The Price of Prayers
An Aveyond 3-2 fanfic by Aisling Yinyr Ngaio
Usually, the Goddess statues provided nothing but unending revenue to her. Oh sure, there were some thieves who tried to steal her alms every once in a while, but she got them back plenty by ensuring they had the very worst luck for the rest of their natural lives. But never had she been so entertained by the antics now being performed under one of the statues' noses. Cackling, she took down the particular orb now projecting images being captured by those innocently dull eyes of her replica from the shelf in her entertainment room. A young couple were arguing in overloud whispers about… a forthcoming marriage? This should be interesting.
"You can't leave me with her! What am I even supposed to do with her, for the love of the Goddess?" The brown-haired young man was alternating between pleading with the black-haired young woman and tearing at his hair as he contemplated his fate on the morrow. That refrain had been voiced for most of the conversation up till now, and he still did not get an answer to this unanswerable question.
Scowling, the woman flared back, "How am I supposed to know? For goodness sake, you knew of your mother's threat before we set off on our adventure, and you're only realising the consequences now?"
"It's not… I didn't… I was courting you!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Yeah, so you gave me some flowers and purchased sonnets, but how was I to know you were serious when you never proposed?" Crossing her arms in front of her, she practically dared him to answer, as unseen pain, pain she refused to even acknowledge to herself, flashed through her heart.
"I planned to! How was I to know you were going to be kidnapped?" The man was growing more agitated with every word, if that were even possible when he was already worked up to the breaking point. "And then, after you were rescued it wasn't the right time to ask you since we were going to battle Gyendal with little time left to lose. And after that… with Stella dead and all, I thought we should wait a while, to mourn her. I didn't know that my parents had gone on and organised my wedding AND coronation in my absence, for goodness sake!"
"Well that's what you get when you procrastinate!" The woman nearly yelled out. Fighting back tears which were suddenly swimming in her eyes, she continued in a lower voice, "You know, you could've had me long before I was kidnapped, but nooooo… you had to wait till I was kidnapped before you realised you wanted to propose!"
He was silent for a moment, then grudgingly conceded. "…All right, so I put it off some, but I wouldn't have been so terrified you would say no if you hadn't made it so difficult for me! Now look at my predicament! I'm supposed to marry an orc tomorrow?" The tone of disbelief was back in his voice. The woman rolled her eyes.
"Maybe you should've chosen to discuss this particular subject with your good friend Ulf. I'm sure a native like him would be able to coach you better on the finer details of being an orc's spouse." It would've been almost funny how she, in a deadpan, advised him to suck it up and face his destiny, if it weren't for the fact that she too was affected by what had happened to them both.
"Oh Goddess, what am I supposed to DO?" Burying his face in his hands, he moaned at the injustice of it all. "Did you even see her when she walked up to the throne room? She towered over me by four feet! And I can't understand how Mother vetted her when the look in her eyes was so maniacal, as if she's here to enslave us humans! Does Mother actually want me to unleash her in front of my court? I'd be a laughingstock! I don't even think she'd win in that Orc Beauty Contest without bribes!"
The memory of that Contest was probably going to be burned in the back of their minds forever, how they foolishly signed up as one of the judges only to be met with… Well… "Maybe you should remember what you're supposed to do on your wedding night too."
A horrified look crossed the man's face, as if he'd just realised the worst implication his forthcoming marriage would bring. "Oh My GODDESS! What am I supposed to do with her? How will I even…?" He gulped, and gulped again, trying to picture the scenario but just couldn't. "I… can't do this… cross-race breeding thing! I mean, how… what… I… I've always wondered how my fairy heritage came about, but I really don't want to know first hand! And with an orc!"
"Well, I hope you'll be very happy with the strong, tall, orcish wife you're going to bear your strong, tall, orcish children with. I will pray very hard that you don't end up like Ward!" The sarcasm dripping from her voice could've been lethal in that parting shot, as she finally walked away from it all, trying to make it back home before she could break down. Leaving a very desperate man behind, just trying to figure out what Aia had against him. Slowly, he swivelled around to face the castle, and, hardly realising he was in front of the statue, breathed:
"Please, Goddess. Please just give me a way out of this marriage."
Long moments passed as he just sat there defeated, unable to bring himself to even stand up. Finally, he pulled himself together, stood up shakily, and slowly trudged back to his home, fearing what the dawn would bring.
The Goddess raised an eyebrow as she heard the prayer. Gently placing the vision orb back on the shelf with its many siblings, her mind began to whirr. And then she smiled as her plan formed. Yes, maybe she would grant the young man his wish… and just maybe, she would teach him as well how not to phrase an all-encompassing entreaty, which could technically be granted by causing the deaths of one of the parties involved… Now where was the Druid of Dreams?
– Finis –