A Queen Among Snakes: Chapter Twenty-Four - Mei

Before I know it it’s time to go meet Setia. So I tie my hair up, grab a spare change of clothes and race to the spot near the Temple of Morrtemis where we’ve been training. I find it really peaceful here – until we start smashing up the place that is. Only the forest though, never the temple. I would never forgive myself if we damaged it in any way – It’s sacred.

As I get towards the clearing I can pick up the scent of flowers and the sea on the wind travelling in my direction and I quickly move to the right, just narrowly dodging a punch from Setia.

“Very nice,” she says in an impressed tone. “You’re getting much better at trusting your instincts.

“I have a great teacher,” I chirp.

She grins and while she’s busy smiling I swiftly move forward landing a strong punch to her stomach. I hear the whoosh of air leave her mouth and take advantage of the moment by driving my shoulders into her and flipping her over my back where she lands with a hard thud on the ground.

She starts laughing, “It’s about time you managed to one-up me. Glad to see that demonstration of dominance today wasn’t just a fluke.” She places her hands behind her head and launches herself back onto her feet.

I sigh, “You mean the thing in the dining hall. People keep bringing that up.”

“I don’t blame them. What you did was incredible, and you should be proud. I knew I was right about you,” she says proudly.

“You really think I’m an empress?” I ask with uncertainty.

“I admit there were some things that had me confused, but there is no doubt you are the Empress of the Nagata, Mei. You’re stronger than you realise,” she says fervently.

I take a deep breath as I try to let this information sink in. Me? An empress? What kind of empress lives the life I’ve led?

“I understand that’s a lot to take in, I do. But it doesn’t make it any less true.”

“I have so many questions,” I breathe out.

“I’ll answer what I can,” she promises. “But first, let’s see if you can take me down again,” she says enthusiastically.

We resume our training session and I’m proud to say I held my own really well. Ultimately she still beat me, but this was the best I’ve done against her, and I feel great about that. Once I’m dressed in my spare clothes – having shredded the others – I sit on one of the trees that we knocked down and catch my breath.

“That was fantastic work tonight, I’m very proud of your progress,” she praises, taking a seat beside me.

“I still have a long way to go.”

“As true as that may be, it’s still worth noting how far you’ve come in such a short amount of time. It’s commendable,” she says while patting my knee.

“Setia?”

“Hmm?”

“I was wondering something,” I say tentatively. I look up to see her patiently waiting for me to continue, so I take a breath. “Zarseti pairs souls who are perfect for each other, who will make each other better people, right?”

She nods slowly, “Ideally, yes.”

“Why would she ever pair the Albus Mons Alpha and Luna together? They were horrible people, who seemed to bring out the worst in each other and others. I can’t say they weren’t perfect for each other because they were. They were as cruel as each other and loved hurting people – mainly me. Why would the Goddess do such a thing?” I ask with my lip quivering.

She sighs, “I understand where you’re coming from, and I have two answers for you. The first is when my mother pairs two souls it’s not recent. She chooses these pairings hundreds, sometimes thousands of years ago. She’s prophetic, you see.”

I gasp, “That’s a horrible thing to call your mother!”

Setia blinks at me in confusion and then breaks into a fit of laughter. “Prophetic, not pathetic,” she chuckles. “Prophetic means she has the gift of prophecy, she can see the future.”

“Oh.” My cheeks turn scarlet with embarrassment.

“That’s okay,” she smiles, rubbing my back. “Zarseti can look far into the future for the right soul for someone. Given supernatural beings either have long lives or are immortal, she may see a future where the perfect soul doesn’t come along for someone for two hundred years.”

“That’s very interesting, but it doesn’t really answer my question,” I frown.

“It does. You see while many things are set in stone, many are not. Things happen and those things can change our path or even who we are as people. A thousand years ago she may have foreseen two souls perfect for each other and paired them, but when they’re born their circumstances change and suddenly those souls aren’t the same anymore. Does that make sense?”

I nod, “A little.”

“That’s the case for many animai, ultimately how they respond to their bond is up to them. In Alpha Ivan and Luna Enriqueta’s case, they chose to reject their Goddess-given animai.” I gasp in shock and horror.

“So, they weren’t fated?” How did I never realise this?

She shakes her head, “Enriqueta is the daughter of an Alpha. Ivan was fated to a regular wolf and wanted someone with strong blood and Enriqueta was just as power-hungry. In their own sick way they chose the perfect person for themselves, but for all the wrong reasons and it ultimately led to their downfall,” she shrugs.

I sit back and process this news. They rejected a gift from a Goddess for what? They’re even more heartless than I realised, but I do take comfort in knowing Zarseti didn’t intentionally put two despicable people together. I didn’t realise how much I needed to know that.

It’s quiet for a few minutes as we just listen to the sounds of nature. The cold weather is slowly coming to an end and there’s this warm, gentle breeze brushing by us. I love the sound of the leaves gently rustling together.

“What I did today, is it like an Alpha Spirit?” I decide to ask.

She nods, “Exactly the same thing, only stronger.”

“Can you teach me to use it?” I ask apprehensively.

“Unfortunately, I can’t. That energy that lies inside you and Amelia, it comes from the Gods themselves. It’s not something that can be taught, it’s yours and yours alone. The stronger you get, the strong it will become. It’s… it’s a feeling or maybe intuition is a better word. You have to find it inside yourself and trust it, connect with it. Trust yourself. With time I can see you doing incredible things with it,” she says proudly.

“I think the Gods gifted it to the wrong person,” I say glumly.

“Why do you think that?” She asks, her tone sounding sad.

“I’m broken and damaged. This should go to someone… who isn’t,” I say dejectedly.

“You have been broken – physically and mentally – that’s true, but why does that make you undeserving of such a gift? The way I see it, it means you’re someone who can understand its significance and who will use it wisely,” she says as she locks her eyes with mine. “Did you know, when a broken bone is healing, during that time, that broken place in the bone becomes its strongest part? Being broken isn’t a personality flaw. It shows us just how strong we truly are.”

I listen intently, taking in every word. When Setia speaks it’s as though she’s speaking to my very soul. Her words have a way of making me feel like I’m not messed up, that I still have purpose and value in this life, even if I’m not sure what it is yet.

“Besides,” she says as she gets to her feet. “I think ‘broken’ is the wrong word to describe you. Broken suggests something that can’t be repaired.”

She holds her hand out for mine and I take it and stand up, “What word would you use then?” I ask sceptically.

“Weathered.”

Her words give me a lot to think about as we start making our way back to the packhouse. As we’re walking I can feel Chris’ excitement through our bond, and I wonder what he’s so excited about. But before I can think up a reason a vibration hits me, making me stop in my tracks. I know this vibration… but how is that possible?

“Mei? What’s wrong?” Setia asks, placing a hand on my shoulder, concern evident on her face and in her voice.

“Can you feel that?”

Her posture turns rigid, “…Are you sensing a vibration right now?”

I nod, “It’s the same one I felt at the club last night.”

“What do you mean at the club last night?” She asks in a serious tone.

“There was a man at the club we went to, who was staring at me. I could feel his vibration from across the room,” I explain, as my panic starts to rise.

Her eyes widen as she grabs my shoulders, “Mei, listen to me I need you to ru–”

“Don’t waste your breath, Setia,” sounds a cold yet airy voice suddenly.

Setia takes a slow breath and turns to face the direction of the voice while taking a defensive position in front of me. “You have no business here, Zixin,” Setia says in a hard voice.

I peek around her to see who she’s speaking to, and I’m shocked to find it’s the same man from the club, dressed almost exactly the same as last night. His eyes lock onto me as soon as he sees me, and a cold chill runs down my spine. I get a very bad feeling from this man, but that odd sense of familiarity is there too.

“My business is standing right behind you,” he says with a possessive tone. The strangest thing about this man is I can’t pick up a scent from him. There’s nothing. How can that be?

“So it’s true then,” she says in disbelief.

“She’s mine and I’m not leaving without her.” His tone leaves no room for arguments and suddenly I can feel my heart pounding in my chest and that feeling like the walls are closing in.

“Then you’ll have to go through me because I’m not letting you anywhere near her,” Setia threatens.

“I knew you’d say that,” he says with a confident smile.

Setia takes off in his direction at full speed but just as she gets close he pulls his gloved hand out of his pocket and blows some kind of dust or powder in her face. Terror fills me when suddenly the night air is filled with Setia’s screams of pain. I watch her drop to the forest floor clutching her face and throat as she writhes and screams. Her face looks as though her skin is burning, almost as if he threw acid on her face.

“Setia!” I cry, rushing to her side, but just as I reach her I feel a sharp prick in my neck. I scream as searing pain begins spreading through my neck and my body. Arms wrap around me and something cold is clasped around my wrists.

“Mei?! Mei what’s ha…” I hear Chris’ panicked voice in my mind, but it trails off as I become overwhelmed by the pain, and I feel darkness creeping in.

“We’re going home, Wo De Huang Hou.”

That’s the last thing I hear before I’m pulled into the darkness completely.