The Bet (The Ferryman Saga, #1) by A.H. Johnstone

Author:A.H. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Asteri Press
Published: 2020-10-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

The Council is Founded

“So, boys. Do either of you want to tell me what you have been up to?” asked Zeus, leaning back in his throne in the main hall. Hades stood to one side, arms folded, and scowled at them both. Hermes knew why. As messenger between Olympus and the Underworld, he was in the uniquely unfortunate position of having two masters, neither of whom particularly liked him. They probably already knew everything and were merely waiting to trip him up in a lie.

“Not really,” said Hermes, wincing as the chained manacles pinched his wrists a little bit tighter.

Zeus raised an eyebrow and sighed, “Very well, how about you Dionysus? Normally we can’t shut you up. Why so quiet?”

“What’s the point? You already know what we were doing. I’d like to know who told you where we were.”

“Nobody needed to tell me!” Zeus yelled, “You left the gate wide open and unguarded. Anybody could have got down there and wreaked havoc. In fact, somebody did.”

Dionysus gaped. “But we—"

Hermes elbowed him sharply in the ribs. If they told Zeus that Cassandra had been guarding the door, it would be a tacit admission that they had been down in the Underworld after being expressly forbidden from being there. Still, he’d be having words with that girl about loyalty.

“But, what? Yahweh followed you down there and gods know what he got up to. He won’t tell us. I caught him on his way back.”

Hermes felt a little bit better about Cassandra. Yahweh must have been hiding in the study, waiting for them to go through. However, he couldn’t get over the irony that a seer hadn’t known this.

“As for you two, you are both on house arrest until... until I say otherwise. You will go nowhere and do nothing unless you are expressly told to, and you will do it under full supervision. Honestly, at your age, you shouldn’t need babysitting!”

Dionysus stared at the floor. “No, sir.”

“Zeus, before they go, I have something I wish to say to them both.”

“Very well, brother, but I don’t hold out much hope that it will sink in. Nothing I ever say does.”

“I think what I have to say will leave a marked impression.” Hades walked slowly down the steps of the dais until he was nose-to-nose with Dionysus. He didn’t shout, he didn’t need to. His voice was dangerously quiet, and the smile he wore did nothing to hide the fury in his eyes, “If either of you go anywhere near the Fates again, I will personally leave you so deep in Tartarus that even the Titans will struggle to find you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Uncle,” whispered Dionysus, whose eyes were like saucers and had now turned deathly pale. Proximity to Hades made his breath come out in puffs of steam. He was right to be terrified. Hades didn’t make idle threats; he meant every word.

“I cannot tell you what to do or not do in this domain. My realm is the Underworld, but there my word is law, and I make sure everybody knows the rules.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.