Conquering Death by Conquering Death (epub)

Author:Conquering Death (epub)
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0000000000000
Published: 2022-10-17T00:00:00+00:00

* * * *

It took another three days for his next visitor to come—not Sisyphus, who had never reappeared in front of Thanatos, not even to gloat, but someone new.

“What? This is…”

He weakly raised his head, blinking to clear the dots from his vision.

Standing there was a woman, her long brown hair pulled up into a bun, plaited in elaborate patterns. The weaves of her cloth denoted her as a woman of importance to the palace, and given that he knew of no daughters that Sisyphus had borne, this must have been his wife.

And based on the horrified look on her face as she raised a hand to cover her mouth, she knew quite well who he was.

“Lord Thanatos,” she stuttered. “Forgive me! I should never have come here—!”

She made as if to scramble away, but Thanatos crawled forward as much as he could, chains scraping against the stone floor. Hours ago, his knees had begun to bleed, rubbed raw from the abrasive material and staining it with golden ichor.

“Please, release me,” Thanatos’ voice shook, and the shame of his desperation struck him deep, but he had no choice. This woman—Merope, he now recalled—was an immortal, if not a god. She would have the strength to pull the chains from him, to take away this cold.

But she shook her head, eyes reddening even as she stepped back. “I—I cannot. Sisyphus would never forgive me.”

“Forgive?” Thanatos said incredulously. “Is the affection of one mortal man worth making an enemy of Death itself?”

Merope shuddered at his words, shuffling her feet. “My Lord…I love him, I really do. If I release you, he’ll—Lord Thanatos, I just don’t want him to die.”

“He is a liar, and a cheat,” Thanatos snarled. All the pain of his capture seemed to coalesce in his throat, dripping out of his mouth in pure venom. “And I’ve heard worse besides! What use does a naiad have for a man like that?”

“He is my husband,” Merope said adamantly, though her voice shook. Her gaze fell upon him heavy and desperate, pleading for the god to understand.

But Thanatos could not—would never be able to understand her. By the very nature of his duty, he could not sacrifice everything for the sake of one being. He was not a naiad, like Merope. If Death wasn’t doing his duty, the world would fall out of balance. His brother would do his best, but Sleep was no substitute for Death. It was only a temporary solution.

“You knew he was mortal when you married him,” Thanatos rasped out, trying to scrape up the last bits of his sympathy. “You would always outlive him, no matter how long or short a time that would be. And we both know that death is hardly the end—surely, you could visit him in the Underworld.”

Merope shook her head, wringing her hands. “It’s not that simple, Lord Thanatos. Not for mortals. It’s all well and good to know that there’s something waiting for you after you die, but that doesn’t mean any of them are in a hurry to get there.

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