Chapter fourteen

“Oh my! She is alive,” Persephone muttered. Talia trailed backward, having manic attacks just staring into Persephone’s eyes. Talia was sure the goddess had lost her mind and was willing to finish what she started. She glanced at Denys who looked more than disappointed with her for not keeping her word. What could she do? Wait and be slaughtered? Now that she pondered on the question, She was certain she was about to get what she was running from.

The Prince’s nostrils flared slightly as he faced his mother to dissuade her from her dark desires. “Mother, I beg you. Just give it a day or two, If his imperial majesty has nothing to say about her supposed drowning, Then she is all yours.”

Talia’s eyes widened at his statement. Did he really just offer her to his rabid mother? She silently searched his eyes for an explanation but all she could get was a look of pure disdain. He looked mad - Angry. Almost as if he was blaming her for something. The scary part was Persephone seemed to consider it. What Talia did not understand was why Zeus would care so much about the existence of one. Especially when that one turns out to be a demigod. If Talia did not know better, She would say the mother and son duo were afraid of something.

“Have it your way. I give her twenty-four more hours to live and if Zeus has nothing to say about it, Then she dies.” Talia felt her heart shatter to a million pieces. As she replayed the words in her troubled mind, She could not help but be afraid. She was a mere mistake, Some god was just too lazy to use protection. No one cared about her existence. No one but her mother and the thought of just leaving that Fae that sacrificed so much for her made tears spring to her eyes. As if ravishing the girl’s pain, Persephone added a disturbing remark. “And this time, She stays dead!”

The prince nodded affirmatively to his mother’s words, Not a hint of sympathy or distress in his composure. “Agreed mother. If you excuse me, I will lead her to her quarters.”

“No, you will not!” The queen shot back. “The half-god is not our guest. She is a prisoner.”

Just as Persephone briefly mentioned, Talia felt two strong guards come behind her and seize her. They made an attempt to drag her away from the queen’s sight but the prince wasn’t having it.

“Leave her!” He commanded, getting a glare from his mother.

“Are you stalling my direct order?” Persephone lashed out to the guards who were in true peril of who to listen to. Their queen or the crown prince?

“You don’t need to drag her like a dog.” Prince Denys finally broke the bread. “I will take her.”

His wish got his mother redder than hell but she did not fight. It was futile. The crown prince was used to having his way. Talia watched the sulky prince walk up to her and take her by the right hand. It was probably stupid for her to grin like a fool considering her time to live was ticking away and he wasn’t leading her to safety but there was something about him that just spoke in volumes. Talia could not quite place it. He had a heart, a rose-colored bleeding one.
Yes…
That had to be it.

While they made it into the complex, Talia made it a top priority to thank the god for his kindness. While she found the strength to say something, Talia noticed something in the air. She instantly put a finger on it. The tingling sensation that occasionally whooshed through her body was gone. Her powers had left her. Ignoring the chaotic feeling of being utterly alone and with no means to defend herself, Talia spoke.

“Thank you for doing me a quick one in there.”

“The outcome might have turned all rosy if you did not defy me and try to escape.” Instead of taking her kind comment like anyone with half a brain would, He proceeded to blame her. He is her son after all.

Then there was nothing but silence. Eerie silence. On any other day, Talia might have ripped his pride in two but at the moment, She needed him. A Fae’s first instinct was flight after all. So as they ventured deeper into the dungeons, She queried him.

“So am I going to die in here?”

“Probably.” He honestly replied. “But, I have a plan.”

They stopped in the front of a hollow tube of concrete, one way in and window lacking. Talia was beginning to hear the grumbles of many before her but in the thick darkness, She could not make out anyone but the god in front of her. He reached to his side and pulled out a bunch of keys which he used to unlock the hell hole. Without his probing, Talia ventured inside. Things were a lot bothering and she could not bear to be a stubborn prick amidst everything. She swallowed and asked a question that stung through her.

“Why are you doing this?”

It just did not make sense. He was a god and from everything she had gathered so far, They were not supposed to care for the minority. Talia had a lot of them to use as satisfying examples. So she had to know why he was doing this.

“Because it is the right thing to do. Why else should I be doing it?”

Talia did not question him further. The last one seemed to have spiked something unnatural in the air.

“Thank you again.”

This time, he flashed a smile just before banging the heavy metal doors shut and locking them. Then she saw him retreat into the darkness, leaving her alone and vulnerable. One thing she was not ready to let go was his reply to her question. To Talia, Nobody was an angel.

***
“Still can’t wield it? Maybe a heart of gold is not what the trident wants.”
Denys stood in the garden, His hands grasping to his father’s legacy with all his might. Ulu’s words angered him and her presence when he was in a delicate state bruised his ego.

“I am not one to give up lest you forget Ulu.”

“I was lending you my concern,” Ulu replied, walking up to Denys. Denys noticed she was in a tank top that contrasted with her dark skin. He was guessing she had been fooling around in the mortal realm yet again. As much as he tried to ignore the truth in her words, She was right. With the Mareel ritual getting closer and closer each passing day, He was afraid that if he couldn’t wield the trident at the night of ritual, maybe the artifact didn’t deem him fit. Just the thought of losing his father’s entire legacy made him steam.

“You don’t take my concerns. Why should I care about yours?” Denys shrugged, Picking his broken self up and proceeding to join his mother who happened to be in court speaking to the recruits as she put it.

“You don’t have to but I have something that might interest you.”

Denys shook his head. He should have known. Ulu was a minor African god looking for her way to seal her fate in the sands. Last time she left, it was because she saw no future in being the future queen of a dying realm. Now that she was back… That meant one thing.

“So what news do you have?”

“A prophesy you have to hear.”