Rage boiled through his core. He was King of the Gods. He was denied by no one. Not even fate.
Drawing on the ocean of power he hoarded inside himself,he sparked a shard of lightning into being, feeding the searing bolt until it spanned the width of the clearing, singeing the trees.
‘You will take my bargain, or I will burn your grove to the ground.’
A shattered laugh echoed from everywhere and nowhere. The bolt in his hands died in an instant, his fire extinguished by a breath older than time.
Zeus’ face spasmed into a snarl. He spun on his heel, turning his back on the Moirae’s tree.
Wait.
A whisper of shadow played about his face.
What in all the world is most precious to you, son of Kronos? Do not lie, I will know.
Zeus fought against the dread stilling his tongue. ‘My children.’
If the darkness had a face, she would be smiling.
I offer you this: there is a way to prevent the last daughter from ending the reign of thunder.
‘How?’
If she is slain by a child of your blood.
Zeus’ chest tightened. ‘What will you take in return?’
Atropos enveloped him, caressing his cheeks.Blood for blood. A child armed for a child sacrificed.
He had known the price would be dear. It did not make the bargain any easier.
‘Which child will you take?’ he whispered.
That fate is yet undecided by Lachesis. It could be any, or none. It could still be you.
Zeus clenched his golden fist. He had lived too long and given too much to let human weakness stifle him now.
You know what you must do, said the voice inside his head.
Zeus gazed at the shining threads drawn across the trunksbeyond the clearing. So many lives taut with potential, so many lifetimes for him to mould in his image. So many more children still to be born.
‘I accept your bargain.’
Atropos spun around him, thickening the air with midnight smoke. Through the blackness loomed Lachesis’ misted eyes, and below it, a single silvery strand drawn taut. Ready to be cut.
As one the fates spoke,It is done.
