Come Love A Stranger

Forty six

“I’m so sorry, mother,” Bamushka pleaded immediately, going down on her knees, “Ilayas didn’t tell me it would happen.”
“Stop lying, you knew it would happen, you have been told about the curse ever since you were a little goddess,” Azura barked, her eyes shimmering with blue lights.
“Indeed I have been told about it, but I have never witnessed it. Ilayas is way older than I am and he told me that the curse was just there to make the gods not to break the rule. That I can see that nothing has happened to Alador yet, and that there is no god whom such had happened. It was my fault to believe him, mother; I was lost with the promise of having Alador for myself. Please mother, understand my plight. I have been alone for nine hundred years, waiting for the day he would finally accept me. Why would I not jump into the first option of having him? Why would I not believe him since he is the king and thousands years older than I am? I am deeply sorry. If I really knew this would happen, would I have agreed? Of course not, what is the point of it? Alador doesn’t even care about me anymore, he doesn’t feel anything anymore. If there is anyone that regrets what is happening, then it’s me, I am really sorry.”
“Ilayas lied to you,” Azura’s voice was now soft like a whisper, the freezing cave was slowly returning to its natural temperature and Mariah finally stopped shivering. “There is a god that you know it has happened to,” she closed her eyes and Bamushka was surprised hearing that, she wanted to ask who but Azura spoke then, “me.”
“What?” Bamushka asked, even Mariah was surprised hearing that.
Azura glanced at Mariah, her blue eyes finally returning to its natural and beautiful crystal blue, “there is a reason I was against you and Alador,” she sighed, walking straight to the cave opening, “many years ago when I was a young goddess, I think five hundred years old. I was fascinated with the human world and often visited, mostly every night and even constructed a small cottage myself where I often rest if I don’t feel like going back to our kingdom. One of those nights, I was in the forest when I heard a loud cry for help. Without wasting time, I rushed to the meadow where it was coming from and I saw a man about to be devoured by a mountain lion.
Without thinking, I rushed to his rescue, freezing the lion to death and helping the man. He was so badly wounded and had gone unconscious even before the lion was dead. I didn’t know who he was or where to find his family so I brought him back with me to my little hut and there I nursed him till he got better. During that process, I started falling for him and when he fully recovered, I told him he can leave but he didn’t, he stayed with me and before I knew it, we were already too close and so much in love, or so I believed. Then one day, he told me he need to go tell his family that he was alive, that he was sure they have been looking for him. He promised he would come back once he had settled everything and then we can be together forever. I let him, believing in our times together, so I waited for him. I didn’t return back to my kingdom, I stayed in the forest, every day, every night wishing, hoping and waiting for him to come back to me. He knew who I was, I didn’t hide it from him and he was fascinated with the things I can do.
So I kept waiting but he never came back, and one day, I couldn’t wait anymore, I decided to go look for him, I have his scent with me, buried deep in my heart and my nostrils so I went into the village to look for him. I blended in so well, using a cloak to cover my abnormal hair color. People didn’t pay much attention to me and I was grateful for that. I kept searching, but I couldn’t find him and nothing to even lead me to him and just when I was about to give up for the day, I smelled him, I turned immediately but I didn’t see him, rather his smell was coming from a young human girl, six I believe she looked.
So I followed her, knowing she would lead me to him, I kept walking as she hopped around, greeting almost everyone she met. She was a loving girl, I read it from their minds and I could also see for myself. Finally, we came upon a house, I hid by the trees, there was a woman in front of the house, beckoning the girl to come over, she reeked of his scent. The scent was too much on her more than the girl, I wanted to barge into the house to ask her of him but I held myself and I waited by the trees till it was dark. I knew he was in that house, his scent was everywhere. So when it was dark enough and I was sure they were all asleep, I teleported to their room and left with him.
Back in the forest, I woke him up and he was surprised and shocked to see me, he quickly glanced around, thinking we were still in his home but I told him we were not. I might be a young goddess but I was older than any average human, in fact, no human has ever lived up to my age. So I knew the woman was his wife and the girl his daughter but I didn’t care, as long as he loved me, I didn’t care. She would grow old and die while I will still be here, with him and I told him that immediately. He looked shocked finding out that I knew, yes I was angry with him for not telling me but I did not want to fight with him, I was ready to let everything go so that we can be as we once were but then, he had turned me down and pushed me away.
I had been surprised and I wanted so badly to know what happened but he told me that they don’t only have a daughter, that they have a son but he has went to visit his grandparents and also, his wife was pregnant. That was another shocking news to me but I waved it off and still offered to be with him but he still rejected me and that was when I told him how I feel, I confessed my love to him and the mating mark appeared on his neck, thinking about it now, that was the mistake I made, if I hadn’t told him, I would have easily walked away and just have to deal with the heartache but I wanted to entice him into being with me. I had thought if he knew that a goddess loved him, he would choose me over a human woman.
But after going through the pain that came with the mating mark, he still rejected me and warned me to stay away from him and his family and that he loved his wife and would never hurt her. He told me that he was with me in the first place because he was mesmerized by my beauty and overwhelmed by the fact that I saved his life but after returning to his wife and seeing that beauty alone cannot bring him happiness, he reprimanded himself and promised never to hurt his wife like that again.
He thanked me once again for saving his life and warned me once more to stay away and then turned to leave. I cried and I pleaded for him not to leave me, I said all sort of things, made all sort of promises but he didn’t look back once and I was left crumbling on the earth like a wounded animal. A goddess like me, brought to her knees all because of love.”