"Isn't it time for you to start treating him as your subject and not a friend? A good king would've silenced him for trying to tell them what to do. Are you afraid of him or are you nothing without him? You might have me locked up here but I hear the gossip of the ministers saying the only reason you're succeeding is because of the work Alexander has done," the voice in the shadows spoke now that Alexander had left the king alone. The maid had left the room with Alexander.
"Shut up!" Darius yelled, throwing an empty cup into the darkness where he thought the person was. No matter how many torches he lit in his room, they always found a spot of darkness to lurk in. He should have moved them to somewhere else so he didn't have to listen to them but Darius needed to keep an eye on this prisoner. "Do not underestimate what I have done as a king."
"Kings sit in their palace's barely giving out orders while men like Alexander go out to fight and win. You take all the glory when you've done nothing. How much of a king are you without him? I watched you punish everyone who questioned you but you always let him slide-"
"I said shut up!" Darius yelled, throwing a bottle in the darkness but the voice didn't stop.
"Is it because you know you can't do what you're planning without him? My oh my, what a useless king you are. How about I take him away from you and prove that I am right?"
Darius remained silent, no longer feeding into the game they were playing. He was everything without Alexander. He only allowed Alexander to speak freely because they were childhood friends. He'll be damned if he allowed anyone to think all of his achievements were thanks to Alexander.
"One day he's going to grow tired of you and this palace. What will you do when you don't have him?"
"Alexander will always be in the palace and I'll make sure of it." Darius already had a plan for when Alexander was considering leaving his duty to the palace. He was sure his dear sister would like what he had in mind. "Alexander will always be chained to the palace and it is my commands which have helped him to win wars to bring glory. It's time I stop allowing everyone in my palace to discredit me."
The person in the shadows grinned waiting for what the king's next move would be. Darius liked to believe he had him captured here as a prisoner but he was wrong. They could escape at any point but stayed to enjoy the show.
Two days later, Artemis laid by the lake awaiting the time for her to leave and meet up with Alexander so that she could steal him away. She placed her hand in the water and stared up at the sky enjoying the view. "How much longer is time going to take?" She asked herself as time was going by slowly. It always did when you had something you were excited to do.
"No, I do not like him. Have you not been paying attention?" She sat up and looked at the tree as it guessed her intentions wrong. She had literally spoken out loud about her plan. What did she say to get the idea she liked him? "He's the typical hero in every book and I would never like a human man. I despise them in case you have forgotten. Maybe your roots have become bad. Would you like me to dig them up? Of course, you wouldn't," Artemis laid back down.
"He'll be our first guest so be on your best behavior. I don't know why everyone thinks I'm the evil one when it's you who has something to do with the people going missing. I've been misunderstood for all these years for your actions and you just sit there bringing in countless wishes and making me listen to them. Is this my punishment?" She questioned looking out the lake towards the tree.
It didn't say anything like it normally would and continued to light up as wishes came in. "Isn't it stupid that a Goddess like me can't make a wish? It's not like they know what I would wish for. Suppose I want to wish for world peace?" She said then started to laugh because of how ridiculous she sounded. Artemis would never wish for such a thing. Anyone who wasted a wish on world peace was a fool. Such a thing would never exist.
"No, I'm not going to stay here just because you asked me to. You hear all the secrets of the world when wishes come in and you mean to tell me you don't understand why I'm doing all of this? You know what, tell me why you are here with me. I have never heard of a tree showing the wishes of humans. That was my job so who created you to annoy me?" Artemis interrogated the tree. If they lived here together the least they could do was be honest with each other.
Artemis had no clue how the tree came to exist nor why it had the ability to control the forest and kill anyone who enters. "I'm going to find out about you one day and then, I'm going to burn you down. If you were important, no one would've left you here with me. Enjoy the peace for a while because I have to leave. It's time to meet the hero," Artemis said, sitting up from by the water.
These two days had passed by slowly but it was finally time for her to meet Alexander again. She hoped the man hadn't forgotten his promise to meet with her again. The only other way to get him here would be to kidnap him from the house one of her pets followed him to one day ago.
Artemis hummed a tune as she headed out the forest ignoring the sound of the tree asking her not to leave once more.