7-2

  The bickering around the Table slowly subsided as one by one, the gods turned to notice Vantaiga at the entrance. An anxious discomfort threatened her composure as all the men’s eyes focused on her. Vantaiga summoned her confidence. Half pushing Zephlyn forward, she strode down the few steps into the great Chamber. The sound of her heels on the hard onyx gave her a reassuring boost.

  It was Hydar that first stood up and broke the oppressive silence of her entrance. “Welcome Vantaiga. We have been waiting for you. I have set a space for you here by me.” Hydar gestured to an opening between him and the shadowy frame of Silhlotte.

  Vantaiga smiled back at him and called out across the large room, “Thank you, Hydar. And thank you all for allowing me a place at the World Table.” She realised she had not actually asked their permission, but she also understood if they did not want her here, she would not be here.

  She walked around the table towards Hydar at the far side. “I know some of you are not accustomed to a woman’s presence In the Grand Council.” Vantaiga ignored the audible sneers at her statement. “But I want to assure you I am not here to change anyone’s ways. I only wish to provide a voice for the forest and my followers so that all the world can benefit from what we have to offer.”

  Vantaiga looked over the mixed reactions to her words. To the ones with scowls, there was nothing she could say to please them. And to the ones with eager eyes, there was nothing she could say to displease them. But there were some that listened intently, and those were the ones she could earn support from. She gave them all a practised smile of confidence. “So please, continue your discussions, and I will be available to help where I can.”

  As she and Zephlyn continued their way around, the conversations resumed in more hushed tones. She was sure many of them were now talking about her. Some continued to watch her in silence. Whether they watched scornfully or lustfully, she did not pay them any mind.

  There was one watching that did concern her though. Festor, crouching opposite of Hydar, peered just over the edge of the table at her, his often frantic and erratic gaze unusually fixed. It gave Vantaiga a shiver that almost broke her graceful stride. Even on the other side of the world and with Zephlyn still escorting her, she felt exposed by Festor’s stare. She was relieved to finally reach Hydar and Silhlotte, the closest to friends she had in the room.

  Hydar took a drawn and obvious look over her thin frame. He finally spoke with an appreciative smile. “You are looking good today.”

  Vantaiga replied with a formal nod. “And you look well Hydar.” She kept her irritation in check: friends, yes, but still men. She turned to Silhlotte. “And thank you Silhlotte for making room for me as well. There are not many here that would give up space for me.”

  Silhlotte’s phantasmal form shifted and the edges of what could be faintly discerned as a smile broke on his face. His voice was deep and deliberate, as if making sure every word found the right place. “The forest has always welcomed me, so I will always welcome the forest. It will also be good to have someone between Hydar and I. I will be drier then.” He gave them both a wink that was almost imperceptible on his incorporeal face.

  Hydar cut in. “So, what throne will you be creating for us to admire you on?”

  Vantaiga purposefully addressed Zephlyn. “Thank you. You have been very helpful, Zephlyn. You may go now.”

  Zephlyn beamed with the compliment and couldn’t stop his grinning as he backed away. “Thank you, mistress. If there is any way I can serve you again, just call me.”

  Vantaiga replied with her own broad smile. “Of course, I will, Zephlyn.” It was hard to be anything but cheerful with him around. Zephlyn spun in a flourishing twirl and then zipped off behind the star-speckled tapestries.

  Vantaiga finally returned her attention to Hydar, who was having trouble containing his impatience. “For a throne? I haven’t actually thought of it.” She looked around the World Table at the other gods and their grand thrones once more. Vantaiga noticed Festor peering out at her now from behind his revolting pile. When she caught his eye, he darted behind his throne. Vantaiga quickly turned back to Hydar.

  She looked over Hydar’s throne. It was that of a rain cloud of mottled greys and white, flowing to internal winds. Next to her, Silhlotte’s throne was a dark and vague form that was almost lost in the black, star-speckled curtains behind him. When Silhlotte sat on his throne, he all but disappeared.

  She began to give some thought to her own throne—perhaps something to pay homage to her being here among the gods. Her first thought went to Syffox and the work and joy he put in to preparing her ascension. She was struck with a twinge of sadness and guilt at the thought of how she had denied him. But then a new thought came to her as an ancient memory crept across her conscience. There was another that she owed her glory to.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  She waved her hand and, with a rumble, pulled up from the black stone floor a mound of earth and rocks. With simple gestures of her fingers, she shaped a portion of the mound into a seat with encompassing arms. She lightly touched the rocks, and soft green moss grew over them. From the earth and dirt, grasses and small forest flowers sprouted at her will.

  Lost in thoughts of her forest, she gently rocked as she further contemplated the throne. With a gentle lift of her hand, a shrub emerged from the back of the mound. It rose up over the seat and its limbs draped vine-like branches with thin leaves.

  It was not the grand, majestic willow tree of her almost forgotten youth but a small reminder that not all those who made it possible for her to be here were great heroes. Once the little willow tree fully bloomed, the throne was complete, yet she felt it still missed something.

  She could not sit among the heavens without something of Syffox here to reassure her. She smiled softly and touched a branch. The wispy branch turned red at her caress and the colour continued seeping out along its length and enveloped the other draping branches as well. When finished, she nodded in approval.

  Vantaiga sat on her throne and made a few adjustments to be more comfortable. She let the draping branches of the willow tree partially conceal her. Everyone in the chamber took a turn looking at her, but she had the tree’s cover to avoid looking at them if she wanted.

  Once she was settled in, there was some idle chatter from those who wished to be friendly and an occasional retort from those who didn’t. There was one god, though, who had a pressing matter to discuss with Vantaiga.

  Aridus sat patiently on his undulating throne of drifting dunes, waiting until the Goddess’s attention was undivided and a more business-like atmosphere returned to the Table. He raised a finger to pose his question with a voice that sounded like shifting sand in the wind. “I wonder if our new Goddess of the Forest could help me understand something.”

  No lack of amusement came to the faces about the hall as they shifted their attention to the God of the Desert. On Vantaiga’s face, there was no change to her expression of composed friendliness. Internally, though, she was afraid of what he might want of her. She replied with the smooth voice of a practised diplomat, “Yes, Aridus, certainly.”

  He fixed Vantaiga with a daring look. “What plans do you have for your forest in our desert world?”

  Vantaiga feigned a hint of confusion. “I’m not sure what you mean by plans, but I only wish to keep my forest safe.” She looked down at her forest on the World Table. As a mortal she held some pride in the size she had grown her grand forest. But now from on high among the gods, it only seemed as a small patch of green bordered by wide, scrubby plains set before a vast golden ocean of desert. It saddened her that such a small thing could be a concern to anyone, let alone Aridus.

  “If you are worried I will consume your desert, rest assured that is not possible. Most of your desert is too hot and rocky to support trees.” She turned coy to the desert god. “It is Hydar you should worry more about in that case. He would have to drown the world in rain before I could be any threat to your great desert.”

  Aridus looked to Hydar. “Hmm, most of the desert, you say.” He sat back on his throne before querying again. “And what plans do you have for your people?”

  Now Vantaiga was legitimately confused, and her gaze wavered. Why would she have plans for her people? She regained her composure with a quick breath. “I only wish to keep my people healthy and peaceful. There are no warriors in my forest, if that is what you are worried about.”

  Aridus grimaced. “Yes, that is what we are worried about.”

  Vantaiga firmly looked over all the gods assembled around her. “Friend or foe, I will not allow soldiers in my forest. It is my people who need to be concerned with the armed kingdoms and cities that surround us. As we speak, a mission has begun to the outside lands to extend offers of peace and trust from the forest people. We have no desire to fight anyone.”

  Aridus nodded slowly and looked towards Hydar.

  With no further questions for her, the gods fell back into their usual routines and did not pay much further attention to Vantaiga. She did not like that Aridus would direct his concern towards Hydar but decided it was best to let it pass. She found that her introduction to the pantheon of gods went surprisingly well and did not want to spoil any goodwill.

  She also did not want to spoil her moment with the vapid concerns of gods. She was now on high and could let herself be fully mindful of the thoughts and prayers of her forest followers. A warm euphoria settled over the Goddess as their faith flowed into her. From her seat at the World Table, the affection of her faithful was more tangible. She could feel it wash over her like a warm stream, filling her with purpose, confidence, and power. Her doubts about becoming a goddess receded to the back of her mind.

  She wondered if this was how the other gods felt and why they spent so much time in the heavens rather than down in the world. She found it hard to imagine. Her people worshipped her for her kindness and the bounty of her forest. The gods that surrounded her were only known for their harshness and cruelty. For them, the power of their faithful was derived from fear and despair. They created a world that punished the weak and rewarded the brutal. Hydar’s mercy, which had spared her as a child, was a rare display of sympathy from above.

  She cast aside her errant thoughts. She didn’t want to think of the other gods and their malevolence. She wanted to enjoy the devotion of her people and the love of her Syffox. She began to wonder how he was on his travels.

  She looked over the World Table for him. From her vantage point in the heavens, Vantaiga could observe all the creation of the world. The people below continued about their day unconcerned with her gaze. They were too engrossed in their own struggles to give much heed to the gods above them, let alone a new Goddess they had never heard of. They relied on the various clerics and priests to be concerned with the needs on high and which divinity to pray to for leniency.

  But Vantaiga was not looking for a priest that extolled sacrifice and atonement. She was looking for a priest that taught patience, tolerance, and most notably, love of her and her forests.