Page 5 of Love and Death
He lingers a moment longer, staring me down out of the corner of his eye, before finally straightening. He raises a hand to signal to his men, releasing his hold on me once again so suddenly that it causes me to stumble back and fall down onto the floor.
“Father!”
Even amidst the dust, the word escapes me in a sigh of relief as I watch the guards loosen their hold on him and pull back. My father’s head drops forward to hang in limp exhaustion, the blade now removed from his neck and returned to its sheath, and I let myself breathe again.
“Cerberus,” Hades calls out, turning on his heel to look at him.
“Yes, my king?”
“You will escort the mortal back to her room. I want her bathed and made presentable for me.”
“Of course,” the hellhound answers, stepping forwardfrom the edge of the shadows and bowing his head once in acknowledgment.
I glare at him, willing him to feel the shame of his blind obedience to this cruel god, but he doesn’t so much as glance my way.
Suddenly, I hear the muffled sound of a voice from somewhere within the darkness, and a few moments later, Anteros bursts into view, clearly more than a little displeased as he turns toward the king.
“Hades, what have you done?” Anteros seethes.
“Only what any true king would do to secure the future of his kingdom.”
“But the trial—”
“But nothing,” Hades hisses. “The trial is over.”
“With all due respect, you do not have the right to simply end it how and when you see fit."
“Then you forget yourself, Anteros,” the king bellows, blue flames bursting to life to frame his upper body. “I am God of the Underworld. This is my domain, and I haveeveryright to do exactly as I please.”
“Even so, I simply cannot allow—”
“Enough,” Hades snaps, cutting him off before he can say another word. “We are finished here. Speak another word, and you shall only make your brother meet a far worse fate than I already have planned for him.”
“If the trial—” Anteros presses, seemingly unperturbed by the king’s warning as he straightens to his full height.
“Silence! Guards, I will have this pestilence removed from my sight at once,” Hades spits. “Oh, and be sure toquestionhim thoroughly regarding the last time he spoke with Eros.”
With a lazy flick of his wrist, several massive stone sentinels emerge from the darkness to take hold of Anteros.
“My king, I—”
“Oh? You thought I did not know? And here I was, thinking you had a better head on your shoulders. Love truly is a fool’s game. Away with you!”
With that, Anteros is dragged back into the surrounding void. For a brief moment, the muffled sound of a struggle can be heard before it’s once again replaced by an uneasy silence.
“Cerberus, the girl, now,” the king snaps before striding toward the swirling shadows himself.
I barely have time to look back at the hellhound before his massive hand has wrapped around my arm, wrenching me off the ground. His fingertips dig unyieldingly into my flesh as he hurries to follow after his master, dragging me along with him.
“Wait!” I cry, panic setting in as I’m pulled away from my father, but Cerberus pays me no mind.
All I can do is watch on in horror as one of the guards restraining him waits for Hades to disappear into the shadows, and then shoves my father roughly to the ground with a wicked laugh.
“No, stop! You’re not supposed to harm him! Father! Father, I’m sorry!” I shout in desperation, but he doesn’t so much as lift his eyes to meet mine before I find myself swallowed up in darkness, unable to see or hear whathappens next. Unable to know whether or not I will ever see him again.
Once again, I have failed him.
But this time, it’s so much worse.
