Chapter 93 A gift from the Eastern wind.
Daevir's POV
The eastern breeze blew through the pines, making them almost whisper. I could hear nocturnal creatures crawling out of the woods, ready for their night exploits.
I recall my mother bringing me here as a boy, singing songs and telling riddles about the forest birds and their ties to Mother Earth.
Riddles of how birds will try to outdo Mother Earth, but in the end, she emerges victorious, putting their cunning to waste.
One of those riddles particularly stuck with me this evening in the woods. The bird wanted to plant a tree and see it grow before spring, so she could lay her eggs in them and have the tree all to herself.
Mother Earth admonishes the bird to be patient, as a tree doesn't grow within the year, not to mention before spring. "You seem to be very impatient and selfish, bird", Mother Earth had said.
"How could you possibly call me selfish when I want all the trees for myself and my children. I don't wish to share with anyone." The bird replied.
Mother Earth gave a colourful laughter and said. "The birds that grow trees do so without looking back and without knowing. You sow your seeds, explore life, enjoy the seasons, and forget about it. Who knows? It might reappear in your time, and you will feast with your children with it."
The bird shook her head adamantly. "I will make my own time," she said and dug her seed into the soil. Hovering over it from time to time, waiting for it to grow.
Alas, the winds of the East came, the summer rain fell, and while her other birds' mates toured the forest seeking their partners and fathering their children, the bird remained with the treeside waiting. Waiting for it to become a full-blown tree before she goes to look for a mate.
And then spring came, and winter. Other birds' children had hatched and grown, yet this bird remained. Years passed, and her friend's children left the trees to seek their mate. As they did, they saw a very big tree, bigger than all the trees in the forest. But on closer look, the bird that planted the tree lay dead beside it.
She never got to keep the tree because she held on too tight to something that would never be hers in her time.
"Don't you ever hold on to what's never going to be yours, son," I recalled his mother saying.
For a moment, the thought of my dying child crossed my mind, and I shut my eyes.
I buried the thoughts deep before they wounded my heart. I would have loved to tell that story to my child.
I sigh. Looking up at the trees.
Perhaps mother has a point. Amarien is the first and only woman I have ever loved. Perhaps I might never find another like her. Perhaps I won't bother to.
But one thing was for sure. It's time to let go. I had held on to the promise of her by my side all these years, wishing and praying to the gods that we would love each other to the end and have happy children.
But what has our love brought, save pain? Pain for me, pain for her, pain for everyone around us.
Sometimes I wish I could confront her. Ask her why she lied to me, why she will court Theron yet claim she loved him. Why will she choose Theron over me?
Was Theron a better match?
Scoff. Maybe he was. Afterall the Alpha of South seems to have been shielding his powers and fighting prowess all this time.
That night, in the dark forest, fighting Theron, I realized how pathetic my powers are against him. Theron seemed to enjoy toying with those he believed were beneath him.
Yet I wonder why he didn't finish me off that night we fought. He had his chance, the opportunity. He could simply kill the emperor and squash the empire.
Theron's words echo in my ear like the whistle of the wind.
"Can't you see, brother? We've won! We have a werewolf ruling the human kingdom"
I shivered at the thought of it.
My nightmare has become even more troublesome. Ezriel seems to be growing stronger by the day, and I fear one day he'd burst out and tear the palace apart.
Catherine, the only woman in the palace who knows my secret, enjoys using it to taunt me.
"Oh, you'll see. I'm going to make everyone know who you are if you don't give me what I want!" She'd scream.
I had told her to go right ahead because right now, it wears me out to seek anyone's approval. I live for nothing now but the safety of my people.
And if it takes a beast like Ezriel to defeat a beast like Theron, then so be it. I won't let him lay his hands on another innocent soul.
The Eastern breeze blew again, and this time I heard the rush of a river nearby. The sound was soothing, and I wished the ambience would wash away all my troubling thoughts.
"We need an heir, your highness! Or a semblance of one!" I recall Zephyr's words as I matched towards the river. "The courts are going crazy. They are asking for the impeachment of Catherine as queen. Catherine cries everyday saying you won't even look at her, talkless of touching her."
I dug my heels into the ground, fastening my pace to the river. It feels like the closer I get to it, the more these unwanted thoughts float away.
"The blue moon is coming, brother. You won't be able to escape it!" Theron's voice roared in my ear.
"Then let it come," I finally said, shutting my eyes.
I opened my eyes, and I was right at the river. I've never seen anything like this. Blissful. Peaceful with a gentle rush of stillness. The birds whistled and danced, and for a moment I wished I could join them.
What should Zephyr's spies think when they see the Emperor bathing naked in a forest river?
The thought amused me, and then the thoughts of returning gnawed at my heart.
I had piles of files to review, and sadly, there's only one Emperor who can get the job done. I groan with dissatisfaction. If I weren't the Emperor, I'd be a hunter, living in the woods far from human civilization.
I'd climb trees and bathe in rivers naked without the supervision of any palace guards trailing me from a distance.
I turned to leave, and something caught my eye in the river.
I stopped and waited for see if the floating thing would come closer. Perhaps it was a boat. But it looked too small to be a boat.
I squinted my eyes for a focused view, and the best I could make of it was that it was a basket.
A basket? In the river? How did it get there?
I stepped closer to the river, watching as the basket floated closer and closer.