Chapter 56 A Queen Among Tides: Chapter Fifty-Six - Lemuel

Chapter 56 A Queen Among Tides: Chapter Fifty-Six - Lemuel
“Glad to see you remember me, Lemuel,” the Goddess smirks, sending chills through my aching limbs.

I feel as though someone has poured quick-setting cement into my bones. I can’t move, but even if I could, what would be the point? I can’t outrun a Goddess, especially not the one who made me what I am. Stupid of me to think I could be happy for even a moment. Of course, I can’t be happy. She’ll never allow it.

“You’re the Goddess of Darkness and Shadow?” Sebastian says in disbelief.

“In the flesh,” she says with a flourish of her hands.

She hasn’t changed a bit since I last saw her. She still tours over us as 7’2” with eyes piercing as liquid silver, hair as golden as the sun and skin as white and smooth as ivory with an ethereal glow to it. She’s wearing a very revealing low-cut, halter neck, white, floor-length toga-like dress with a split all the way up to her ribs on her right side with only a golden thread crossing over her hip keeping the fabric in place. A white and gold sash comes from her right bust and crosses over to her hip and golden cuffs adorn her upper arms and multiple gold bangles reside on her right wrist, yet she wears no shoes. Everything about her screams the opposite of darkness and shadow. She’s a walking contradiction. She embodies darkness and yet she looks like the personification of light. She almost doesn’t look real, but the energy she is radiating is undeniable.

“No offence, but you have no business here,” Sebastian says sternly, taking a protective stance in front of me. I look at him in wide-eyed incredulity. Is he fucking insane?!

Merlos quirks her eyebrow, “Prince Sebastian, my business is not with you, do not put yourself in the middle, it will not end well for you.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” he says confidently.

She smirks, “I assure you, of all the Gods, I’m the one you should fear the most.”

“I guess I never got that memo,” he shrugs.

“Sebastian, stop this,” I whisper in warning.

“Is that concern for another I detect? How unlike you, Lemuel,” Merlos tuts.

I take in a deep breath, “I’m not the man you cursed all those years ago.”

She throws her head back laughing, “You think because you’ve found love that that erases your past? Provides you with a clean slate?”

“It doesn’t erase my past, nothing can. I’ll live with guilt and shame for the rest of my days, but it doesn’t mean I’m the same person as I was then,” I try to say in a strong voice, feeling like a toddler defending themself.

“You have no right to hold his past over his head,” Sebastian snaps.

“I have every right,” she says in a clipped tone as she steps closer, “I see you know the actions of his past, and yet you still love him. You could love someone who is single-handedly responsible for the decimation of his own family?” She inquires.

“Yes,” he says firmly, “Lemuel deserves to be happy, and he deserves to be happy with me.”

“Says who?” She scoffs.

“Says me,” comes a new tranquil voice.

Merlos closes her eyes in exasperation as a stunning woman with long flowing fuchsia hair, strong Eastern-European features, and the same liquid silver eyes as Merlos, appears before us standing at 7’1”. Her curvaceous frame is covered in a stunning billowing black skirt of satin with a high, ornate gold waste. It’s matched by a black satin belly top with gold embroidery that leads up into a golden choker that dips into golden fabric hanging off her shoulders. Large golden bangles cover almost her entire forearms and large golden tassel earrings hang from her ears.

“Don’t you ever get sick of meddling in affairs that don’t concern you, Zarseti?” Merlos asks in indignation.

Sebastian and I look at each other in astonishment. Zarseti? As in the Goddess of Peace and Love? Am I really to believe we’re in the presence of not just one, but two Goddesses right now? Am I sure I’ve woken up?

“You’re attempting to sabotage a bond I made, I fail to see how that doesn’t concern me,” says Zarseti casually.

“Shouldn’t you be busy playing matchmaker for Oshmin?” Merlos says bitingly.

“Last I checked, Oshmin was rather happy with the bond I created for him,” says Zarseti confidently.

Did I just hear them say she made a bond for one of the Gods? She really includes everyone, doesn’t she? I take great pity on the unfortunate soul who ends up fated to a God.

“Doesn’t change the fact that you had no right to create a bond for one of my visums. They are mine,” Merlos says furiously.

“I look through space and time for two perfect souls, if one happens to be a visum that is neither here nor there. I pair those who belong together, the species is irrelevant,” Zarseti shrugs.

“He is a betrayer whose soul is filled with darkness. He deserves to suffer for his crimes, not rejoice with his true love,” Merlos says with disdain, causing the image of my mother’s dead body in my arms to flash through my mind. Sebastian must sense my pain because he immediately reaches out and wraps his arm around me but refuses to take his eyes off the feuding Goddesses.

“And that is the ultimate flaw in your curse,” says Zarseti sardonically.

“Excuse me?” Merlos says in clear offence.

“I do not deny that those you punish at the time of their punishment entirely deserve it, but you curse people and give them no attempts to redeem themselves. Humans are forever growing and evolving, yet it never even occurs to you that a person can change and grow from their mistakes. You insist on punishing people for all time, but you refuse to give them the chance to make amends,” Zarseti argues. Is she actually defending me right now?

“I have seen the darkness in their hearts, that’s all I need to know.”

“Look again,” Zarseti insists, taking a step forward, “Look at him again and tell me you still see that same darkness in him as before.”

Zarseti and Merlos lock eyes, a silent battle of wills passing between the two before Merlos breaks contact and looks over at me belligerently. Her silver eyes brighten infinitesimally, and I shrink under her gaze as Sebastian tightens his hold on me and after a second, Merlos straightens up a little and I swear there’s a look of surprise coupled with irritation on her perfect face.

“You see it, don’t you? Or better yet, you no longer see it,” Zarseti says proudly, “You cursed him and because of his curse he became rehabilitated. The darkness you once saw in him no longer exists,” she says happily.

I stare like a deer in headlights as her words repeat over and over in my mind. It’s gone? The darkness I was so sure was a permanent mark on my soul is gone? But… how? I didn’t do anything special. I’ve barely done anything noble in my life.

Sebastian squeezes me and I look to see him smiling broadly at me, “See? I told you so.”

“What’s your point, Zar? I assume you have one, you always do. There’s always an angle with you. You don’t do anything without a reason,” says Merlos suspiciously as she folds her arms over her chest.

“I wouldn’t say that’s quite true,” says Zarseti meekly.

Merlos gives a sarcastic chuckle, “You know, everyone thinks I’m a bitch.”

“You are a bitch,” says Zarseti affirmatively.

“True. But unlike you, I don’t run around playing people like they’re pieces on a chessboard. To your credit, you’re exceptional at it, and like any good chess player, you’re always thinking five moves ahead.”

Zarseti smirks confidently, “A great chess player only thinks one move ahead, but it’s always the right move.”

“In other words, you do have an angle on all this,” says Merlos knowingly.

“You call it an angle; I call it a suggestion. Perhaps we should go somewhere more neutral to discuss it,” says Zarseti pointedly.

“Very well,” says Merlos in resignation before she looks over at me with irritation, “We’re not done,” she says before disappearing.

“Don’t mind her. She’s really not as bad as she seems,” says Zarseti reassuringly before too disappearing.