Hestia's Wish [2019 ONC Longlist]

11 | Idyllic Amber

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In the days to come, Lady Aries began to train them like Commander Darius had never trained them before. She pushed them past their limits and if they collapsed to the ground out of exhaustion or illness, they would be destroyed just like Kyril. She tried to tell them that her actions were done out of kindness towards them. They were doomed to die in battle so dying now didn't make much of a difference, especially if it was the weak who were falling.

If they were tired, they were to wake themselves up with an extra round of sparring. If they were feeling sick, they were given two choices: kill themselves or give themselves up to her for slaughter. She was especially strict with sickness; it was capable of spreading like wildfire, infecting and rendering everyone that she deemed helpful, useless. It didn't matter if those individuals could have been cared for easily with medical treatment. They were disease-ridden vermin and that's all they would amount to be in her eyes.

Hestia picked herself up from the ground after slipping for the millionth time. The ground was slick from persistent rainfall and the clearing was heavily humid. She squinted, trying to pinpoint where her opponent, Lieutenant Barak, was through the thick cloud of fog that engulfed the Isles. She wiped the sweat off of her head and breathed heavily to catch her breath for a moment, only to be caught off guard by a sudden swing in front of her. It popped out of the smoke, but she managed to narrowly dodged it. She felt a twinge in her ankle from the sudden movement and staggered back in pain. She clenched her teeth, knowing that she had managed to sprain her ankle.

Lieutenant Barak was a large, muscular man. He moved slower than most due to his large size. It made it easier to spot his moves before he could complete them. However, in the current weather, she couldn't see anything. She hopped and limped around in every last ditch effort to avoid being hit by his ruthless steel cutlass. She eventually tripped, unable to keep up with moving on one foot due to the pulsating ache in her ankle.

Just as Lieutenant Barak was about to bring his blade down to finish the job, Alastair appeared out of nowhere to block his attack. Their blades clashed against each other and all Hestia could do was watch in awe.

"Alastair, what the hell are you doing?" Lieutenant Barak said, his tone dark.

"What are you doing? You were about to kill her!" Alastair retorted with an angry grimace on his face. He maintained his defensive stance, careful to keep his blade and body between the lieutenant and Hestia.

"Lady Aries said no mercy. If Castellanos was going to die here, then she definitely would not last a minute on the battlefield. I'm doing her a favor. Get out of the way and return to your opponent before we both get incinerated!" he snapped.

"Stand down, Barak. You've won this battle, there's no need to take it further." Alastair clenched his teeth, never lessening the amount of strength he was putting into his resistance against him. His knuckles turned white from the sheer pressure that he forced back against him. It made sense;, he was one of the most experienced soldiers, he was a seasoned warrior.

"Stand down, Romanos. I will not accept insubordination. Winning the battle means nothing if there's an entire war going on. You know that as well as I do. She'll either learn the hard way or die along the way. Now, get out of my way before I cut you down!"

"Over my dead body."

Before their swords met in a deathly match, Lady Aries revealed herself amidst the fog. She stood with her arms sternly crossed and her stilettos tapping impatiently on the ground. "What are you fools doing? I believe I gave you strict instructions to spar against each other, not fight for some female's affection."

Hestia shivered under the scrutiny of their ruler. She watched as Lady Aries' soulless eyes roamed over her body, her lip curled up in disgust at the sight of her quickly swelling ankle. She instinctively pulled her ankle closer to her body, thinking that would deter her from looking at it so closely. She half-expected Lady Aries to punish her for letting her guard down enough for Lieutenant Barak to injure her, but what she did instead thoroughly surprised her.

"Get her out of my sight," she spat as she turned to walk away.

"But—" Lieutenant Barak began, causing her to hesitate.

She slowly turned around, throwing a deadly glare at him that forced him to shut his mouth instantly and stand at attention. She scoffed and proceeded to walk away before her figure disappeared completely in the fog.

Hestia began to get up, but Alastair didn't give her a chance to stand. He tucked his arms under her legs and hoisted her up into his arms. The action astonished her, eliciting a soft gasp from her.

He held her tenderly close in his arms like she was a fragile porcelain doll, afraid that she would easily break. She looked up at him expectantly but he didn't say anything. A stern expression lingered on his face as if he was deep in thought about something. His brown eyes watched his footing ever so often, being careful of every step he took so not to jostle her too much in his arms.

When they made it to the soldier housing, the fog no longer surrounded them and they stood freely under the sunlight. He looked up for a moment to appreciate the air's clarity, creating a notable shift in his irises. 'Did he always have that glint of amber in his eyes?' she thought.

"What?" he snapped.

"Nothing," she simply replied, averting her gaze.

'Is he angry at me?' She knew that she wasn't as strong as him and certainly not stronger than Lieutenant Barak, but she aspired to be more than what her limits could offer. To some extent, she knew that Lady Aries was right, though for the wrong reasons. They had to train hard and throw their morality to the wind if they wished to continue to live in peace with their loved ones. It was only a matter of time before Libra showed up to tip the balance in her favor.

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A/N: This chapter has been dedicated to fruitcup8. Thank you for your kind and encouraging feedback!