Mal’s eyes widened, sudden dread flickering within their violet depths.
‘No…’ she whispered, shaking her head before turning towards Thanatos, who kept his dark eyes trained upon the floor, silent as the grave.
Persephone laughed, the sound sharp and knowing. ‘Hades lied, because Hades has been desperate to unbind his curse almost from the moment it was woven. Had he told you the truth, you would never have driven your blade through him. And he knew it.’
‘How is that possible?’
‘The curse does not truly awaken until you meet the one fated to you,’ Persephone said, her tone smooth, almost indulgent. ‘Yours only began when you crossed paths with Ash Acheron… when you married him. And your child, her curse will lie dormant too, until she meets the one she is doomed to love. If she never finds him, the curse never stirs.’ She shrugged, elegant and cold. ‘So, in a way, by binding yourself in an oath marriage…youcursedyourself.’
Steel sang as Mal drew her sword.
Persephone’s eyes slid to Thanatos, her lips curving.
‘Are you going to kill him?’ she asked, amusement lilting in her voice. ‘You may, if you wish. Even Death can die, for whenone god of Death falls, another always rises to claim the mantle. Death itself is eternal. So go on, then, end your curse.’ She gestured lazily towards Thanatos, whose jaw was so tight she thought it might shatter. ‘If you do it now, before your daughter draws her first breath and grows into a young lady, you might sever the curse completely. Spare her the torment you’ve endured.’
Persephone watched with detached pleasure as Mal’s grip on the blade tightened, her knuckles pale.
Thanatos stood motionless, then finally raised his head, dark eyes locking on Mal’s.
‘Do it,’ he said softly. ‘Kill me.’
Mal hesitated, caught between fury and doubt.
Persephone tilted her head, curious to see what choice she would make. Whether Mal struck or stayed her hand mattered little to her in truth. All Persephone cared about were her own children. And because of what Mal had done, because she had taken Makaria from her, Persephone wanted nothing more than to see her suffer.
‘Before you kill him,’ Persephone interjected smoothly, her voice silk over steel, ‘perhaps you ought to have Thanatos confess all the lies he has buried from you.’
Mal’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.
‘Go on,’ Persephone urged, almost lazily, though Thanatos held his silence like a fortress. She gave a small, amused sigh. ‘Very well, I shall tell them myself. I must admit, Hades and Thanatos have always excelled at keeping secrets. I nearly slipped, once or twice, back in that drakonian castle when I saw you. I still don’t know how they managed to keep the truth hidden from you for so long.’
‘Spit it out,’ Mal said, her voice sharp enough to cut glass.
‘Do you know the tale of the first wyverianking?’ Persephone asked, smiling faintly. ‘The one who could shadow-walk, who commanded a shadow wyvern just as you do?’
Mal nodded, her brow creasing with suspicion.
‘Well,’ Persephone said, her smile deepening, ‘history has a way of reshaping its stories… bending them to suit the world’s taste.’ She paused, savouring Mal’s tension. ‘The first wyverian king, a thousand years past, was never a king at all.’ Her smile widened when she saw Mal stiffen. ‘She was a queen.’
‘I don’t understand,’ Mal murmured.
‘That is because you were not truly born twenty-four summers ago to King Ozul and Queen Senka, Mal Blackburn,’ Persephone replied, her words soft but lethal. ‘You were born a god, a thousand years ago, the child of Hades and Hecate. Hecate loved to claim she was manipulated, but believe it or not, there was a time when she adored Hades. From that union, you were created. But your mother, ever fickle, became infatuated with her own creations and abandoned you both. Your father, desperate to win her back, carved the Kingdom of Darkness from shadow itself, a reflection of the Underworld, built to lure her home, to him, and to you. Yet, even then, she never returned.
‘She fell in love with her own creations,’ Persephone continued, voice smooth and cruelly patient, ‘and spent more time fawning over mortals than with Hades or with you. And when you came of age, bitterness bloomed within you, for your mother had chosen mortal flesh and fleeting lives over her own blood. So you and Hades conspired to end her.
‘You became the first wyverian queen to rule the Kingdom of Darkness, ensuring you could watch her every move, every whisper, every betrayal. It was you who discovered she had given her heart to a wyverian man, and it was you who carried that poisoned truth back to Hades.’
Persephone’s eyes gleamed, savouring every word. ‘And it was you who killed that wyverian man, the very first time. You invited them to dine at the castle. A peace offering. But you poisoned him with an apple.’
She leaned back in her throne, smile sharp as a knife. ‘That is why the curse will never end simply because Hades and Hecate have died. You are its origin, Mal Blackburn. For a thousand years, you and your father plotted to destroy your mother. You unearthed the secret of the God-Killer, and together you vowed to claim that power, to become it, so you could end Hecate once and for all.’
Her tone darkened, delight curling at the edges. ‘The trouble was… Hecate discovered your little scheme. And she cursed you, cursed you straight into Hell. Thanatos here went to fetch you, did he not?’ She gestured to him, and his shoulders drew taut as bowstrings. ‘He made a bargain with one of Hell’s kings. Hades had gone once before and had already angered the kings beyond measure. But Thanatos succeeded… though the price was cruel. You were allowed to leave Hell, but stripped of memory, reborn into mortal flesh, unaware of what you truly were.’
Mal’s eyes widened, shock blanching her face as she shook her head.
‘By then, the curse was already set, and Hades could not go to King Ozul to explain,’ Persephone said, her voice silk-wrapped venom. ‘But Thanatos is death itself, free to walk all realms as he pleases. He went and told King Ozul why his wife bore life once more… and what needed to be done.’
‘You’re lying.’
