Chapter 97: Aethera And Mahina
"Why did you do that, Aethera?" a young woman, pure as driven snow, with eyes as blue as a cloudless summer sky, asked, her voice trembling with a mix of confusion and hurt.
She wore a simple yet elegant white gown, its delicate lace and intricate embroidery a testament to the skillful hands that had crafted it, and a slender silver circlet adorned her brow, holding back a tumble of golden hair that cascaded down her back like a river of sunset hues.
"Did what? Mahina?" Aetheria, a young woman with skin as luminous as moonlight and hair as dark as the night sky, her eyes gleaming with a soft, ethereal light, replied, a hint of gentle curiosity in her voice, as she paused in her gentle strumming of the lyre that rested in her lap.
"Why are you playing with Snow’s life? Is it fun to you?" Mahina asked, her brows creased ever so slightly, but her elegance was at its finest, gentle yet unyielding, like a summer breeze that carried the sweet scent of blooming flowers, her voice low and melodious, but with an undercurrent of quiet steel, as she took a step closer to Aethera, her eyes flashing with a hint of controlled anger.
Aethera’s lips curled subtly, setting down her lyre as she waved her flowy sleeve, dismissing the maids in white, who had been hovering discreetly in the background, their faces expressionless masks of servitude.
As they glided silently out of the white room, Aethera’s gaze never left Mahina’s face, her eyes glinting with a hint of amusement and a touch of something else, something that looked almost like... calculation.
"Why do you concern yourself with the affairs of my creation, Mahina?" Aethera asked, her voice dripping with a honeyed sweetness, as she rose from her seat, her movements fluid and deliberate, like a cat stretching in the sun.
She took a step closer to Mahina, her eyes locked on hers, their gazes meeting in a silent, charged confrontation.
"He’s not your creation, he’s our brother." Mahina frowned slightly.
Aethera’s smile never wavered, but her eyes flashed with a fleeting glint of something darker, a hint of possessiveness and warning, as she replied, her voice low and husky, "Ah, but didn’t I breathe life into his very soul?"
"You did, because he was born a werewolf. But that doesn’t give you the right to control him, to manipulate his fate like a puppeteer pulling strings," Mahina’s voice rose, a hint of indignation and protectiveness creeping into her tone, as she took a step closer to Aethera, her eyes blazing with a fierce inner light.
Aethera chuckled, her voice like the soft tinkling of crystal, as she shook her head, her dark hair rippling like the night sky, "Oh, Mahina, you’re so quick to defend him, but do you truly understand what he is, what he’s capable of?"