Chapter 78
"What kind of person am I, Alexander?" Artemis asked as she continued to study the sword. "I am always curious to hear what you think of me. Are you going to tell him that I am a hero? What a load of nonsense."
"You are not a bad person Artemis," Alexander reminded her but he didn't like the way she was speaking now that she had the sword in her hand.
"Really? I don't think I am a good person and hearing you say I am not a bad person upsets me. I don't know why yet. Why do I feel this way each time you say those words? Maybe one day I will understand," she smiled at the two men. "I will kill you if you try to use this sword against me after I just saved your life. It is not a joke," she told Leon.
She heard every word the two spoke while she was looking at the sword. And Leon's eyes showed how much he wanted to take her down.
"Why would a God be able to kill a human? You have heard the same stories I have, Alexander. It must be some sort of trick. Ah!"Leon screamed when his body was lifted from the ground. "Put me down!"
"Why should I when you are in my home thinking of killing me? Have you no manners? You should be thanking me for even bringing you along. Do you want proof that I can send you to the underworld?" Artemis asked Leon whilst sending him over the lake.
As she expected, the sirens came up one by one at the sight of a human they could drag beneath the waters.
"Artemis," Alexander begged the woman. Leon was just scared as anyone else would be in the presence of a God. Their main instinct would be to kill the Gods or any other creature they were fed stories of being dangerous. The way Leon reacted to Artemis was the same way Artemis reacted to humans. Each side wanted to kill the other. "He is just scared, Artemis."
"I don't think he's scared enough," she said before lowering Leon closer to the water causing the man to scream out louder. "See, I am not a good person."
"Why are you trying so hard to convince yourself you are a bad person?"
Artemis looked at Alexander angered by his words. "I don't have to convince myself about anything. I know what I am."
"Wait a minute. Why on earth are you trying to convince me?" Alexander didn't see the need for her to try and convince him she was bad when he already made up his mind that she wasn't. "Artemis, I have been around bad people all my life. Even though you might have taken out a king's army, you were cornered back then, right? We humans aren't innocent. We have no right to call you evil which is why I won't. You have done nothing for me to be afraid of you."
"You should be afraid of me. Does it make any sense for you to leave what you created in the palace? I would have released you after this and you would be able to return to your old life. Why didn't you accept being king to help the people?" Artemis had been listening in on the conversation between Alexander and Catherine. Why did he miss such a big opportunity?
"I have said it numerous times that I am not in love with the princess. My goal was to never become queen. Artemis, let him down," Alexander said, looking out at the lake where Leon was still screaming.
Artemis continued to keep Leon dangling above the water with the sirens waiting for him to drop at any moment. "You don't have to love her to become king. A lot of people married each other without love to help out everyone around them. Your entire existence is about helping people. You being a king would be perfect."
"There are better ways for me to help others. I am not going to go into a loveless marriage to do so. I do not regret leaving the palace Artemis. I promised to help everyone in this kingdom and that includes you. I can stay and help you."
"I don't need help from anyone. It's stupid you just gave everything up. You are the hero and I am the villain. You just had your chance to be king and now they will hunt you for being with a Goddess. It's my fault," Artemis clenched her fists. She shouldn't have shown up confirming that Alexander was with her all this time. "There's still a chance for you to go back and say I kidnapped you. Let me take that off," she said in regards to the bracelet she placed on him.
Alexander grabbed her hand to stop her from taking it off. "No!" he exclaimed.
"Why? You don't trust what you'll do when you aren't under my command?"
"Artemis, why are you going around in circles? We were just fine a moment ago and before I went to the palace. Why do you keep going around in circles? Why is it so hard for you to understand that I like you and I don't think you're evil?" He asked, staring into her eyes.
For a moment, Artemis felt a strange emotion and accidentally dropped Leon into the water where the sirens awaited him. "You like me?" Artemis questioned, puzzled by how that could even happen. After all she did with bringing him to the forest, he liked her?