The Goddesses Throne

by A. Kingsley

  Maximus started, “The tensions of the world are high right now. Africa has been peaceful for centuries, probably thanks to their kind Goddess, but the rest of the continents have been suffering through war. We are in no financial state to help them. I believe we are teetering on a war of our own. Ever since the incident has happened, we have remained quiet, but I would like to address the elephant in the room and no I’m not referencing Pax et Lux. King Erebus you and your guards killed my father and my mother that night, though her body disappeared. You horribly injured my brother and yet you act as if the air is clear and peaceful. What were your motives?”

  Sage had not expected Maximus to be so poised and proper. She had seen him during his worst outbursts when he stood on tables and threw things everywhere. He was the type to snog in public and he flaunted his fashion like a king would his excellent battle strategies. But he could command a room when he needed to. At first his people hated him. When his father Augustus, a cruel man, but a powerful leader had died and left Maximus to rule, the people were in outrage during his coronation. Little Italus had stood up and voiced his allegiance to the new king. After hearing his speech and seeing him in the village, they took a liking to him. Though the people would miss Augustus, more than his sons ever did, they were now fond of Maximus and she could see why. He felt so real and human, yet he could act a royal when he needed to be one. But what he had said about Julius, how smoothly he lied, discomforted her. ‘It is for Julius’s safety, you love him so you should understand,’ she thought to herself.

  She looked to Queen Adria and King Erebus as this was their turn to respond.

  Adria spoke before her husband could, “My husband is at times irrational. He hated your father with a vengeance and so he attacked. I gave him my blessing because I did not think he would kill anyone.” She awkwardly took a sip of the strong red wine from the glass that sat beside her.

  Maximus tilted his head to the side. “Really? Are you sure that’s why? Are you sure King Erebus wasn’t just hoping that by killing the old king, the new king would be so clueless that he would give up his kingdom and Europe would become two kingdoms instead of three? I had a lot of little spies tell me that,” he smirked. “I don’t think it was because my father upset you, I think it is because you have a lust for power, don’t you think so?” Maximus asked. Erebus was gritting his teeth. It was clear Maximus had hit the nail on the head, but of course Erebus would never admit to such a disastrous thing. “I don’t wish to start a war, but if you attack anyone in my kingdom again, I will not stop the war until we have won it,” Maximus said.

  There was a horrible silence in the air. Gracielle looked over to her daughter, she had something to say, but her hopes were high that her daughter would be able to say it first.

  Sage leaned forward. “Well if I may speak.” She tried to remember what Clare had always said. “War would be disastrous. There would be death, we’d have to employ young soldiers, our people would fall into poverty. These are all things that we can avoid on a large scale if we don’t go to war. Our citizens will suffer and turn on us if we go to war twice in a hundred years.” She could feel her thoughts slipping away, so she hurriedly continued. “We do not want to get involved, but we are allied with the Demetrias’s. If you attack in attempts to take over their city, we have no choice but to back them.”

  Gracielle nodded proudly, “she is right. Our kingdom does not like to go to war, but it would be foolish for us to sit and watch. Europe is meant to have three kingdoms. Oralee herself has said it and spoke it into existence, we will not fall to your reign. So do not attack and we have peace.”

  While Adria sipped her wine, Erebus fumed in his seat. “Then you must promise never to give us a reason to attack you. If you wrong anyone in our family then we will start a war. If everyone could govern like us then I would see no worry about having three kingdoms, but the liberties some of your people have are disturbing at best.”

  Maximus licked his lips. “Right because freedom of speech is such a cruel thing. Treason is one thing, but speaking negatively about your government should not land you in prison, Erebus. Adria wouldn’t the world be so much happier if your husband knew how to shut his mouth?”

  The woman looked up from her wine glass. “Perhaps, but I don’t make new rules, I just enforce the old ones. If one day Cassius would like to change our kingdom then he may, but for now, my passive ways will stay. So if my ancestors believed it was criminal, I will stand by them.”

  “You are an odd woman, but it is settled, as long as no one does anything to set off your short fuse then there will be no war.”

  Sage bit down on her lip, she would have to tell Clare to be careful around Cassius. “There should be no war,” Sage echoed.

  The king of Excidium looked over to his wife and smiled mischievously. In his eyes she was a toy that he could play with, wind up at his will and then dispose of when he was done. “Then perhaps there will be no war,” he told them.

  No return

  As the trio walked out of the castle and towards the temple, Clare turned to Julius who looked solemn. His hands were shoved in his pocket and his eyes were pointed towards the ground. “I am glad I understand why I feel connected to you now,” Clare told Julius in hopes to cheer his spirits.

  He shrugged.

  Cassius wrinkled his face in confusion. “What is there to understand? Why do you feel connected to him?”

  Despite his low spirits, Julius was quick to lie, “she was curious about my religion. She was unsure if I believed in the Goddesses and I told her that I did. That is why she feels connected to me because there are not a lot of true believers in her family.”

  It only took five minutes of walking to reach the temple. The temple was a building made purely out of gold and each goddess was carved onto the roof. Each individual took their shoes off before entering the sacred building. To Clare’s left was a pile of stacked offerings, she grabbed an apple off of the platter. Her voice was hushed, “I wish our royalty had built something this magnificent.”

  “We did get lucky. Our kingdom name does mean God after all. I’m sure it made the Goddesses a bit mad that our founders didn’t choose Deas, but if they were angry they have forgiven us now. Maximus has always said he felt close to the Goddesses and I feel it too, but not in the same way.”

  Clare raised an eyebrow, ‘could this be another secret?’ She chose to ignore the comment and move on.

  Cassius came up behind Clare and picked up an orange. “Which Goddess protects travel?” He asked her as he gazed at the eight full body statues that were distributed throughout the temple. Clare looked back at him in surprise. Cassius had just asked her for her knowledge, there was a first time for everything.

  “Well, it depends on where you are traveling. We are traveling in the European woods, so we will pray to Oralee as she resides over Europe and the beaches and we will pray to Olive because though she is the Goddess of North America, she is also the Goddess of the woods.”

  Cassius seemed surprised to hear this explanation. “Oh alright. My parents only taught me about Mallory and Oralee because they had to. They didn’t explain much else to me.” He looked over to Julius. “You look like a hurt puppy. Just come pray with us so we can get out of here please.” Cassius waved Julius over, a small gesture, but one that held a lot of weight. Julius grabbed an apple and stood on the other side of Cassius.

  “I will lead us in prayer,” Clare suggested. “You are coming on this trip because of me, so please let me pray for us,” at her words Cassius seemed relieved, he had no idea how to phrase a prayer.

  Clare knelt down by the large statue of Oralee. Clare’s long hair touched the ground and spilled out like liquid as she bowed.

  “Dear divine Goddess. Thank you for blessing us with the ability to lead your three kingdoms. There is something I must discover so that way I will be a good princess to my home and a good queen to Cassius and his kingdom. Please guide and protect us along the way.” Sh
e set down her apple, got up onto her feet and then moved to the statue of the Goddess Olive. “Cassius you can try to lead this next prayer?” Clare asked as she nudged him.

  He knelt next to the statue and dipped his head. “Goddess Olive. I am sorry that I have not visited you before. Please protect us on our journey through your woods. We can not do this alone.” His words sounded forced. There was a hint of something genuine, but it was clear he had not done this before. Clare deemed it good enough. She kissed the statue's feet, set down Cassius’s offering and then stood up. “Do you feel a connection with the Goddesses like Julius?” Cassius whispered. He had heard a rumor that the Goddesses chose who had magic.

  “I do, I’m not sure my connection is the same as his but I know that they’re supporting us,” she said.

  He seemed skeptical, but his face pulled into an awkward smile, “If you say so. Oh and Clare, did you tell him about your magic? Does he know?”

  She thought about lying, but in the end she told the truth, “he does. Don’t worry, he’s a good secret keeper.”

  Julius had spent his time praying only to Oralee. Cassius was watching him from afar.

  “Is he okay?” Cassius whispered to Clare.

  Clare grinned, “so you care about him?”

  “No I don’t care about him,” he snapped. “But I’m not dumb, I notice when people’s behavior change.”

  Clare shrugged. “He and Sage got in a fight. I’m sure he will cheer up when they make up.”

  Cassius laughed. “We seem to get in little fights every single day.”

  “We do, but we are not the same as them,” she said.

  Julius stood up from the floor and walked back over to the two of them. “Alright. Let’s go back into the castle. I'm hoping that dinner will be ready. I don’t know if I can take any more awkward tension. I’m already awkward enough.”

  “And I hope at tonight’s dinner I don’t get interrogated,” Clare added.

  “And that Sage doesn’t punch me,” Cassius murmured.

  Clare glared at him. “Oh please. She doesn’t punch people for no reason. She will behave today, she’s under my mum’s eye.”

  “Well,” Cassius said as he thought over his next words carefully, “I won’t let my father attack you anymore, especially not here. I promise.” He extended his hand out to her in hopes that she would take it.

  She considered it for a moment, then took his hand. Not for the public, not for image, but just to hold it. “Only because you promised.”

  The kingdom leaders and Sage had moved from the sofa to the table. Antoine was wiping the long table off with a cloth, preparing for the meal to be served. Wherever Maximus’s lover was, he was nowhere to be seen. Julius filled in the open seat by his brother and Cassius and Clare took the two open seats near the end of the table. The conversation started off fairly light. They talked about the fights that took place at the arena and Clare’s health since she was away.

  But then King Erebus just couldn’t help himself. “My son is going on a trip with the princess tomorrow. If he doesn’t have her pregnant when they come back from his trip, I’ll be highly disappointed.” He took a sip of his wine.

  There were agitated looks from all parties at the table. Gracielle couldn’t find the words and before either Cassius or Clare could speak, Sage stood up and pointed her finger at Erebus.

  “You fool! She doesn’t need to produce a child as long as you two are alive and sadly you are. You will not sexualize my sister and pin her as someone who is only beneficial to your kingdom because she’s able to reproduce! Shame on you and she’s only eighteen you sick fuck!” she shouted. “Clare is wildly intelligent and kind. Why do you hate her so much?” Sage questioned.

  Gracielle stood. It had been a while since she had raised her voice in front of other royalty. She looked over to Erebus and Adria while she spoke. “Sage is right. You will not talk about my daughter in that way. You of all people Adria, should know how difficult life is inside of an arranged engagement. Since you’ve been in my daughters shoes, you should quiet your husband.”

  Maximus stood. He debated quieting them, but instead he added fuel to the fire. “You really should learn how to respect women, Erebus. At least the men who I sleep with want to sleep with me.”

  Julius stood up, his fists clenched. “I agree that nobody should not speak like that to Clare, but this is not going to end well if you all keep yelling at each other.”

  Adria was in the middle of bickering with Gracielle and Erebus was shouting at Maximus. Cassius and Clare were the last two to stand. Cassius was pointing at his father.

  Clare was glaring at him waiting for him to say something, but he was frozen, unable to speak. Clare’s face had gone bright red, her fists clenched. “You COWARD!” she screamed at him. “You can never grow the courage to stand up to him can you? And the rest of you, enough! King Erebus doesn’t need to be reminded of how horrible of a person he is. I’m sure he already knows.”

  The room quieted, the sound of a fork dropping in the kitchens could be heard. It was the type of tension that could start a war. Erebus grabbed his wife by the arm. “We are clearly not welcome in either of your kingdoms. Clare is always welcome in ours, but her stay will never be as lovely as it once was. We are leaving. Put one more foot out of line and my wife will send the armies after you.” Adria leaned over the table to give her son one last kiss on the cheek and then was pulled by her husband out of the castle.

  When the door slammed, Gracielle spoke. “I think we just started a war.” She looked to Cassius desperately. “Can you convince him not to do anything?”

  “No.” He was glaring right past Clare to Gracielle. “He will manipulate my mother to start a war. When I cross him it is not good and it does nothing. But have faith in him, he can take a few insults.”

  “Does he hurt you when you speak up?” Gracielle whispered.

  Cassius glared, he looked offended. “No,” he lied.

  Clare spared him a look of pity before commanding the room. “A family dispute is something stupid to start a war over.”

  “You did call him a horrible person,” Cassius murmured.

  “I did, but If he can’t thicken his skin then he shouldn’t be running a kingdom. I don’t fully believe he will start a war over this, but he won’t be kind to us if we make any more mistakes.”

  Maximus crossed his arms. “The Antias family has been planning to take over our kingdoms for centuries. They’ve tried countless times and failed. They will try again, but this time we will prepare. I suggest making plans now. Which side of this fight are you on Cassius?”

  “Neither,” he spat. “I’m running off into the woods with Clare. It doesn’t matter what side I’m on if I’m going to pick berries for the rest of my fucking life.”

  Sage clapped her hands together. “You’re lucky then. One wrong move and we will destroy your kingdom. Hide in the woods while you can and try to be of use while you’re at it. That’s why you’re going to be there after all. She needs your help, she doesn’t love you. Though I’d be better to go with her because I could beat you in a sword fight, unfortunately I’m not allowed to go.”

  That seemed to catch his attention. “You think you could beat me in a sword fight?”

  Gracielle interrupted. “ENOUGH!” she shouted, finally losing her temper. “I lost my husband in a war, I won’t lose my children to one. And thank you Clare for informing me about this trip with such short notice. I suppose, you have permission to go,” she said in annoyance. “I can’t prepare to win a war with all of this endless bickering. If you’d like to go have a childish duel then by all means go ahead, but take your screaming matches outside and leave the king and I alone.” She glanced over to Julius who was awkwardly shuffling his feet in the corner. “You too.”

  Clare shook her head. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner mum, or even ask you, but I promise I will talk to you about it later tonight. And Cassius, I would love to watch my sister ki
ck your ass, but I am going to change out of this horrible dress and into something more my taste. Plus I’m still thinking about the fact that my fiancé’s father might start a war.” She turned on her feet and started to speed walk away from the group.

  “Wait!” Cassius said. “Let’s all get in our night clothes and meet back outside in thirty minutes. I think there are a few conversations waiting to be had and my sword is upstairs.” He caught up to Clare and walked by her side.

  Sage had hollered after them. “You’re just too scared to fight me now you coward!”

  Cassius rolled his eyes. He wanted to murmur something under his breath, but Clare wasn’t in the mood and neither was he. “So you are upset because you would have liked to see my father slap me in front of everyone?”

  Clare sighed, she opened the door to their guest bedroom and slammed it once he was inside. “I am upset that you didn’t at least say how you feel and I am also upset that you don’t know how to apologize. I am so young that I don’t wish to have a kid until I am older than Sage. I am sure you are not dying to romance me either.”

  “That last part is a lie, but don’t worry, I don’t want kids either,” he said, sending a pink blush across her cheeks. “Next time I will try to speak my mind to him, though I doubt there will be a next time for a while. How long do you think that this trip is going to take?”

  “However long it needs to take, Cassius. I don’t plan on coming back home until I know what is inside of me and how to control it. So you might be picking berries for the rest of your life,” she said angrily. She dug into her luggage and pulled out a white nightgown dotted with flowers. “I need you to help me take off my dress,” she said bitterly.