Retribution

I can’t tell you if she ever does but believe me when I say that she would shock, surprise and sicken me in the days to come.

Hades sat at the head of the table, with the chair next to him on the left empty. No one would dare draw attention to Persephone’s absence, one down from her seat sat the freaky Yana with Semias standing proud behind Hades back. Unya took the chair to his right, sitting right beside him if not for the corner and I took the seat next to her.

I was angry to see Troy in the seat opposite mine, devouring Unya with his eyes. His presence confused me for sure.

“My lord, where is the queen. I thought she always presided beside you, unless she was on the surface. I may have that wrong, I only had a few moments to skim the history but I’m sure that I have that correct,” Unya stated, as every set of eyes once again rested upon her.

“It’s good to see you are trying to familiarise yourself again my dear, but my ravishing queen is unwell. Even the lord of the underworld must make all

owances in these situations.”

He’d spoken his words kindly, but his eyes held an edge to them. The queen resided in her quarters, no doubt still mourning the loss of her son.

That one had been a shocker even to me, but unfortunately for her and Lawson, Hades knew all along.

Unya just nodded her head in response and stared as servants began placing food before us all. I could tell by the way that she stared at her food, that she was remembering the words that had been inked upon her. I had already thought of a way out of that predicament, I mean come on, even Hades’ servants could be bought for a price.

“Your food is safe love,” I stated, indicating towards one of her arms.

She gave me a strange look, which she followed through with a quick nod before tucking into her food.

The smug look that spread upon Hades face infuriated me, but I knew that I would get to have the last laugh. Seeing as I knew the true origin of her feast, and it had been created far from this hell of a place.

5

Unya

It had been disconcerting having everyone watching my every move, I did not have enough context to understand why they appeared to be surprised by my arrival.

If I had always been on Hades’ side, they would have come in to contact with me at least once or twice.

Malachi returned me to my room, but he only gave me a kiss on the forehead before he departed. He hadn’t been acting as though we were in a relationship, so it made me wonder if this was an arranged marriage. But then, I thought back to that kiss we shared, which made me doubt my first conclusion, almost instantly.

I flopped down onto my bed, looking forward to removing myself from my dress but that idea was soon forgotten. All I had done was glance up for a second, but that was all it took to see the figure beginning to build from the shadows once more.

“What the hell are you?” I asked surprising even myself that I hadn’t shouted out that question.

“You do not remember me, Unya that is very disappointing. I have been with you your whole life, trying to protect you from those who would wish you harm. More of a bystander than I wanted, but things are changing now you have come into your own. I will help you become who you were always meant to be, I will lead you right dearie.”

“How do I know I can trust you?” I asked and wondered if this creature could say anything that could reassure me.

“I cannot reassure you, but what I can tell you is, you were never meant to be somebody’s pawn. You could win this war all by yourself and I can help you become ready; I can help you become unnoticeable so you are invisible. You would become a force to be reckoned with and with me by your side, you could bring this world to its knees and then rebuild it the way you want.”

I could feel a part of myself responding to his promises, it seemed and felt wrong but it also felt oh so right. I could rule this world and kill anyone who would dare challenge me, I wasn’t sure if I wanted that, but it sounded fun to at least get to a point where I could.

The creature later told me to call him Adiran, he informed me I would be the only one who could see him. I hadn’t thought to question it, and the more we spoke the more I could feel this dark foreboding sense trying to suffocate me. But the darkness did not scare me, instead it seemed to excite me. Making me wonder what kind of person I had been before I had forgotten.

Adiran convinced me to request a way to relearn my skills, so with that, I went to Hades who had was thrilled by my eagerness to learn.

My teacher wasn’t a patient creature and I was told from the start, if it found an opening to kill me, it would take it. I wasn’t supposed to take that personally; I didn’t but it made me stay on my toes.

Day after day or night, it was hard to tell in the underworld, I returned to my room with various shades of bruising adorning multiple parts of my body.

The day before the teachings took hold was the worst of them by far. I came out of the training area with a broken arm, shattered collarbone, my left knee bending the wrong way and my eye so swollen I couldn’t see a damned thing. The strangest thing though, He hadn’t once drawn blood. Bruised, battered and broken here and there but not a single cut. And the pain was insurmountable, I couldn’t imagine there was ever a time I could have experienced more pain than that in my life!

I wondered if Malachi could help speed up my healing time, but I didn’t have the slightest idea where he had disappeared off to.

After he led me back to my room on the night of that banquet, I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of that insufferable git. Adiran and that weird girl Yana were my only companions, the strange girl was a little psycho and I loved it.