5: The End?

HERA

Outside, I was a mask of indifference.

Inside, I was a crumbling mess.

It was the second and last day of the Tanzu routine. My powers were enough to withstand the tests of the first day but today, I was getting drained from being made to sit on a spot for a whole day. My strength was slipping away, my powers draining while the lady I've now known to be Lilith was intensifying her efforts.

"No matter what it takes, I'll prove that you used a spell on Alpha Atticus and after I do, I'll be the one to strip you naked, the one to first whip you."

That was what she told me yesterday before we started. It was obvious she hated me just like every other person in Red Valley but hers was more intense and I couldn't tell why. Maybe she hated me because being mated with Atticus would mean she wouldn't be by his side anymore.

"Is it still the same thing?" One of the elders, the one I now know to be Elder Ayo, the one who antagonized me yesterday asked after Lilith finished another ritual.

"Yes," Lilith's voice was small, almost defeated. I exhaled shakily. I was winning.

"But let me try this last one, I'm sure... I'm sure this will work and she'll be exposed for what she has done."

"Are you sure you want to expose her for what you believe she must have done or do you have an ulterior motive?"

Lilith stilled at Elder Theo's voice. She paled for a fraction of a second, confirming that one of his options was indeed right and it wasn't the good one. Her palms clenched around the ritual clothes she was holding.

"I have the interest of the kingdom at heart," the sharpness in her voice was enough to cut through a rock, "I'll prove that she manipulated the mate bond."

She declared and she got started all over again. I tried not to squirm at her chants and the jiggles of the bells by her assistant. Instead, I looked around the room that had been set up for the ritual. Atticus was sitting on a throne-like chair at the rear of the room, observing the whole process with nonchalance. The elders flanked him, each waiting for my doom to be announced.

Lilith's chants intensified. The jiggles increased. She reached a crescendo before she stopped abruptly. Her eyes opened, hopeful for a minute before the hope in them was squashed when she saw that the feathers in front of her didn't change colors.

I wasn't found out.

"Can I go now?" I made sure my tone was as boring as possible. She glared at me, her hatred shining as bright as day.

"Still the same thing?" It was Elder Theo again, "I think it's high time we allowed the poor lady to go and rest."

"She's no lady," Elder Zahrah countered, "I'm sure there's foul play here. We just haven't found it out."

"And when exactly are we going to find it out? We've been here for more than a day!"

"The ritual is dismissed," Atticus spoke up for the first time since the ritual started, "have her escorted back to her room."

"Please," Lilith's word was a sudden shriek, one full of desperation, "I can prove it. Just give me one last chance and I'll prove it!" She was suddenly in front of Atticus and kneeling, "Alpha Atticus, we can't allow her into this palace, you know what she did. You know..." She sounded like she was on the verge of hysteria. Her voice was a mixture of anger, hatred, and desperation and if the situation wasn't so dire, I'd have laughed at the comedic display.

"Just give me one last chance. I know someone that'll help. I know someone who can prove that she's indeed manipulating the mate bond."

Atticus looked at the kneeling and almost crying entity in front of him. He looked torn but he also looked like he understood where she was coming from.

"Okay, but that's the last chance. If it fails, I don't want to hear anything about the bond being a fake mate bond again. Understood?"

"Yes my alpha," her relief was evident in the way her body shook and she almost kissed his feet, "thank you."

We took a recess for two hours. Every other person left and I was left sitting in a position with two guards watching over me. They finally returned and as they took their positions, I noticed that there was a new gleam to Lilith's look. Whatever she had up her sleeves, she was sure it'd work.

My spine straightened.

"Alpha, Elders," she raised her palm to her forehead as she bowed, "allow me to introduce the lady that'd put an end to all these. A lady of repute and prowess powerful enough to find out any dark magic; Lady Wanni, Head Witch of The Shadow Claw Coven."

My heart stopped as Wanni walked in. Her black gown swept the translucent floor. Her movement was regal and powerful. The gold bangles in her hand crinkled as she walked and when she finally stopped, she stopped beside Lilith. I was finally sitting in my room. Wanni was the new head witch. She'd find it out, no matter what, and even if she failed to, she could always manipulate her results.

"Alpha Atticus, Elders," she bowed, "I'm honored to be of help today."

The elders murmured their replies. They clearly didn't like her because she was from The Shadow Claw Coven but they were ready to tolerate anything that'd put an end to me.

"Hera was banished for abusing her powers, we had no idea she'd try to stay alive by doing something like this."

My palms clenched into tight fits. I breathed out through my mouth.

"Just get to it!" That was Elder Ayo. She was eager to get the both of us out of there.

"Sure," she beamed as she took her position opposite me. Staring up close to her, I could see everything she was donned in was mine; the gown, and every single accessory.

"This is your plan?" The gloat in her tone mirrored the one in her eye, "Stay alive by faking a mate bond with someone in desperate need of a mate? How pathetic! It'd be better if you had died quietly as a rogue than subject yourself to the public humiliation of being whipped naked and made to dance all over Red Valley."

She met my eyes when she said the last part. I tried not to squirm and when I spoke, I made sure my voice was Hera's.

"Is this one of the reasons you orchestrated my fall? So you'd steal and wear my leftovers?"

Her eyes glared daggers. She didn't wait. She didn't prepare, she just started her chants. It was one where not only the colours of the feathers would change but the perpetrator would lose control of their senses and confess.

It was the utmost humiliation.

My heart tightened as her chants grew louder. There was an invisible force wrapping itself around my neck, causing me intense and unbearable pain.

I choked. Wanni's spells were working.

She smiled in victory.