My mother...
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Xoara.
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Our beautiful moon goddess.
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Though beautiful, she is a complicated creature.
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Especially for sending me after a man that hates my guts without ever having met me. There is no way I knew he'd never agree and she didn't. Xoara had done this on purpose, some sort of test.
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I grow tired of them.
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I'm over 600 years old and have worked as the kingmaker for the last 577 years.
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Am I not allowed to feel tired? Or is it that I'm outgrowing my position in life?
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Chasing after future rulers, ensuring that I can save the countries, guiding other demi-gods to the temple of their godly ancestors, taking care of special babies whose destinies determined the way the world would be.
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I don't remember the last time I was able to be selfish. Or even had time to try it.
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This job can be horrid on the soul and I can see why Cyhena had gone mad the way she had. Even though it was hundreds of years ago, I still remember the days she'd been sane. When she use to sneak into my room with mini chocolate cakes that had been confiscated by the priests. They had considered things like that tempting.
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And anything that could seduce you into wanting more was not allowed in the temple.
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Pets and candies included.
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As if candy would make you a greedy person or the affection of an animal might have one seeking something else.
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Love that would ultimately prevent them from doing their job and being devoted to the temple.
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One of the very things they deprived Cyhena of... something they dare to even keep from me.
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There had been days Cyhena's mind wasn't broken. A time when I'd seen the world in bright colors and the beautiful possibilities in the darkest corners.
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Now all I can see are jaded souls just clawing around the world for survival. No longer can I see the mystical shine of beauty within the mysterious people that walk on these lands. I've not been naive for quite some time but my patience and compassion for these mortals are draining. It's as if it's sucking the life out of me every time I give to the world, only to be taken advantage of right after it.
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"Kingmaker, they've found information on the man you were supposed to meet at the bar," A quiet knock sounded from the door, pushing me out of my clouded thoughts.
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Blinking a few times, I focused on a pair of empty dark blue eyes with messy curls of white hair that fell down the ordinary face that belongs to me. If you were to ask me I'd have to say that I'm not the most gorgeous woman you'd find. Though I wouldn't call myself unattractive, I'm just not comfortable with my appearance.
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I don't like that when I look in the mirror, though it feels familiar, the image I get back looks like a stranger.
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"Of course..." I called out when I remembered someone was waiting on me.
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They don't need to tell me anything about the informant. I already the man had been killed on his way to the bar. Even though the wolf shifters hadn't found me, they'd found Enir, the man who had once been a skilled spy.
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It was Volke's luck that Enir is a distant descendant from a god that couldn't give two shits about his children. The man is crossing lines others would avoid. To kill a demi-god without fear of consequences.
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Standing up with a sigh, I frowned when the air in the room began to shift. No longer was it easy to breathe but the air in my lungs felt as though it had been stolen from me. It took everything to hold up a few defenses against the energy flying around the room, looking for its designated target.
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My eyes widened in surprise as I staggered to the side. In an attempt not to fall, my hand went to grab the edge of the table but it wasn't stable as it went crashing to the floor with the potted flower that had been on it. Trying to gasp for air, I furrowed my eyebrows as the forceful magic finally broke through my shields.
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Pain ripped through my head like someone was hammering nails into my brain and it took everything not to scream.
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I couldn't keep myself from falling to the floor and suddenly, with one lookup, I was no longer in the guest room Kremva had placed me in.
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Surrounding me were five dark green robes with thousands of trees all around.
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Pain still echoed through my body after having my soul forcefully summoned by some of the most powerful demi-gods in the world.
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The Elders.
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"Nyota Nightwind... perhaps one of the greatest kingmakers to walk the grounds of Accurah... I don't see what everyone sees in you," Despite their faces being hidden, their hoods only cover everything above their nose. As one spoke, so did the others as one cannot speak without the other four.
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I narrowed my eyes at them, still shocked that they had dared to use their magic on me like that.
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"You summoned me... like I'm some sort of dog at your beck and call..." I spoke out in disbelief, looking around at them as my mood began to grow sour.
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Who the fuck do they think they are?
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"Do you believe yourself above the calling of the Elders because you're the kingmaker?" Even though they all spoke at the same time, I know exactly who was speaking. Their stupid little cloaks can't keep them hidden from me.
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"I believe myself to be above those who are naturally my lesser, Cadva. Kingmaker or not, to disrespectfully call upon someone who could end your entire legacy is reason enough for me to show you exactly what I'm speaking of," I spoke firmly, doing my best to keep myself calm.
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There's no telling what any of them are planning.
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Especially Cadva, she's always tried to get in my way when it comes to my job as kingmaker. Never have they dared to do something like this though.
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"We aren't your enemies, kingmaker. We've just grown concerned about your progress with the kingdom of Eshea. You've been ignoring our summons," The eldest of us all, Diione, spoke up in an attempt to reassure me this isn't an ambush.
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I would've thought him the smartest as Diione and Bivdona are the only ones who have held the seats of Elder longer than anyone here.
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"Summoned? I remember us having a partnership, not me acting like a dog waiting for you to call my name," My eyebrows furrowed at the disrespectful act, I'm not even sure how to handle this.
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It took everything in me to hold myself back.
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Diione and Bivdona would be a problem but they wouldn't stop me from killing Cadva and the other useless two demi-gods.
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No... killing isn't my first option. It never has been and it never will be.
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"You are the kingmaker, therefore you are under our watch and rule. Every single thing that you do, reflects on us. Do you know how it looks that the kingmaker refuses to answer to the Elders?" They spoke again but Cadva dared to take control and say anything.
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She's only been an Elder for 150 years!
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"The Elders had nothing to do with why I'm kingmaker, Cadva, your inexperience is showing through the knowledge you're lacking. Now, let's backtrack. Who placed the title of kingmaker on me when I had only been 23 years old?" I spoke with a raised eyebrow as I looked toward Cadva's cloaked body, waiting for an answer.
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I was met with silence.
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"Open that smart mouth of yours, Cadva, who was it?" My voice was low but seething with anger.
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Yes, we live in this world and are all devoted to its safety of it. That doesn't mean that I come from the same cloth as many of the people who walk Accurah. We might walk the same lands but if I'm being honest. I'm not like everyone else and the priests were correct to fear me when I'd been just a child.
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"Our glorious goddess of the moon... your mother, Xoara..." The words pressed through Cadva's clenched teeth, my magic settling into this realm more made it easier to hear just her voice separately.
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I'd been born on the island of the gods, living there until the day that everything was snatched away from me. Halitawa had once welcomed me with open arms, it had been my home.
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Then in an instant... it wasn't... and I was forced to be raised on Accurah. Which isn't bad once you begin to forget what home on Halitawa even looked like. It felt wrong, to let the Elders snatch my soul from my body without permission and not have any consequences.
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My mother would've been extremely disappointed in them... my father would've sliced their heads off just to make an example.
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"Now that we've established who has a higher rank of power and that I'm running out of time to save a kingdom, will you let me go?"
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I looked at the five cloaked figures, clenching my fists at my sides in an attempt to keep myself from reacting violently.
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"No... we cannot allow the world to be aware that the kingmaker is running around without a leash. After what happened to Cyhena, the idea of another kingmaker taking advantage of the people and no one being able to stop the chaos... unfathomable,"
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Excuses, it's all I'm hearing.
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As though the temple and Elders of that time hadn't caused the mental strain that broke Cyhena's mind. Or like they weren't just trying to get control of me because of the fear of someone like me roaming the world doing whatever I want isn't what's guiding their decisions.
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I'm running out of time...
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And I don't know how to leave without breaking their minds in the process.
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If I do it, I'm a murderer... if I don't, an entire kingdom will fall.
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Decisions... decisions...
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