Page 19 of Dark as the Cursed Abyss

“And yet, so many willingly enter?”

Markos pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sharp sigh. “No one willingly enters the Mysteries, I can assure you that. It is at the will of the queen or the Fates. I would never speak ill of your thea, she is an exceptional woman, but she craves loyalty. The only way to prove loyalty in this kingdom is through those trials. Through risking your life for the one you love.”

The corridor grew darker as they stepped further into the castle, returning to the portion that was decorated with fearsome statues and lit by gaudy candelabras that flickered faint flames. With every movement they took toward the library, the temperature dropped and even Chloe’s skin began to pepper with goosebumps—from the cold or what Markos had said, she was not sure.

“What if two people who are not in love are forced in?” she asked.

There was attraction between her and Farah, she could not deny that, it had never gone away. There was also a shared sense of purpose in gaining an army to fight King Athanas, King Edmund, and Hades’ other acolytes. But love? There would never be love.

“It is simple. The Fates can smell a lie. No one who lies comes out of there alive. Even those that think themselves in love sometimes realize in the abyss of the Mysteries it was not true. But you don’t need to worry about that, do you?” He stared Chloe down in the depths of those halls, and the way his eyes dilated even in the consistent light reminded her of her own powers.

“Are you related? To Avra? To me, perchance?”

His lip curved up into a faint smile and his shoulders relaxed. “And why might you think that?”

“Because I know compulsion when I see it.” It’s the same look Dimitris had when he manipulated others and the way Acacius looked when he altered Farah’s emotions.

Markos laughed and shook his head, moving close to the only door in the hall. “I have no powers other than mortal curiosity, Princess.” He opened the large wooden door and stepped through, revealing the elaborate library beyond. “Now, let us see if we can find you some books that will entertain you as well as teach you something so you don’t get killed in the first trial.”

Stepping through the door behind him, Chloe breathed in deeply through her nose. There was nothing in this world that stilled her mind and let her heart steady than the scent of aged paper and leather-bound books. This room was smaller than even her personal library on Nexos, but it was just as immaculate. It was in the shape of a crescent, the entire expanse of walls covered in shelving with ladders extending ten times her height. Positioned between each of the rows of shelves were enormous stained-glass windows. They were all shades of green, yellow, and amber, depicting dragons flying high over the mountains and winding through to the deep blue rivers below. They were scenes of fairy tales and myths and each was immaculate.

“Do you have any recommendations? Of where to start?” she asked, almost breathless from the beauty that was the multi-colored light refracting throughout the library.

Markos shuffled over to a table sitting between two plush chairs, each wide enough for two people, with matching leather ottomans. “I pulled a few this morning.”

Chloe padded to his side, looking down at the covered table. “A few? There’s around twenty books here. That would take me at least a week to read.”

“Good thing that’s how much time you have. We will meet here each morning and discuss what book you have made it through. They all have the same themes so it will get faster as you go.” He handed Chloe the first of the books, a worn canvas-bound tome that looked to be around six hundred pages.

“When Secrets Perish? Isn’t that a myth about the underworld from the age of the Olympi?” It was outlawed in the isles a century ago, most especially for nobility due to its crude descriptions of torture by poison and the Lethe.

“It is. But it is also a tale of relinquishing your deepest fears, laying yourself bare for the mercy of another. Read deeper, Princess, than what these fairytales tell you at first glance. There is truth in them, truth that may save you one day.”

She outlined the title with her finger, tracing over every letter, and a spark of electricity buzzed through her fingertips. Closing her eyes, she pulled at one of her lower powers—one she loved so much. The ability to see the book rather than read it. Chloe let herself drop into the very story right where it began, on the shores of Avernia, the isle of Hades. The midnight sky loomed above, no stars to be seen. Only a pathway of blue flames from the beach to the caves that sat before her gave any light. Shadows danced against the walls of the cave’s entrance, shaped like the daimons of the underworld. Screams echoed out of the cave, beckoning for aid, for death, for the torture to end. A pair of golden brown eyes shone in the dark, a creature watching her from beyond.

Is this what she could expect from the Mysteries? Torture until she revealed her darkest secrets? Or was it something worse?

Another scream sounded from the cave, and this time Chloe knew exactly who it belonged to.

Chapter Fourteen

Farah

Sweat clung to the bridge of Farah’s nose, dripping from above her brows. Despite the winter’s chill, the training ring roared with the heat of a bonfire close by. Other rings were peppered throughout this portion of the mountain range, but this particular one was set high up, perched on the side of the cliff. If she took only a few steps too far outside the ring, well, Farah didn’t want to imagine what tumbling down the sheer abyss would feel like.

The wraps around her hands were still neatly tied, even with the blood blooming through the linen. Every muscle in her body ached, throbbing in pulse with the beat of her heart. She stood, hands placed firmly on her thighs, as a sour tang worked its way along her tongue. For years, Farah had trained as a spy and an assassin, running miles each day, sparring with men, racing through obstacle courses, but nothing prepared her for what she had gone through this last week.

She wondered if Chloe was going through the same thing. If Markos was kicking the shit right out of her like Acacius was doing. That was one thing Avra did not mention at dinner a week before—they were not to see each other until the Eleusinian Ball. Tradition, or superstition, or some other excuse. Instead, the majority of Farah’s day was spent in these mountains, with the fire-haired prince who most certainly wanted her dead.

Or at least, severely injured.

“Break,” Farah coughed out through her heaving breaths. “A minute.”

Acacius approached her and slipped his pointer finger under her chin guiding her gaze upward. “Do you have a secret for me?”

“No more secrets.” Her words came out more as a breath than true words at all. “Until you tell me the point.”

“The point, phoinix, is that I still do not trust you. The point is that you have one more to give.”