The Goddesses Throne

by A. Kingsley

  “My oh my,” Gracielle gasped as she stood up from the sofa. She gave the boy a hug and brushed back the hair that was starting to cover his eyes. “Thank you for putting everything away. I’m glad that you’re back safe.” She grabbed a blanket, wrapped it around him and forced the warm mug into his hands.

  He was overwhelmed with her love, his heart swelled with joy. He thanked her and then sat on the other side of Clare. The girl reached for his cold hand and he took it, he squeezed her hand in hopes to warm up while he took sips from the tea.

  Before anyone could bring it up, he did. “I’d like to apologize on behalf of my father. I understand if I am not welcome here while Antoine stays.”

  “You are welcome here anytime,” Gracielled said, there was a frown on her face, she was sad that he would say such a thing. “In fact, I don’t trust your father, he’s a bastard. Why don’t you stay with us for a bit? He legally can’t step foot inside of this palace, there is no way that he can get to you here.”

  “Yes please stay,” Clare urged.

  Cassius searched the room and when he found that Antoine looked content with this and Sage didn’t look furious, he decided that he would stay. “I’ll write to my mum too, but can you write to her please? She’ll only believe I’m safe if you write to her too. I’ve done a shit job remembering to contact her,” he admitted.

  “Of course, one letter declaring your safety coming right up.”

  “Thank you,” he whispered. Cassius felt rather content, he was under a mother's wing now. There was no man looming over him, ready to raise hell if he moved in the wrong direction.

  While Antoine and Cassius were shown up to their rooms and Sage left to continue her training, Clare stayed behind to talk to her mum. She had gotten the porcelain glasses from her travel bag and placed them on top of the stained glass table. “On our journey, we visited grandmother’s home. I found these in the kitchen. I didn’t want to let them sit there and waste away, when I know you’d value it.” She looked over to Gracielle, who was holding one of the glasses in her hands like one would hold a baby. Delicately, carefully and with lots of love.

  “Thank you for bringing this home to me,” the queen whispered. She was not going to cry here, but her eyes filled with tears and Clare could see them watering. She decided to avoid the topic of Wade’s ghost to save her mum the pain and instead, moved on.

  “I really appreciate you letting both Antoine and Cassius stay here,” Clare said as she reached a hand out towards her mother. Once she set the glass down, Gracielle took it.

  “Of course. I’ll never say no to expanding my home, not anymore. Not after what I did to Jesse. Clare I want you to know that I’m not mad at you for catching feelings for Antoine and before you object, I can tell darling. I threw you into an engagement too young, I should have let you choose, even if who you chose was a servant. I can’t help but feel a little responsible for his possible execution. If I’d never engaged you to a man then it wouldn’t have mattered as much if you liked Antoine. Maybe to the public it would’ve seemed odd, but there wouldn’t have been consequences like this.”

  “It’s okay mum, you were just trying to prevent a war.”

  “I failed,” Gracielle said. She was right, she had failed.

  A new home for the holidays

  Antoine stayed at the Pax palace for six months. The end of October flew by rather quickly. Both Cassius and Antoine had adjusted to life inside of the Pax palace. They got used to the times that the family ate, bathed and went to bed. The two of them adapted new routines. Antoine felt empty without serving Julius, so he tried to offer his services to Gracielle, but she refused him. Antoine decided he’d help her anyways. Whenever he got the chance, he would fold the laundry before the other servants got to it. He would also show the cooks new recipes to try so that the kitchen wasn’t serving the same meals over and over. While Antoine helped around the home, Cassius trained by himself most days and occasionally he trained with Sage. After Sage had shown Cassius, Antoine and Clare the weapons room, Cassius’s drive to become a better fighter only increased. When he wasn’t training, he occasionally read. He had finished one book by the start of November and it was about war and military strategy.

  In November the boys repeated the same routines, but Clare had a new one. She helped Mary take care of the patients at the royal hospital. Though the knowledge of her magic was contained within the palace, her skills were now of great use. Clare learned how to heal consistently heal broken bones and mend tremendous gashes, she learned how to help soothe a bad cough and a fever. She couldn’t cure illness, but by experimenting with her magic, she found a way to make the symptoms tolerable. She spent long days and nights with Mary, they would check on the patients every few hours. When Clare had downtime at the hospital, she would study the different parts of the body and their different functions. After her long nights, she would return back to her bedroom where Cassius was sometimes waiting for her. She’d sit down and he’d take off her shoes and rub the soles of her tired feet with his tired hands. They’d exchange stories about their day and then Cassius would depart so that she could take off her white, hospital dress and change into her nightgown. Most nights, once Cassius was asleep, Clare would crawl into bed with Antoine. He’d wake up from his slumber to wrap an arm around her. Sometimes he would talk to her, other times he would pull her in tight and kiss her on the cheek before he drifted back to sleep. Occasionally, they would stay up late and talk to one another and then they would kiss and kiss some more. Their nights together were kept a secret.

  December came with the worst of the blizzards and because everyone had been staying inside and had little chance to get sick, Mary only called Clare when she was especially busy. Mary had proclaimed the princess a good nurse, so whenever her help was needed, she would be called upon, but there was no need for her to work at the hospital preeminently. Clare’s feet could finally rest and so could she. The snow piled up so high that the royal family could hardly go outside even if they wanted to. Antoine spent a lot of his time reading in the library. There were a lot of good corner spaces to sit in that had no windows, so that way no one could see in. Though Clare had duties to preform, she made time to sit with Antoine in the library every day. They would each read their own book while curled up on a shared blanket. She’d lean her head on his shoulder and when no one was in sight, he would pepper her lips with sweet frosty kisses.

  Clare also spent part of her day with Cassius. He would help her with her magic and occasionally to relieve their stress, they would paint. The rest of her time was spent with Sage, just like the good old days. They would have sleepovers in each other's rooms and gossip about Clare’s love life. Sage was a good secret keeper. At the end of some nights, all four of them would sit by the fire with a mug filled with hot chocolate milk. Antoine was fond of telling the stories that he had made up in his head and they would listen. Sometimes Cassius and Sage would inform them on their practice duels and occasionally Clare would present the group with a painting. If Gracielle wasn’t already asleep, she would occasionally join them, but she preferred to listen rather than to talk. The queen always left the gathering early and kissed each person on the head before she made her way up to her room. Clare split her December nights up as well, some nights she slept alone, other nights she slept over in Sage’s room, sometimes she snuck away to cuddle next to Antoine and occasionally her and Cassius would enjoy each other's company for the full night.

  Towards the end of December, there was a day dedicated to the day that the Goddesses created Earth. It fell on December 20th every year and to celebrate, loved ones exchanged gifts, feasted on food and worshipped the Goddesses. In preparation for the holiday season, Clare had a lot to do. Occasionally Julius would stop by throughout the month to check on Antoine and visit Sage, so she’d have to take a break from her projects to spend some time with him. It was not safe for Antoine to return to Deus in a blizzard, so instead, Julius visited him. During his visits, C
lare and Julius grew closer as she explained to him the new tricks that she could perform with her magic. She told him how she had learned to heal large bones and how while she was working at the hospital, the head nurse had let her fix a pair of broken ribs.

  When Clare said she had duties they were almost always in the hospital or war room. Now that she was home, she took over writing the letters because her penmanship was neater.

  Julius admired her hard work and they discussed her accomplishments every time that he visited. She even showed him what she had been working on. A series of paintings, fifteen in total. Three for Antoine, Cassius, Sage and her mum and one each for Maximus and Julius. Finally there was one combined painting for Phoebe and Esmeralda. The two servants still fancied one another and they’d only need one couple painting since they lived in the same quarters. Clare refrained from showing Julius his own painting and instead showed him the sketches and themes of the other various paintings that she had been working on. He was always amazed by her work.

  Once she had finished with her weekly story and shown him her painting progress, he would share the news about his life. He would usually explain that he had to help Maximus with military plans incase a war broke out. He also explained how he went into the village with Italus, to feed those in poverty. He told her how hard it was to travel to Pax et Lux during the storm and how grateful he was to have Sage and Antoine both safe. He refused to risk moving Antoine during such hazardous conditions.

  Julius, Phoebe and Antoine were the only ones willing to help Clare decorate the palace for the holiday. Sage was too busy training in order to take over her mother’s position and Cassius had simply never decorated before and he claimed he had his own gifts to work on and that he wouldn’t have time. So the four of them made new decorations and found some old ones in the large storage bins located throughout the palace. Each Goddess was granted a section of the home and their colors adorned the various rooms. Tinsel, ornaments, plastic stars and whatever else they could find in that Goddesses color, were put up proudly. A few days before the holiday, the palace was complete and filled with hundreds of decorations. For Oralee of Europe, the decorations were gold and teal. For Abilene of Asia, they were blush pink and light purple. For Mallory of South America, they were black and gray. For Evangeline of Australia, they were gold and white. For Kalani of Oceania, they were ocean blue and orange. For Jenara of Antarctica, they were white and lime green. For Visola of Africa, they were red and black and finally, for Olive of North America, they were yellow and orange.

  Phoebe had developed a close friendship with Antoine throughout the month, as they bonded over their servitude. Phoebe began to confide in him about Esmeralda and in return, he confided in her about Clare. They swapped stories and they both always encouraged the other to pursue what was in their heart. Whenever Julius came to visit, Antoine would always spend a lot of time with him. He felt bad that the Prince was worried sick over him. He always made sure to give Julius a large hug and a letter to take home with him before he left. The Prince greatly appreciated this now, but he’d come to cherish it later.

  The eve of the holiday was just as celebratory as the day itself. In the morning, everyone spent the time with themselves, in order to finish up their gifts. By the afternoon, all of the gifts were stacked up high in the sitting room. They came in all different wrappings and sizes, some were neater than others, but everyone had chipped in and used the materials at their disposal to create or buy something memorable. That afternoon, Sage and Cassius had another sparring match, but this time, they invited everyone to watch. Gracielle despised sword fighting in her sitting room, but since Antoine couldn’t watch outside, she allowed it. Sage and Cassius were still not that close, they didn’t hug or talk about their feelings, but once every few days they came together to either polish their weapons or practice their skills. Though Sage would never admit it, it was nice to have a partner to duel with, even if that partner was Cassius. That day for the first time, Cassius had beat Sage. He felt rather victorious with a large grin upon his face and though he was expecting to be booed, his audience cheered for him. Antoine tackled him in a hug and though he felt the urge to recoil, he embraced the affection. Next in line to hug him was Gracielle and then finally Clare.

  Clare smiled up at him with her big and compassionate eyes. “I’m proud of you,” she said.

  With his hand on her chin, Cassius thought about kissing her, she was so clearly in love with the servant, ‘but would one peck hurt? Did she love him as well?’ His heart was beating fast, she had fulfilled him with a few words, that he rarely heard, ‘i am proud of you.’ He decided those words were better than a kiss and moved on from his thoughts. Though Clare would always advocate for Sage, she would never look down on Cassius’s accomplishments. He held her close. “Thank you Rose,” he grinned.

  He had taken a liking to calling her that name over the past few months and she didn’t mind it. The first time that he had called her Rose was in October, when they could still sit in the gardens. She was painting and he was sitting by her side, he noticed her bright ginger hair and red cheeks made her look like a rose, it slipped out foolishly, but she didn’t mind it. He didn’t plan on keeping the nickname, but it came out again and again and eventually it became more frequent. Becoming his delicate rose was something that she could get used to, as long as he realized that she still had many thorns.

  “Of course, Cassius, anything for you,” she said. She poked him in the ribs and when he laughed with a bright smile on his face she knew she had succeeded in her mission to make him happy. Roses could make men melt too.

  They didn’t read or paint that day, instead the makeshift family gathered in the sitting room to play a few games of charades and Pictionary. Sage and Clare made a wicked team and were hard to beat as they practically read one another's minds. Phoebe and Esmeralda were rather good as well. The last team consisted of Gracielle, Antoine and Cassius. They were an odd bunch, but their size gave them the strength that they needed to be an equal competitor. Gracielle, Antoine and Cassius, won one round of charades, while Phoebe and Esmeralda won two. Sage and Clare swept clean on Pictionary. After the games, it was time for them to eat a meal together. Normally Gracielle didn’t let them feast when others were starving, but today and tomorrow, she would let them indulge. It was tempting to retire to her bed, but Gracielle wouldn’t allow herself to depart from her family just yet. “We don’t have to go to the temple right now, that is reserved for tomorrow, but we will each say a prayer tonight. Let’s go around and thank the Goddesses.”

  Sage went first, mostly because she wanted to get it over with. “I would like to thank the Goddesses for bringing Clare, Antoine and Cassius home safe. I would also like to thank them for keeping peace among our kingdoms, even if it may not last much longer.”

  Clare went next, “I would like to thank the Goddesses for guiding me along my path of discovery and granting me a stone, I would also like to thank them for keeping everyone safe.”

  Antoine was next, “I’d like to thank the Goddesses for guiding me on the right path and giving me another home with the Pax family. I love you all very much,” he said. “My family greatly appreciates you keeping me safe here.”

  Cassius cleared his throat, he wasn’t very good at the whole prayer thing, but he’d give it a try. “I would like to thank the Goddesses for giving my mum peace of mind, she knows I’m safer here than I ever would be at home. Maybe I’m really just thanking Gracielle for her kindness,” he admitted.

  Gracielle was pleased, she had tears in her eyes, she reached across the table to squeeze his hand. “I’ll always be here for you,” she told him. He had to resist the urge to cry, he let go of her hand as quickly as he took it and looked away so he could gather himself.

  Phoebe was next, “I’d like to thank the Goddesses for a nice place to work. My years with this family have been wonderful. Some servants get treated poorly, but not me, I have it good. I’d also like to thank the God
desses for bringing me Esmeralda, my girlfriend.”

  Esmeralda was choked up from the previous statement, so she just echoed a ‘same’, which provoked a few laughs.

  Gracielle went last, “I am thankful that the Goddesses expanded my home this year and kept my family safe. Not only did they help Clare, discover herself and help Sage, adjust to her training, they brought Cassius and Antoine into my life and home. They are like the sons that I never had.” She raised her glass and everyone clinked their glasses together before rejoicing in a large feast.

  Once the feast was over and the kitchen staff was beginning to clear the table of dessert, Gracielle claimed that she was going to retire to her bedroom early, but Cassius knew where she was truly going. Before he left the room to go join her, he held onto Clare’s soft hands, “I’m also really tired, I didn’t sleep well last night, so I think I’m going to head off to bed.” He kissed the tips of her fingers delicately, scared he would ruin them, they were soft like petals. Once he pulled away from her touch, he headed off without another word. Gracielle had not gone to bed, she had gone to her study, where Cassius often saw her retreat on long days. Sometimes he couldn’t sleep and when Gracielle was stressed, he noticed she didn’t either. He knocked on the door and when it opened, Gracielle was not smiling.

  “You should be near the fire with them,” she told him.

  “I’m alright, I know Clare likes alone time with Antoine. I don’t think I’ll ever be him.”

  “She’ll come around,” Gracielle frowned. “Love is an odd thing. I know she loves you too. You don’t have to be him, it’s impossible to be him. It’s good to be you Cassius. She is a young girl, she is confused because she’s met a man who she believes is perfect for her, Antoine, but she must be with you and she loves you in certain ways too, I can tell.”