Hestia's Wish [2019 ONC Longlist]

6 | Lies

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One Year Later

Hestia sat atop the blackened hill on Black Hollow, conflicted and slightly scared. Today was the last day of her apprenticeship. The past three years had gone by in a blur, and yet she still felt insecure with every decision. However, there was one decision that she was now sure of. After not being selected by Master Liourdis and all of the belittling that came with studying under Master Haemon's strict tutelage, her goals had changed. She once wanted to be the bystander of all things because she thought she would be safe from the consequences that came with certain decisions.

She wanted to matter, she wanted to be a person that people could look up to and depend on. She recalled the moment in which she met the unidentified man in the stalls just a year ago. She knew that she would have been terribly injured if not for his assistance that evening. After some investigating, she quickly found out that the man that had helped her was none other than the Commander Darius of the Pyrkagía.

She had this obscene idea that all members of the Pyrkagía were hardened people, incapable of empathy and normalcy because they had to kill to survive. However, that day, she realized that they were people too. After seeing Commander Darius in person, she realized that the stories about him were true. He would do anything to protect his people and his home even at the cost of his life and not for the sake of killing. To follow his command would be an honorable thing to do.

"Tia?" Her gaze went to Alastair as he trudged up the hill to her side. "What are you doing up here? I—well, everyone was looking everywhere for you," he replied nervously, attempting to conceal his mistake with a cough. His fingers were constantly moving; he was clearly nervous about something.

She smiled at him and said, "I just needed some time to myself. Are you feeling okay?"

He stared back at her with a distant look in his gaze. She waved her hand in front of his face to get his attention. "Hello? Is anybody home? Did you drink the wine? You know that we aren't supposed to drink that stuff."

His cheeks turned a slight pink and he shook his head. He waved his hands around and said in a rather strange, high-pitched tone, "I didn't drink anything, I'm fine!" He squirmed under the scrutiny of her gaze, trying to avoid looking her directly in the eye. He let out a sigh of defeat and said, "Tia, we need to talk."

"What's the matter?" she asked, worriedly. She couldn't help but notice the amount of serious determination in his eyes. 'I hope he isn't in some sort of trouble,' she thought. 'He only gets that expression when something is really wrong.'

He sat down and patted the open spot next to him. She joined him and watched him closely, trying to figure out what was going through his mind. "I've decided to join the Pyrkagía."

Her eyes widened in surprise and her heart beat slightly stuttered. She opened her mouth, wanting to say that she would as well. But he held his hand up to politely stop her.

"Now I know what you're going to say:, it's dangerous, it's reckless, it's unreasonable. It's all of those things, but it also has some positive things. We don't know when the Lady Libra will appear with the Concordians, but when they do appear, I want to be able to defend myself. I want to be able to protect our home and you. I was hoping that when I leave for the training grounds in the morning, you'll be here waiting for me."

She waited for him to laugh or make some stupid joke, but he continued staring at her like she was the only thing that mattered. She brushed a strand of her hair back behind her ear as she laughed nervously, breaking the silence. "You're always making jokes, I can't tell which part is real anymore."

He placed a gentle hand on her cheek and turned her face towards him. He softly stroked her cheek with his thumb and said, "This is real, Hestia. Please believe me when I say that I love you." He took one of her hands and set it on his chest, over his heart. She could feel it rapidly beating in his chest.

Her bottom lip trembled at his confession, and her body became light as emotions began to overwhelm her. Her heart felt as though it was being squeezed as each breath came out ragged and short. She had never seen him in a romantic light, she couldn't. Love never survived in the Isles;, the tale of Erebus and Asteria and the prior Concordian invasion was evidence of that. If she didn't lose him because of her own ignorance, she would certainly lose him in war or illness. Losing a family member was painful, but losing one's love was even more painful in her mind.

"We can't," she stated quietly.

"You can't tell love to not appear. It doesn't work like that, Tia."

"We can't," she repeated.

"We can't or you can't?"

"I can't," she whispered.

He slowly released his grip on her and asked, "So you mean to tell me that you feel nothing for me? If I was to marry Amynta, you would have no problem with that?"

She slightly recoiled but immediately gathered her bearings. She turned her head and replied apathetically, "If that would make you happy, then I would not stand in the way."

He laughed coldly, running a hand through his hair. "You're a horrible liar, Tia."

"I'm joining the Pyrkagía, Alastair. So you see, we can't be together. It would be better if you forgot about me."

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A/N: This chapter has been dedicated to ZoekieS. Your comments have been immensely helpful and encouraging to me. Thanks so much for your support! To my readers, please check out her series, The Chronicles of the Council.