All Hail the King
Copyright © 2017 Kyleigh Castronaro
Edited by Angela Cambell
All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
"Everyone out!" Over the simmering fear and anxiety in the pit of my stomach, I managed to conjure enough authority to make everyone move. Except they didn't. The fear boiled into anger and I lost it, "OUT!" The rocky walls around me echoed my voice, adding an edge to it I hoped hadn't been there. Silence followed my command only broken when several chunks of the wall fell out, smashing on the ground and sliding along the floor like ice. People moved after that, for which I was grateful even if it didn't show.
I waited to watch everyone scatter, Savannah still firmly at my side while Griffin hovered nearby uncertain of what he was supposed to do now. I felt mild pity for the guy, he didn't know what to do without Valentina and I could barely relate to that. As much as I loved Savannah, there were times I needed to be alone - and this was one of them.
"You too, Savannah." My voice was firm, leaving no room for argument for which she was keen to do. She gave me that look, the one that said if I did what I was about to do it would be the couch for me tonight but I didn't care right now. Thankfully too, Zeus understood and fell into stride with my needs. "Woman, if you have half a mind right now, get the hell out of here before I do something I regret." I was going to pay for that one, I had no doubt but she did as she was told, stalking out of the room to sulk and break things most likely. I took a slow, deep breath through my nose as Griffin turned to walk out on me. He wasn't going anywhere, I needed him.
"Not you." I stopped him with the point of a finger. For a moment Griffin found his usually lacking spine as he offered me a challenging look. If he was anything like my God's brother, he was surely thinking up some kind of elaborate punishment for my arrogance but I didn't give him the time. "I need you to conjure a session."
"A what?" Immediately he was on the defensive, what was this guy's problem?
"A session, a tribunal... Whatever it is Hades conducts when souls are brought here and their destination is unclear."
"Why?"
"Do it, for Gods' sakes!" When I shouted at him this time I wondered if he could see the exhaustion I felt. As much as I gave the illusion of enjoyment when it came to my position in the Pantheon, there were certain facets of being in charge I found in time exhausted me. The constant challenging of my position, for one, but also in general the need to lead. People always turned to look at me, they couldn't do things on their own. I had to ask them to do it. But when I did there were those, like Griffin, who questioned me.
Griffin took his sweet-ass time making his way to his throne and taking a seat. Instantly, the room filled to the rafters with souls. They might've been ghosts but they appeared like real bodies to fill the room. I couldn't hear them, I didn't care if Griffin could, I walked through them blindly searching their faces for one. I prayed she wasn't here. I didn't want her to be, who would? But if Soren was in control of New York, I feared maybe she wouldn't have survived.
Each face I passed looked as grim as the next. Mournful, soulless eyes met mine. Unnerving brushes with the dead sent shivers crawling up my spine and a knot forming tight in my belly. How did Griffin handle these things on a daily basis? Did he see them everywhere like that kid in the Sixth Sense? How was he not perpetually creeped out?
I would never understand that guy.
"Did you have a girlfriend in New York?"
He split my attention and I missed a face as she turned away from me. I moved to follow her but she was already gone, bolstering my annoyance. "Shut up," I snapped. Honestly, of everything he knew about me, how did he not know I didn't do girlfriends? Not before Savannah, at least. I passed face after face, searching for her but in a room full of people she wasn't one of them. "This isn't enough. I need more." There was a pleading edge to my voice, I could only hope Griffin didn't hear it. He would most likely become a smug bastard over knowing he had something over me.
"These won't clear out until they have been sorted, that's how it works." I turned to watch Griffin for a moment as he descended the throne. I thought for a moment the spirits would disappear but they seemed to flock to him. It reminded me of the Pope or some other holy figure who people fell before them crying and begging to be touched. The spirits flocked to Griffin, but instead of begging to be touched they forced themselves on him. I thought maybe they were going to drown him but he didn't seem to feel it. As long as they weren't killing him, I didn't care. I continued to sort through the faces looking for the one familiar one that was eluding me.
But with each passing face I didn't recognize there was a growing hope inside of my chest. Maybe she wasn't here. If she wasn't in the Underworld she wasn't dead, that's how it worked, right? Gods, I didn't know.
"Where is she?"
"Who? If she's in the Underworld, I should be able to summon her here." I gave up searching the faces, turning to look at Griffin hopefully. If he could summon her here, we would know for sure if she was here.
"My mother." My throat was tight as I spoke, something clenching tightly in my chest. I tried to sound confident, the last thing I wanted was Griffin thinking I was a scared little boy who needed his mommy. That wasn't the case. I wanted to know she was okay, she was safe. The last time I had seen her was over a month ago in Olympus time, who knows how long I had been gone for on Earth. I had made it my job from a young age to watch over her and I couldn't bear the idea I may have failed.
"Alright. I can try. What's her name?" He moved back to his throne and sat, settling in as he looked around through the faces like he would know who she was right away.
"Rose Cartwright." I moved closer to him, shouldering my way through the spirits still occupying the room.
"Rose Cartwright, I summon you to the throne room." I made eye contact with him as he spoke, the room grew eerily quiet as the spirits around us retreated. I waited, holding my breath for something to happen but at the same time praying nothing did. The silence lingered for an encouraging amount of time and as I felt the hope blossoming inside of me, a knock resounded through the room. Its echo shook right through me, making my entire body tremble as my stomach knotted tightly in my stomach once more. Fear and anxiety pitted itself in me after leaving Olympus only doubled now as I spun around to face the door.
Another set of knocks rapped against the wood as if to confirm there was someone there. I knew what this meant but it didn't change the sudden urge taking me across the room to the door. I pulled it open and there, standing in front of me, was my mother. She looked weaker than when I had left her, there was less light in her eyes and her lips were cracked and chapped. Her hair looked greyer than the last time I had seen her and there was no mistaking the frailness of her bones.
"Mom." I wrapped my arms around her, they sunk through the cold misty flesh of her form and came back against myself. "Make her real," I turned to face Griffin, summoning another command.
"I can't. She's..." It wasn't what I wanted to hear and yet for all my preparation I wasn't ready for it to hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt myself lose all my bravado and confidence as I turned back to her. I had failed her in life, the least I could do was assure her a good afterlife.
"She's a good woman, send her to Elysium. Let her be happy there." I wanted nothing more than to hold her hand, to hug her and comfort her. I wanted to apologize for leaving her alone against my father, for not understanding the art of war and how to wage it in order to win. Fighting him had only made things worse f
or her I saw now. I wondered if he had tried at all to save her from this fate or if he had been seven inches deep in someone else.
"Alright. Rose Cartwright, your sentence has been passed and you have been found to be a good and loving woman. May you spend your days happy in the Summerland." As she smiled her body filled out, a warmth glowing from her as the color returned to her cheeks and despite the sadness in her eyes, it reminded me of the woman from my childhood. She was beautiful, no matter how broken and sad he had made her, she had always been beautiful to me.
"Aidan," she moved toward me, her warm hand touching my cheek. It felt real, I wanted it to be real. Maybe I was a scared little boy who needed his mommy. "You're alive." I hated myself, for a fraction of a second, as I felt her pain and worry over me. All that time she had wondered if I was alive or dead, instead I was living it up in the lap of luxury on Olympus busying myself in chasing tail... Just like my father.
The thought had an icy effect, rushing down my spine and making me feel disgusted in my own skin. But she smiled at me and instantly I felt better. Like chicken noodle soup on an upset stomach. My Gods, I was a scared little boy. What was I doing? How was I supposed to lead a pantheon of Olympians against Titans who were not just out for our thrones but out for blood?
Her fingers caressed my cheek and brought me back to reality. I looked at her basking in the loving look in her eye. She believed in me, even if I couldn't believe in myself. That alone should be enough.
"I'm sorry, Mom. There was somewhere I had to be."
"Your destiny." She smiled and nodded, something knowing in her eyes. Imagine if she had known all along what my fate would be. Had she raised me with the intention of having a King of the Gods for a son?
"Yeah, destiny." I spat out the word, still not prepared to come to terms with what it meant. My life laid out before me on a map. A map I had no say in. Even now with Valentina kidnapped by that asshole and Savannah no doubt mad at me because I was shutting her out. This was all pre-determined by something bigger than us all if Atlas were to be believed.
Mother saw right through me though. She stepped closer and her hands enveloped my face, pulling me toward her like she always did when I was being self-deprecating. She stared into my eyes with hers, who like any mother’s, could see through you in a second. She read through the pages of the new book I had been writing since arriving at Olympus and she saw. She saw everything laid in my heart. I couldn't look away, not that I wanted to. I knew deep down inside these were the last moments I was going to have with my mother. I wanted to memorize everything about her I could and for a moment, I found myself regretting sending Savannah away because my heart wanted the two most important women in my life to meet.
But, like everything, Mother knew. She let go of my face and patted my chest, smiling in that all-knowing way of hers.
"You take good care of her. She deserves a real man, and I know I raised you as one." I swallowed the lump in my throat as she reached for my head again, drawing my forehead to her lips. It wasn't real contact but the gesture warmed me all the way through and had me wishing it was real. One last time. "I love you, I'm proud of you." I could already feel her slipping away. The urge to reach out and tether her to me was overwhelming but futile.
She released me from her warm, deathly grip and turned to the doorway that held her eternity beyond its threshold. As she walked toward it she glowed brighter than the sun, still in death as light and beautiful as she had been in life. My jaw was tense as I kept my teeth ground together, a savage attempt to remain calm and composed. I didn't have any plans for losing it in front of Griffin.
But under the tumultuous emotions of heartbreak and sadness, there was also one raging storm that wouldn't be satiated: anger. This was my father's fault. Yet again, his selfishness had hurt her, I didn't care what the truth of the situation had been. As a husband, he had one job and he failed her, over and over again despite her never-ending loyalty and devotion to him. I don't know how long I stood there watching the door like it was going to open and she would return to me but when I finally pried my eyes away the heartbreak was gone and in its stead, was the dangerously pressing anger.
"Check for Jackson Cartwright."
"Sorry?"
"Jackson. Now." I felt my entire body bristle with the command. I was certain it had rippled through Griffin and pressed him to do as I asked.
"Jackson Cartwright, I summon you." I crossed to the door, ready to open it in the bastard's face and give him the smuggest God damn look I could muster but nothing happened. The room was silent. Too quiet and it unnerved me further. How had such a precious life been ripped away and such a heinous and vile man been left to survive? The cruelty of the world disgusted me.
"I knew it. Self-serving, self-absorbed asshole." I turned to the wall next to the door, throwing my fist into the rock. I felt my bones crunch and splinter from the force, shooting pains rushing through my arm but none of it eased the ache in my chest knowing my worst fears had proven to be true. He had saved himself over saving her. "I'm going to kill him."
I had an ever-growing list of people who I would take far too much pleasure out of choking the life from them but at the top, there was one name written in a red as bright as blood: my father. Oh, I would deal with Soren and the others, they were merely distractions on my way to my ultimate goal. I would get rid of them, fix this entire situation and when I had nothing in my way, I was going to tear apart New York until there wasn't a single nook or cranny left for him to hide in.
"Go and get everyone back in here. We have Titans to kill." I left no room for argument when I spoke. Griffin, thankfully, for once didn't argue as he rose and left the room. I turned back to the door my mother had gone through, allowing myself for a moment to feel the ache that pulsed in my heart. The voice in the back of my head, the one I tended to ignore, told me I should go and find Savannah and share this pain with her. But she didn't need to see my weakness. What was there to be attracted to in a man who was devastated by the loss of his mother? She needed me to be strong. She needed me to lead and that's what I would do.
Like everything else in my life, I compartmentalized what I was feeling. The broken and aching feelings threatened to overwhelm me, I pushed them to the back of my mind alongside all those other hapless emotions that did nothing but weaken me as a man. No one visited the darkest corners of my mind, no one would ever be aware those places existed. I was King. King of the Masquerade. I could pull this off better than anyone else in the world. I could function with only a quarter of myself still reacting.
Eventually Griffin returned with the other Gods. Everyone had an opinion on the situation with Soren and everyone had a piece of advice to give. We hashed out a plan that seemed like it would work and would also keep me safe. I knew it was selfish of me to allow Blaine to take my place and pretend to be me, especially considering the risk he was taking what with Soren's grudge but of the two of us, I was the more necessary God. Thankfully everyone else seemed to agree, for the most part. With a plan in place, everyone broke off to prepare themselves for battle.
It might've seemed sexist but we decided to keep the women out of the majority of our plan. Not because they were incapable but most of them had useless powers when it came to fighting. It wasn't our choice but the way it would've been done back in the Grecian times. Women, like Charlotte, boasted Goddesses who were capable of holding their own. But Savannah didn't like the idea of me spending too much time with her trying to hash out a good plan to include them. I didn't blame her either, what with my actions of the past.
She also took offense to my sidelining her. She wanted to be included in as much as she could be as Queen of the Gods but without any of her powers I knew she was more of a risk than a help. When planning began to die down, I intended to take her aside and speak to her, I didn't want her to think I thought she couldn't hold her own. I couldn't bear the idea of having lost my mom and throwing my girlfriend to the wolves without a chance in hell
of her surviving.
Chapter 2
Everyone headed out to prepare, leaving only a handful of us standing around the throne room. I would've preferred going back to our room for a conversation in private but in the likely chance people would need me for input on something, I had to stay where I could be found. Taking Savannah by the elbow, I nodded at the two thrones at the top of the dais before making our way there. I stopped short when I got closer, immediately rethinking my choice of venue. These thrones were nothing like the ones we'd had in Olympus. How did Griffin bear to sit on them? They were decorated in realistic-looking skulls. They were uncanny. I could've sworn it felt like they were watching me, judging me for my choice.
"I can stand." Savannah voiced my own thoughts, breaking the unnerving gaze I had begun with a skull.
"Yeah," I agreed vaguely as my hand slid from her elbow to her hand, interlocking our fingers. I guided us away again, finding a secluded corner of the room where we could talk privately. Not many people knew Savannah had sacrificed her magic to me in the basement with Lincoln. It was something we both agreed needed to be kept more or less of a secret, in case Charlotte got another wild idea to take the throne from Savvy.
"Listen, I don't want you to think I don't want you being there." I turned her to face me, looking at those beautiful, clear blue eyes I had grown to love. "If I had it my way, you'd always be right at my side where you belong but I can't risk you. I won't." I said it as firmly as I could so she understood this was coming to her as a command. I wasn't going to let her get hurt.
"It's fine Aidan, I get it." I was surprised she didn't give more of a fight. It wasn't in her, or Hera's nature, to sit back and let us boss them around. It felt mildly suspicious.
"You don't have some kind of secret plan where you're going to go behind my back and do something stupid that inevitably gets you hurt and could've been avoided - do you?" She laughed at me, shaking her head in disbelief. But I couldn't help my line of questioning. Savannah, above everyone, had a tendency for the dramatic and unfortunately included doing cliché things like that.
All Hail the King: Modern Greek Gods YA/NA Series (Grace of Gods Book 4) Page 1