Blessed by the Gods (Gods & Dark Creatures Book 1)

Chapter ten

"Then take me to the prince," she said.

Amaya and Zariah stepped up behind him, but just then the soldier turned and said, "Only Miss Amaya."

"Why?" Zariah objected.

"Because he only wants to see her," replied the soldier grumpily.

"Zariah, you don't have to follow me everywhere like the royal guards. Don't be like them." Amaya told her. "Give me some space."

The soldier led Amaya to the war room, where Prince Ciaran was waiting for her in the company of General Marcellus.

"It took you quite a while," said General Marcellus.

"Zariah was causing trouble," Amaya replied. "She doesn't like that I'm not constantly trying to kill someone."

"On the contrary, it seems suspicious to me," said the general.

"What do you want from me by the way?" Amaya asked them.

"You snuck in here," said Prince Ciaran.

"Prove it!" Amaya challenged him.

Ciaran took the note she had left for him in his hand and showed it to her. Amaya smirked. Ciaran stared at her uncomprehendingly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he raised an eyebrow in question.

"I think I wrote it pretty well," Amaya replied. "I don't know if it has another meaning for you, but I only meant it in that one way."

"What am I doing wrong?" he asked her that question.

"Still not getting it?" she stared at him with a serious face.

"What mistake is going to happen?" Ciaran asked her.

"I told you a while ago why I was able to defeat you in the Valley of the Roses," said Amaya. "Now you're making exactly the same mistake. You let yourself be lured into a trap."

"How can you be sure it's a trap?" asked the general.

"Because I know the place, you don't," Amaya said. "Once again you are letting the enemy choose the place of battle in a land you don't know."

Ciaran laughed. "Why are you telling us this?" he looked at her suspiciously.

Amaya calmed down a bit, realizing her behavior. "I have my reasons," she said. "The main one is that I'm bored. Life in Amorite was much more fun. I am not one of your concubines who will only walk around the gardens and look pretty."

"Do you realize that you will become your king's enemy by helping us?" remarked the general.

"Who said I am helping you?" Amaya said. "I'm just telling you that you're making a mistake and heading for a trap."

"Are you planning to tell us how to avoid that mistake?" said Ciaran.

"Why would I do that?" Amaya shot back. "Turn the army back around. Simple."

"We can't turn the army, witch," said the general.

"I don't want to beg you, Amaya," Ciaran said.

Amaya took a step towards the prince, two. She was standing right next to him. They looked into each other's eyes, not even blinking.

"I'd like that," she said.

She turned to the general. She pierced him with a look.

"We will make a deal. There will be peace between us from now on, General Marcellus," Amaya suggested. "You hate me for no reason, and that will end here and now. No more calling me a witch."

"That's a bargain, Marcellus," said the prince.

"She's a bit picky about that witch," he replied. "And it's not that I hate her, I just don't like her. However, I accept the agreement on measures, but we will not be friends."

"In that case, we have a deal."

Amaya turned to the map table. She pointed with her finger to the place where the Starlight Castle was located.

"It may seem like an ordinary fortress on a rock by the sea, but it has a little secret. It can only be accessed in one single month of the year," she said.

"However, when the road to the fortress is flooded by the sea, they will trap themselves there," remarked General Marcellus.

"That's not true," Amaya replied. "You can spend the whole year at the Starlight Castle. Priestesses worshiping the goddess Astra live there ."

"Then where is the trap?" asked the prince.

"It's a lonely rock in the middle of a wide plain," she said. "When the tide comes, the sea level will not be high. Up to the knees at most. You'll think you'll reach the castle, but it's a death trap. As soon as the water floods the sand, it swallows everything that steps on it.

They expect you to try to take the castle and the sand will swallow you. And the soldiers from this fortress hidden in the woods will be waiting for those who survive."

Amaya pointed to the middle of the nearby forest.

"They train the best soldiers there," she said.

"What do you suggest, Amaya?" Ciaran asked her.

"Amorite is a dangerous land that is actually ruled by dark creatures. Our soldiers–"

"Not your soldiers anymore," the general interrupted her. "You belong to Deira now."

Amaya rolled her eyes. "The royal army of Amorite is trained to use the dark creatures to their advantage. You can't win if you don't even believe in them. You can defend the borders, but the deeper you go into the country, the more soldiers you sacrifice," she told them.

"You're not helping, Amaya," said Ciaran. "We will not give up."

"I'm helping you survive, and the only way you can do that is by withdrawing," Amaya argued.

"She is only afraid of antagonizing her king," said General Marcellus.

"No king rules over me," Amaya said forcefully.

"So help us win, Amaya," Ciaran told her.

"Avoid Starlight Castle. They expect to get rid of most of your army there. Head to the fort. Surprise the soldiers. Don't attack though." she suggested. "Scatter the dead bodies of the animals around the fort. It takes a lot of blood. Above all, don't let your soldiers be in the forest after dark."

"What will happen if we do that?" the general asked her incredulously.

"Sometimes it's better not to know," she replied with a mischievous smile on her lips.

⸸

A few days later, news arrived from the generals that they had won. However, the report also said that they had lost a few soldiers in the forest. They disobeyed orders to leave the forest before sunset and instead stayed to make sure the orders from the witch served their purpose. They didn't trust her, even though Prince Ciaran himself, their commander, did. They didn't trust the orders that came out of their prince's mouth and the witch's head.

And so they paid for it with their lives.

"What was that in the forest? What did the blood and corpses summon?" Prince Ciaran asked Amaya.

"The forests of Amorite are a dangerous place full of dark creatures," Amaya replied with an innocent smile.

"Amaya." the prince stared at her.

"They were pixies," she said.

"Pixies?" Ciaran wondered. "I thought they are..."

"Mistake," Amaya said. "Pixies are definitely not cute. They are insidious, and when they smell blood they turn into voracious monsters. They will eat everything living in their path."

"That explains why there's nothing but bare bones left," said Ciaran. "Scary."

"And that's not the worst thing lurking inthe shadows."