Shaping Fate (5 page)

In the weeks that she’d spent with
Thane, Ria had grown to love her time in the stables. The animals were all friendly and nudged her for affection. It was while playing with some adorable three-headed puppies that she’d first caught a glimpse of the majestic black horse. Weeks later, she still enjoyed his lively stories of weak-kneed stable hands. Gods, Demigods, Mortals, and Shades alike cowered in fear of his raging fury and playful nips.

This was where she spent her time when
Thane was out collecting souls. He didn’t know that she knew who and what he was, but she did. She often felt the pull of a soul before he did, though she didn’t know why.

After getting to know
Thane during their long talks and Azrael’s stories, she knew without a doubt that she loved him. He pretended to be hard and uncaring, but he’d shown her nothing but kindness and gentleness.

“
Thanatos? Are you here, dear boy?”  An elderly woman with knee-length snowy hair walked down the hall toward them. Translucent blue eyes snapped to Ria, making her feel uncomfortable under the obviously critical stare. Ria glanced at Achlys, who never left her side when Thane was gone, but the Shadow-Wolf didn’t even glance at the stranger in their midst. Finally, the old woman waved a hand toward Azrael’s stall, and the last of Ria’s bruises disappeared.

“
How did you do that?” she asked, astonished.

“
I’m a Goddess, dear girl. One of the oldest. So, someone has finally found you. My sister will be overjoyed when she sees that you’ve been returned to them.”  The old woman’s voice was light and airy, but also low and soft. The contradictions made Ria’s head spin.

“
I’m sorry. I think you have me mistaken with someone else. I haven’t been lost, nor do I have anyone to be returned to.”  An image of Thane carved itself into her mind and refused to be ignored, but she did it anyway, knowing that he didn’t feel anything more than affection for her.

“
Oh, child. I see now; I see.”  The elderly lady sat on a bale of hay next to Azrael’s stall. “You do not believe that you have a name, do you? Well, you do. I know this because I am Chaos, your great-aunt; many centuries removed, of course. Your name is Makaria, the youngest child of Hades and Persephone, King and Queen of the Underworld.”

Burning, ripping, blinding pain expanded from
the center Ria’s mind. A red mist hazed over her vision before cool, soothing, welcoming blackness claimed her.

****

There were many Kings and Queens in the Underworld. Thanatos’ own parents ruled a in Erebus, his older brother ruled the Isle of Dawn, Tartaros ruled the prison pits…  There were many others that ruled the islands that made up the Underworld, but they all answered to one man—Hades, the only God to hold the title of King of the Underworld.

Thane
just couldn’t absorb it. He was housing the daughter of the King of Hell under his roof, and no one knew who she was. Goddess of Death? How could the innocent, bright, lively woman in his stables be a harbinger of death? He reviewed her newfound history in his head, wondering when to tell her and how. He would have to present her to Hades and Persephone and explain things to them as well, but he wasn’t looking forward to instigating their wrath. Hades’ temper was almost as bad as his own; Persephone was mild mannered until you did something to harm her family. The Queen of Hell then became the equivalent of Mount Vesuvius, the Tsunami of Atlantis, and a Kansan F5 Tornado all rolled into one. She was the perfect person to sit on Hell’s throne beside Hades.

Thane
remembered the day Persephone had found her youngest child missing from her cradle. The Underworld, Olympus, and the Mortal Realm had all shuddered with the force of her rage and fear. All the Gods of every Pantheon had been questioned; every home in every realm searched. Artemis had been forced to command her hounds to hunt for the baby like search and rescue dogs. A lot of enemies had been made in the search for their beloved babe.

When the child was still unaccounted for after two hundred years, Zeus finally called a stop
to the search. The King of the Gods, though regretful about the disappearance of his niece, would not allow Hades and Persephone to waste any more resources searching for a child that was clearly gone.

Hades and Persephone had never been the same. Where once laughter and peace reigned, The Underworld had become exactly what the Mortals imagined
: cold, barren and joyless. War and torture had become the natural order of things after the kidnapping of little Makaria.

Afterwards, Hades could often be found in Tartaros exacting the cruelest punishments on anyone that had done wrong to a child in their lives. Woe betide any who interrupted him during these torture sessions. Persephone, meanwhile, had locked herself in her tower rooms. She only ventured out for the required months she was forced to live with her mother. Sometimes she would attend to the court, but only to see if her child might have found some way back to them on her own.

Thane walked into the stables to find his grandmother talking quietly to the object of his heavy thoughts. “Ya-Ya, what are you doing here?”  He quickly walked over to the elderly looking woman and embraced her warmly, kissing her cheek affectionately.

“
Helping your young foundling to find her way. Thane, you’re too thin, I told you to start eating more lamb, or better, a large portion of venison does the body and soul good.”  The old woman ended, an evil delight brightening her features, making her look like the devil incarnate.

“
Leave Phaunos alone--you know Atty doesn’t want us to interfere. Now, what do you mean you’re helping my foundling?” Thane's voice quickly changed from chastising to querying. He didn’t really trust his grandmother alone with Ria, and he was right not to.

“
I know who I am, Thane, and who I belong to. You’re grandmother was kind enough to unlock my memories, though she can’t unlock my powers.”  Makaria’s smooth as honey voice was void of emotion. It scared him. Her voice was not meant to be emotionless, she wasn’t meant to be emotionless. It wasn’t her, it wasn’t the Ria he’d grown to know and love.

Love?

Did he truly love this bright, happy person? Thane was stunned by the realization that, yes, he loved this beautiful, heart-warmingly innocent woman. He didn’t want to see her become like many of the other Gods: vain, embittered, pompous, needy creatures that were high on themselves. He loved her generosity, her loving nature, and the way she looked at him as if he was only a man. She wasn’t afraid of him; even after her encounter with Helios, Thane didn’t scare her. He realized that, whatever she felt toward him, he wasn’t letting her go. She was his. Forever.

Without thinking, he jerked her into his arms and curled his wings around her protectively
. “I just found out myself and was coming to tell you. Do you want your powers? Do you want to meet your parents? We can wait if you want. I can tell you about them so you aren’t taken unawares by new relatives crawling from the molding. You can stay here as long as you like. You don’t have to stay in a strange place.”  He knew he was rambling, but he couldn’t stop, couldn’t lose her. Not even to her family.

“
I don’t want to leave you. I don’t know these people who call themselves my family. I don’t know what to think. Thane, I’m so scared. What’s to become of me?”  She finally broke down, sobbing against his shoulder. He held her and tightened his surrounding wings. He didn’t know what else to do. He knew that he would soon have to tell her about Ker’s threat, but he didn’t want to make her world seem any bleaker.

“
I might be able to help you with some of your problems.” 

His grandmother whirled with a demonic hiss as a man
Thane hadn’t seen in several thousand years stepped around a corner of the stable.

“
Phaunos! Tartaros take you, you sun-loving bastard!”  Chaos’ snarl could shear bark off a tree at sixty paces, such hate filled her voice.

“
I didn’t come here for you, Chaos; I came to help a man I respect. Thanatos, I think we can solve all your problems in one fell swoop.” Phaunos stood six and a half feet tall, with broad stag’s antlers adding another three feet. Broad shoulders, bronzed skin and black hair were the perfect backdrop for the Forest God’s serious hunter-green eyes.

It didn’t feel right, accepting help from this man after what he’d done, but
Thane would make a deal with Apollo to keep the woman in his arms safe. “What do you have in mind?”  His voice was noticeably rough, but he didn’t care. Nor did he care that the ground had been subtly shaking since he’d realized the depth of his emotions.

“
Make an agreement among all of the Gods of the Underworld to band together to protect each other’s families. This will include spouses and direct descendents who will later sign the agreement when they come of age themselves.”  Phaunos explained his plan rapidly, perhaps knowing that Chaos was only moments way from turning him into deer jerky.

Thane
thought about every direction a person could skew Phaunos’ plan. He decided he’d take his chances. “A lot of the Gods you’re talking about aren’t going to agree.”  He wanted to see if Phaunos had actually thought through this plan before he implemented it.

“
It’ll only work one way. You’ll have to marry Makaria. An alliance of marriage between the oldest, most powerful Death God to the daughter of the ruling house will force most of the weaker Gods to agree. You and Hades can convince the rest.”  Phaunos replied.

“
Why are you helping me?”  Thane's voice had become cold and hard, resembling marble.

“
I don’t want you to interfere when I go after my own woman. I may have lost her once due to my own stupidity, but I won’t have you ruining what little chance I have left with her.”  Phaunos looked him straight in the eye, silently begging for understanding.

“
You have my promise. I’ll not interfere.”  Thane replied, “Now, I have a meeting to organize. I’ll see you all later.”  He released Ria, turned away and left quickly. He never looked back.

Ria sat cuddling one of the hellhound puppies to her breast
; Achlys slept nearby. She felt as if a harpy or fury had ripped its claws through her heart. When Phaunos had mentioned marriage to Thanatos, she had been overjoyed; but Thane had grown cold and distant. As if the thought of marriage to her was repugnant. She hadn’t seen him since Phaunos’ proposal two days ago. She missed him horribly. It seemed that the happiest day of her life was the day she’d nearly been beaten to death, because it had brought her to Thane.

Suddenly, Achlys' ears swiveled as he lifted his head and sniffed the air oddly.

“Ria.”  A hoarse voice rasped her name nearby. She spun about and saw the man of her dreams collapse on the ground, bloody and broken.

“
Thane! What in the known universe happened to you?”  She rushed to him and began inspecting his injuries. At first glance she could tell that he had a list of broken bones: ribs, nose, arm, both wings, and bloodied scrapes all over his body.

“
Went…to see… your father,” he gasped, “Wasn’t… happy… to hear… that I found… his daughter… and wanted… to take her… away from him again.”  Too weak to hold his head up any longer, he collapsed back into the hay.

Ria had never felt the emotion burning through her body
. It felt dangerous, but good… horribly, terribly fantastic. Her vision was edged in a blood red, and she felt a sharp pain in her back and chest. She finally knew the emotions that Helios had felt as he’d beaten her, but they paled in comparison to her beautifully awful rage. Large, black, feathery wings burst from between her shoulder blades as her swirling emerald eyes turned black and bled into the whites. She carefully gripped Thane's body and leaped.

The denizens of the Underworld
Palace froze in shock and horrified awe at the scene that appeared before them. Crouched protectively above a broken and torn body was a demonic creature that none of them could identify. Wearing a black silk dress drenched in fresh blood, her hair whirled around her body; wings spread open and curled slightly forward in an aggressive stance, claws imbedding themselves in the granite floor. She bared serrated teeth at the thrones.

“
You dared to touch what is mine?” her voice was a hissing snarl as piercing black eyes trained themselves on the Underworld King.

Slowly, Hades stood
. He didn’t know who or what the creature was, but the body below her was Thanatos. He was angry with the man, and yes, he’d bloodied him up a little. Though he’d known that Thane controlled his powers, Hades hadn’t realized that the lad had held back all of his power so that every blow Hades had dealt him would have been felt as if the man were human and not a God. If Thane hadn’t been a divine being, he’d be dead right now; Hades had beaten him that badly.

“
I don’t know you, Fair Lady, but if you would allow, I’ll have healers see to Thanatos.”  Hades said, trying to placate the demon as he stepped in front of his wife protectively.

“
What have you done? How could you have found her and unlocked her powers without me knowing, you BASTARD!”  A new voice echoed throughout the chamber. Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest and mother to Persephone appeared next to the Queen’s throne. The goddess was golden from her head to her feet and dressed in greens and golden ambers. She looked contemptuously at the vision of pure wrath standing guard over Thanatos.