Ode to the Queen (23 page)

I cast one last lingering hate filled look before leading her away.

“We didn’t have to go, I was having a nice time talking to Griffin…” She said softly, setting the empty punch glass on a passing waiter’s tray.

“Promise me you’ll avoid Griffin. He’s dangerous… His God…”

“Is Hades.” She said simply, un-phased by this information. “He told me. He doesn’t like him, but he says it’s hard to ignore a God so powerful. I feel bad for him, I wish there was a way I could help. No one seems to like him because of Hades.”

I shook my head, “It’s not because of Hades. It’s because he lets Hades have control… He needs to get a spine and take control of his God, not let his God take control of him.”

Valentina frowned; obviously she wanted to say something else but dropped it as the room suddenly quieted and Atlas appeared before us.

“Welcome, Gods and Goddesses of Olympus. How exciting it is to see my family back together once again with the prospects of a glorious future ahead of us. It wasn’t so very long ago that in this very room we stood and decided to place ourselves in eternal slumber until the moment in which we could arise and begin again. The time is now brothers and sisters! Together we shall work as one and lead the world into a new era. So, join me in welcoming back the Olympians.”

Everyone clapped and I looked around in surprise. No one seemed phased by the tumultuous waters we’d been set in upon our revival.

No one seemed to worry about the dangers of a Cronos versus Zeus war and no one seemed to care that Atlas most certainly hadn’t brought up the prophecy again and warned us of it.

Atlas began to call the Gods up one by one to take their seat in the thrones as I scanned the crowds looking for Cronos. Something told me that if he was going to make some big brazen move it would be now, when everyone was watching Aidan ascend his throne for the first time.

“I’ll be right back Val, if he gets to me… please stall.” Valentina looked up at me in surprise, frowning before she nodded slowly.

“Okay… Savannah, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just please stall.” I started to make my way through the crowd, cutting and weaving in between people as I tried to find Cronos. Despite wanting to, I slipped up behind Hunter and grabbed his arm gently to take his attention off the thrones.

“Do you know where Lincoln is?” He turned slowly, taking me in before shrugging.

“No, last I saw him he was going to have a smoke.” Smoking… if we were home he would have to go outside to do that. But maybe he didn’t care about second hand smoke in a room full of immortals. I wouldn’t have.

Though as I looked around the room for any sign of cloudiness the air was clear, so I knew he couldn’t be here.

Shaking my head at Hunter’s uselessness I pushed further through the crowd making my way to the edge of the room.

Maybe this is what Cronos had meant when he told me I’d come around to the idea. Maybe he knew if he messed with my head I’d find myself having little choice between joining the dark side and protecting Aidan.

I hated that I could be so easily manipulated but I wasn’t just going to stand at Val’s side while Cronos did whatever it was he was about to do. Try as I might to find him he was definitely not in this crowd.

So I found the first door out, concentrated on finding the Titan and pushed through.

“I knew you’d come.” Cronos was leaning against a balcony, slowly dragging on the end of his cigarette, “the temptation of power too much for you? All too aware that Charlotte is the masses’ pick?”

My jaw tightened, forcing my teeth to rub hard against one another as I glared at him.

“Actually no. I still don’t want anything to do with whatever it is you’re up to. I’m just here to make sure that whatever plans you have don’t come to light. I’m not going to let you take away their throne from them, if that’s how it’s meant to be. You can’t change fate Cronos. Yours was to lose the throne to your son
for good.
” The words came out with such conviction that for the first time in my life I felt confident about what I was doing. Yes, I
was
willing to give up my throne if it meant protecting Aidan’s.

Cronos started to laugh, leaning back against the rail of the balcony to brace his self as he continued to laugh uncontrollably at me. I knew I should’ve been more scared, a voice in the back of my head telling me to be cautious but I felt powerful. I was still riding the high Valentina had given me and with all those recent lessons from Atlas I felt indestructible.

“Oh, Savannah… You’re so naïve.” My face fell into a frown and I leaned back into the doorway to make sure it was still propped open enough that I could slip through if I needed to get away from him quickly.

“It’s amusing for me to see you so sure that you can stop me. You speak of fate like you understand it, like the Moirai are your friends and over tea you gossip about me. Can’t you see that that line of destiny has been played? Our awakening has begun a new set of paths for each of us and Aidan’s as King is not one of them. Atlas said it himself: he awoke us early he changed the course of history and in its wake a prophecy was revealed... Zeus will never return to his former glory, you and I will see to that.”

“That isn’t the prophecy.” I said, trying hard to keep the uncertainty out of my voice. I wanted so badly to believe it was true, but a seed of doubt was still planted in the back of my mind. At the end of the day both Atlas and Cronos were Titans and to whom would Atlas feel the most duty? His former King or his “true” King...

Maybe he had told Cronos the prophecy where he kept it a secret from the rest of us. But “Zeus will never return to his former glory” wasn’t exactly the kind of life-changing statement I had expected from Atlas’ speech.

“Ah but it is:
Through dark and dust do yet they rise

Once more may they cast their eyes

Yet from their slumber did they wake

A demon whose powers shall retake

The heavens and earth must fall

A new King intend they to install

The sun of one and King of all

It didn’t seem complete to me. Like there was a part missing or had been conveniently left out by Cronos. Nonetheless however it did sound awfully like someone intended to overthrow Zeus from his throne. Except “demon” was a strong term, could Cronos really think of himself in that light?

I looked up at him and he was grinning at me like the Cheshire cat, “What do you think Savannah?”

“I’m still not going to help you. My loyalties will always lie with the true king.” I turned back to the door, the sounds from the other side reaching me.

“She’ll be back in a moment! She just had to do something…” Valentina was protesting desperately in my favour.

“Why am I not surprised she wouldn’t show up tonight? Do you know she didn’t even come to

apologise to me for what she did? I’m sure her not coming is because she knows everyone here
hates
her.”

Charlotte’s nails-on-a-chalkboard voice floated through the air to me. Silence followed her statement and I waited for someone to say something in my defence, but not even Aidan said anything despite all the secrets we’d shared in the last 48 hours.

“Do you see now Savannah? You need me because I’m the only one left who is willing to side with you. You fight for your King but he would never fight for you.”

“Siding with you is like siding with the devil.” I said coldly, not even turning around to face him. He laughed though, still bemused by my resistance.

“Well, the prophecy did say a powerful demon would retake the throne...” He grinned again and my entire body tensed. A dangerous little voice in the back of my mind agreed with him: I was useless and I wasn’t wanted.

“Don’t sit there, that’s Savannah’s spot.” Someone spoke out finally for me, but I knew it wasn’t Valentina. As kind as she was, and however much she wanted to be my friend, I knew too that she wanted to be everyone’s friend without upsetting or hurting anyone even the vindictive and cold Charlotte.

“If Savannah was here she would come and accept her spot. But she’s not, so it’s mine to take.” There was a tone of finality to Charlotte’s voice and once more no one protested.

“And finally, the King of the Heavens, God of the Gods – Zeus.” Everyone began to clap and cheer, my heart was tugged in my chest. A part of me wanted to see his ascension. Perhaps it was the part of me that possessed his wife. But this was my choice, protect him or support him. My being there would make no difference to him, this was more important.

Taking a deep breath I turned around and Cronos was closer now, smirking at me believing that he’d won.

“And just like that you’re useless. Shame, it would’ve been nice to have a Queen the people believed in.” I frowned; surely he didn’t really believe I was now dispensable because Charlotte had sat on my throne. A moment ago he wanted me so desperately at his side, but now that was it? But in my losing my throne, so had he his.

“It’s too late for you now as well. Aidan’s taken his place as the King and that’s it.”

“Oh Savannah… stop that, it’s not cute anymore. There are other ways to get rid of a King, and there are other ways you can be useful without using you as a Queen.”

His eyes twinkled as he watched, waiting for me to realise what he was saying. So, he was planning to kill Aidan and some how he was planning to use me to do it.

“You-” The words were cut from my mouth as Cronos moved forward and grabbed me. I don’t know how he did it but one moment we were on the balcony and the next we were gone.

Grogginess overcame my senses as consciousness returned to me. Like before when Cronos had kissed me on the dance floor I felt dizzy and exhausted.

I didn’t know how long it had been since the balcony and the open court but I was still in my dress, which had to be a good sign. Then again, I might have been sitting here for a while and Cronos had just left me as he had found me.

I was still trying to remember what had happened but the only answer I could think of was the fact Cronos had somehow transported both of us from the balcony to this… place.

My eyes trailed around the perimeter looking for an explanation of where here was but where I had been positioned, was in the middle of a cold, dank room. The walls were black from the lack of light so I didn’t know where the abyss began and ended. I could be in a hallway or a cellar, but it was hard to tell.

There was a faint drip in the background that annoyed me only after a moment of listening to it. Otherwise there was nothing but my own heavy breathing. My neck hurt from the position it had fallen into while I was passed out. That immediately reminded me of the conversation I’d had right before he had knocked me out.

Aidan. He was going after Aidan to kill him. He was going to kill Aidan over a petty rivalry between father and son. He was going to kill Aidan for a title with the power to control the world.

A newfound terror seized me as I tried to sit up from the chair. But despite no bindings wrapped around me, I was unable to stand. I tried again but something invisible was restraining me as I grunted in effort.

It felt like someone had used super glue to hold me down into the chair. For all my trying this evening to stop Cronos and save Aidan I had fallen right into the trap where the bad guy wanted me. I was useless and embarrassed to admit it. Aidan was right; I was never going to be able to fight my own battles if I carried on like this.

I trying harder, I strained with all my might to get up but nothing could help. The only magic I could sense around me was dark. Too dark to try and use because I was too afraid to risk not being tempted by it.

Who knew what would happen if I lost myself like Cronos had. Maybe I would become a puppet beside Cronos as King, nothing more than arm candy.

“Try all you want you won’t be able to get up. I had it specially made.” Cronos stepped from the darkness and moved toward me.

“I would have gone with you if you had asked.” I shouted, straining harder against the magic.

“You would have?” He said, moving toward me further illuminating himself with light. “See, I was under the impression you would rather die than help me. So I arranged that.”

“What?” I said, “no. I never said that. I said I wasn’t going to be your Queen…”

“You said siding with me is like siding with the devil. Isn’t that the same thing as death Savannah?”

“Hardly. You’re twisting my words.” Cronos shrugged though, seemingly not caring at all.

“It really doesn’t matter to me either way, I just knew that no matter how I achieved my rightful place on that throne you would be a crucial part of the puzzle.”

“I’m bait.”

“Of course. That’s all you ever were. I knew that if I drew you away from the crowd, if Charlotte did exactly what I knew she would, thinking she could take your place as Queen, and if you didn’t fight her for it he would know something was wrong. He would be worried about his “Queenie” and inevitably come to be the knight in shining armour you
don
’
t
need, isn’t that right Savannah? And the best part of all this is I knew you’d be too stubborn to tell him anything, just like he’s too stubborn to tell you how much he cares. Both of your stubbornness would help me create the perfect scenario to lead him down into a dark corridor where I can drain him of his power and well… If Cerberus finishes him off that’s no fault of mine.”

An eerie shiver went down my spine involuntarily. I couldn’t help but sense that Cronos had been spying on us, how much had he seen? What did he know? Worse still – did he have mind powers like Charlotte did? Could he simply read me like an open book? I hoped not, but then again if he could he would know that Aidan didn’t care about me.

He promised he would try to not cheat and hadn’t even lasted 24 hours. He knew of all the things he could do that would hurt me the most, especially with Charlotte. Not to mention I had told Valentina I was going somewhere. If I didn’t come back soon enough she was smart enough to know something had happened, even if she didn’t know the specifics of it. Valentina could find someone to come to my aid, I was sure of it.

“Well, you were wrong about one thing Cronos.”

“Oh yes? What’s that?”

“I did tell someone I was going somewhere.” I smirked at him, hoping to infuriate him. His jaw tightened and for a moment he didn’t say anything before he shrugged.

“Well, be that as it may, I took you far away from the throne room and they won’t know where to find you.” He leaned away from me on his heels, just waiting for my retort.

“In a place that you can find anything you need just by opening a door and thinking about it?” I arched an eyebrow at him, an incredulous look on my face.

“Enough!” His hand came out of nowhere, connecting with my jaw and the snap of my neck echoed in the silence that followed. My eyes stung with tears only because of the pain of his smack but neither of us said anything. “I’m not above killing him or anyone else who tries to get in between me and my throne. That includes you Savannah, so I would think twice before being smart again.”

I wanted to touch my face to ease the lingering sting but even my hands were held down on the arms of the chair by magic.

I knew when he hit me the second time it would only hurt more but I couldn’t stop the words as I replied, “well, one of us has to be smart.” His eyes flashed dangerously as I had seen Aidan’s do once. Before I knew it the back of his hand collided with my face once more. This time forcing my teeth to break skin and draw blood. I wasted no time in spitting it out at him, offering him another glare and he just laughed this time.

“Oh, if only things could have been different Savannah… I would’ve enjoyed having you by my side. Such fire, passion… It only needs a little coaxing and you could be such a powerful ally. I can see what he sees in you. But fragile… very fragile.”

He reached out and touched the other side of my face, not yet marred by his strength. “How fun it would be to crush you before…” He dragged off, getting lost in his own thought as he considered it for a moment. “No, not yet. Maybe if I get bored of waiting…” His smirk turned my blood cold as he left, leaving me behind in the dim, empty room.

In the darkness a growl rumbled along the walls like a current of electricity and as the sound waves hit my skin, goose bumps appeared causing me to shudder in fear.

As awful as Cronos was, being alone in that room was worse. Waiting in silence, praying to Gods that couldn’t hear me because they weren’t looking for me, hoping that Aidan really didn’t care... all of that was worse. I even resolved that a soulless fate might be better than living with myself if Aidan got hurt when he tried to free me.

But the magic of the chair was different from the magic I had been using in the garden. It was darker and that seemed to make all the difference to how effective it was. This chair was bound to hold me until the will of its binder chose to free me. There was no other way I was getting out.

Another growl rippled along the walls toward me, like mist rolling in on an early fall morning. It came and it lingered, sending chills down my spine. I twisted and turned in the chair trying to see what the hell it was that was coming for me but the darkness gave no hint and my mind was no help.