Dante spoke to his brother in a bored tone " Fine. To put your mind at ease, I would postpone the trials of captives to later but my commemorations happens tonight. I still dont think this is a big deal. If someone is crazy enough to show up here and communicate with the blood matches of a Ronas, they seal their fate. Now, if there is nothing else you wish to discuss, show yourself out. I am about to go pick up Athena for our delayed breakfast date."

Demetrious spoke with disbelief. " Come on Dante. How can you be so calm about this. You are acting as though this is no news to you. I am worried for my blood match and you should be concerned for yours too. When a message reads " I am coming for you", it can have many meanings. What if this woman wishes to hurt Athena and Aretha? We must do more. We must find this woman before she finds our women."

Dante rolled his eyes " Come on brother. Why should I worry myself when a lamb is announcing they are entering a lions den? Whoever this woman might be, it does not bother me. If this woman truly is related to Athena and is on her way here, then she should be the one worried. I would welcome meeting more of Athena's close relatives for sure. If they get caught by me then I would have more lives in my hands to force Athena to stay with me even though she is reluctant to be close to a heartless conquerer like me......"

Demetrious spoke worriedly " But .... What if ..... What if .... She doesn't get caught? What if she succeeds in getting to our blood matches. What is she takes them away from us?"

Dante shrugged " so many What ifs are there. She can bring it on. If she succeeds in whatever twisted game she is starting, then it means let the games begin. I love games. But I know for sure Athena won't leave my side anytime soon since I am a man of my word and she knows it. I have threatened her with the lives of her loved ones. She won't dare go against me. But the question is how much control do you have over your blood match? If some crazy witch comes along and tries to take her, would she go willingly ..."

Demetrious growled " But this is not some crazy witch. This is most likely a witch who is related to Aretha. She may choose her family over me."

Dante smirked " Then that is your problem Demetrious. Maybe you should be treating your woman differently. Let your dark side come out brother. Let her see that you won't spare lives if she leaves your side for any reason. Until you don't embrace your Ronas genes, you will have to live in fear, brother. Show her some tough love and she won't dare consider consort with any witch, not even a blood relative. Now enough. Get out of here. I am late for my date."

Demetrious nodded but he looked thoughtful. Was Dante right? He contemplated.

Dante teleported himself to Athena's room and found her next to the window. He smiled warmly and took a deep breath. He walked behind Athena and embraced her from behind " What are you looking at my love? What are you thinking about?"

Athena leaned onto Dante's chest who had his arms wrapped around her stomach " I was just looking at the mountains. I miss hiking. I miss travelling from territory to territory saving lives. I wish I could be free again."

Dante made his grip tighter " Do you miss your past so badly, Athena? Do you desire to rejoin your healer coven again? Aren't I enough for you? Isn't our love enough? Isn't living in this castle with me enough?"

Athena spoke "I dont really know anymore. Living with you has come at a cost. I have had to say goodbye to everything I have known and loved. I have given up so much to be here. Why does our relationship have to be this way? Why can't I continue with who I was and you continue with who you are even while we are dating right now."

Dante growled "You claim you have made sacrifices. But how about everything I have given up for you Athena? You are not the only one making sacrifices here. I am truly holding back my true desires here. I am a Ronas. I don't do waiting. I don't do patience. But for you I am making exceptions. I want to make you mine right this minute if you allowed it. But you won't and it does bother me but I love you enough to suppress my desires. Every time I see you I want to hold you tight and not let go. I want to show you to the world as my wife and my entitlement. But I can't. So you are not the only one who feels like they are giving up something."

Athena sighed "Point taken. But at least you are free. I have been locked up in this room for days now with no purpose. I need to be free. Give me a straight answer Dante. When are you going to let me out of this castle? When are you going to trust me enough to let me come and go as I please? Why am I treated like prisoner or rather under surveillance as you call it? How long are you going to keep this up for? Weeks? Months? Years?"

Dante gritted his teeth "I think you already know the answers to your questions but you cant face the truth yourself so you seek answers from me. You tell me why you should be the one holding back so much in this relationship that I do not trust you enough to let you be free. You tell me why I have to blackmail you with the lives of your loved ones so you stay here without pulling any stunts. You tell me Athena, why i have to treat you like this all alone locked up. You tell me why i cant trust you. You are my blood match but you prefer the company of the whole freaking world to me. You prefer to run to the rescue of the whole damn world but not to stand by me. I wish you wanted to be with me as much asI want to spend every waking moment with you. I wish you loved me as much as I love you. I am so madly in love with you that It would shatter my soul if you left me this minute. I keep your parents and Donavan locked up so I have the ray of hope that I can keep you here by my side long enough until you may fall in love with me completely one day. That is what I really want."

Athena spoke " I do love you Dante. I honestly do. But I don't love what you do. I don't like to stand around and watch your horrific actions. There is no way around it Dante. I won't ever be truly loyal to you unless you change your ways. Unless you treat everyone in this world in the same way. Unless you stop hurting innocents and conquering lands just because you can. Change your ways and my heart will be yours without you trying."

Dante turned Athena around roughly and wrapped his arms around her waist " Your heart will be mine. I would keep you here by my side in this castle until you get over everything you used to believe in. I would distance you from your buddies so much that you would never miss your old life. All you need is time to get over your healer life and your destructive beliefs."

Athena sighed " Likewise Dante. I could say the same thing. You vow to change me and my beliefs and I vow to change yours. In fact I would use every ounce of my energy to change your path and , I would fight you every step of the way."

Dante rolled his eyes " I have a prophecy written about me. You can't change my path. No one can stop me my love. Give up. Now lets go back to the key issue here. You must tell me love why do you find the idea of living in this castle so hard to accept?"

Athena spoke with sadness in a whisper " Dante. You forced me to come live with you. How can you justify that, ......."

Dante scoffed " Hold on. I did not force you to do anything. You surrendered."

Athena spoke "I did. But we both know why. I saw a vision about what you were going to do if I did not give up in that last battle at the midnight warrior territory. It was one of the most gruesome and most disturbing scenes I have seen in any of my visions. You were going to slaughter Alpha Augustus's pack of I didn't stay behind. You had ordered your men to gather them in one place and you were going to murder them in cold blood for helping me. I surrendered to stop blood shed and we both know it. Don't bother deny the acts you were going to commit out of revenge."

Dante shrugged " I don't deny it. I guess you are a powerful seer. Lucky for that pack, I am going to spare them tonight and send them back. See I am merciful like that."

Athena spoke sarcastically " Of course. Condemning them to a life time of servitude for the Ronas state and living under Ronas protocols is merciful." Her eyes then widened. "And did you say tonight? Are you having your commemorations so soon."

Dante frowned " Watch it Athena. Don't disrespect me with your tone. You don't want me to take you back to that Arena. Do you? That pack is quite independent. Their alpha rules them and reports only to me. That's the only difference. I won't send my enforcers to interfere. And yes. My commemorations are tonight. All representatives of the invaded territories have arrived sooner than expected. Now I think we should take this conversation to our delayed breakfast date. Don't you think?" He then teleported Athena with himself to the dining hall of the castle. He gestured Athena to sit down.

Athena sighed and sat silently around a dining table in front of Dante.

Dante spoke " You are having the same breakfast as me, poached egg and honey drink since you didn't choose When i gave you the chance to. And I think I won't force you to sit on my Lap today while we eat. I guess you were telling the truth. You are not ready for too much intimacy. I find your innocence quite attractive actually."

Dante got on with eating in silence and Athena did the same awkwardly. There was something that didn't feel right for Athena. Dante seemed like he knew something that she didn't and it really bothered her.

Athena stopped eating and cleared her throat " Dante. Something in your aura changed after you sent me to my room to dry my clothes. I tried to ignore it but I am curious. What happened while I was in my room. Please tell me, is there something you are not telling me."

Dante shrugged " Of course my love. There are so many things I am not telling you. Why would I trust you with anything when I know you would jump at any chance to leave me. You are forcing yourself to be in the same room with me right now. Admit it."

Athena protested " Do we have to have this conversation all the time. For the last time. We have too many differences. You find thrill in hurting others but my thrill is in healing others. Here you go. This is the reason we are not compatible. I am making so much effort right now to get used to us as a couple. It's going to be hard for me to go against my beliefs and stand by you but it's not impossible. It would be rough relationship packed with fights and duels but there is no other choice. Fate has matched us up so your presence in my life is inevitable and I have to try to get used to you. Now I want you to stop throwing this relationship problem out there in between us at any chance you find. It's starting to get irritating for me to have to defend myself every day about the same issues. Drop the topic."

Dante nodded " I can't. Ever. Not until you are willing enough for us to marry."

Athena sighed " But I hardly know you. How can I marry you? I haven't even met your parents and you haven't really met my parents. And don't you dare say you have since locking them up in a cell is not called meeting them. You must let my parents out of your underground cells and let them come to the surface and meet your parents."

Dante laughed bitterly " And give you the chance to help them escape. Nice try my love. Your parents stay down there until i say so. Why would I let go of the only reasons that have bound you to this castle. Well your sister is a Ronas blood match and can't be killed but your parents are fair game and you know it. You are obedient only with the hope that you would find your way round in this castle and get them out. Good luck with that. I advise you to spend more time getting to know me than scheming to set them free."

Athena narrowed her eyes " Dante. I don't want to hear any more. You are not acting like how a true blood match should. Taunting me and throwing the fact that we have too many differences at me every chance you get is really getting on my nerves. I guess you really know how to ruin the date for me. All i did was asking you to tell me what it was you were hiding. Your knowing look is a bad sign for me. Will you answer my question or this silent date is over and I can return to my chambers." Athena then stood up and raised am eyebrow waiting for a response " Well?"

Dante's patience and the smirk on his face unsettled Athena. What was going on in his mind. Athena thought to herself.

Dante took his time and finished his honey drink and turned to Athena." Sit down my love. Believe me when I say to you that you know much more than me about the matter at hand that you are questioning me about,"

Athena eyed Dante suspiciously but reluctantly say down" Go on then."

Dante waved his hands and the image goven to him by Demetrious that showed the hooded figure that had contacted Aretha appeared hovering above Athena. She gasped in disbelief.

Dante stated " Apparently she is sending messages to you and Aretha that she is coming for you. Tell me everything you know about her. Dont you dare deceive me though. I know she is related to you. She sent you a blood sealed message that i intercepted of course. But Aretha managed to open her message and She confirms that this woman is your blood relative. But who is she? and what does she want with you and Aretha? Tell me everything you know and ...... in return I would grant you a wish but if you try to deceive me, I would punish you."There was a threat behind his tone and Athena sensed it.

Athena spoke "I don't know much about her. I only met her in Australia for the first time and last time. But if I tell you all I know what kind of wish would you grant me. Would you let my parents and Donavan out of their prison."

Dante laughed bitterly " Of course, I should have known you would ask for freedom of my hostages. Setting Your parents free are out of question but I can let Donavan leave the cell and be enrolled on a conversion program supervised by his brother, Dylan and his father, Marcus. Afterall, I broke him badly when he witnessed us kissing and being intimate. No amount of physical torment could break him inside out. I guess I am satisfied with my revenge to some extent."

Athena shook his head " Set him free and we have a deal. He would be hurt on the conversion program to the same level he was getting tormented by you down there in your underground cell. What difference does it make to hand him over to the custody of his blood thirsty brother and heartless father."

Dante spoke " The difference is that he won't beg for death for the torments he receives at his family's hands. They won't hurt him too badly on a conversion program. Just so you know, I sent some tormenting lightening spells to his cell after you walked away from me. You were not the only one I punished, my love for your defiance. He is barely alive and needs a healer. But your choice. You can refuse to share this woman's identity and we don't have to mention it. Just know that Donavan would be my lamb for the slaughter whenever I feel like it out of jealousy and anger if he is locked up in this castle so close to my reach."

Athena was torn. She cringed at Dante's words. She could imagine the pain Donavan was in right now and she could end it with one simple deal. But Dante was surely going to get some information many had no knowledge of if she confessed. She sighed " Fine. I will tell you all I know about this woman. But you must swear that you would not break your word."

Dante nodded " Tell me everything and I would keep my word."

Athena spoke reluctantly " Her name is Arethusa. The daughter of the leader of the all female warrior secret society that rule Greenland. The main missions of Arethusa and her mother Aurelia in life are to recruit women to strengthen their army of super witches and of course to hate the male population with a passion."

Dante spoke with surprise " Greenland is abandoned. There is nothing but snow and ice. Where do those female warriors live."

Athena replied simply " Underneath the snow and ice Aurelia and her daughter Arethusa are leading an empire or rather military base built by the darkest of enchantments that not many can detect. You maybe able to detect their location in Greenland if you use the jewel of illusion but you can't break in that easily."

Dante was curious " So what do these women do all alone, all day? Do they have male blood matches? Have they abandoned the chance to have families just to dedicate their lives to fighting for a cause to have an independent state for women."

Athena smiled weakly " Basically yes. Everything you said. The warrior women train non stop with their leader Aurelia. Of course, alongside that, Arethusa is sent by her mother to different territories to find and recruit women that have just come of age and haven't found their blood match and of course are powerful enough to be worthy to join the cause in Greenland. Arethusa is only 17 years old herself. A super powerful witch for her age if you ask me. Once she gets older, I don't think her mother would let her leave greenland alone so she won't be swept away by her blood match. Right now, Aurelia wants to strengthen her army to a point to make it invincible so she can create a continent one day that can protect itself and only consists of women. Her daughter, Arethusa is her recruiter and she has never failed to bring back a target except when she came to Australia to get me. I refused to join. That was before I met you of course. Maybe if I had met you by then, I would have joined the cause."

Dante raised an eyebrow " Be careful Athena with what you say."

Athena sighed "I didn't join them in the end. I prefer my healer coven to them. Thats all that should matter."

Dante spoke " These women interest me. But tell me what is their relation to you."

Athena sighed " Thats the complicated part. I don't know much. We are not close relatives. We maybe distant cousins for all I know. When i met Arethusa in Australia, her aura was familiar. I think she is descended directly from the great sorceress Marisya just like me and Aretha."

Dante narrowed his eyes " There is more that you haven't told me. I can sense it. Tell me. Was there anything else going on between you and Arethusa?"

Athena spoke "Nothing that is worth mentioning. She had demands that i didn't give into. As i said, She wanted me to join the cause and ........ much more."

Dante spoke " What do you mean by much more "

Athena spoke "You asked me to tell you everything I know about Arethusa and I did. All you need to know is that they had demands from me that I said no to. Lets leave it at that. Now I want you to keep your end of the deal. I kept mine."