The Goddess Test ◊ L.H.

fifteen

Quinn Jackson ◊

The next morning the house was quiet. Oddly quiet. Usually I could hear some of the others around the house doing their daily activities but this morning there was nothing.

I wandered around the house until I went into Luke's library, seeing Luke standing with his back to me, the council standing around him before he turned around with a sad look on his face.

"Good morning Luke," I said, and he smiled as he nodded but the smile didn't reach his eyes like it usually did.

"Morning Quinn." He said, pulling away from them and taking us away from the ones who were staring at us and we walked through the hall, and he stood across from me with a small smile on his face.

"Quinn, you failed the third test." Luke spoke, his voice quiet and strained and I felt so guilty as he looked at me.

"I'm so sorry Luke." I whispered, and he shook his head as he opened his arms for a hug and I immediately walked into his embrace, his hug comforting me slightly but not much.

"It is alright. No one has ever passed every single test before, so you are fine at this point." He murmured, rubbing my back slightly and he sighed as he pulled back and kissed my forehead.

"Quinn, you must not fret. It was only that you failed the envy test." He said, and I frowned as I shook my head, upset at myself, "but you have four more tests my dear. You have already passed two out of the three, so that is a good thing."

"I know Luke, but if I messed up over just being envious of Persephone, what of the other tests? That was probably the easiest one and I just messed it all up." I said, sitting down on a ledge and he chuckled as he sat beside me.

"Yes, my future Queen but it is my fault. I never should have allowed myself to remember all of the love I felt for Persephone, and I never should have allowed myself to be lost in her trance once again."

"I saw her, and I instantly felt all of the feelings that I had for her a long time ago, and I should not have. I apologize Quinn, I really do. I should only focus on you now, you have my promise." He said, and I smiled as I kissed him quickly until I heard someone leave the room we were once in.

"Luke," Lyle spoke, her voice soft as she smiled at me and motioned for him to go to her.

"I will be back after this is done Quinn." He said, kissing me once again before he left to follow Lyla and the two went back into the room.

I was left alone for quite some while before Michael appeared in my doorway, and smiled at me as he came into my room.

"Luke is still in the meeting, apparently he is much more important than the rest of us." He said, throwing air quotes around the word important and I laughed as he sat down on my bed, getting comfortable as he grabbed the television remote from the table beside my bed.

"You don't ever use anything really. You just read books and work in the garden it seems. There is how many things in this house and you don't really use them, why?" He asked, and I shrugged as I set my book down and looked at him.

"I was never one for materialistic items Michael. My mother and I never had much growing up, so I learned to appreciate some of the value that objects have, instead of their material worth." I said, and he nodded as he played around with the remote.

"That is good, very humble Quinn." He said, and I smiled as I thanked him, but it was the truth. My mother had always raised me to appreciate the effort that someone had put into something, or the effort that you put in to work for that item.