Chapter 24

'Pet?' Alexander thought to himself. Did she think he was some sort of animal she could just tame?

"If you don't like the name pet I can refer to you as my follower," Artemis said. In her eyes, being called her pet was much better. She treated them better than anyone else.

"I prefer you call me by the name my mother gave me. You wouldn't like it if I called you anything other than Artemis. Even in this predicament, we can still be respectful. I don't know what you have planned against the king but I would advise you to stop and keep living quietly."

"Why?" Artemis didn't see the king as much of a threat without the sword. Once she obtained that, the humans would have nothing to use against her in a battle. "Do you think I will die like the others?"

"There will be death. It might be from your side, the king's side, or from innocent people who wanted nothing with this. You might find it hard to believe but I am tired of fighting wars and seeing the amount of innocent blood covering the land. I told the king to ignore this forest but for some reason, he is confident something is in here. He was right all along," Alexander muttered at the end. Why Darius was so confident he had no idea.

Artemis scoffed not enjoying Alexander's continued take on the hero role. How much more by the book could he get? "Of course you want the war to stop when innocent humans might get hurt. What about all of the innocent Gods killed? The ones who couldn't protect themselves nor flee? It was all fun and games back then right! I don't even have a clue what happened to them when they died."

There was no one to tell her if the Gods slain by humans were returned home now that their duty on earth was done. She had hoped they did go home but at the same time, she questioned, why did they have to die to return home? It was suspicious.

"That was not what I meant. I meant innocent lives all around. Must you keep painting me out to be a villain? Are you completely innocent? Have you never done anything wrong? What happened to all the people who entered here and never returned outside?" Alexander wasn't innocent, he could admit that at any time but he refused to believe Artemis was a saint just because she was a God.

Artemis turned to the tree and laughed because once again, she was being blamed for something she did not do. "See what I told you, old tree? I had nothing to do with those people dying. That tree is the one who does it. All I ever did was scare some so they would run away but curiosity always got the best of them and they walked further into here."

"You tried saving them?" To Alexander, that was what it sounded like. He noticed the way her eyes widened with surprise because she gave away the reason behind her actions. She hated humans but at the same time tried to save them.

"Only because I don't need anymore wandering souls around here. Sometimes the ones with unfinished business linger in the forest and won't shut up. Don't get it twisted that I care for your kind."

"Sure," Alexander sarcastically replied. One of them was honest with themself and the other was in complete denial. "You're not what I expect from a God."

Artemis secretly enjoyed the conversation she was having with Alexander. Normally, she only had the tree to talk to. Even though she and Alexander had different opinions, it was good to have someone to argue with. "Did you expect me to be floating around in the air, dress in all white, and trying to bless you or something?"

Alexander shrugged unsure of what he was expecting but knew it just wasn't this. Kings were so obsessed with killing people who seemed so normal in Alexander's eyes. "No. I understand why you were in such a hurry to get rid of me at the festival and why you don't want me to touch you."

"Congratulations for using your ability to put two and two together. And to bring down your ego a notch, there's probably plenty of human women who don't want you touching them."

"Ah, you wounded me," he touched his chest, feigning pain. "I think you're so grumpy because you have an attraction to me and you don't know what to do with yourself."

Artemis started to think he suffered brain damage when he was knocked out because he started to speak a whole bunch of nonsense. "I am not attracted to you. I can admit that for your kind you are handsome but not my type. If you behave nicely, I'll send you back so you can marry some girl who only has nothing but you in her eyes."

"You talk like someone who's jealous. It's okay to feel attracted to me, I won't tell anyone. I'm sure whatever it is you put on my hand will make it so I can't tell anyone."

'What kind of conversation was this?' She thought to herself. Artemis wished he was the dramatic type begging for his life instead of talking about her being attracted to him. Did he truly not grasp that she had kidnapped him? Why was he having this type of conversation with her?

"How on earth did you become a general?" She genuinely asked out loud. The man did nothing but puzzle her. When Artemis saw him the night the thieves got away, he looked ruthless in her eyes but up close he was just a flirt.

"I bribed someone," he joked at first, enjoying the expression from Artemis as she believed it. "I'm joking. The men in my family have a history of being a protector for kings and training started at a young age for me. I got where I am with blood, sweat, and tears."