17 | ACT I, SCENE XVII

P R E V I O U S L Y

"The - the last ones to live here..." he stuttered failingly, not meeting my eyes. "The last ones to live here in this room... it was Zadicus and Pandora, your Grace. The oldest Titans."

WEDGEMORE, NORMOUNT.

TRISTAN

"ADMIT IT. YOU, MY DEAR FRIEND," Eros grinned, "you want her."

"I do not," I huffed, drawing myself up and ruffling my hair in the wind to hide the tinge in my voice.

We were walking through Normount, another one of Endollon's six Kingdoms. Normount was the seat of the Everlys - Deimos and his spoilt family. Its capital, Wedgemore, was a cruelly deceiving place, breathtaking in looks yet hiding malicious secrets.

I used to be king of Stormholt after overthrowing my father, Apollo, who was both callous and terrible. But that had meant just holding control over one sixth of Endollon. Now, as the High King of Endollon, I exercised power over all six of its Kingdoms, including Normount.

Disturbing rumors had prompted me to take a stroll through the streets of Normount, where danger and horror often lurked. Deimos, being the god of terror, had a habit of terrorizing his people as Lord of Normount to collect more and more taxes. His powers allowed him to change to the form a person found most terrifying. I intended to catch hold of him and put an end to it today.

Eros, Erida, Deimos and Fayette were siblings, being the children of Thanatos. So Eros insisted on coming along with me to help, but now his comments left me wondering to what his actual purpose was.

"I know you want her!" the god of love said excitedly, nudging me with a sly grin. "Edwina is a beauty, isn't she?"

I kicked a pebble hard with the tip of my boot, clenching my fists as the sky cracked with a sudden blast of thunder.

"If you recall, I am her husband, not you," I barked.

Eros clapped his hands, overcome with excitement and giddiness, not a least bit perturbed by my harsh remark.

"Oooooh, hmm... I'd daresay you like her a lot, at least?" he questioned, peering right into my face.

"No."

"Hmm... not even a little?"

"I have work to do, Eros," I growled, avoiding his question and taking a turning down the next street. I continued along the direction where I was walking previously.

I heard him guffawing behind me as he followed me, and I clenched my fists to keep my temper in check. If I lost it, the sky would tear open and chaos would wreck it apart.

We continued walking, the people in the streets parting for us at the sound of the click of my boots. The rich, the poor, the scarce, all of them peered out of their houses and between their hands to watch where the two of us were going. I kept my eyes straight on the path, walking past the upturned buildings which shone maliciously in the afternoon light, hiding the cracks holding them together. All the way past the horizon, the Everlys' half of the Derwentwater gleamed, further over I could see the tall castles of Dracnesse rise, bordering the river on their side. The air chimed with the tinkle of bells that rang like warnings. We passed the borders of the markets selling the rare perfume and daggers of Wedgemore, right until we reached the heart of the market, where the proud and richly dressed strutted about showing off the wares they brought.

"The poor prey off the rich here," Eros muttered, looking at himself in a mirror and winking at a girl whose eye he caught.

I bitterly scanned the market with a watchful eye. It was then that I heard a loud voice screech at the top of his lungs.

"Our next is a girl of ten summers, young and nubile, with her maidenhead untouched. Bidding starts at hundred coppers!" boomed the voice, coming somewhere from within the confines of the market.

"You fool, I said hundred silvers, not coppers! Have you seen her eyes? She's better than the rest of that scum!" bellowed another voice, and I heard a whip crack in the air with a whistle, making me stop in my tracks.

I recognized the voice of the second man.

It was Deimos.

I had found my prey.

I quickened my pace, impatiently striding past the throngs of people who began to move out of my way. At my heels, Eros followed, the humor drained away from his voice now as we finally reached the scene of commotion.

What I saw shocked me.

There were half a dozen girls lined up on a high platform, scantily clad in wisps of silk. Paraded around, their bodies were glistening with oils and perfumes, and the men had all gathered around to drool and ogle over them.

The oldest of them wouldn't have been more than nineteen.

• • • • •

ARCTON FORTRESS, RIMEBAY, VERTGATE.

AMPHITRITE

"Amphitrite?" Rosalva's voice broke my reverie, and I opened my eyes to find her standing over me, concerned.

All the Emmersons of Vertgate had golden eyes, kind and peaceful natures and a general non violent tendency that made them the least threatening House of Endollon.

Rosalva Emmerson, the goddess of childbirth and fertility, observed me kindly, her star kissed irises sparkling with efficiency and careful observation. Her generous hips swayed as she examined me, then turned around to make a note on a piece of parchment. I sat up on the exam table, rubbing my head.

"No, no, no, Amphitrite, we are not done yet. Lie back down please," she cooed.

Eric was waiting for me on the other side of the screen, along with his sister Vanessa, who'd cheerfully wanted to come along - both being worried sick about the nausea I'd been experiencing.

"Alright. You mentioned your breasts felt tender?" Rosalva asked, gently feeling the skin for lumps.

"They do," I admitted, wincing slightly as she shined a light into my eyes. By the time she was done, the backs of my lids were burning red into my head like embers.

"And your blood is late?"

"By five days."

"Well..." she mused, thinking, "... it does seem that you are-"

"Lady Emmerson? Lady Emmerson!" a frantic voice could be heard outside, and Rosalva hurriedly covered me with a sheet as a man pushed aside the curtains of the screen, then gasped as an apologetic expression crossed his face. He was hysterical, wide eyed and panicked, sweating profusely.

"Surely you wouldn't mind giving my patients some privacy, Alexander?" Rosalva's head snapped up as she briskly questioned him.

"Lady Emmerson-" he began to speak, before being interrupted.

"I am still examining my patient, Alexander. You can wait outside for a moment with King Eric."

"It's important! Please!" the man begged, his eyes bulging out of their sockets, desperately trying to get her to talk. Rosalva sighed, wiping her hands with a towel and put it down.

"Could you give me a moment, please, Amphitrite?" she asked softly. "It's just that Vivian is out hunting with the children. Leaving me here in charge of Arcton Fortress and all matters that need looking into."

"Of course, Rosalva," I nodded kindly, and she smiled, weaving her hands through her luxurious blonde her catching the sunbeams.

"Must be a mouse in the cellar or a gnat in the winery, I'm sure," Rosalva gave me a wink as I smiled at her, and she pushed aside the curtain as the man went with her, hysterically whispering.

The youngest of Cosmo's children were Atherton and Cymbeline, who were the parents of Vivian and Rosalva. Vivian was the god of healing and medicine, apparently hunting right now... well, I could wait. Rosalva was a soft spoken goddess, deity of childbirth and fertility.

The Emmersons of Rimebay were a peaceful people, nothing like the squabbling, ferocious Houses of LeVane, Tremayne, Valmont, Everly and Rotavelle, who were always at each other's throats.

Eric's face was visible through the curtain. He had a hand around his sister's shoulder, giving her some elder brotherly advice, probably. Vanessa had a mutinous scowl on her face as he teased her.

"...I have centuries of practice," he said solemnly, drawing himself up and puffing his chest as I smiled to myself. I loved this cheeky, comical man so much.

"Just one, you little baboon," Vanessa corrected, giving him a box on the ear, laughing, then she saw me sitting up on the table and her expression changed. "Amphi!" she exclaimed. "Is everything alright, my sweet honeybunch?"

Eric looked up, worry crossing his perfect features as they both got up, pushed aside the curtain and gently wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Love, what's wrong? Where did Rosalva go?" he asked.

"Mouse in the cellar," I said, squaring my shoulders and drawing a deep breath as he offered me a glass of water.

"Is everything okay? Are you sick, my green apple?" Vanessa worriedly asked me, giving me a light peck on my cheek and squeezing my hand. Her tendency to punctuate almost every sentence with the name of a flower or animal or fruit was overwhelmingly hilarious, but I knew she was serious. And after all, Vanessa was the goddess of nature, so it did affect her way of speaking. Llewellyn found it cute, I think.

"I'm good," I said. "Guess we should wait till she comes back," I suggested. Vanessa perched herself on the table beside me as I sat clinging to Eric's shoulder and he buried his face in my hair.

"This place is awfully quiet today," he observed.

"Finally we both can agree on something, you silly poppy!" Vanessa said, looking around as Eric and I both gave her an amused smile. Yet I saw the suspicious gleam in his eyes, and Eric squeezed my hand and hugged the both of us. A minute later, I heard his voice inside my head, because married couples shared the power of telecommunication - just like Tristan and Edwina would be able to, too.

'Amphitrite, I want you to be careful,' he mentally spoke to me, careful not to scare Vanessa off, 'because I get the feeling something is extremely wrong here.'

• • • • •

CALCHESTER CITADEL, STEFFITH.

EDWINA

I could not believe my ears. I was perfectly sure I'd heard the man wrong, there was no room for doubt.

"Was that your idea of a joke, Adam?" I questioned dryly. The man turned white and terrified, shaking his head from side to side like an oscillating pendulum.

"No, your Grace..." he whined desperately, wringing his hands.

"You're saying that the Titans lived in this... this very room?" I inquired sternly. I was having none of it.

This could not be possible. It couldn't. If the Titans had lived here earlier, and then I heard the piano in the same room... it was too much of a coincidence. It could have implications beyond measure. What if the room was cursed or under some sort of spell?

"Please, your Grace... believe me," Adam pleaded.

"But - it's not possible," I said to myself, still awestruck and not believing it. "Does this room any sort of secret passage?"

The Adam's ears reddened with pride at me coming around to his idea, but he shook his head ruefully.

"As far as I know, your Grace, this room does not have any secret passage or so. I'm sure!"

The head Titans, Zadicus and Pandora, had imparted superior powers to their six offsprings - far stronger than any we gods had. Their blood was thicker; their bones, more resilient. Each Titan had the powers of all gods combined in each of their bodies. Pandora performed Blood Rituals to achieve all of this dark magic, which was the reason Cosmo banned them later.

Together, the eight Titans of the legendary House Tytos were Endollon's worst nightmare.

Titans were impossible to kill due to their impossible strength. Even Cosmo could not achieve that feat of killing these insanely powerful beings, hence the only thing he could do was to bind them with chains in the realm of Seattoria. The Titans still raged and existed in there.

And if, by any chance in hell, the chains in Seattoria snapped and the Titans let loose, Endollon would wade in blood.

I said nothing, and went back to pulling back the bedsheets and looking under them as Adam helpfully bustled to my side. Even after dropping to my knees and checking the floor, I found nothing. The tiles of marble shined dimly in the sunlight, veined with gold

"Step aside, I'm going to move the bed," I said.

"I could help-"

"I appreciate it Adam, but I'll manage," I interjected, gesturing for him to move aside and directing a pure stream of power at the four poster, which flew up at once and settled near the ceiling, hovering over our heads.

Why couldn't I shake off the feeling that something was seriously wrong here?

I bent down to check the tiles again, with my ears perked up for the slightest hint of danger. It was calm and cool, and yet the room felt dead, different from the way it felt the night we had been here. I tried again, knocking on the tiles. But the tiles seemed to be the same, squares glinting dully, our reflections prevalent in the cold marble.

"None of them seem to be hollow," Adam muttered helpfully from beside me, rapping it with his knuckles. "Were you looking for anything specific in this room, your Grace?"

"I'm not sure," I replied, testing the six tiles under the bed. They all sounded the same. I tried again, frowning angrily.

"There's nothing there," he said, now getting bored.

"Wait," I said impatiently, pressing my ear to the ground, then rapping my knuckles again on the lowermost two of the six tiles.

The tiles were hollow.

"Help me pry this out," I asked Adam, and he knelt beside me quietly, our fingernails working busily on the edge of the cracked marble, impatient and curious.

There had to be a reason they were hollow. What were they hiding?

Finally, my hot fingers and Adam's able ones chipped the tile at the edge, as I went on hurling more of power at it. Finally, it came loose.

"See, it's nothing!" he exclaimed, and I looked at the cracked plaster, feeling a pang of disappointment. There was nothing here. It was just a tile. Maybe I should just give up and go.

"We could try this one," I said, gesturing to the other tile to the left. He nodded, cracking the edges, feeling the tile come loose as the two of us pulled out the tile.

"This is porcelain!" Adam whispered, inspecting the edge. "Not marble. It is a thicker tile of porcelain so that the sound would almost be the same, considering marble is heavier."

"But porcelain or marble, does it really matter?" I grumbled, fingers busily examining the cracks in the broken plaster in the floor.

Except if it was to... hide something?

My hand accidentally touched a corner, and I felt a sort of shock pass through me, making me jump and take an involuntary step back.

The remaining tiles slid back with a groaning, rusty scream, revealing a gaping opening - pitch black tunnel with steps leading under. I could hardly believe my own eyes, damn it, because this was absolutely not happening.

There was a secret passage under the Citadel.

• • • • •

Ah! So now, things gonna get real interesting :) Edwina is going to find something in the secret passage and... well, I'd be worried for Eric and Amphitrite if I were you! And a new character is coming up next chapter :) What do you think that man called Rosalva for? Something is going to happen, so any guesses? Do vote if you enjoyed!