Chapter 776: The Goddess’s Will?
Chapter 775: The Goddess’s Will?
13 Days To Go
Victoria was met with silence.
Every representative in the room stared at her with wide eyes. The clatter of cutlery had ceased. Even the servants had frozen in place, their hands hovering over platters of food as if afraid to move. The only sound was the distant howl of wind beyond the castle walls.
Seconds ticked on, and then Gloria slammed her fork down on the table.
"Are you fucking serious?" she demanded. "You mean we should be done with everything within two weeks?"
Victoria nodded calmly, her expression unruffled. "If possible, even before the countdown is up."
"Can you even hear yourself?" Gloria asked, her voice sharp with disbelief. "We have barely begun preparations. And you expect us to launch an attack in two weeks?"
"I understand that it’s sudden," Victoria said solemnly, her voice dripping with false humility. "But you all must understand that it is not my will. It was in your presence that I received the vision from the goddess. I did not choose the timing. She did."
"And what exactly did it contain?" Samuel asked, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. "You have yet to tell us the details. You have yet to explain what you saw."
Victoria let the silence stretch for a moment, allowing the tension to build. She took a slow sip of her wine, letting them wait, letting them wonder. Then she set the glass down and spoke, her voice low and grave.
"The goddess showed me the northern pack heading straight for us. Our people killed by their hands without any care for them. Our lands destroyed. They come seeking our power, and in the vision, it happened within two weeks. Rather than them coming to us, don’t you think it would be better if we took them unaware and went to them instead?"
She looked around the table, her gaze sweeping across each face. She watched as doubt flickered in their eyes, as fear began to take root. She watched as they weighed her words, as they considered the possibility that she was telling the truth.
"The element of surprise is our greatest weapon," she continued, her voice growing stronger. "If we strike first, we control the battlefield. We control the outcome. We decide where and when the battle takes place. They will not see us coming."
The truth was, Victoria had seen nothing in the vision she claimed to have had. What had happened was an act she and Selith had worked together to put on. Her eyes rolling up and her losing consciousness had been enough to make it look convincing. The timing had been perfect—right in the middle of the feast, with all the Enclave members present. The shattered glass, the trembling hands, the dramatic collapse—it had been carefully choreographed.
She had only lost consciousness for a while masking it as a vision.
But the sacrifices they had made to make that even happen... people they had kept to use in the ritual during the attack, where she would claim the power that was rightfully hers, where she would show the goddess that she had made a mistake in making the girl the one foretold and not her.
She had hoped to save those sacrifices for the ritual. But now, she had resorted to using them. She did not mind, though, because people still remained alive. Those marked with the plague and many more—they would be used to achieve what she sought. There were always more after all.
But first, she must convince these people that their best choice is to move within two weeks, hopefully before the countdown elapsed. She needed them united. She needed them eager. She needed them to believe that this was the goddess’s will.
She doubted the northern pack knew of what she planned for them. They may have gotten the traitor, but that did not mean they knew what was coming for them. The traitor had been useful, but he was only one piece of the puzzle. There were others. Plans within plans. Victoria had been planing this for years, and she had no intention of losing or giving up now.
She was going to destroy them once and for all.
"That does make sense," Philip said, nodding eagerly. He was always so eager to please, so quick to agree. "Besides, of what use is a pack with resources if they are not willing to help their kind in a time of need but instead would rather kill them? They have made their choice. Now they must face the consequences."
"The northern pack has irritated me for years," Gloria said, her voice dripping with disdain. "I do not understand why we still let them live. They are a stain on our territories, a reminder of what happens when we show mercy. But that is beside the point. Two weeks is too sudden. Our warriors will not be ready."
"But it’s not like we have a choice," Samuel said, his voice flat. "The goddess has shown the Luna the vision. To ignore it would be to ignore the will of the goddess herself."
Victoria stared at him. For some time now, she had disliked the alpha of the Duskveil Pack. He questioned her too much. He saw too clearly. He was a threat, and threats needed to be eliminated.
"Do you doubt what I saw, Samuel?" she asked, her voice soft but edged with steel.
"Why would I?" he asked genuinely, his expression unreadable. "I simply want to understand the full picture. There is no harm in that, is there?"
Victoria stared at him for a long moment, searching his face for any sign of deception. Then she nodded slowly.
"The goddess has given us a sign, and I suggest we follow it. She is our guide after all. She has never led us astray before. She will not lead us astray now."
She rose from her seat, her crimson gown pooling around her. Her voice grew stronger, more commanding, as she addressed the assembled Enclave.
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