“Who could possibly want Thanos dead?” she asked, worried.
“I know not. But whisper a word of this to anyone, and all of our lives will be in danger.”
He took a step back, the atmosphere in the room returning to normal.
“There must be some way to get you out of the shackles. If only I had a key,” he said, glancing around. “I’d sneak you out of here and bring you to my wife. You could stay with us in our home.”
“You would do that for me?” she asked, realizing he’d be risking his life.
Cosmas smiled softly, his eyes brimming with tenderness.
“Thanos is like a son to me, and he loves you. I would do anything for him, and now you, too.”
That brought tears to her eyes, Ceres having felt so alone and abandoned.
“Thank you,” she said.
“I will be your faithful friend forever,” Cosmas said. “You don’t belong here, Ceres. Thanos cares for you, but the rest of the lot are rotten and vile, and you are too innocent and good to play their games.”
Then she had a thought.
“If I write a letter to Thanos, is there any way you could deliver it for me?” she asked.
“Of course. I have a few friends, and I believe they could get it to Thanos rather quickly.”
She pulled out parchment and started to write. She told him about everything, from what the queen had said, to why she had rejected his marriage proposal. She even told him that she did care for Rexus, but that she was confused because she loved them both. She told him about how she knew that the king and queen were pitting them against each other, but she had no way to prove it. She told him she had learned that he had killed her brother, but knew he hadn’t intended it, and that she was trying to forgive him.
And finally, she asked him to return so she could hold him, keep him close, and she asked for his forgiveness for having been so cold.
She rolled the letter up and handed it to Cosmas.
“I will make sure this gets to Thanos, and I will protect it with my life if I have to,” he said.
He embraced her, and then he left, locking the door behind him.
As Ceres listened to his footsteps vanish down the stairs, she couldn’t help but wonder if she had been wrong about everything. If Thanos would get her letter. If he would be killed.
And if she would ever see Thanos again.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Ceres felt like her heart might leap out of her chest when she saw her father standing in the doorway of her chamber. He was dressed in fine clothing and his face was no longer pallid like it used to be, his cheeks rosy, his lips tilting upward. And those eyes… How wonderful it was to see his kind, loving eyes again, the eyes she trusted and immediately soothed her frazzled nerves.
She rose to her feet to run over to him, but the shackles restrained her.
His gaze fell upon the chains, and his expression turned worried. He strode across the chamber and reached arms around her.
She squeezed him tightly, nestling her face in his chest, the warmth of his body, the tenderness of his embrace, bringing tears of joy to her eyes.
“I missed you so,” she whispered.
“I love you,” he said.
For one blissful moment, they held each other, and all was beautiful and Ceres felt safe and loved.
But then she felt her father shrinking in her arms, vanishing little by little, his body imploding into nothingness, and it was as if she was herself dying with his departure.
“No,” she whimpered as she grasped at him, trying to make it so he wouldn’t disappear.
“Father!” she cried, closing her eyes, but then he was gone.
Sunlight warmed her face and she opened her eyes to find herself standing in the arena at the Stade, seven combatlords moving in on her, the crowd chanting for her blood to be spilt. Her hands and wrists were no longer shackled, but she had no weapons to defend herself with. Petrified, she searched her surroundings for a way to escape, but seeing the combatlords encircling her, there was no way out. Weaponless, she was incapable of fighting back, and when the combatlords charged toward her, she fell to her knees, shrieking, pressing the palms of her hands to her eyes.
Ceres woke up with a scream beneath the window, her body sweating, tears in her eyes, the stone floor cold and hard beneath her. The chains clattered when she buried her face in her hands, and she let out a piercing cry into the night.
What a horrid nightmare, she thought. But what did it mean? Was it an omen of what was to come? She hugged her chest, feeling so empty, so defenseless, so raw.
She startled when the door creaked open, and for a second, when she saw a male figure standing in the darkened doorway, in her half-awakened state she thought Thanos had returned.
“Thanos?” she whispered, excitement growing in her bosom.
“Is that what he does at night, visits you?” the man said.
The hairs on the back of Ceres’s neck rose when she recognized the voice as Lucious’s, and immediately she knew she was in danger, unable to escape, her wrists and ankles shackled.
“I hadn’t seen you in a while and was worried about you,” Lucious said.
“I doubt that.”
He stepped closer, and his face appeared in the moonlight.
“Leave or I will scream,” Ceres said, her breathing shallow.
“And who will come and save you? Not Thanos. Not the king of queen. Not Empire soldiers.”
She rose to her feet and picked up a golden goblet from the table, throwing it at him, but he veered quickly, and the cup flew out the open door and tumbled down the steps.
Lucious slammed the door shut and lunged toward Ceres, pushing her wrists into the wall behind her, rubbing his body against hers, his breath reeking of alcohol.
She screamed and kicked him in the shin, but he clasped a hand over her mouth and pressed his knees between her legs so she couldn’t move them. With hasty fingers, he pulled her skirt up, and for a moment, he released her mouth and crushed her lips with his.
Bile rose in her throat, and Ceres opened her mouth, biting him as hard as she could. He pulled back and hit her across the face, fist closed, his golden ring cutting Ceres across the cheek.
She forced herself to ignore the pain and screamed as loudly as she could, but he stuffed fabric down her throat, gagging her. His hands fumbled at her skirt again, and he pressed against her with forceful hips, a wild look in his eyes, the feral gleam of a savage.
“You have given me so much trouble that you owe me a little pleasure,” he hissed.
Muffled sounds escaped her lips as she fought against him with all her might, but he was too strong and she was shackled.
Suddenly, he fell to the floor behind her, lifeless. She glanced over her shoulder and was flooded with relief to see Anka standing there with a silver candleholder.
“Anka,” Ceres croaked, her knees trembling so she could barely stand.
Anka ran over to Ceres and hurriedly inserted a key into the cuffs around Ceres’s ankles and wrists, freeing her.
Hands shaking uncontrollably, Ceres pulled the fabric out of her parched mouth. Anka grabbed Ceres’s shoulders and looked her in the eyes.
“Soldiers are coming. Run!” Anka said.
“You have to come with me this time,” Ceres said.
“No, I need to stay.”
Anka spun around in a flash, dashed out the door, and disappeared down the dark stairwell, her rushed footsteps gradually vanishing.
Quickly, Ceres gathered her senses, forcing herself to move even though all she felt like doing was curling up into a ball in the corner and crying. On her way out the door, she gave Lucious a swift kick in the abdomen. She had despised him before, but now her hatred would burn every time she would see him. She would remember this moment, oh, how she would remember.
With sweaty hands, she stole down the stairwell, but just as reached the bottom, a slew of Empire soldiers approached her from the right, their swords drawn.