Her Heart, His obsession

54. Drinking with the Ronas

Dante was now sitting at his desk conjuring himself some honey flavoured whiskey while Athena was sitting across from him on a chair.

" Sweetheart, you seem too deep in thought. You haven't said a word since I made my promises to you. Here. Let me pour you some whiskey. It would warm you up and make you more talkative. Believe me darling." Dante spoke playfully as he conjured Athena the same drink and sent it towards her using his telekinetic powers effortlessly.

Athena eyed the drink warily and as she was still holding the red jewel of illusion tightly to her chest, she grabbed the drink with her other hand. She brought the drink to her lips and froze. There was an image of a fight scene inside the glass that Dante had offered her. As she looked closer, she gasped in shock. The glass was broadcasting her a fight scene between her healer coven members and Ronas soldiers.

Dante smirked; " Well you see, my love there is plenty more where that whiskey comes from. Drink up. I would pour you more. As Dante drank his honey whiskey, he waved his hands and a sphere full of a golden liquid that seemed to be identical to what Athena was having, appeared on the desk.

Athena's heart was beating faster and faster now and she was looking at the images of her coven fighting in the large sphere with pure horror.

" Athena, drink up. I would like you to drink some more." Dante spoke.

Athena came out of her dazed state and was now staring at Dante in total hate and disgust. " What is drink exactly Dante. Why can I see my healer cover inside the very thing you want me to drink?"

Dante tried to act offended; " What? You don't like my hospitality? I just wanted you to keep an eye on your buddies so when things got serious maybe you would know that is when you and I would be duelling again tonight. I can't wait sweetheart. But don't worry. There is time. The healers are currently walking in the maze trap I have placed before getting to the captive chambers."

Athena was looking more agitated now; "You still haven't told me what this drink is"

Dante sighed: " You are a persistent one aren't you? I hope you always show strong determination and strong feelings towards the things you love. In particular for the time when you become my wife and we become more intimate which would also mean we will be making love."

Athena narrowed her eyes and stood up: " How dare you speak to me in such degrading manner? I would never be........." Athena stopped as she saw Dante's eyebrows raised and then his eyes turns to silver instantly. Dante stood up too and was now staring at Athena intently daring her to continue."

Athena was breathing heavily. She knew there was a line she couldn't cross with Dante. There was no telling about his limits of rage when it came to her denying any aspect of their relationship and non existent future marriage.

Dante spoke slowly in a low voice. " You would never what Athena? You would never what? Speak now? Maybe preserving the lives of these pathetic traitors and captives has been a waste of time. Maybe I should follow my instincts. Maybe you have to learn the hard way that you can't test me. Would you like to see the extent of my power Athena fine. But first to answer your question that drink is not poisoned. It's a normal whiskey that is made using the water from sacred river that pours into Marsyia's waterfall. Well that water is enchanted as you know and any powerful witch or warlock like you and I can manipulate it or jinx it in anyway they wish and use it for any purposes. You see, this whiskey is used for my entertainment. Not just this one. All the drinks that I own as well as any liquids made with the sacred river water in Arkansas and my base are connected to each other. The images you saw are from the view from the torches that burn with fuels mixed with sacred river water in my maze at the captive base. These are my spells and the waters I have jinxed only respond to me. I could easily revert the images to what is happening in Arkansas. I may allow you to see it too or not. I can only command the images to be shown to others except me. I have control over everything that I jinx. So you see there is no where to run. It's only a matter of time that I connect every single drop from that river to my base and all over the world. That day is not so far away. My powers are growing as we speak. It seems like that my captivity for those three months before you saved me had made my growth of powers dormant. But now it's catching up fast. My power can do anything." Then Dante started walking around the desk slowly and Athena started stepping away.

Dante sounded frustrated " Sweetheart don't. You are setting my anger off by walking away from me. Uh, and I can feel you forming a forcefield to defend yourself. Seriously Athena, haven't you had enough already. You already have made me angry. That sentence you almost said has really put me in a bad mood. I suggest you fix your blunder first before I lose it and take it out on your healer coven. And sweetheart no duelling yet. I don't want to hurt you unless you refuse to follow my wishes of course. This duel will come up soon but not yet. We have a long night. Lets have a few more drinks and refreshments and then we may get to your favourite part of the night. Our duel."

Athena now felt herself hitting the wall. Her forcefield was now in full power in front of her. Dante was standing within a meter of her and looking annoyed.

Dante warned; " I am not a patient man. Lets get back to my desk and we would talk more. Trust me if I wanted to grab that blood red jewel from your grip, I would have taken it by now. That can wait until we duel tonight. I won't repeat myself again. Drop the shield and be a good girl and listen to my wishes."

Athena was no fuming: " I don't trust you. I don't want to sit down and have drinks with you. I am here to ......"

Dante interrupted her: " to keep me inside these walls while those other healers finish the job and rescue the captives in my base. You see you and coven are a bit late. Almost all captives are transferred to the Arkansas dungeons and we both know breaking anyone out of there is close to impossible unless you are an insider working as a commander to know the codes and teleportation routes. Thats a death sentence of course as the borders of Arkansas are well guarded with my trackers and fighters. So, tough luck beautiful."

Athena was looking at Dante with confusion. " That is impossible. You keep captives around to torment them. You are bluffing. It is part of the routine of your commanders and enforcers to torment captives."

Dante smirked; " I said almost all captives are transferred. Didn't I? A couple are kept behind for entertainment purposes but the rest are being guarded in custody in Arkansas and have to stand trial when I finish my quest and get back to my castle."

Athena was in shock; " Your cruelty is disturbing. I can't believe the level of brutality that you and your army unleash on others. Those who serve you have no heart and no soul. Your system makes me sick."

Dante was now walking back and forth in front of her; " Athena. You are pushing your luck. Drop your defensive shield right now before I change mind and attack you fiercely. You think that jewel can control my location? well its keeping me here in this room but would it keep me away from you? you really want to put that to test. i warn you. i don't show mercy to anyone who defies me. not even you. So i think I should rephrase my earlier request. I would kill your coven this instant by blowing up the maze if you don't get back to my desk and sit down while we continue our conversation. What do you say darling?"

" You are outrageous. I don't understand what has turned you into this brutal arrogant leader. You are the most cold hearted man I have ever met."

Dante rolled his eyes " You are lucky you are mine or I would have put you in your place for talking to me this way. Last chance Athena. Drop the shield and get back to my desk or I will follow through with my promise about killing your coven. And by the way I am afraid I would need you to explain to me what you meant by your last sentence. How many men have you met in the first place? I want names, age, martial status and locations."

Athena sighed. She knew it was going to be a long night.