Epilogue
Fay stared at her reflection in the tall mirror, her eyes tracing the uniform of the hellhounds, void of only one thing. Her hand brushed the vacant spot over her chest. With a sigh her hand fell away and she looked up, ice blue eyes staring back at her. She closed them and thought of Abe, wondering if she’d see him again, what he might say. It’d hurt to see him but that pain was softened by knowing that Amanda was free, that at least there was one hellhound out there, free of Hades.
A knock at the door dispelled her troubled thoughts. It opened a moment later. Fay bowed as Persephone swept in; dark, resplendently dressed, a Goddess of striking beauty with a quiet intensity in her golden eyes.
“My Queen,” she said respectfully; after a moment, she lifted her eyes and found Persephone smiling at her like a cat that had caught a new toy.
“It’s time,” she said. “Normally, my husband doesn’t even do this himself. Thanatos brands them. They never even see Hades. You’re different. You’re special.”
Fay didn’t feel special. She felt on edge, cautious of what happened next. How Hades might use his new toy, what he might make her do. The only comfort was that she knew that her new master would Command her, and there was no betrayal in it. She’d come to him willingly, traded her soul for Amanda’s freedom. What happened next wasn’t going to shock her. That’s what she told herself, anyway.
Fay followed Persephone out of the room and down the long hallway, their shoes clicking against the polished stone. It sounded like a marching band, beckoning her to her own execution. By the time they reached the gilded black doors to the throne room she had a fleeting feeling to run. The doors opened and Fay went in, obediently.
The senior hellhounds were there, Nebiru standing tall amongst them in his gleaming uniform. There were also some minor Underworld deities, whose names she scarcely remembered, and Thanatos, standing by the throne which seated the God of the Underworld himself. Hades looked just as she remembered; dark, slimly built, almost swallowed by his thick cloak, with golden eyes that watched her with caution.
He thinks I still might run! The thought almost made her smile and laugh. Wisely, she kept silent and took her place before Hades, kneeling as she’d been instructed. She felt the eyes of everyone on her. It was a show, a statement that Hades had brought to heel one of his most defiant creatures. That he was still King. It was more for his benefit, than hers.
He rose from his throne and stepped down to her, his footsteps oddly quiet. She still felt his presence, though, as he loomed over her, and the smell of burning coal and ash rolling in thick waves off him.
“Fay Childers, hellhound, you have been summoned to bind yourself to me – to become my loyal hound and serve me in all my interests. Do you swear by the River Styx that you will serve me, bind your very soul to mine, and take up my mark?”
It wasn’t an overly flowery speech. The required oath was there. Fay’s mouth tightened, as if refusing to say the words. To swear anything on the River Styx was a serious thing. The gravity of the oath weighed heavily in her chest. She took a deep breath, exhaled, then mustered the strength she needed.
“I swear on the River Styx to bind myself to you, to be your hellhound, and bear your mark,” she said carefully.
The second the words were said she felt fire burst on her chest, the brand seared into her flesh. She winced but clamped her mouth shut.
“Rise, my faithful hound,” he Commanded.
She felt the pull of his word and rose, obediently, her mind snarling defiantly but silently. Slowly, she lifted her eyes to his and watched intensely as he pinned the badge to her uniform.
“There, you are now mine, Fay.”
Inside, Fay screamed defiantly. Not forever. I’ll be free, one way or another.
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