Page 20

CHAPTER 20

AURORA

“M other, I’m surprised to find you here. Don’t you have somewhere you should be?” Aurora said, walking into the small sitting room her mother, Moon , was waiting in. Moon glittered in the warm light of the heavens. Her pale hair had started to turn yellow, proof she had been away from the night sky for too long.

“Oh, you reek of the underworld.” Moon scrunched up her nose before taking a sip of her wine.

“And you of the sea.” Aurora stepped further into the room and sat down at the table laden with food and drink. “ Which is where I thought you’d be.” That was where her mother normally was during this time. A time when the night sky rested.

“I was, but he’s an insufferable ass.” Moon flopped back in her chair. Her pale skin took on the warm hue of the heavens. “ I caught him flirting with Mars . Out of all the gods, Mars .”

Aurora rolled her eyes and poured herself some wine. She had bigger things to worry about than her mother fighting with one of her many lovers. She may have found a way to break Thane’s curse. She’d have to visit the mortal realm. Something she rarely did. “ I thought you liked Mars . Didn't you spend time with him last month? Or was that two months ago?”

“Oh, hush. You make me sound like Wind . And how am I supposed to say no to him? You’ve seen how pretty he is. But Sea should’ve known better. Anyway , I didn’t come here to talk about me. Your father is concerned.”

“Then why did he send you?” Aurora doubted her father cared about her. He was Life . He had bigger issues to deal with than the daughter he had because Death had Thane .

“Such a sharp tongue for such a pretty little god. As your mother, it’s my duty to make sure you don’t do stupid things. And being that you reek of him, I fear that it is too late. When will you learn he will cause you nothing but heartache? Last time he broke your heart, you filled a constellation with your tears.” Her mother lifted a pale brow. “ Where did those stars go? I need more wine.” Her mother searched the room for the golden men and women who usually flittered around the halls of her father’s palace.

“For all the gods’ sake, Mother , your hands work just fine.” That was one of the things that irritated her about her mother. Her inability to do anything for herself. Another was when she only played the role of mother when it suited her. Aurora stood and poured her mother more moonbeam wine. The silver-white liquid shimmered in the crystal goblet.

Moon frowned at her daughter. “ What is the purpose of stars if not to fulfill my every need?” Moon smiled at the golden man who brought more wine to the table. “ Anyway . Your father asked that I speak to you about his proposal. Have you thought more on it?”

“No.” Aurora poured herself more wine.

“No, you haven’t thought more on it or?—”

“No, I will not marry Sky .” Aurora turned her attention to the large door that had been left open. A gentle breeze moved the sheer curtains. Outside , the heavens awoke, and the mourning doves called to their mates. Her father would be perched upon his golden throne, taking in the praises the lesser gods bestowed on him.

“And why not?” Her mother watched one of the stars fluttering around, placing more food on the already loaded table.

“Because.” Aurora plucked a sunberry from the bowl and popped it into her mouth. “ I love Thane , and there is nothing you or Father can do about it.”

“And the curse?” Her mother’s tone was sharp. “ Does that not stop you from loving him? A heart you have broken now the consequences you shall reap. A broken heart you shall have till death do his part.”

Those simple words had doomed Thane and her to many lifetimes of misery. “ It complicates things,” Aurora admitted. It did more than complicate. It made loving Thane almost impossible. To have a broken heart, he must love and lose that love. And that meant he would have to lose her. Over and over again. Seven lifetimes she had lived with this curse. Ten lifetimes of heartbreak. Each one crueler than the last. Her poor heart, so bruised and battered, she feared the next time it broke, it would be the last. Which was why she needed to see the witch and why she needed to end this silly conversation with her mother. Gods could only move around the mortal realm at dusk and in the early hours of dawn.

“Complicates things? It’s more than complicated. If you’re desperate for someone to warm your bed, find a mortal. They are more suitable than that selfish, self-centered, narcissistic, pig-headed ass, Thane . You know, if Fate really wanted to curse him, he would have cursed Thane’s looks. Then you wouldn’t think twice about him.”

“I would still love him,” Aurora retorted. Maybe with all the lights off. But she would still love him. And it was a moot point. Gods were never hideous.

Moon’s laughter filled the room. “ Oh , come now, daughter, I know that is not true. You are my daughter. We like pretty things. Things that make us happy. Like Mars . And Sky . Who is very handsome. I’d say maybe even prettier than Thane .”

“Then I’d say you need your eyes checked.” No god could match Thane's beauty. Aurora stood and walked over to the large doors. “ Can we not discuss him?” She loved this time of day. It reminded her of the moment she first saw Thane asleep under a willow tree, the sky above him bright with all the possibilities.

“Yes, we can. You need to forget him anyway. He’ll never change so long as he is cursed. And I agree with your father. Sky is a good choice. He will be kind to you, and you will learn to live with him.”

“Live? And what of love? What of happiness? What of all the reasons for marriage?” Aurora turned to her mother.

Her mother cocked her head, her pale eyes reflecting back the pink hues of the sky. “ What does love have to do with marriage? And you don’t have to give up Thane . Gods take lovers all the time. I’m sure Sky wouldn’t mind.”

Aurora searched her mother’s face for the jest she made. Her mother was worse than Love when it came to falling in and out of it. She had a new lover every phase. “ Then why must I marry at all?” Aurora refilled her glass and took a large drink from it. “ You yourself said marriage should be left for the mortals. We are gods. What benefit would I get from marriage?”

“The same things mortals get.” Moon’s voice was hard. “ Alliances , security, power, and of course, a father for your children.”

“Are you speaking from experience?” Aurora shot back. Her mother hadn’t needed a husband to bear her. Her mother didn’t need a husband for any of those things she listed.

“Do not cut me with your sharp words. It’s not me who cursed Thane nor me who made him break your heart.” Moon plucked her goblet from the table. “ Do you want to be like me? Rushing from one lover’s bed to another? Flittering around with the stars, depending on Fate and your father for scraps? I know right now your life seems fine and your father provides.” Moon looked around the large room. “ But for how long? And how long do you want to live in his shadow? You must carve out your own future. Your own place in the heavens.”

Aurora looked around the golden room. The ceiling had been painted to look like the sunrise. Everything about her father’s citadel was covered in gold or sparkled with gems. Even the walls in her sitting room held his mark. Murals of his great deeds were splashed across the wall in pale blues, yellows, and ivory. In the hallway outside her door was a tapestry that depicted her father’s creation of man. She had no desire for her deeds to be splashed across every surface. That was never her goal in any of her lifetimes.

“And if I don’t want that?”

“Why wouldn’t you want that? All gods must make their mark on this world and the mortal one,” Moon reminded her.

“And how will marrying Sky do that?” Aurora threw back at her mother. She did leave her mark every morning when she coaxed Thane from the heavens. That was why her father had her. Death wanted to keep the mortals in darkness. It was why Death had Thane . Her father wanted to keep the mortals in his eternal light.

“Fine, you want the truth? Thane has moved on. At the last council meeting, I saw him and Pain . They sat together. In fact, his mother, Sorrow , mentioned that Pain has been around much more. According to Sorrow , Pain and Thane mended their differences.” Moon plucked a sunberry from the plate. “ And you know how much Thane’s mother loves Pain .”

And how much Sorrow hated Aurora . “ Well , it’s not his mother who decides whose bed he’ll be in. Because it was mine, not Pain’s .” Pain was the reason for Thane’s curse. Aurora poured more wine. “ Why would you spread such a lie? Are you trying to hurt me?” Having the Moon for one’s mother was like being raised by a viper. One moment she was fine, and the next she would strike at whomever was closest.

“No. If you won’t listen to reason, then you must deal with the truth. And the truth is that while you sit here brooding over Thane , he is attending weddings and council meetings with Pain .”

“I am not brooding. And he can’t love her either.” Could he? Pain’s father, Fate , had cursed Thane .

“Yes, you are. And frankly your father is tired of it. The heavens cannot hold any more of your tears. Nor does your father want to listen to Sorrow’s wails every time you leave Thane .”

“Then Father should stop entertaining her,” Aurora snapped. She grew tired of this conversation. “ Do you and Father not care the toll this is taking on me? I will love Thane until there is nothing left of me. And if you and Father truly cared about me, you would help me break the curse. Father would demand that Fate do something. Instead , you both demand I marry Sky .”

“That is not true. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be here. I’d let your father marry you off,” Moon snapped back.

“Then I shall wish myself to forget all of you. The heavens, Sky , Father , all of it!” Aurora yelled. She would never love another. Thane’s and her love was written in the stars.

Moon laughed. “ And Thane ? Will you wish him away too? Your wishes are powerful, daughter, but nothing is as powerful as love.”

Aurora flopped down in the satin-covered chair. She had somewhere else she needed to be. “ Gods below, Mother , make up your mind! Shall I marry Sky or love Thane ?”

“Neither!” her mother shouted back. “ Don’t marry Sky . I care not. But know this, daughter. One day your father and Thane’s father will demand you both take your rightful place as head of the heavens and the underworld. And you are no more equipped to live in the underworld than Thane is to live in the heavens.”

The only reason for her or Thane to rule was if their fathers stepped down. Gods couldn’t die. They could be forgotten, even replaced. But they didn’t die. They could retire when they grew tired of the demands of the mortal world. But neither Death nor Life were gods that would be forgotten by man, nor would they quietly step down and allow their children to take over. “ Well , thank you, Mother , for that lesson in life. Now if you are done spreading goodwill, I have better things to do.”

Aurora should’ve been used to her mother’s sharp words by now. Gods proved to be cruel creatures even to their own offspring. Thane and his father fought until one of them drew blood. It was usually Death .

“You are lucky. As it is, I do have other business to attend to.” Moon stood, brushing the wrinkles from her gray gown. “ I know you think you love him. But Thane is not yours to have. At least not until that curse is broken. If Thane is to love again, someone has to die, and I will not let it be you.”

“Gods can’t die, Mother .” The thing about a curse is it is never as it seemed. And there was always a way to break a curse. Which was why Aurora would need to see a witch.