Series: Willow Winters
Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 74198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
The ground shakes as the thunder and violent lightning greet us in unison.
Zeus’s anger reverberates through the mortal realm to the Underworld. If it was only his frustration with me, I don’t imagine it would make such an impression, but it is my queen he is furious with.
I know it as surely as I know that I need her back.
Cerberus faces me, barking louder. He pleads with me to stop the storm that rages overhead. He urges me to act.
“Shh, my faithful companion,” I attempt to soothe him although I imagine the rage is only just beginning. Zeus has lost the faith Persephone once had in him. I returned her to him stronger and more powerful. Afterall, that is the warning the Fates gave him that coaxed him into poisoning his daughter in the first place.
With stiff shoulders, I force myself to breathe as I watch the symphony of strikes above. The Underworld’s murmurs can be heard and their fear felt. I cannot stop Zeus’s rage. I can only wait to see if his outburst ends. And wait for it to return.
I cannot stop him or change what the Fates have decided for us. But it is my duty to aid those in this land. The only fear felt, should be fear of me. And my queen.
I watch the skies for any further sign of Zeus’s temper flying out of control.
There are other ways for me to ascertain what is happening on Olympus, but I am in no mood for reaching out through my intermediaries. I suspect that the specific details of Zeus’s dark mood are unimportant. There are no other rumors swirling in the Underworld. Zeus can only feel threatened by one person.
My queen. For she knows hints of what he’s done.
He should be frightened of her. He treats her as if they’re not equals. As if she is still less powerful than he is by virtue of her name, or her lineage, or her time in the Underworld. A deep anger simmers within me.
Cerberus nips at my hand, losing patience with my stillness. It is only then that I feel the clench of my jaw and how anger has tortured my expression into one of vengeance. My faithful companion whines, begging me to move. To do something. He may not understand the inner workings of the Underworld as Minox does, but he knows that things are usually not done by standing in the garden and watching the sky.
“I know,” I tell him. “It is quite the storm. You are right.” With a long exhale I release the rage for only a moment. “I must do something.”
And yet, my thoughts are drawn right back to Persephone. Cerberus whines yet again.
It feels as if Cerberus is the only being in the Underworld who understands what it is to need Persephone to return. It is like a constant pressure that aches in my bones. It’s caused pain every second since I watched her leave.
Yet still my love is stronger than my endurance. My love for Persephone is what keeps the various pieces of me from crumbling. It will hold me in a firm grip until she returns, and then it will wrap her in my obsession as well.
Cerberus curls around my shins, pushing me. There is nothing left to see in the skies. If Zeus rages at her again, if he attempts to harm Persephone…
I will not be the only one who knows. Every being in every realm will know of Zeus’s fatal mistake. The tales they tell about it will last for eternity.
With tightly held breath, I turn on my heel to leave the garden and find Minox waiting there, his dark robes snapping at his ankles from the wind. The darkness clouds him. I do not know how long he has been out in the garden, watching me. I do not know how long he has been waiting for me to notice him.
“My Lord,” he calls, his voice carrying over the brutal gusts. It’s grown stronger now, though I cannot tell if it is because of Zeus or because of the unrest in the Underworld. Chaos surrounds us in all ways.
“Minox,” I answer and move toward him, then past him, not slowing in the least. I’m returning to my bedchamber. I need a few moments to think. I need to walk through the halls of my home. I need the familiar floors. The familiar walls. The familiar doorways. I need to be where I am known and have found stillness and power before.
Minox marches beside me, his hands folded in front of him and his expression neutral. He does not speak, and neither do I. Cerberus goes ahead of us and waits for me to open the door. Then my dog darts ahead as if he’s been given orders.
I continue the walk to my rooms. Minox does as well. He still says nothing.