The Goddesses Throne

by A. Kingsley

  He promised there would be no war unless someone else declared it first. While he tried to make himself look like the brightest leader in Europe, he came off as cruel and frightening.

  A few cries broke through the silence as he took off his old crown and placed a new one on top of his head.

  War

  Chaos erupted in Deus the same morning. King Maximus was dressed in a ruby red suit, a gold cloak hung from his neck and dragged behind him. He stood on his balcony and addressed his people. To some it may have looked like a young boy declaring war, but to others the sight looked like a strong man fighting for his people.

  He declared war the same day as Erebus’s coronation, which happened to be the morning after Antoine’s death.

  After announcing Antoine’s death to the public, he called for his allies, Pax et Lux, to help aid him in the fight between good and evil. He went on to paint King Erebus as a cruel and cunning man. He claimed that he would not stop fighting this war until Erebus was dead. He wanted his head on a silver platter.

  After the news had reached Gracielle, she too stood on the highest platform in her home. She addressed her half of Europe, while wearing a stunning white dress. She hadn’t had to do this in a long time. She was hesitant on the decision, she talked it over with her daughters and the two agreed that war was necessary. Not only did he take Antoine, a boy everyone had grown to love, but Erebus also took Adria, his own wife, the ruler of Excidium. Now Erebus was free to control and torment his people however he liked and he had to be stopped.

  When Gracielle spoke, Europe went silent. When the peaceful queen declared war, the world would change forever.

  Soldiers from each kingdom were deployed. They fought each other in the streets. Spies roamed the villages. Each one looming, hoping to kill the other one’s leader.

  A Tough Decision

  Antoine’s funeral was held a few days later in private. If Excidium found out that the Pax family was properly sending off a man who had been publicly executed, then they would have been outraged and the last thing that the Pax’s wanted was to give Erebus more motivation.

  The funeral was held in the back of the Pax palace, outside by the infirmary. Antoine’s body had been cremated, that was the wish of his family. Instead of a casket, there was a foldable table adorned in Deus’s colors. His ashes sat on top of the table in a bright yellow urn, carved on the vase was the symbol of the working dog.

  There were three rows of chairs for the mourners. His mother and father along with his brother and sister were in the front row, then Clare, Julius, Maximus and Sage were seated in the second row. Gracielle sat in the back row with Cassius. A few of the servants from the Pax family came to observe, standing by the large back doors, their heads dipped in respect.

  Standing at the front by the table, was Mary, the family nurse that had healed Cassius, she was holding a book about death in her hands, it featured both the Goddess, Evangeline and the Goddess, Mallory on the cover. “Today we are sadly gathered here to mourn the death of Antoine Paige. He was taken wrongfully from this world for crimes that he did not commit. His family and friends have gathered here today, to pay their respects to him. His honor will live on forever.”

  Clare had her face buried in her hands, attempting to hide her tears. She couldn’t help but feel a tad responsible for his death. In her mind, if it wasn’t for her foolish feelings for him, then he would have been sitting right here with her and instead of a funeral, they would have been a wedding or a party. She looked up from her hands and forced herself to watch.

  That’s when she caught him. He was still here. The cremation hadn’t killed his soul. A wave of cold washed over her, she looked to her right and was comforted by a gentle and warm voice, one that she knew well.

  ‘It wasn’t your fault Clare,’ he told her, his voice breaking. ‘Remember you made me feel alive. One day something in this cruel world would have killed a servant. Erebus just got to me first. Please remind my mum that I love her.’ Her eyes gazed into his spirit and she collapsed against her sister in tears.

  “I will,” she whispered quietly so that no one would hear her. She wasn’t the only one in tears, Antoine’s mother was sobbing and her children were clinging to her sadly. Antoine’s father was still, his knuckles were clutching tightly onto the seat that he sat in.

  “The Goddesses have spoken. Their presence is around us. Today we find out if Evangeline will take him up to the mansions of rest or if Mallory will drag him down with her.” The pages of the book began to fly open and flip. The page that the flip through landed on was a picture of Evangeline the Goddess of Heaven. “He will rest with Evangeline when his soul leaves us,” Mary said.

  The tears quieted in relief.

  Antoine smiled crookedly. If only he was brave enough to leave these people be and join Evangeline, in the sky. He wasn’t. He didn’t feel okay leaving them. He felt as if they all still needed his presence, so he decided against joining the glorious after life and stayed. He watched as each person went up to his urn and whispered their goodbyes. It was painful to watch his family mourn, but they were in good hands. The Pax’s and the Demetrias’s would make sure that they were alright. It pained him to see Clare, shivering over his ashes. She would never forgive herself for this, no matter how many times he told her that she had given him the best months of his life. Cassius was another painful interaction to watch. The entire time he was murmuring, ‘sorry.’ ‘When would he realize that he wasn’t his father?’ Antoine thought. The respectful goodbyes stopped and his mother was given his urn.

  He was curious to see the interactions Clare would have with his family. He watched from a distance as she approached them. The color black did not suit her well. Though she looked gorgeous in any dress she wore, the dull fabric made her look solemn. Antoine couldn’t imagine a life where Clare had to live with the Antias family, constantly dressed in black, at least Cassius was willing to save her from that fate.

  Clare stopped right in front of his mother and was greeted by the woman with a hug, something she hadn’t been expecting. So Clare, continued the hugs, she gave one to his father and then one to each of his siblings. As he had expected, the first thing that she did was apologize. “I’m so sorry, I was foolish. Don’t forgive me because I’m royalty. If it wasn’t for me, none of this would have ever happened,” she said.

  “If my son chose you, then he must have been happy,” the kind woman said as she pushed a strand of hair behind Clare’s ear. “We have been sad ever since we heard the news. Today we want to celebrate his life with you and we want to get to know the girl who he loved so much.” She offered her hand to the girl. “Come on, let’s go inside. He wouldn’t want you to freeze.” She moved Clare inside and Antoine followed.

  His mother was right, he would never want her to freeze.

  “He loves you very much,” Clare told Angelique on her way inside.

  The woman, solemnly nodded.

  Cassius stayed far away from Clare that day. Though the jealousy in his heart swelled, he wouldn’t let it take over. In fact, he left the castle and went to go visit Cisily for Adria’s funeral. He hadn’t heard from her and he was beginning to think the rumors about Theo were true. He didn’t trust his father to be alone with Cisily for too long and he had to go say his final goodbye to his mum. Antoine watched as Cassius left without saying goodbye, as he had already told the Pax’s in the morning that he would be leaving.

  Antoine took no offense. If the roles were reversed, Antoine would have done the same thing. If any of his siblings were possibly in trouble, he would have been there within minutes. If he was the one alive and he had to see Clare mourning over Cassius, he would’ve been sad, but he also would have felt a deep jealousy. In fact, he had heard Clare talk about the kiss she and Cassius had and he cringed. She was hurt, he reminded himself, but she had always loved him too and he had to accept that. ‘She lost you, let her have this,’ he thought to himself.

  He directed his thou
ghts away from Cassius and instead drifted back inside of the palace. Clare had taken a seat on one of the sofas and his family sat across from her.

  “What was your favorite thing about Antoine?” his mother asked.

  “He was so kind,” she said. The smile that he loved was coming back onto her lips, “we had a lot of the same interests. Art and literature. I felt very safe with him. He made me feel at home wherever I was.” Clare made his soul melt.

  “You know he wrote to us,” his sister said, her mouth twisted up into a mischievous smile, “he was very very fond of you. He always talked about how gorgeous your hair was and how you were always so nice to be around, your bubbly disposition and such. He talked about how you made him a painting. You really did make him happy.”

  Clare’s smile got brighter and so did his and if he could blush, his face would have been bright red.

  “He told us about your magic too,” the brother said. “I didn’t want to ask this of you, but is it possible to revive him?”

  Clare froze, her mouth opened to speak, but no words came out.

  The boy's father hit him on the side of his arm and he winced.

  “What? I was just asking?”

  “I could, I could, but my magic would turn dark and all of Europe already knows that he is dead and they’ll think that I’m some sort of monster,” she said hesitantly.

  Antoine frowned at her panic. Though it would be nice to become like Julius and be back in their lives, ‘how was that possible?’ He was already ash and Clare was right, too many people knew that he was dead for him to come back. He’d have to talk to her about this later. He didn’t want her to do anything that she would regret. He winced as his mother handed over his ashes to Clare, just in case she wanted to bring him back. If he could speak to them, he would have scolded them for putting her in such an uncomfortable position.

  “I’ll look into it,” she said and he could tell that her words were honest. She would think about bringing him back.

  As soon as Clare was alone, Antoine found her. She was staring at his urn in her bedroom and Julius was by her side. “What do you think I should do? Should I try it? Are you glad that you’re back to life? Would you wish this for Antoine? You know him well. Would he like it? He will just lie to me if I speak to him. He will tell me whatever I want to hear, be honest with me,” she pleaded.

  “Clare, take a deep breath,” Julius said as he took one himself. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Breathe. I don’t know if I would want you to do this. I do think Antoine would enjoy being alive again, but that’s only if he could be with you. You’d have to constantly battle between him and Cassius and you’d have to keep Antoine out of the public eye. Your magic would turn dark. So my answer is no, but who knows what the Goddesses would want you to do, maybe you can pray and hope for some answers,” he suggested.

  “I suppose that I could pray. I didn’t even remember that this was possible, I didn’t even consider bringing him back.” She bit down on her lip. “Cassius would be devastated, he believes that I would choose Antoine over him. But if I am being quite honest, I don’t know what I would do.” She tapped her fingers against her leg. “I don’t think I can do it, not yet.” She stared at the urn. “Maybe … maybe if he asks me to revive him, then I’ll consider it, but for now, my life needs to stay how it is. There’s a war going on, I can’t add anymore chaos to anyone’s lives. Everyone’s fate is going to have to be final until I get some clarity. I feel like I’m suffocating, nothing in my life is constant because there’s always some new magical change.”

  Julius frowned, he removed his hand off of her shoulder as she stood up from the bed. “I agree with you Clare, it’s too much to ask of you, especially right now. Life keeps changing for me too, in fact this morning, Gracielle asked me if Sage and I would be willing to get married in a week.”

  “What?” Clare whispered. “Why didn’t Sage tell me?”

  “She found out this morning as well and today isn’t a very happy day. She didn't want to make things about her and she’s a bit nervous too, she doesn’t want to get married yet, it wasn’t her vision, but war makes things move quicker.”

  “I’ll have to talk to her tonight,” she mumbled. “Well thank you for everything, Julius. Go back to Sage and tell her that I’ll talk to her shortly.” She glanced to the corner. “I have a ghost to talk to and it’s odd to talk to him when I’m not alone.”

  “I understand, I’ll tell her to expect you and hello Antoine,” he said as he waved to a random corner.

  He shut the door. Clare was left alone with a ghost.

  Antoine came through the door and pretended to seat himself on Clare’s bed. “Please don’t listen to my mom or my brother. Julius is right. Though I wouldn’t mind coming back, I won’t do it at your expense. If there was another magic user who could do it, I’d consider it, but I’m not that selfish. I want you and Cassius to be happy.”

  “I love you Antoine, but if you want Cassius and I to be happy then you can’t continue to linger. You’re just going to hurt yourself and Cassius feels uncomfortable when he sees me talking to you. He’s trying to be accepting, about the whole talking to spirits thing, but it’s a lot for people to comprehend and when it’s you, I'm sure you can imagine the pain and guilt that he feels.”

  “I’ll do my best to keep my distance then, though I’ll always be near. I know you still need me so I won’t disappear, but I’ll give you your space. Please tell Cassius that he doesn’t have to feel bad because I don’t blame him.”

  “He knows that deep down, but he’s always been told that everything has been his fault. He’ll get there eventually. Do I tell your mum that I can see your spirit or do I keep that to myself?” she frowned.

  Antoine debated for a few moments. “No do not tell her today, she has enough stress on her shoulders. Once again, I’m sorry that my brother asked this of you.”

  “Don’t worry about it, he had every right to ask.” Clare stood from the bed and smoothed out her dress. “I need to go now.”

  “I know, do your best to smile for me.”

  “Of course,” she grinned. “Stay as positive as you can and maybe step away for a moment, it must be hard to see people mourn over you, especially Julius.”

  “Of course,” he said, “I’ll do my best to stay away. Please tell Julius that I said hello back and that I love him dearly.”

  “I will, goodbye Antoine.” Clare quickly walked out of the room and refused to look back.

  Home is where the heart is

  Cassius arrived back at Excidium after hours of travel. Though he felt bad that he couldn’t be there for Clare, he had to get out of the suffocating atmosphere of Antoine’s funeral. He was positive that Sage would do a good job at consoling Clare while he was away. Although he was truly starting to care for all of the new people in his life, he had important personal matters of his own to attend to. When he approached the castle, he was stopped by the guards. “Like it or not you have to let me inside of my own castle, you idiots,” he said as the guards continued to refuse his entrance.

  Eventually, a booming voice told the guards to step aside and allow his arrival.

  With a roll of his eyes, Cassius stepped inside, his eyes landing on his father.

  “So you’ve decided to come back and join our side of the fight. What a pity we have to be so divided because your best mates wanted to declare war,” Erebus teased.

  “You know that’s not why I’m here,” he said, his tone harsh. “And these mates that you're talking about had a good reason to declare war. Don’t play dumb, this is what you wanted, you want to conquer.”

  “Enough of your bull shit. Cisily’s upstairs. Make your visit quick, your presence disturbs me, the funeral will be held shortly in the courtyard.”

  “Right, I love standing near the same place where you murdered my mother. I know when the funeral is.” He quickly stalked up the stairs and knocked on Cisily’s door.

  The call was quic
kly answered, but what he was met with shocked him.

  Cisily stood there in a tattered dress, her hair messy and unbrushed. She had bruises on her neck, her eyes were sunken and her lips were swollen. She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn’t get out a word.

  Cassius’s arms were protectively around her and she leaned into them, letting her swollen eyes shut as she teared up against his shoulder. He let go of her, slammed the door and then guided her to the bed, sitting her down. “What the hell did he do to you?” It reminded him of the worst of one his beatings, but since she was a girl, he worried something else might have happened. “Cisily please, please tell me he didn’t violate you.”

  “No!” she blurted out. “But you were right, Theo didn’t make it,” she cried. “I knew he did it, so I tried to stand up to him and he beat me. He hasn’t been feeding me, he’s kept me locked up in here with nothing but my thoughts. I think he was waiting for you to come get me,” she whispered sadly, wiping her tears away with her sleeve.

  “I should’ve come sooner!” he cried out. “I’m so sorry, I’ll take you back to the Pax’s with me, you can live there. Clare adores you, they won’t mind. There is so much space there. I’ll help you pack your things and we will leave immediately.” He breathed in deeply and slowed his words down. “I’m sorry about Theo. I’m going to miss him. You didn’t deserve to have him taken away from you.”

  Cisily looked away from him, “I know I didn’t. If Clare doesn’t mind then I’ll come with you. Let’s leave after the funeral. I want to get out of here and I’m starving.”