not to tell anyone.”

  He didn’t respond.

  “I haven’t told anyone,” she exclaimed. “Not even my sister.” She took a moment to collect herself and started to quiet her sobs when she became aware that someone might hear her. “I realized only a year ago that I had magic. I don’t know how I got it because no one in our family is magical, at least not that I know of. I’m not a master at it. I have only performed small acts, but I’m sure that I could do more if the opportunity presented itself. But I healed you, I have to be good, I have to have good magic,” she murmured, trying to convince herself.

  Cassius’s mouth was open wide. “I won’t tell anyone, only if you can promise me that you are not a danger to anyone else or society. I can’t have you going around and letting this slip to just anyone and I can’t have you accidentally hurt someone.”

  “Hurt someone?” Her voice was loud and filled with anger. “All the pain your family has caused and you are worrying about me hurting someone.” She hardly raised her voice, but she was furious. “And you think that I have the ability to hurt someone and feel no remorse? I don’t belong to Excidium, I belong to Pax et Lux and I am not evil. I am also no fool. I don’t need a man to tell me to be careful. Watch your words Cassius or you’re going to lose the trust of your fiancé and you’ve hardly established it.”

  He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. “No, don’t talk. You have said absolutely enough. How am I supposed to trust you if you’re threatening me? You think I feel safe around you? Your parents are murderers Cassius, let’s not forget that. I don’t know what you’re capable of and I am not going to say anything else about my situation because I’m not sure what you’re going to say or who you’re going to tell. Your ignorance could have me killed. You’ve made a horrible first impression.”

  She turned to leave and when he tried to block her, she knocked herself into him and he tumbled backwards. She opened the door and ran directly into Sage.

  Clare wasn’t sure what bits of the conversation her sister had heard and though she trusted her sister with her life, she was horrified. She had wanted to tell Sage about her magic herself, this was not how she wanted her to find out. Maybe Sage hadn’t even heard that she had magic, but whatever it was that she heard, it hadn’t been good because her face was twisted with an undeniable rage. “I’m going to beat him.”

  Clare’s eyes went wide. Though she had given him a good yell, she didn’t physically hurt him and she didn’t plan on physically hurting him either. Julius went to grab Sage and tell Cassius to move, but it was too late.

  “Sage no, Sage NO!” Clare shouted. Her sister had already moved forward and overpowered the boy. She pulled him out of the room and threw him to the ground. Her fist met his face. The sound of her fist meeting his face echoed throughout the hall. He put his hands out to stop her, but she struck him in his eye and then his other eye. Both of his eyes were bruised and his nose bloodied when Julius and Clare grabbed her shoulders and pulled her backwards.

  “Enough!” Julius shouted, the image of violence tormenting him.

  Sage snapped herself back to reality as she looked down at the once gorgeous and stoic face that she had temporarily destroyed. Cassius was staring up at Clare, silently begging her to do what she had done with his cut, but she just stepped back. Not here not now. For a moment, Clare thought nobody had heard, but their shouts and his cries of agony had the security guards running towards them. “Princess Sage, Princess Clare. What has happened in this royal mess?”

  “I punched his face. I punched it multiple times,” Sage admitted.

  “She punched his face many times,” Julius added.

  Cassius was rather quiet until the guards looked to him for conformation. He was holding his cheek like a small child, there were tears held back in his eyes and his teeth were gritted together bitterly. His eyes hardened when he glanced at Sage, the skin on her right wrist was sprinkled in his blood. “She fucking punched me thats for sure.”

  If there wasn’t a grand party going on in the ballroom, the guards would have notified their parents immediately. “I don’t want to disturb the fun of the night and I don’t want to get anyone in trouble on such a special evening. You four can work this out yourselves in the hospital.” The guard’s finger twitched as he beckoned Cassius to get up off of the floor and follow him. Reluctantly, Clare shouldered her way past Sage and extended her delicate hand out to Cassius. The two of them were in for a wild ride. One night together and chaos already followed them, she couldn’t bear to think about what would happen when they got married to one another. Using what strength she had, she helped pull him up off of the floor. He was at least seven inches taller than she was, so she had to pull him down to her height in order to support his weight. At such an awkward angle it would take them at least fifteen minutes to cross the castle grounds and make it into the small building at the back of the palace.

  Julius through gritted teeth, offered to help. “I too have been in a time of need, just let me take him Clare. Follow behind us.”

  Clare switched places with Julius and instead walked by her sister's side. The two of them trailed a few feet behind the boys.

  When they had distanced themselves out of ear shot, Clare’s eyes were narrowed and sharp. “What were you thinking Sage? What got into your mind? What are you planning on telling his parents?” Sage looked to her little sister, her eyes crowded with confusion. “I heard you yell at him Clare and you never raise your voice. Not at me, not at the guards, not at Phoebe, not at anyone, even when they have hurt you, even when they have broken you. What would he have had to do to warrant your screams?”

  “I can’t tell you that,” she whispered.

  “Can’t tell me? There isn’t a thing that you can’t tell me.”

  There was a look in Clare’s eyes that suggested that her sister was wrong, but she didn’t want to hurt her feelings. After all, she had just punched Cassius for her and although she thought the situation could have been handled differently, at least he would think twice about acting like his father again. “Well I can’t tell you now, but maybe later.”

  “I’m holding you to it. There isn’t a thing that Cassius can know and I can’t, I won’t let him hold it over your head.”

  As they passed the ballroom, the four of the
m picked up their pace and quieted so the guests wouldn’t glance their way. The noise of the violin and cello were so loud that Clare was sure no one even bothered to glance out the entry doors. But just incase, Julius was on Cassius’s right side and was the first one that they would see, but unfortunately he was four inches shorter than Cassius and wasn’t tall enough to completely block out Cassius who was holding up a shirt to his nose so that he didn’t drip blood all over the white floors. “Why do you people not have your prisons in your palace?” He hissed as they continued to walk through the palace and approach the exit.

  “We don’t want the people who live here to have to hear their screams or cries,” Clare snapped.

  “So you’d prefer to pretend that hey don’t exist?”

  “Both of you please shut up,” Sage hissed. “Does it really matter? A prisoner’s a prisoner. Be grateful that I’m taking you to the hospital. If it were up to me, I would call your carriage and you would arrive at one in about four hours.”

  At her words, they both quieted. Clare’s mind was racing at the fact that she could heal him right now if she wanted to, she did want to in order to save her sisters reputation, but she couldn’t. Upon reaching the exit, the guard who had been ten feet ahead of them, notified the other guards that they were on their way to the hospital and that all of them would be back shortly as his injuries were minor. With a look of disapproval in his eyes, the guard by the door, pushed the door open and let them out.

  It was chilly in the night with a slight breeze. On top of the large hill the stars seemed so close and so bright that they illuminated the winding path that was curved by dirt and lined by trees. In another five minutes, they reached the hospital that resembled a large cottage.

  Clare knocked on the door and it was quickly opened by the head doctor. When she saw the princesses faces, her own face twisted into worry, but relief washed over her when she noticed that they were not hurt.

  The nurse was a stern woman with gray in her hair, lines on her face, but warmness in her heart. She had been the woman in charge ever since Sage and Clare were little girls. She had mended injuries as small as scraped knees and as large as broken arms. Whenever she opened her door and had to see their faces, she was always in distress. She had prayed over these girls and had played with them in her free time. To see them hurt was horrifying. But now, she saw Sage often and the girl was usually hauling someone else inside.

  “What happened?” the nurse questioned as she beckoned them in.

  The hospital was an oversized cottage with three large rooms that housed palace patients, a room for surgery, the living room and a break room that was the kitchen.

  “I punched him,” Sage admitted as she watched Julius pass Cassius onto Mary.

  Mary sighed and took the prince in her grip. She led him to a room dedicated to patients with less severe injuries. There were two people occupying the beds and two more beds open. This specific hospital was only meant for palace inhabitants or visitors so it wasn’t often packed. She sat the prince down and had him uncover his nose. “Quite the damage, what exactly did he do to deserve this?”

  Clare and Cassius both said nothing at the same time while Sage had said, “everything.”

  Mary stared at the group with concern before shooing Julius and Sage out of the room. “Surely his fiancé can stay,” she grinned at Clare and the girl returned an uneasy smile before kneeling at his side. Of course Mary had already known.

  “Surely this room isn’t where you house the sick right?” Cassius questioned, trying to hide his disgust as someone coughed. “No, this is where we place people like you who are healing from physical wounds. You are in no place to judge our medical facilities, I believe you are not family yet. I would suggest you learn your place before making another comment.” The woman pulled out a kit from underneath the bed. “I can prescribe you with some ointments and some pain killers for the swelling, but I can’t do much for the bruised nature of your face other than suggest makeup,” she laughed a bit, but Cassius did not join in. “As for your nose, I will take a look to assess the damage.”

  Clare locked eyes with Cassius, wincing as she watched him hiss out in pain when Mary spread the ointment across his eyes and placed drops inside of them. Her hands twitched, eager to heal him. She didn’t want his parents to know that her sister had done this. Sage could lie all she wanted, but they would figure it out.

  “How long will he be here for? I was planning on spending some more quality time with my fiancé before he has to go home.”

  “I am sure the royal families will not leave until the morning your highness, you know this is tradition. He will be here for about an hour but then you two are free to spend the night as you wish.”

  Cassius’s lip quivered, “you want to spend more time with me?”

  “Yes,” she half lied.

  The woman took a look at his nose, wiping up the blood. “It seems to have stopped bleeding. The blood is drying. She didn’t punch you hard enough to break it. Congratulations prince, your nose will keep its original handsome shape.” She fished inside of the kit and took out a small vial of green leaves. “These are for you. You can take one every five hours. One leaf will numb the pain for a few hours. Go ahead and take one now. I assume your stomach is full.”

  “It is.” He plopped a leaf in his mouth and watched as the woman turned around.

  “I have other patients to attend to, one of my three nurses will attend to you in about thirty minutes to an hour. Once we know your condition will not worsen, you will be free to go Prince Cassius.” She closed up her kit, gave him a bag of ice, placed a kiss on Clare’s head and then made her way out of the room.

  The door shut with a small thud and the two of them were left to stare at one another. Clare didn’t want to speak first, but it seemed that the prince was a stubborn man. “I know you probably meant well, but you can not threaten me. I shouldn’t have to prove that I will be careful with my magic, but I will.”

  “I shouldn’t have threatened you, but your sister shouldn’t have punched me, at least not more than once.”

  “I know, but I am not my sister. You can take your issues up with her. Will you be running to your parents when you're free or will you join me in my bedroom without a word?” There was a moment of silence before he answered her. “I will join you, though I can’t promise it will be without a word.”

  The hour passed by slowly. Clare didn’t speak to him much. Thankfully Julius and Sage were allowed back in the room, so the three of them could converse together. Cassius occasionally chimed in to say something. At the end of their conversation, Sage half heartedly apologized and claimed that she didn’t regret what she did, but didn’t plan on doing it in the future if he behaved. Julius hardly thought it was an apology, but since he also wasn’t a fan of Cassius, he didn’t argue.

  Soon the doctor was back in the room. She took the ice bag back that she had leant him and set it aside for further use. When he got up, she changed the sheets. “You are all set Prince Cassius. If you have any further issues you should go see your castle doctor. Let him or her know that I have already prescribed you a pain reliever to take, eye drops and an ointment for your eyes. Now would you like a sweet or a toy?” She teased, as she guided the four back to the front of the large cottage.

  He shook his head, an unnoticeable blush spreading rapidly across his cheeks. “It’s okay, I’ll just sign the documents.” He tried to ignore Sage’s laughs as he fumbled for a quill. His hand grasped the feather, his fingers twitching as he scribbled his name messily inside of the patient data log. In order to avoid suspicion, he gently grasped Clare’s hand and the two of them split from Sage and Julius. They would both have their own “romantic evenings.”

  Words of affirmation

  When Esmeralda saw Sage and Julius enter the princesses room together, she exited. “I will be in the maid's quarters if you need me princess.” She never used formalities around Sage when they were alone, but when others
were present, she did her best to remember her assigned place in the world.

  Julius was quick to lock the door, he was too awkward to participate in any sexual activities, but he was keen on privacy. If he was going to snuggle with his love then he would prefer to do it in private.

  “Can you promise me that you will not punch Cassius again unless he really deserves it? I don’t know what happened with your sister, but I do hope you find out when I leave tomorrow. I’m not sure he deserved four punches though. That was how many punches there were right?”

  “I don’t think that your family deserved to die either. That deserves a few more punches. I don’t really regret it,”she admitted.

  “Come on Sage, you know that he wasn’t a part of that scheme. When my parents died he was seventeen, the same age as your sister. He couldn’t have stopped his ignorant father even if he tried. Do you see the way he cowers in his father's shadow? It reminds me of how Augustus used to treat us. Do you know what he did to Maximus when he realized he had feelings for a boy? He beat him Sage. Even though no one really cares who you like these days, our father was one of the rare people who cared. I’m sure Cassius has gone through a similar experience because like Augustus, Erebus is ruthless.”

  Suddenly Sage went quiet and her smirk turned into a frown. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know your father could be so cruel. He was always cordial with my sister and I, so I assumed he was kind when I shouldn’t have. But you never really told me this, you just told me that you two never got along well. Is that why you and Augustus were never as close as you and your mother?”