Page 104 of Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

A Pull

I tried to occupy myself

within the palace to appease

Styx. One of the clay pots

in the kitchen

could be used to summon

anything I desired and I made it

summon lavender and irises,

roses and mugwort so I could

keep making my potions.

Once I poured a concoction

onto the floors and turned

the onyx into pristine marble.

Pallas laughed, but Styx

was not pleased at all since

she did not like my experiments.

She thought they would draw attention

from the strange things

that occupied this realm.

The trouble was I was restless.

I still thought of my parents.

The cruel fate of my mother.

The sad eyes of my father.

I had made a promise when

I saw him in Tartarus.

I would free him.

And it was a promise

I intended to keep,

but I could not do that from here.

Palace walls spoke no answers.

And it was not long

before I found myself

walking back into Asphodel.

As I walked that day

through the meadows,

the scent of lavender

mixing with mist.

I heard the sound of

reuniting families.

Brother meeting brother,

sisters together again,

fathers seeing their sons,

but the pull I felt most

was towards the women

still waiting for their loved ones.

Women who were all alone

but, like the North Star,

shone like celestial bodies

in these grey fields.