451 Harvest Festival (25)

Astra PoV

"Hah... Miss Astra, really, I think the Duchess would have much preferred telling you herself eventually, but you need to understand that you aren't going to be 'disingenuous' to the Duchess. She knew what was likely to happen, knew that you had the ability to accept or deny, and yet she remained quiet? She gave you the choice and obviously doesn't mind if you allowed my sweet to partake in you or not... otherwise, she would have been more adamant about you coming with us."

I remained quiet as I looked between the tall, confident Deerkin who was completely unbothered by everything, and the gentle, curvaceous Goddess who was looking at me with a neutral gaze.

Both were swiftly altering my very small preconceptions of what they would be like, and as if she sensed that Dryatra just snorted and said "Many people become 'disappointed' when they realize that most of us Goddesses are merely reflections of you mortals. We have Ego, we bear our own sins... none of us are perfect, none of us are idiotic enough to believe that we are truly above everything in the world... We reflect you - the mortals - and have many of the same issues, and the only difference is we can only die by being forgotten or by being killed by another Goddess. I myself am selfish and uncaring of most of you... I love my people, don't get me wrong, but I've watched generations rise and fall too many times now to truly care about everyone. So I pick and chose whom I shower in my love, and currently..."

Snuggling up to the Queen, Dryatra smiled happily as the Deerkin draped her arm around her shoulder, allowing the Goddess to move even closer as she added "I shower this arrogant, prideful Deerkin each and every night... She makes me happy, makes me feel many things and helps stave away the boredom. She's my lover, my sweet... and having her children only adds to that. You'll find that most of us are just bored, Miss Astra, and we don't care to do much unless we can stave off that boredom."

Pursing my lips, I looked between the two again before asking "Then watching as an innocent woman was wrongly persecuted wasn't enough to stave off that boredom?"

The Queen's eyes narrowed, but Dryatra just giggled as she stared at me, her golden eyes filled with such gentleness and tenderness as she shook her head and said "No, no it wasn't. I am no liar, Miss Astra. Like I've said, I've watched tens of thousands of mortals grow and die in this area alone. Do you think I go out of my way to stop them from butchering each other? From raping and pillaging, kidnapping and slaving? I could use my powers to stop all of it, to bring peace to this land... only to realize that its a fallacy. Mortals don't want peace. None of you do. You say it, you beg for it..."

Her smile widened, but her eyes lost that tenderness as she whispered "And yet when you had it, you spat on it, you broke it and you ruined it. Demetra was right to pull away from this world, to enact revenge on all of you for the crimes of the few. All of you hold seeds; of good, and of bad. The good is beautiful, but beauty takes time to grow. It takes love, constant nurturing, but the payoff... it takes time. Time you mortals lack. So instead, you foster and allow those bad seeds to grow...

You lust after things you cannot have, you hate on those who have more than you... why should I bother myself with each. And every. Single. One. Of. You? Tell me why? I can build you all up, only to watch as you tear yourselves down for no reason at all. Rhefia was a talented seed, willing to do much for good. Likely still is. I simply do not find her in particular worthy of my undivided attention. Hate me for it, dismiss it, I don't care. That is the truth, Miss Astra. I could have done so, yes, but I could have done many things. So could you. So could Rhefia. You have free will to do whatever. Use it."

Leaning back into her wife, the Goddess continued to smile even as the Queen sighed and said "Again, there was a lot that we could have done, yes, but at what point is it worth helping this person who isn't apart of my family? I risk alienating my daughter from me for the sake of someone else, all because she made a poor choice in who she took as a mate? I apologize, but I would rather have my daughter than have Rhefia. The same way you would rather have Rhefia over someone else, even if that choice cost that other person dearly."

"If you want to hate us, or blame us, go ahead. It changes nothing. Rhefia was still outcast, Giselle still accused her of a heinous crime... the result is set in stone and cannot be changed. But we can continue to carve away at the rest of the stone, to make it into something that we want. That is what I've been doing. I have my rocks, and I am doing my best to ensure that they are as well kept and durable as I can manage..."

Dryatra's smile remained, and even though I was beginning to dislike the way she acted - the way the illusions of grandeur I had for a Goddess gradually fell away - I couldn't help but take a deep breath and stand up, deciding that the best thing for now would be to step away from this, to not escalate this any further.

So I grabbed my clothes and began to dress, all while the two watched me closely, the Queen with lust and the Goddess with amusement, and as I tied on the veil, Dryatra said "It might not be much - hells, it isn't anything at all, really. But... here. The Cornucopia is usually booked and reserved an entire year ahead of time, so I doubt the Duchess bothered to look into it, especially since she didn't think of having someone with her. Go, enjoy a nice dinner and show with the Duchess, on us. Talk about yourselves, about this... I imagine you'll have much to discuss on many different topics."

I glanced back at the Goddess just in time to see a golden leaf floating through the air towards me, drifting over my shoulder and into my hands as soon as it could, and I frowned beneath my veil as I looked at it.

"Go. You and the Duchess need to have a chat, and why not make it a chat in the most expensive restaurant in the city, hm~? Set the mood for the night~! Maybe something miraculous will happen~? Wouldn't that make an excellent story..?"