My Tattered Bonds (16 page)

“Hecate!” I exclaimed. “I completely forgot about her.
 
How did she betray us?”

He smiled and this time, there was danger in it.
 
He was a dangerous, dangerous man.
 

“Ah, Hecate.
 
She did not do it willingly.
 
Parents will do almost anything for their children.
 
Her daughter was threatened and Hecate was told that if she complied with the Fates, her daughter would be released.
 
But that wasn’t their decision to make.”

“I didn’t realize that she had a daughter.
 
Where is she?” I asked.
 

“Here,” he replied.
 

I shook my head as my shoulders slumped.
 
“So, they threatened her.
 
Is there nothing good in the world?
 
Is it all lies and deceit?”

“Perhaps so,” he answered.
 
“But the key is in finding beauty in the midst of ugliness. And you are that, Harmonia. You are beauty in a complex, vast sea of black.”

He moved to embrace me and for one moment, I allowed it. I didn’t trust him, but with the heavy knowledge that everyone around me had betrayed me, I just wanted to feel the comfort of someone.
 
Anyone.
 
For just a minute.

And in that scant minute, while I allowed the god of the Underworld to wrap his arms around me, Cadmus stepped onto the terrace with Ares and Persephone right behind me.

“What the hell is going on here?” His dark eyes snapped and he moved quickly to shove Hades away from me.

“Stop!” I screeched, throwing myself at him, pummeling his rock hard chest with my fists. “How could you?
 
Cadmus, I trusted you. Out of everyone in the world, I trusted you.
 
And you have betrayed me more than anyone else ever could.”

He stood still and watched me in shock as he tried to make sense of what I was saying.
 

“I don’t know what you mean,” he answered uncertainly.
 
“What did I do?”

“You don’t even know?” I shrieked.
 
“You have ruined everything and you can’t even remember it.
 
I will never trust you again.”

“Hades,” Persephone began, looking from her husband to me. “What is going on?”

“Ah, my love. Poor Harmonia has just discovered that she cannot trust anyone around her. They have all betrayed her.
 
Isn’t that horrible?”

Persephone was puzzled and turned to Ares. “What did you do?”

“Nothing!” he thundered.
 
“You are lying!” He grabbed Hades and even without his powers, he threw Hades into the wall.
 
Hades straightened and smoothed his clothing calmly.
 

“I assure you it is true. She saw it for herself.”

“Then I want to see also,” Cadmus interrupted. “
Now.
Show me what I did.”

“Then drink,” Hades waved toward the fountain. “Both of you.”

Ares and Cadmus strode toward the fountain with matching steps and quickly scooped water into their mouths with their hands.
 
I numbly waited.
 
I was still so dumbfounded that I couldn’t think. What was I supposed to do now that I couldn’t trust anyone?

After a moment, Cadmus turned to me, his face filled with pain.
 

“Harmonia, I had no choice.
 
Surely you can see that.
 
Zeus gave me no alternative.”

For once Ares remained silent.
 
He knew there was nothing to say.
 

 
I watched my husband, the man who I knew every inch of, every thought, every dream…and I couldn’t think past the pain of betrayal.
 
It felt as though my entire world had shattered. Because if there was no trust, then what was there at all?

“Cadmus, you purposely kept it from me. You lied.
 
I had no choice or say in it at all.
 
And your lies are why I can’t forgive you.”

Hot tears streaked down my cheeks and blurred my vision.
 
Cadmus rushed to soothe me, but I pushed him away.
 

“No.
 
Don’t touch me.”

“You honestly can’t forgive me?” The pain in his gaze gave me pause and ripped my heart out, but I couldn’t lie.
 
“You honestly can’t understand the position that I was in?”

“I don’t know. I’ve always trusted you as no other and you have destroyed that. I don’t know if it is fixable. If only you hadn’t chosen to lie to me… then, perhaps.
 
But now…” My voice cracked with pain and trailed off.
 
I struggled to avoid weeping.

“But Harmonia, can you not see that he was pushed into a corner by Zeus?” Ares interjected, his dark gaze thoughtful. “Surely you know that he would never knowingly hurt you.
 
You know that.”

“And you.” My voice turned to ice.
 
“You and mother lied to me as well. You all treated me like I was a child- too simple to make up my own mind or know the truth.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Ares protested, holding up his large hands. “Harmonia, we were not given a choice either.
 
You know Zeus.
 
He had already made up his mind.”

“But you didn’t have to lie,” I answered quietly.
 
“None of you did.
 
But each of you did it anyway.
 
You betrayed me.
 
I can’t be with you right now.”

I turned my back on them and struggled to maintain my composure.
 
Tears dripped down my face and it didn’t matter to me that I was standing in Hades’ palace in the Underworld.
 
The visions that I had on the hillside on the Necromanteion came rushing back to me.
 
Betrayed.
 
And I had thought it was Hecate and that was devastating enough.
 
But instead, it had been everyone that I loved.

“I need to be alone for awhile,” I mumbled quietly.
 
Persephone wrapped an arm around my waist.

“Of course,” she answered.
 
“I’m sorry, Harmonia.
 
I really am.
 
I’ll show you to a bedroom and you can rest.”

I nodded.
 
“Not the same bedroom as Aphrodite,” I warned.
 
“I need time alone to think.”

“Absolutely,” she answered and I allowed her to lead me from the room.
 

As we turned the corner, I glanced back.
 
Cadmus looked shattered.
 
His broad shoulders were slumped and he hung his head.
 
He looked up and met my gaze and I could have drowned in the pain that I found in his eyes.
 
But it didn’t change what he had done.
 

As a goddess who had always been surrounded by the politics and back-stabbing of Olympus, I needed to know that I could trust my husband to always tell me the truth, to always be on my side.
 
I suddenly felt more alone than I had ever been.

*
 
*
 
*

It was dark when I opened my eyes.
 
I glanced around quickly.
 
I was in a lavish bedchamber in the middle of a sea of silken bedclothes.
 
Dark curtains had been drawn, blocking out the light.
 
I took a minute to adjust to the darkness.
 
My eyes were puffy since I had cried myself to sleep and I rubbed impatiently at them.
 

“You’re awake.”

A quiet voice came from the corner and I strained to see.

Hades was sitting in a chair, watching me.
 

“I brought you flowers from the gardens,” he said quietly.
 
“You seemed to enjoy them earlier.
 
I thought you might like some in your room.”

I glanced at the vase on the bed stand.
 
The orange and pink blossoms filled the room with their rich fragrance.
 

“Thank you.”

He nodded.
 
“Of course.
 
It is a small thing, but I thought it might make you happy.”

“How long have I been sleeping?”

“Not long.
 
A few hours.
 
You needed to rest.
 
And here in my home, you can replenish your energy.
 
Have I mentioned how extraordinary you are?
 
Simply being around you makes me feel peaceful.”

“Well, I
am
the goddess of peace.
 
Maybe that has something to do with it,” I replied ruefully.
 
“Is that why you were watching me sleep?
 
You enjoy tranquility?”

He examined me for a moment, his dark gaze thoughtful.
 

“I enjoy peace at times,” he answered slowly.
 
“There is a time and place for everything.”

He stood and approached the bed, sitting on the edge near me.
 
“Harmonia, I am not what most people think that I am.”

I raised an eyebrow as I tried to inconspicuously move away from him.
 

“Oh, really?”

He nodded.
 

“Really.
  
It’s true.
 
Think about it, Harmonia.
 
Are you what everyone thinks that you are?
 
You are the Chosen One.
 
Everyone thinks that you have a plan, that you have the knowledge and the power to put Zeus back into his rightful place.
 
That you are confident and assured that every move you make is the right one.
 
Is that the case?”

He studied me again.
 
“Because I think it is not. I think you are a beautiful woman who has been forced into a position that she hates.
 
So much pressure has been placed upon you and you have never asked for it.
 
You don’t know exactly what to do especially now that everyone around you has betrayed you.”
 
He picked up my hand.
 
“Am I right?”

I swallowed hard.
 
 
He had long fingers and they were curled around my own.
  
And he was not wrong.
 
I hated my position because I had no idea what to do.

“I thought so,” he said with satisfaction.
 
“So, see, lovely one?
 
People are not what others sometimes think they are.”

“If you are not the dark lord that people believe,” I started tentatively.
 
“Then, what are you?”

I couldn’t help but study his face as he spoke.
 
He was handsome in a very exquisite way.
 
I knew I should be running as far away as I could from him, but I ached to be closer and that scared me.
 
I dropped his hand and scooted across the bed.

He chuckled, but remained where he was.

“I know you feel it, too,” he murmured.
 
“But I’m patient.
 
So I will wait.
 
What am I, you ask?” He pondered that for a moment, running his long fingers up and down the length of the bed next to him idly as he thought.