The Gift of Good and Evil One Shots: Volume 1

The Greatest Gift Ever Asked For

As punishment for his betrayal, King Midas turned his son and the witch to gold; dropping them in the Aegean Sea to live at the bottom for all eternity. Then he fed his people a false story that his son had been lost at sea after being sent on a diplomatic mission to unite the neighboring kingdom with their own. He resurrected shrines of his son at every edge of the kingdom, painting him a hero.

Gavaldon had once been a part of that kingdom...long, long ago.

However, the prince's story was quite different. In it, the story told of how Prytania of the Dead had been the furthest thing from the evil witch everyone saw her as. She just used magic in a way unfamiliar to most; and the prince was convinced that's why everyone believed her to be this horrifying monster.

In his eyes, she was the most skilled magic user of all time; and the most beautiful and kind woman he'd ever met. He'd married her without a second thought of his father, or how marrying someone generally considered "evil" would look in the eyes of the kingdom.

The couple spent the majority of their marriage hiding from the public eye. The King had eventually learned of their marriage and so they went on the run; calling in favors from every ally the two of them collectively shared. But when they realized Prytania was pregnant, things became more difficult.

Two days before the palace guards caught them; Prytania gave birth.

The couple was absolutely awe struck by their daughter, naming her Astraea, due to their shared love of the stars. But with the guards close on their heels, the couple made the heartbreaking decision to send their child through a portal to escape whatever cruel fate Midas had dreamed up for them.

Using every bit of their magic, they sent their daughter to another place...far from King Midas's reach...never to see her again.

King Midas did eventually catch them, and they were turned to gold at his hand. But the book had a small addendum at the end of that story that shared what actually happened to Prytania.

While she did turn to gold and sink to the bottom of the Aegean sea with her husband, she eventually was spared the fate of spending eternity there. The gods of old took pity on her, as she had earned their favor through her magical practices; so she was reborn as Hecate, the immortal goddess of magic

The whole story fascinated Leonora, and throughout the time since she'd found the shrine, she'd read that story book quite a bit; wishing her life could be like the fairytales she so often read as an escape from her boring, drab everyday life.

She wished that more today than ever before.

Tomorrow she would turn sixteen, and would be forced to get a job in Gavaldon or she would have to leave.

As much as she wanted to leave this place, she was terrified of actually doing it. It was rare that people willingly left this town; and when they did, no one ever knew what became of them. She had never even been past the town's edge...let alone outside of it.

Besides, no matter where she went she'd still be a lonely, sixteen year old girl with no parents, no money, and no prospects.

Wouldn't it be great if there was somewhere where you could go and completely reinvent yourself? Somewhere where no one knew your face, your past, and the most important part of life wasn't finding a husband and becoming a housewife.

She sighed as a plethora of ideas flooded her mind of what she could be if given the chance. Perhaps she'd be a princess...or a knight...or a mercenary...

Though among all the various dreams, there was one thing Leonora was certain she never wanted to be...a monster.

She'd heard several people whisper that word under their breaths at her as she'd passed them in town the day following her parents death. She quickly grew to detest the world. It made the air around her taste sour and poisonous.