Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Sometimes, I feel like a chess piece. My friends and I have suffered so much because of the fickle nature of gods greater than us.
It pains me to watch the child from my dreams take on such a burden.
And to my surprise, I feel sorrow for Kronos’ son too.
He cares for her, more than he will likely ever have the luxury of telling her.
They have inherited the inevitable doom of their bloodlines.
—Ana, Priestess to the Usurper King, Arcadia
Juno was staring at her, had been the entire morning. Nya tried to ignore her, but her ability to put on a brave face and pretend she was fine had been worn down from her lack of any sleep the last two nights.
Yesterday, nothing had happened, not unless she could count watching Nyx walking on tiptoes around her parents or Heles landing in the garden with an entire goat hanging from her mouth.
Morgen and Carus were growing more and more on edge as the hours passed.
They had left behind an entire army in the Gods’ Aisle, but each time they brought it up to any of the principals, the gods insisted it was unsafe to leave the house.
The one saving grace was that Nya was pretty sure Carus and her father were cooking up a plan to allow for some kind of escape.
She didn’t ask them or Morgen about it, though.
She was simply too tired, and as the day dragged on, it began to feel like she hadn’t slept in two weeks.
It was why, as Juno stared at her with narrowed eyes for the third time that hour, she snapped harshly, “What?” at the Goddess of Fate.
Juno’s brow rose, but to her credit, all she said was, “Something is wearing thin in you, Nya. I am simply trying to figure out what it is.”
From the corner table where he stood behind Carus and her father, Morgen turned his head, and Nya was grateful he was the one who asked in a sharp voice, “Care to explain what you mean, Juno?” because she didn’t have the energy.
Juno tilted her head. “I’m surprised you don’t know what I’m referring to.”
He took a single step closer to her, eyes narrowed. “I’m surprised it took you this long to notice.”
Juno fell silent but went back to staring, this time at him.
Thanatos and Nyx spoke in low tones by the hearth, Anabeth making stilted conversation with her mother, and Nya just…
couldn’t. The air was so tense, she felt like she hadn’t been able to breathe in days.
No one was speaking their minds, and everyone was whispering.
She stood abruptly. “I need some air.” Her parents exchanged a look, and she added, “Alone. It’s fine; I’ll just be in the garden.”
She could feel the weight of Morgen’s gaze as she headed for the hallway and the back door, but he didn’t follow her.
Nya.
She took a sharp breath, hurrying into the garden. I’ll be back. I just need a second—
Her steps faltered when she rounded the corner of the house and saw a man standing there, observing the flowerbed she, Carus, and Morgen had crashed into a few days ago. He had dark skin and light hair just shy of golden. Though he was tall, he was more willowy than broad, and his eyes…
He had the same eyes as her mother.
“Hello, Nya,” the god said in a deep, well-mannered voice. “I don’t believe we’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.”
They hadn’t, but she knew exactly who he was.
“Sol,” she whispered, echoing the name in her thoughts and sending it down the pathway.
His eyes flickered, ether mixing with a brief hint of gleaming gold light, perhaps the handful of embers he had kept for himself.
“You look quite like Sora,” he said, tilting his head to the side. “Not your eyes, though. Those are most definitely from Vulcan’s bloodline. Not that there’s much to be seen for it. Shame he devoted himself so fully to a mortal, he never produced any other offspring.”
“Shame indeed,” she said quietly, “that a few of the principals actually figured out how to be loyal to the people they care for. I might even call it love.”
Sol chuckled dryly, taking a step closer to her.
“They may think so, yes, but here is the truth none of them want to admit: we are not capable of such a thing, nor should we be. We are the results of power and obsession, and we seek those things above all else. Why do you think the void calls to you so?”
She retreated, and he glanced briefly behind her.
“Because you, my dear, will never be the carefree mortal girl your parents so wished you to be. You are just like the rest of us, the principals you blame for the misfortune of your bloodline. But unlike us, you do not have the luxury of understanding what calls to you.” He leaned in, and she stiffened.
“That is a problem, Nya,” he whispered in her ear.
The back door slammed open, and Sol grabbed her arm roughly, a hand outstretched in front of him.
“Sol, no!” Nyx shouted.
Sol smirked, and Nya tried to twist out of his hold as he mused, “Sorry, little sister, but you knew it had to be done. I simply possessed the backbone none of you did to do it.”
The portal formed, but even as he dragged her through it, Morgen bellowed down the pathway, his voice echoed by Varax’s shrill roar. The garden disappeared, and a searing pain blinded Nya, tearing the air from her lungs and pressing a suffocating pressure against her chest.
Seconds later, the portal closed behind them, and Nya found herself surrounded by the familiar craggy peaks of the Gods’ Aisle.
Sol shoved her down onto the ashy earth, and she coughed violently, spitting out bright red blood.
The pain was only getting worse. She could hardly breathe, gritting her teeth against the scream building in her throat.
“Interesting,” Sol said, crouching and looking at her with something like mild irritation.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been around someone stupid enough to bind their blood to their betrothed.
I forgot about the matter of distance, though I don’t recall the discomfort usually being this severe. ”
Her vision tilted, and she shut her eyes as her stomach roiled, as she tried to breathe through the pain and focus. There was a faint noise coming from… Where was it coming from?
“Up!” Sol barked, tapping her with his foot.
The noise… It was a voice. She was sure of it now.
Nya… Nya, please…. Where, where, where—
A foreign pain lanced up her back, but she forced herself to focus enough to say two words.
Gods’ Aisle.
The voice faded after that, and Sol dragged her by her hair up a steep slope into a shallow cave, dimly lit with torches. As soon as they were inside, Sol restrained her with heavy chains hammered into the stone itself. There were four figures she could see in the cave, two of whom she recognized.
Bella and Imeria. But…why? Why would she betray Morgen like this?
“Took you long enough,” Bella grumbled, picking at her nails.
“Patience is an attractive quality, you know,” Sol said lightly. “Though, regretfully, one you have never mastered.”
Bella rolled her eyes. “Oh, now you’ve really insulted me.” Her gaze landed on Nya, and she snorted. “So that’s what happens when you mix Nyx and Vulcan’s bloodlines. Always wondered, but they’re both such prudes when it comes to reproducing.”
“You’re forgetting Thanatos. He is her grandfather,” Sol mused. “Fates, Bella, it never fails to puzzle me how hung up you still are on him.”
Bella’s nostrils flared. “Oh, fuck you, Sol.”
The two gods bickered, and Nya tried and failed to get Imeria to look at her. The demi-god who had claimed to be Morgen’s friend stood silently in the corner with two others Nya did not recognize, her eyes downcast and her hands folded tightly in front of her.
Fine. She just had to hold on a little longer. It was only a matter of time before Morgen and Varax portaled here.
Nya Evva.
She almost answered aloud before realizing no one in the cave had spoken her name aloud. Tentatively, she reached out down the unfamiliar mental pathway. Who are you?
My name is Veeron. Your brother is my rider, which is why I am making this concession to speak to you.
Sol turned to face her, and she kept her expression flat even as Veeron added, You need to leave the cave the god Sol took you to.
It is heavily warded. Varax is in the mountains, but neither she nor her other rider will be able to find you if you remain there.
You cannot remain there, Nya Evva. They intend to do terrible things to you.
The pathway went dark, and the pain in her chest and head had eased considerably, replaced with a dizzying surge of fear and adrenaline.
Bella and Sol were still bickering when Imeria approached, eyes shining and wide. Nya lifted her head, her jaw set. “Why are you here?” she rasped.
Imeria’s gaze settled on a point somewhere above Nya’s head. The coward couldn’t even manage to look at her as she betrayed them.
“He told no one about you, Nya. Not even me or Carus,” she began, and Nya knew she was talking about Morgen.
“For so long, I thought if I just waited long enough, he would come around. I have immortal blood, and I knew once he was king, he would need someone to provide an heir, even if he refused to marry. But then, he brought you here, married you within hours…” She trailed off, shaking her head.
“I couldn’t bring myself to defy him, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t try to protect him from his own poor choices. ”
“How noble of you.” Nya laughed hollowly. “So you went to Sol, of all gods?”
“I will do my duty,” Imeria whispered, even as silent tears tracked down her cheeks. “I wish it did not mean harming you. It would have been better if this had ended when I sent the assassins.”
“So that was you?”
Imeria glanced over to where Sol now watched, his conversation with Bella over. “I will do my duty,” she repeated. “Sol promises to ensure it is I who gives Morgen an heir. You are too corrupted.”
Nya blinked a few times, a dull headache forming at her temple, making it hard to think. “Either Sol is tricking you, or he is unaware,” she told Imeria, not even sure why she bothered explaining it to her. “For your sake, I hope he wasn’t lying to you, though I doubt it.”
“What do you—”
“Morgen will never have an heir. He’s too afraid of hurting anyone. Even if you somehow managed to convince him to touch you, he won’t risk the embers killing anyone like they killed his mother.”
Nya knew he was more likely to rip Imeria’s head off than bed her after today, even if Sol did not harm her in this cave. But perhaps she felt some small seed of pity for Imeria, pining all these years for someone who would never be hers.
It didn’t matter if Imeria believed her or not, though; Nya doubted she would live long enough to know what happened to her.
Heavy boots stopped directly in front of her, and Sol lifted her chin with his fingers, his touch unnerving delicate.
Imeria scrambled away, retaking her place with the other three women in the corner, her head bowed in submission.
Sol smiled, eyes on Nya. “Bella. Let us see if we can get our old friend to say hello, shall we?”
Bella knelt, examining Nya as if she were some sort of specimen, not a person. “You’re sure about this?”
Sol sighed, tipping his head back. “Now, now, don’t tell me you’ve gone soft?”
She shrugged. “The last time we fucked with Sora, it did not go well.”
“We bounced back, and we always will, because I have something they do not.”
Nya laughed, spitting blood on the stone floor. She was vaguely aware she might be unraveling, but she didn’t pay that fact any mind. She was too angry to care.
“You think because you stole a few of the embers, you have some kind of upper hand?” she said, smiling and tasting the iron tang of blood on her teeth.
Sol raised a brow. “Perhaps I would not, had Morgen not made the idiotic decision to bind his life to yours. I always had a hunch he would fail in this role, and so did Kronos. They do say no one knows a son better than his father.”
“You knew about Morgen,” she breathed. “You knew, and you did nothing to stop what Kronos was doing to him.”
“Of course, I knew.” He laughed, and the sound was as cold as her skin suddenly felt. “And when your mother destroyed Kronos, I left him for dead, which is exactly what Kronos would have wanted. It’s a shame he escaped before the rest of the council arrived.”
“He was twelve,” she snarled. “What kind of monster decides an abused twelve-year-old boy deserves to die because he hasn’t checked off all your preferred qualities for a king?”
Bella opened her mouth, but Sol knelt next to her, putting a casual hand on the goddess’ wrist. “A practical monster. Morgen was weak and soft, even as a child.”
“Even as a child? Do you hear yourself right now?”
“Sometimes, if Kronos hit him hard enough, he would cry for his mother.” Sol snorted softly. “It always seemed so ironic when Morgen wanted her, some useless mortal woman who would have killed him the second she had the chance if she was alive to do it.”
Rage overcame her in a wave so potent, it burned her throat.
It was only with the cold of the rising fire was that she realized her mistake in letting Sol goad her.
Perhaps he had intended Bella to torture her to the point that the void would emerge but had realized all he had to do was talk about hurting Morgen.
She tried to stop it.
Her hands clawed at the darkness closing around her.
It whispered her name, promising an end to pain, to loneliness, to responsibility and burden…
She tried to stop.
But all she had the strength to do in the end was reach for the pathway one last time.
I’m sorry.
The darkness was drowning her, stealing the air from her lungs and icing her heart until it was nothing but a dead weight in her chest. Soon, it would take her mind, and then Sol would carry out whatever he had planned. She was probably going to die today, Morgen with her.
Nya, stay with me!
A tear tracked down her cheek. She couldn’t breathe. Nytfire blazed in her hands, and a suppressed scream built in her throat. I wish we had more time, but this is how it was always going to be.
NYA—
The chains around her wrists shattered.
A distant roar cut through the mountains, and the void smiled, laughing softly as it looked at Light. “You were always too arrogant for your own good.”
The god’s eyes were wide with delicious fear. “The world would not exist if not for me. I would just call that truth.”
“You still think that?” The void cocked its head to the side. “No, no, no… It was there when your sister awoke. You just couldn’t see it.”
The cavern plunged into darkness.