Queensmen

Chapter 74

~A Tale Of Fate[2]~

"The gods began to govern the lands according to the threads Fate dictated, guiding Mother Earth's creatures on the path designed for them or leading them astray when it was necessary. Because of this, there is eternal conflict between Fate and Death regarding the flow of life in the world."

"Then you worship Fate," Hermes noted, immediately picking up on the differences between the story he knew and the one she told.

"I do." Oris nodded slightly. "And Mother Earth and Death... I also acknowledge Destiny."

He set his teacup on the table. The porcelain clashed sharply with the wood. "That is strange. To not believe in the gods despite them being acknowledged as Fate's children in many stories."

"I acknowledge their existence, even the fact that somehow the gods would not have been created without Fate. I was simply not raised in a household that worshipped them." The answer was close enough to the full truth. Close enough to make this conversation feel like one between acquaintances wishing to become friends and not future enemies wary of one another.

"Yet you joined a convent still."

"A debt of life can only be exchange with life," she told him seriously, referring to the agreement they now shared. She did not save him, she saved Bren... But he had saved her in turn. In the eyes of the world, she had risked her life to protect the emperor and the debt had been paid with his time.

But in her heart, she knew that she still owed him according to the rules of fate. How could she save a man who she needed dead? It was ridiculous to think that she would pass up an opportunity to end his life. Would she have to try to kill him twice and purposely fail the first time around?

She didn't want to think about it, especially now that she had to work with him to free his mother... just because she had been thrown into that particular cell.

Sometimes, she wondered what Fate was doing with her destiny. Had she been born simply to be used by whoever deemed her fit enough?

From Orse to Inae, she found herself stumbling into unbelievable coincidences. She just happened to be royalty. She just happened to resemble Eve. She just happened to be the last woman to enter the palace. She just happened to meet Nian Fey...

Sometimes she felt as though the gods were toying with her, tugging her life between Fate and Death whenever they pleased. How many times had she almost died now? How many times had her life been in danger when she had been queen? How many assassinations had she faced in her own castle?

As annoyed as she was by their pettiness, she still could not bring herself to regret her choice.

How long ago would Eve's body have been buried if she had been the one to enter the palace? How long would her unjust death have gone unchallenged?

The way Oris saw it, it was destined that the last woman to enter the palace would become the Empress Dowager's victim. Mikeal had said it himself, she was more important than the other women simply because she was the last.

Whatever Wei Wei planned requires the death of the bride coming from Inqa. What I'm not certain of is whether Hermes had supported that plan...

"You still haven't answered my question," he said, as though she had forgotten, "but I will not say that I have found your story uninteresting."

Oris took that as a compliment.

"It is said that Fate formed the connection between all men and animals using a lock of his hair, and it didn't take long until there were temples built and dedicated to him. When two people found love they would go to such temples for their union to be blessed. The priests, in turn, would tie their hair together and say that from that moment on their fates were connected and could only be separated by Death."