“Why?”

“Because of the patriarchy, of course!” answered the goddess. “It is always the woman who compromises my dear Vessel. Always.”

Faizan did not know what to say. He was starting to feel guilt among all the heartbreak now.

“Listen to me, Vessel. I know you are upset and you don’t have to forgive her just now, but you have to know that there are greater things at stake right now. Don’t you love her?”

“Of course, I do!”

“Then protect her. Fight for her. For all the witches. For womankind. For me. Come join me in our fight for a better world. A better world where the abominations you have seen occur will never happen again.”

Faizan wanted to agree to it but there was one question that was digging deep at his core. He was too scared to ask, however. He felt her gentle touch caress him again.

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“I know what you want to ask, Vessel. You don’t have to hesitate. You are one of us now. Speak freely.”

Faizan gulped. “Wasn’t it you who caused all the blood shed outside anyways? It was your quills that did it.”

He expected her to get mad but her caress did not go away. Instead, he could feel her smile and it filled him with warmth. “I am glad to see that you are keeping me accountable. That is very important, Vessel. Never lose it. As for your answer, it is quite simple. I made a mistake.”

Faizan did a double take at that and he felt her nod at him. Again, the porcupine did not make any movement. “Yes, Vessel, I made a mistake. The previous leader of the Sey witches, her name was Noor. She conspired with me to create quills so that we could empower the women of the village so that they would run away and join us. But I was foolish. I did not realise he was lying to me. You already know what happened next.”

Faizan sighed. “And you want me to stop it?”

“Do not be arrogant, Vessel,” he heard her tone become stern and yet, her caress still did not go away. “You can stop it because I empowered you to do so. By making a man a Vessel, the witches will be forced to accept you and unlearn the hatefulness that I have filled them up with. Hate for men is understandable but not to an extent that it clouds their judgement.”

“I understand.”

“Will you do it?” she asked.

“Yes, I will.” he answered without a shred of doubt. He knew this was his purpose now. In a sense, all the horror and terror he had gone through was to harden him for this task. He did not hold everything he had gone through against her now. Her healing energy was helping him unlearn all the terror and keep the lessons that they had taught him. He had seen how vile and inhumane men could become. He wouldn’t have understood it to this extent otherwise.