Acacius said nothing in return.
His brother’s attendant stood with his hands placed in front of him, his thick dreadlocks pulled up off his shoulders. It was the only change he’d seen on the god’s appearance since becoming a High God. Acacius had assumed he would take on wearing something more lavish, anything other than the thick wool robe he’d presented himself in for centuries. Perhaps adopting an outfit more like Cassius’s tailored suits, somethingfittingof a High God. Not that Acacius ever cared about those things.
However, that seemed to be the case with Mavros as well. He looked as he always did, his hands joined in front of his black robe, permeating a calmness that Acacius perpetually considered a challenge.
Mavros fixated ahead on the gates.
Every evening, for the last four months, when Acacius appeared outside of the Paradise of Rest, not once had Mavros bothered him. Though, he could feel eyes on him from afar. The wisteria blossoms and the blades of grass all reported back to the new High Goddess of Nature, Nathaira, who resided across the Land in her small cottage. The glimpses of silver silk teleporting down the riverbank were members of the Errai, the deities of death who all worked as a collective under their high ruler.
Acacius sensed their anxiety, chewing holes in their lips under their marble masks. They were all waiting for him to break, for his Chaos to leak out and wreck the order of the Land of the Dead.
After a beat, Mavros sighed out an exasperated sound. “You cannot enter.”
It made Acacius feel like a child. “I am aware.” As if he would ever break the laws of his brother’s Land.
Now leave,he wanted to say, but refrained, knowing Cassius would condemn disrespect toward Mavros.
Silence settled between them. The jostling breeze ruffled lavender stalks atop the knolls, and the sweet fragrance touched Acacius’s nose.
He peered off to the side. The grove of lilac parted the Paradise of Rest from the Serpentine Forest. Wispy, frail limbs danced over the River of Caelum.
The scents, the sounds, they were too familiar. Nostalgia wept in his chest.
The Land of the Dead was just as much a home to him as his own realm was. For centuries, he’d walked its plains to visit his brother. The horrifying nightmare of finding Cassius after the Bleeding still haunted his mind. Despite it nearly being five thousand years ago, he could still feel the savage cleansing of his mortal coil, weak and lethargic, crawling out of his realm to find his siblings. Acacius’s ritual had only lasted three days. Iliana’s was five. Cassius’s seven.
“He is well,” Mavros said, as if he could sense Acacius’s unsettled thoughts. “Cassian, I mean. In case you were wondering.”
All of Acacius’s life, he’d known his brother as Cassius, but it had become like second nature to call him Cassian in the presence of others. A name he hadn’t spoken in a while.
Acacius ground his teeth. “I wasn’t.”
It was a lie. Iliana had given him the location of Cassius’s new home. Acacius debated visiting him, turning over the stationary delivered by Iliana’sboydenin his fingers until the ink nearly faded. The tension in his gut stopped him, though.
After what Acacius did, he doubted Cassius wished to speak with him. He’d put Finnian’s life in jeopardy, all because he believed Ruelle planned to dispose of the Himura demigod’s blood.
His stomach soured and he crossed his arms, the gesture expressing a finality he hoped came across to Mavros.
“He lives peacefully with Finnian,” Mavros continued.
Rage shot up his throat. “In a damn cottage on the outskirts of Augustus,” he grumbled as he turned to Mavros, his face twisting. “Yeah, I know. He’s playing fucking house instead of?—”
He clamped his lips together and glared straight ahead.
Instead of what?
Dealing with Ash? The wrath fermenting amongst the deities? Naia and her godsforsaken power to strip away our immortality?
“Cassian deserves this happiness.” Despite Acacius’s outburst, Mavros’s tone remained composed, his body language still and his hands conjoined. “Do you disagree?”
Acacius’s pride flared with the need to say,yes, I do disagree, but that would be another lie. A childish, stupid lie.
He peered up at the grandiose gates, tracing his eyes over the engravings of serpents snaking up the columns on both sides. Another reminder of Cassius and all the times he’d sicced his reptiles on him in good fun, both of them laughing, Cassius abandoning his uptight Ruler of Death role for a soft moment.
Acacius never had it in him to wish ill on his own blood. Cassius and Iliana would always be the two most important beings in his life.
“He deserves whatever his heart craves.” His voice lowered, hoping his words would somehow reach Cassius’s ears and all would be forgiven. They possessed a clairvoyance that way when it came to one another, reading each other’s thoughts, feeling each other’s emotions, no matter the distance.
With that, Acacius’s anger crumbled and settled like ash inside him.
