Keep your enemies closer

Story Time

Valeria's pov-

"Aunt, can you tell me a story?", Freddie asked me. We were in my bedroom, chatting away to pass the time. "Why not? What kind would you like to listen to?", I asked. "Anything really?",he said. "How about an old Southern legend?", I asked. "That sounds interesting.", he answered. "In that case, I'll begin with a few questions.",I started.

"Have you heard of the Temple of Neperence in Suffield.", I asked him. "I think I heard that it got damaged by an earthquake a long time ago. I am not that familiar with Anaphelian mythology, so can you tell me what was Neperence the god of?",he asked. "Neperence as the King of the Seas and the patron god of Suffield and many other coastal states. He was the husband of the river goddess, Kyori, who has the longest river named in the South named after her and father of the ocean nymphs, the Sorines.", I said, giving him some background on the god. "His Temple in Suffield always had a bit of bad luck surrounding it, due to it being damaged and destroyed multiple times. Some say it is because of it being built directly in a disaster prone area, while some say that it is because of the evil Xamir, who resides their.", I narrated. "Who's Xamir?",Freddie asked.

"Xamir is a half-human half-serpent monster who was known to bring earthquakes and storms wherever he went. He was defeated and captured by Neperence, and is believed to be trapped in Neperence's Temple in Suffield. Legend says that he is trapped underneath the Temple, right beneath the sacrificial altar and Neperence's statue. If you place a handkerchief on the statue and using the altar as a base, run around the temple seven times,anti-clockwise, then, if you do this correctly, you can see that the handkerchief has disappeared and you can hear the rattling of Xamir's chains.", I told him. "Have you ever tried it?",he asked. "No, but a servant of mine did. She swore that she could the rattling of the chains.", I said.

"What are you both talking about?", Richard said entering the room. "Nothing, Aunt was just telling me the legend of Neperence's Temple.", Freddie said. "I think I've heard of that legend. Is it the one about Xamir and some weird ritual about leaving a handkerchief on a statue and running around the temple seven times?" ,Richard said. "Yes, it is. Now, what brings you here?", I said. "Oh nothing, I was just bored and decided to see what you were doing.",he said. "Why don't you join us. Tell us a legend from the North.",Freddie invited. I expected Richard to refuse and leave the room, he wasn't the one who liked to chatter. To my surprise, he sat beside my nephew on my bed and started asking Freddie if he knew about the ice god, Achaion and his wife, the river goddess,Alitheia. I guess my nephew had some effect on him.

"This is a really famous story back in the North, especially Lindow. I'll start, Achaion was the God of Ice,Snow and Storms. Alitheia was a river goddess, the longest river in the North is named after her. She was the sister of Kyori and was famed for her youthful beauty. The story goes that, one day while on a walk on a snowy day, Achaion caught a glimpse of Alitheia, who was also enjoying the snowy day and was instantly smitten. Wasting no time, Achaion made his feelings known to Alitheia and started wooing her. Although, Alitheia reciprocated his feelings, she still chose to give him a hard time. During one of these attempts at wooing, Achaion created a flower. A flower that could survive the cold northern winter, just like his love that would stick with her till the toughest times; a flower that would bloom all year round, just like his love that would never fade, a white fragrant flower, just like the purity of love. The flower touched Alitheia so much and she finally said yes. The two of them got married and had the snow fairies as their children. This flower became the symbol of the North, the Northern Lily.",he narrated.

"I didn't know the Northern Lily had that kind of origin.", Freddie said. "Me neither.", I said. "This is why it means eternal love back home.", Richard said. I briefly thought about my necklace before quickly brushing it away.

There is no way he can be in love with me.