Chapter Twenty-One: Than’s Objection

Than had hovered above Therese’s house watching the sons of Aphrodite and Ares, Fear and Panic, taunt Therese as she held the little black box. He shouldn’t have been surprised by her resistance to their powers. Her strong will had amazed him from the beginning. But when the twin gods had finally vanished and Therese had looked at her reflection with new doubts about her beauty, he wanted to kill the boy lions with his bare hands.

He rushed to his father’s chambers to object, his heart pumping fast and loud, like it might burst from his chest. Hades sat at a golden table with Tizzie and Meg, apparently arguing. They all three looked up as Than approached, unable to hide his anger.

“Ares had no right!” Than spat the words out as he crossed the room. “You said no gods could intervene.”

“I said help,” Hades corrected. “I said no god may help her.”

“And I thought you were the god of justice!”

“These are challenges, Thanatos. The more challenging, the better the victory.”

“Hah! Admit it. You want her to fail!”

Hades didn’t hide the smile creeping across his face as he stood and met Than’s eyes, their noses inches apart. “I want her to pay! She was an embarrassment to me last summer. If she’s to join us here in my palace, I want her to suffer first.”

“The punishment should fit the crime!” Than said.

“Agreed!” Hades bellowed. “I said those very words to your sisters before you arrived. They want to drag on too long the punishment of a murderer in Paris before they bring him here. I think they are motivated by something other than justice.”

The Furies stood up, their eyes changing from blue in one and brown in the other to dark red. Blood dripped to their cheeks.

“Who doesn’t love Paris?” Tizzie hissed.

“We’ll leave you now,” Meg snarled.

The Furies vanished.

Hades crossed his arms at his chest. “And you are, too, Thanatos.”

“She had compassion for a man who was no longer a threat to her. She refused to kill him in cold blood. How is that a failure?”

“He deserved death. Her parents deserved vengeance. You deserved her to keep her word! She’s the one who let you down, son. Not me. She chose to have mercy on that killer over becoming your wife. Doesn’t that bother you even a little?”

Than’s throat tightened and no words came. He could think of nothing to say. Yes, it had bothered him. It had bothered him a lot. Only her prayers in the aftermath of the battle convinced him of her love. Her prayers, not her actions.

The challenges gave her the opportunity to remedy that. His father was right.