Page 172 of The Blade in the Ashes
The Goddess smiled, waving an arm around us. “Do you not recognize it?”
The sudden darkness was such a contrast to the bright space we had existed in only moments ago that I felt off-balance as my eyes struggled to adjust and take in our new environment.
Cavernous walls. A dining table made of shiny dark wood. An obscenely large hearth.
The throne of skulls.
Yes, I certainly recognized this place.
We were in Hyrax’s throne room.
“Why here?”
I stared at the room with a furrowed brow, the chill in the air uncomfortably brisk. Aside from the usual melodic drum of music that typically played in the background, it was silent, empty of Hyrax and Caldrius both.
“First, you must face the truth,” Athene explained, nodding towards the door that I knew led into the hallway towards Hyrax’s bedchamber. “You must learn to accept a truth that you do not wish to acknowledge.”
The door burst open in a rush, boots sounding loudly as Hyrax marched into the room, his face a mask of exasperation and frustration.
And behind him strode in a Goddess with wild eyes and a mane of untamed red hair.
A Goddess who had haunted many of my recent nightmares.
Pasnia.
“This is the past?” I demanded, needing the confirmation that Pasnia was good and truly dead.
“They cannot see you,” Athene explained, watching me as I tracked their movements in confusion. “In simple terms, you are not actually here. You are just an observer.”
“I do not wish to discuss this any further, Pasnia,”Hyrax declared, his voice unyielding as he summoned a chalice of wine in a puff of smoke and drank it down in a single gulp. It instantly refilled itself, and he watched with detached eyes as it did.
Pasnia ran a hand along his back as he did, gently pushing a parchment in front of him. I crept closer, trying to spy what was on the page.
“Hyrax, I do not have much longer. I will not leave you here alone.”
“I am not alone,”he protested, avoiding her gaze.“I have the souls. I have Caldrius.”
“You needlove,”she insisted, pushing the paper towards him again.
He turned away, walking towards the throne and shoving a hand through his grey hair. His eyes sparkled with dampness as he threw himself down onto the bone-filled seat. Weightlessly, his arms hung off either side.
“You need family,”Pasnia said, her tone ever so gentler than before. She moved to bow before him.“I know you, my darling. I know how much you long for your brother, even now all these eons later.”
Hyrax avoided her gaze.“Zion abandoned me.”
“She won’t,”Pasnia told him, waving the paper in front of him.
And without seeing the shape that had been expertly traced onto that parchment, I recognized it. I knew the widow’s peak on the hairline, the tilt of the nose, the fullness of the lower lip.
Apparently, the truth I needed to see was the moment Hyrax had decided to father me.
“Please,”Pasnia pleaded, approaching him from behind, desperation in her voice.“If I cannot share this life with you, then I want you to have everything you have ever dreamed of. Family. Power. All of it.”
He lowered his chin to gaze upon her before reaching down and pulling her into his lap. He exhaled as he rested his cheek on top of her head. Tears rolled unabashedly down his face, trailing into the curls of her red hair.“I have lived an eternity. I have conquered enough. The Mortal Realm does not hold the appeal for me that it once did.”
Pasnia twisted in his grasp, lifting her head to meet his gaze.“But she does?”
“I have never resented you for not being able to give me children.”
