Page 106 of Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

Tales From Across the World

These circles were rich with folklore,

and they held such vibrant stories and songs.

Some of them were about the bloodshed,

but others were about happier times,

childhoods spent chasing the sun and

girlhoods spent dreaming in the moonlight.

There were other tales, too, of Goddesses

from the new ruling family of Olympians.

The fury of Hera but also her kindness

to women during childbirth.

The might of Athena but also her partiality

for heroes above all else.

I absorbed everything about this ruling family

of Gods from these women.

The Olympians were the reason why

my mother was now an island far away.

They were the reason why my father

and his brothers were trapped in Tartarus.

But the women also gave me stories of kings

and their queens, farmers and artists.

Their great loves and great conquests

all won and gone in the blink of an eye.

Everything seemed so much more finite

when you were mortal.

Everything ached more, hurt more.

If you are doomed from the start,

you learn to savour every drop of life

in ways immortals never can.