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*****

ETAN

Behind them, Falek stopped his horse too and began to scan their surroundings, looking for the threat, but Etan kept all of his attention on Ayleth—who was frowning at him.

"Ayleth, if you believe the plain brown snake under your eyes to be the common garden, you will not know it for the asp until it bites you."

"You just want me to agree with you!"

"No. I want you safe. I want your souls safe—if something should happen to you… Ayleth, I stood in front of your mother who calls on the Goddess and watched her swear to kill you."

"Those who serve your God go to war! They fight and kill!"

"Yes—and sometimes they should not. Murder is never acceptable in his sight, Ayleth. Except to stop your death at another's hands, killing another should never be done from hate or anger. And certainly not from ambition. And we are commanded that we protect our children! Love them! Guide them! Never kill them to keep them from someone else's hands. Ayleth, your mother's Goddess is… empowering her to kill you with magic that you know yourself she has set in your life."

Ayleth sucked in a breath and when she spoke her voice was shaky. "I'm not saying my mother is right," she said breathlessly. "I told you she could be ruthless—I told you that myself."

"But you don't seem to see it," Etan said, his tone pleading and frustrated. "When will you see, Ayleth? When will you see that the silver-tongued, even if they love you, have motives for your harm, and their motives matter? Their plans, the power plays, they matter!

"Summitras has been disregarded, reputed as barbarians and savages and… heathens for generations, and yet here we are—the Summitrans will save you from the death your mother threatens. Not the Goddess worshipers. The Father of Lights will save you from this, Ayleth—and we never threatened you."

"You cannot be serious?" she spat. "You're the ones who tried to abduct me! I never would have even done that spell with my mother if that hadn't happened! She conceived of it to help me in case I ever found myself… tortured by an enemy again!"

Etan was shocked. "You still see this evil as something good she did for you?"

"Motives matter, you said," Ayleth pressed. "I'll admit, I hadn't thought of it for a long time. But that spell was never intended for my mother to murder me! It was to allow my mother to save me from torture at the hands of an enemy."

Etan sighed, still holding her horse's rein. "Ayleth, I don't want to prick you with thorns but you have to stop looking at this with a child's eyes. Your mother is a witch and she's used that magic against both of us—and she'll continue to do so. You've been involved, though I know that wasn't your heart

—but you have to see that that kind of darkness leaves a mark. You need the Father of Lights to remove it. Because your Goddess believes it's a good thing.

"My love, you have a choice: You can turn from the powerful deception of your parent's way and into the light and stand alongside me—strong and independent, and valued for your character, not the asset you are to our power. You would stand with a God that will mold you into the best version of yourself. Or you can simply continue to follow these people who insist that their Goddess is merciful, yet whenever they are crossed, act with selfish ruthlessness."

Ayleth glared at him. "Your father threw you out when he learned you married me," she seethed. "My parents aren't the only ones willing to—"

"My father was angry and did not harm me," Etan said patiently. "He has never threatened my life—

even now when he believes I threatened his entire Kingdom! I'm sad and hurt to be apart from him right now, but I know him. And I know my mother's words were true. He'll forgive me and we'll work through this. He just needs some time."

He sucked in a deep breath. "Ayleth, your mother threatened to kill you, and still might make good on that threat. Do not believe that just because she has done well before, or shown love before, that means it is all she harbors in her heart. You know this, Ayleth, and yet you turn from it. It's the reason you abandoned them for me, whether you realize it or not. You felt called into the light—the real light. The one that would never cast you in darkness. Your heart—your soul—recognizes it. Whether you do or not," he concluded.

Ayleth was flustered, frowning. She yanked her reins out of his grip and nudged her horse forward again. Etan followed on his mount but didn't take the words back.

"So… you want me to just abandon everything? Everyone? Just… walk into a world I don't know, a God I don't trust, and… what? What is it that you believe waits for me there that I don't already have? Other than your rules and abstinence that you believe makes you righteous?"

Etan snorted. "I have never claimed righteousness. Now you spew the words of your priestesses who do not know my God. My Father of Lights doesn't set me on a pedestal, Ayleth. You ask what he brings… he brings protection. Strength that will not ask you to harm others. Empowerment from joy and peace and the strength that comes with it. That is what the Father of Lights does, Ayleth. He moves our hearts towards the best of which we are capable, and we are strengthened by it. He doesn't push in where He is not invited. He will not destroy any that don't come against him. He doesn't flatter. He does no harm—but he does discipline." Just like the loving father who once paddled Etan's behind for stealing, he thought to himself with a small smile.

"Do not dismiss the correction of the Father of Lights, Ayleth. It is the demonstration of love. Would you allow your dog to bite when it's a puppy? Or your horse to bolt whenever it pleased? Putting a bridle on your mount isn't cruelty, it is a mark of your protection—you know better than your mare which direction is safe, and which will get her killed, do you not?

"Yes, but—"

"No buts. Ayleth, the Father of Lights taught me how to love you. I do not claim to always get it right and I do not claim to understand the interplay between our gods. But I do know this: My God condemns the kind of hatred and power that your mother embraces. While yours apparently empowers it. That speaks volumes."