Indignation

by Celinda Santillan

  “What are you saying Hans? Why can the crown never be mine? I am taking role as the queen now. The laws state that a mortal or immortal may be crowned as a king or queen if there is no queen or there is a death in one of the thrones. The kingdom never had a queen.”

  “You will never be the queen because we have a queen. We have had a queen for centuries.” She frown deepens. Her blond hair falls forward as she shakes her head not believing it. “A secret coronation was set. The night before our king’s fall, King Julian had Merlin ritualize his share of the throne with Yenta and I as their witnesses. The crown was then declared to be King Julian’s and Queen Annalisa’s. They both share the crown.”

  <><><>

  Alyssa bangs on her door. She screams to be let out. How could they trap her in her own room? This is insane. She knows that she should be scared that a strange group of men have kidnapped her and then locked her in her own room, but she is anything but scared. She’s mostly annoyed at everything that’s happening. One Moment she’s driving home in her grey mini cooper with Miranda sitting in her passenger seat, then a black van comes at her almost crashing into her car. When she got out, checking if anyone got hurt in the van, a group of men rushed out and kidnapped her. Miranda was fighting for release, but they had trapped her. The Elim Guards that were supposed to protect her were nowhere in sight at the time.

  She remembers being particularly dragged to her room. Since then she has threatened the men on the other side of her room. She has kicked the door to no luck. She doesn’t know what else to do.

  “When I get out, I better see my car in my garage without a single scratch on it, or else I will make you all repaint it with your tongues.” She doesn’t sound like her usual self, but what else could be expected? They kidnapped her to lock her up in her own house? What kind of criminals are they? “They really should find a better past time.”

  Other women in her situation would have done anything to get away until they actual accomplish their goal, but she gives up. If she was in actual danger then Dias would have intervened by now, at least that what she would like to think. She doesn’t think of Dias as a father figure, she actually only thinks of Dev as her actual father. Although with the way he looked so proud at her when he stated, in front of part of his realm, that she is the future goddess of the gods, must mean he cares about her right? Maybe he might even love her enough to get her out of any real danger, right?

  She bangs on the door once more because she wants to ignore the questions of love Dias has towards her. “You know this whole having-people-appear-out-of-nowhere, is annoying right? What if you were in my shoes? What would you do when a group of immortals keep appearing on you?” She yells to the men on the other side of the door.

  No one answers her as expected. Maybe Dias isn’t interfering because the kidnappers are humans? That would mean that they are nothing compare to the immortals that probably want to kill her now that she is declared the future goddess of the gods. Maybe the human kidnappers have heard her rant and now think she’s a physco.

  She turns around and jumps on her comfortable bed. Her white satin sheets cling to her arms. She buries her face on the pillow. Why don’t they at least feed her? She’s craving something sweet. Maybe a cheesecake? That sounds so good to her. Her stomach growls. She’s considered an immortal, but she can still feel hungry? How does that happen when she’s technically dead?

  Alyssa sits when she hears the fussing behind the door. She quickly jumps off the bed and presses her ear to the door. The fussing has stopped, but the door opens. “Gee, give me a warning next time.” She snaps when the door hits the side of her face. She rubs the side of her head with her fingers. Her eyes roll when she notices it’s Julian that has opened the door. “It had to be you.” She pushes past him to the doorway. Two men black her way from going out. “Move.” She orders them, but they don’t budge. “I haven’t slept for forty eight hours. My stupid stomach is growling worse than the werewolf in the ‘Thriller’ music video. And I feel like I’m about to snap someone’s head off. Try me.” She glares at them. They look past her, probably asking Julian for authorization. Apparently he gives it to them because the move aside and let her past.

  She can feel Julian walk behind her silently. She walks to the kitchen and digs into the cheesecake bin she secretly stashed the day of the pool when someone brought it. She doesn’t bother cutting a slice and putting it on a plate. She just eats it with a small plastic spoon she finds in the cupboards.

  “We need to talk.” Julian speaks first.

  “I’ve wanted to talk you for the past few days, but you were either busy or just didn’t answer.” She states while eating another piece of her cheesecake.

  “My men brought you here under my orders.”

  She nods. “I figured as soon as you opened my door. Why, is question?”

  “Hades has been spotted around you in the mall while you were with Miranda.”

  “Hades? Dias’s brother Hades? Underworld god Hades?”

  “The same one.”

  She stabs her spoon in the middle of the cheesecake. “I’m getting tired of this. I can’t even go to the mall with a friend without being followed now. Is my life going to become like a mob wife?”

  “I want to know why he was spotted around you. Hades isn’t one to follow but observe.” He leans against her marble counter.

  “How do you know him so well?” She curiously asks him.

  “I just do.” He simply says.

  “What I want to know-” She points to herself. “Is what you have going on with Caillech now that you have her.”

  He shakes his head with no patience to be dealing with her jealousy. “My business is mine and mine alone.”

  “Really now?”

  “It’s always been that way.” He stands and lightly presses his lips to her forehead. “Jealousy doesn’t look good on you.”

  “I’m not jealous. I want to know what’s going on between you two. I found out she was one of your many mistresses. Big shocker there.” She sarcastically mutters.

  “Yes, so?”

  “So I want to know what’s going on. Why did you negotiate my safety just you can have her? It just doesn’t make sense to me that you would rescue someone from the Underworld. I know you well enough to know that you don’t help anyone.” She repeats.

  “Alyssa we have bigger problems than about you worrying over if I’m having sex with Caillech or not.” He ignores her questions completely. That’s when she knows that there is something going on because he disregards her questions and then makes her seem like the one overreacting.

  Her mouth drops at his bluntness. “Fine.” She smiles as if his lack of answering her question doesn’t bother her. “I’m going to take my delicious cheesecake upstairs. I’m going to call Jim, and Brandon, and tell them to come have a sleepover party with me. You can figure out the problems you have because I don’t have any. Oh, and take your men with you. I prefer the Elim Guards.” She walks past him pretending not care about how he will react.

  He pulls her back to him by the arm. He turns her over so that she faces him. “I don’t want Jim or Brandon here.” His voice is low and cold. He obviously is the jealous one in the relationship.

  She pats his cheek with her free hand. “Oh, Julian, my business is mine and mine alone. Plus I have bigger problems than you worrying if I’m having sex with Jim or Brandon.” She mocks him with his own saying before she tugs her arm back and heads up the stairs.

  Her eyes feel like they’re about to shut close. She leaves her cheesecake on the bed stand. She knows she’s probably bitchy because of her lack of sleep, but Julian drives her mad. How can he doge her questions like that? She lies down on her bed. She quickly sends her friends a text message for them to come later on in the night. Her eyes finally close at the thought of sleep finally taking over her. Her dreams surround the possibility of Julian and Caillech together.

  Hades

  Julian walks back and forth i
n front of his fifteen strongest and gifted men. He can hear the level breathing of Alyssa from the open window of her bathroom. He has made sure she was asleep before he rounded his men for his orders. The last thing he needs is for her to defy him in front of his men. He knows she’s a heavy sleeper and will sleep right through everything.

  “I want every single square inch covered. No one goes in without my authorization and no one gets out. If she tries to escape, I want you take any form of measurement to keep her inside for a few hours until I have a talk with Hades. I will let you all know when she is able to leave her house. Even when she does, I expect an every hour report, and have her surrounded at all times. If I somehow find any scratch on her when under your supervision I will make sure that being trapped in the Underworld will never be you fear again when I have you. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, liege.” They all say in unison.

  “Good now to your duties.” He dismisses them with a wave of his hand. He stares forward to nothing in particular. “Transport me to the Underworld, Hades. I know you hear me.” The flames of fire spread in a narrow line to him until it slowly consumes his body with flames. The smoke stings his skin, but doesn’t burn like it usually do to those who transport into the Underworld. The red, yellow, and white flames are just an appearance, an illusion; the smoke is what truly burns.

  His view changes to a red lighted room. The walls are ivory, but the lighting gives it a reddish color. The room is filled with imprints of skulls, and symbols that connect with Hades. The ceiling hangs a chandelier covered in spider webs. The only reason why red is considered a devilish color is because it’s the color of Hades’s dark red eyes. Under dark lighting his eyes look black, but that will never be the truth. Julian walks down the black carpet that leads him in front of Hades’s throne of death. This is the place where he convicts souls to their fate in the Underworld. Hades sits on the throne that seems to be engulfed by flames of fire. The Underworld god smirks upon seeing Julian.

  Hades’s index finger thrums on the hand of his throne. “Well, if it isn’t the fallen king. I have not seen you since your tragedy. My condolences to your love for your killer. Annalisa was her name, am I right?”

  “I don’t have time to deal with your twisted sarcasm Hades. I want you to stay away from Alyssa.” He threatens the god of the Underworld.

  Hades ruffles his already messy long, black hair. “And why would I do that? She is my niece after all. She’s also the heir of my brother Dias. I wonder if Athena or Aphrodite will accept that. Maybe Artemis will kill her before anyone else. Dias has never announced an heir before. That causes uproar.”

  “Stay away from her Hades or you will not only face my rage but Dias’s as well.”

  “Your rage doesn’t matter to me, and Dias is angered by almost everything. You have nothing to worry about me though. My intentions with Annalisa are almost saintly.”

  “Nothing about you is saintly.”

  Hades raises his eyebrow at him with amusement. “You give me too much credit. I have a good side.”

  “Hades you are warned. I will do whatever to protect her.”

  “Protecting your own killer. What is our world coming to? Where is the evilness of revenge in your blood? I can smell it, but you never show it. It’s such a disappointment.” The god of the Underworld tsks at him with heavy sarcasm.

  “Hades!” Persephone, goddess of harvest and now queen of the Underworld, appears on the side of Hades.

  Her red band of royalty is placed firmly on her forehead. Her ankle length red wine hair is in a fish braid over her shoulder. It falls down in front of her, showing the thickest and long hair she has never cut. A vine is wrapped on her upper arm like an arm bracelet. Her reflections gown sparkles with each ray of light that hits it. Persephone’s eyes are her best feature. Her eyes are as green as the leaves of crops of corn. Her slender figure shows how fragile she is, but her stance is always one of a goddess. She is as graceful and as kind as any nun could be, but when threatened she is worse than Hades himself.

  “Hades, let’s finish your conversation with Julian in our home. The room of the dead is no place for anything, but the dead who come enter our gates.” She scowls him.

  Hades rolls his eyes with annoyance. “Persephone, you are always interruptive when Julian attends my realm.” The Underworld god English changes to a more proper one to match his queen.

  “That is because he does not come often.” She turns to Julian with loving eyes. “Join us for dinner? Maybe stay for a few days?”

  “I can’t. I need to leave soon. I have business to take care of.”

  “But will you come again soon?”

  He nods. “Yes.”

  She always asks him the same question and he always answers the same. She always seems so hopeful every time he answers with a nod of his head. Persephone is a gentle goddess towards Julian. She has always treated him fairly kind unlike Hades himself.

  She walks toward him with a gentle stride only a goddess of her kind can have. She places her hand on his cheek. Her evergreen eyes bore into his with so much emotion filling them. Even after so many centuries, he doesn’t understand her actions that never matched her words. “I will wait for your arrival soon. Do not make me wait four centuries like this time.”

  He covers her hand with him and gently removes it from his face. He holds her hand between his. “I’ll have one of the Underworlders let you know when I come again.”

  “Thank you. If you need anything, anything at all. Please do let me help.”

  “I solve my own problems Persephone.”

  She turns back to her husband, not letting her hand leave Julian’s grip. “Why is he here Hades? What have you done?”

  “I have done nothing. I never do. He’s here as a warning.”

  “I find that hard to believe.”

  Julian clears his throat to gain her attention again. Her temper can be easily spiked. “He’s done nothing like he’s said. I came here to warn him to stay away from Alyssa.”

  “Alyssa, is that-?”

  “Yes, Annalisa.”

  She shakes her head. “No. Alyssa has been-”

  “Mind your words Persephone.” Hades roars.

  She turns back to her husband with a glare. “We will need to invite her. She is our niece after all and we do not have many visitors often.” Her voice is hard.

  Julian ignores the sudden change of subject. “No, that won’t be happening.” He sends a threatening look to Hades.

  “I say the same. Annalisa is not welcome in my realm Persephone.”

  “Annalisa is not of course, but Aly-”

  “Julian, you must leave.” Hades orders him.

  “Not until Persephone finishes what she was about to say.” Julian turns her over so her green eyes correct with his. “What were you going to say?”

  Her narrowed eyes change instantly at his voice. She lets out a silent giggle. “Oh, do not mind me. I was just about to say that Annalisa is not allowed in our realm, but maybe now that Dias has her under his realm, she might have changed.”

  “Are you sure that was what you were going to say?”

  “Of course.” Her smile spreads throughout her face, but not her eyes. She has just lied to him for the first time. He knows she has lied by the way she avoids his eyes.

  “Now that you have your answer, leave. I have my own business to be taken care of.”

  “Transport me back.” The flames of fire consume him. His last look before transporting is the longing in Persephone’s eyes.

  The sky is a shade of dark blue that compliments the moon’s shine. Julian appears on the same spot he has stood when disappearing to the Underworld. He stops short scanning his surroundings. He can sense his men staring at him. That’s when Julian hears the sounds of laughter and giggles coming from inside the home. His muscles tense, his eyes turns darker than black, as he fights to control the anger that’s slowly building up inside of him.

  “Come forth.
” Only one of his men step out of the shadows to face him as representation to the rest.

  It takes him time to realize its Hans. The Lycanthrope bows to him in respect. “My king.” He mutters.

  “I specifically told everyone to not let anyone in or have her go out until I have returned from the Underworld. Did they understand my orders?”

  “Yes, they did, my king.”

  “Then why do I hear her with company?” He roars.

  “I allowed the mortals to enter the perimeter via the queen’s demands.”

  “Demands? You have no authority to overrule my orders. The only one who is allowed to give orders is me. If I was not clear enough earlier I will be clear now.” Julian pushes past Hans. “Come forth those who disobeyed me.” Three men step forward. They bow to him in fear. “Did I or didn’t I give an order?”

  “Yes, liege.” They say in unison.

  “Was it followed?”

  “No, liege.” They simultaneously said.

  Hans steps forward before Julian kills the men. “The queen has attempted to take her own life if the mortals did not enter. That is why I gave the order to let them in. I have tried to contact you, but it has always been impossible when you are in Hades’s realm.”

  “What did she do exactly?”

  “She had the Adviser Elim point the Katana of Selene against her throat.”

  “You all are fools. The Katana of Selene has no effect on her. I will deal with you all at the mansion.” He dismisses them all and runs into the house. He slides the double doors shut with great force.

  He follows the voices that lead him to the living room. Alyssa sits with Jim and Brandon on either side of her on the long sofa. When he enters the room Alyssa narrows her eyes at the TV screen. She knows he’s here, but she chooses to ignore him. He takes a step inside and glares at the two mortals.

  “Alyssa, we need to talk.”

  “When the movie is over.” She mutters to him.

  “Now.” He orders her.