"Back so soon?" Kaelen's voice rolled through the space like distant thunder. "Your High Keeper must be desperate."
"Or suspicious," Flynn added, circling closer. His movement made the Threshold ripple. "You didn't tell her what we said."
Not a question. They knew. Somehow, they'd felt my omission, tasted the lie I'd wrapped in technical truth.
"What I report is my concern."
"Murderer's blood." Flynn's growled words cut through my words like claws through silk. The accusation hung between us, sharp and sudden.
"What?"
"That's what you carry. What flows through your veins. What feeds our prison." His amber eyes burned brighter. "Murderer's blood from a murderer's line."
"Betrayer's daughter," Elias added softly, drifting closer like smoke given form. "Heir to the first lie. Child of the woman who smiled as she condemned us."
The Threshold responded to their emotions, shadows deepening, lights fracturing into colors that made my eyes water. The chaos pressed closer, suffocating.
"Pandora saved the mortal realm," I recited, falling back on doctrine, on lessons carved into my bones. "She prevented your tyranny. She protected?—"
"She murdered us." Thane's quiet words hit harder than Flynn's snarl. "Not our bodies, that would have been mercy. She murdered our futures. Our hopes. The peace we'd spent centuries building."
"You were invaders?—"
"We. Were. Invited." Kaelen stepped forward, and the Threshold bent around him like space recognizing its master. "Begged to come, actually. Your realm was dying. Plague, famine, war, the mortals were destroying themselves. They petitioned Olympus for aid."
Images flashed through the chaos. Cities burning. Fields of corpses. Children starving in streets while nobles feasted behind walls. Then other images, the princes arriving not as conquerorsbut as saviors. Healing the sick. Teaching agriculture. Ending conflicts with wisdom instead of weapons.
"Stop." My hands pressed against my temples, trying to block out the visions. "This isn't real. You're manipulating?—"
"The Threshold cannot lie," Elias sang. "It shows only what was, what is, what might be. Every image you see is truth, whether you accept it or not."
"Then why?" The question tore from my throat. "Why would they imprison you if you were helping?"
"Power," Flynn spat the word like poison. "Your ancestors wanted our power without our oversight. Wanted to rule with divine authority and human greed."
"They came to us with a proposal," Kaelen continued, his voice carrying the weight of centuries. "Marriage alliances to formally join our realms. Pandora was chosen as the first bride. My bride."
The way he said it, possessive even after a thousand years, made something in my chest twist.
"She was willing. Eager, even. We courted for a year." His molten eyes never left mine. "She'd sit in my lap during council meetings, tracing patterns on my skin while I negotiated trade agreements. She'd braid phoenix feathers into her hair to honor Elias. Let Flynn teach her to hunt by moonlight. Learned Thane's ancient songs."
Each detail landed like a stone cast into water, and each revelation was a ripple in my soul. This wasn't the Pandora from our histories. Our Pandora was austere, devoted, sacrificial. Not this woman who laughed with monsters.
"The Chronicle of the First Betrayal says?—"
"Lies," all four voices spoke in unison, and the force of it drove me to my knees.
The Threshold floor, if it could be called a floor, felt solid and not-solid beneath my palms. Like kneeling on compressed air.
"Your precious histories," Kaelen's smile turned cruel, sharp as winter. "Did they mention Pandora wept as she locked us away?"
"She didn't?—"
"She did." Flynn crouched near me, close enough that I could see the gold flecks in his amber eyes. "Sobbed so hard she could barely speak the binding words. Had to try three times before she could complete the ritual."
"Her tears turned to crystal as they fell," Thane added softly. "They're probably still there, beneath the Gate's foundation. Testament to her grief."
"Why?" My voice came out broken. "If she loved you, why would she?—"
