The Immortal Game (book 1) (30 page)

The man nodded and walked to the golden gate as it swung open to let him pass. He disappeared into the golden light beyond.

The next soul walked forward. New shades came into the courtyard and joined the end of the line. Ruby scanned the faces. “John,” she whispered to Ares.

“I see him, but we need to go beyond here.” Ares pointed to the open archway between the two gates. “Behind the dais is the rest of Hades’s palace. That’s where we’ll find Hades.”

“Wait,” she said as he started to pull her beyond the three kings. “I want to watch.”

“Watch what? They’ll be doing this all day, and tonight, and tomorrow.”

“I want to see how John does.” She didn’t look at Ares, but watched the next shade being judged. He was sent back to the Fields of Asphodel.

After him was a man in his fifties or sixties, dressed in a light blue seersucker suit and white dress shoes.

Rhadamanthus pronounced him, “A man of the community. A healer. But a darkness lurks.”

“He takes advantage.” Aeacus added. “I hear children. They beg him to stop.”

Ruby’s eyes darted to St. Peter.

The grey-haired king looked at the man for a long time. The shade stood with his hands clasped behind him. The only movement was his middle finger tapping fast against his thumb.

Finally St. Peter spoke. “Tartarus,” he said in a loud voice.

The man started to shake his head and mutter, “I didn’t want to do it. I couldn’t help myself.” Soon he was shouting. “No. No. No!” His head quaked back and forth in fast little movements, as if he were trying to shake it free. His feet were rooted to the ground.

His sobs made Ruby feel sorry for him. She tried to think of what the kings had seen—the two sides of him—the doctor and the child molester. How could she pity him?

The gate to Tartarus swung open. The man’s screams increased into unintelligible begging. He remained frozen to the spot in front of the kings.

Two shadows appeared out of the darkness and entered the courtyard. They surged toward the man and swirled around him like a rushing tornado. A low hum filled the courtyard. The man looked at the cloud in all directions, his face a mask of terror. He screamed and tried to ward the clouds off with his hands.

The shadows thickened and darkened until the man was cloaked in the blackness. It lifted him off the ground, swirled back through the gate, and was gone in the next instant.

Utter quiet replaced the howling winds and the screaming man. The shades waiting to be judged bounced nervously from one foot to the other. Their eyes shifted from face to face. The kings sat with blank looks and waited for the next in line.

It was John’s turn. He stepped forward. Ruby held her breath. Rhadamanthus looked him over. “I see much suffering. For him and for those he loved.”

“A man of poor means, but with an honorable heart,” Aeacus said.

St. Peter made the final pronouncement. “The Fields of Asphodel.”

John turned away from the kings with a big smile on his face. He caught Ruby’s eye as he passed them. “Thank you, goddess.”

Ruby tipped her head at him.

Aeacus spoke to the next shade in line, “Envy, and jealousy …”

“Okay, let’s go,” she said to Ares, who was only waiting for her cue.

They walked past the line of shades. No one looked in their direction as they moved beyond the kings’ thrones and deeper into the courtyard. Ares made for the middle passageway, the Elysian Plains to the right, Tartarus to the left.

They passed through, into yet another open space. This second courtyard was long and narrow and more like a proper garden with trees and raised beds. It was quieter as well. A few shades walked around, but this seemed like a place of solitude.

A wide set of obsidian steps led up to the right. Ares climbed them without hesitation. The now-familiar begging, followed by a terrified scream trailed them up the stairs, but neither one looked back.

…

The stairs wound up and around to the second floor of Hades’s Palace. It reminded Ruby of an abode on Olympus. The requisite precious metal statues stood in every corner, under exquisite paintings and finely woven tapestries. Open doorways led off the main hall all along its length. In one room Ruby saw a dining table, another was full of shelves of books, and still another housed a giant harp.

The hallway ended in more winding steps. Ares strode to them without looking around.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Up,” he said. “The largest balcony is on the ninth level. The throne room will be there.”

The palace zigzagged up and up. Every level consisted of a flight of stairs, a long hallway lined with rooms, and the next set of stairs. Gold filigreed windows were cut into the obsidian. They looked out over the Fields of Asphodel. The crowds below receded as Ruby and Ares climbed. At the higher windows Ruby saw the flowers and trees beyond the edge of the party. Only a few shades milled there.

By the time they reached the throne room Ruby’s legs felt wooden. This level was not a long hallway like the others, but one great open room. At the far end, instead of another stairway, the large balcony looked out over the fields below.

Ruby and Ares stood next to a golden fireplace embossed with animals. A small replica of Cerberus stood on the mantel next to a plain metal helmet. Ruby jerked when she saw the tiny three-headed dog. More of Heph’s work. How much could one artist produce if he had forever?

Two thrones sat in the middle of the room. They were carved from stone, one black, the other white. They reminded Ruby of chess pieces, the king and the queen. The white throne, which looked to be made of quartz, was empty. The black one held the king of the Underworld.

Hades sat motionless with a two-pronged spear lying across his knees. Ruby had not let herself think of what would happen if they actually found Hades. Now that she was looking at him, picking at the loose threads of his black robes, she felt pity for him.

“So you’ve come.” He didn’t look up. “I didn’t know if you’d be brave enough.” His dark eyes rose and fixed on Ruby. “Or dumb enough.”

Ruby shivered under his dark gaze, the fear returning.

“A mortal, Ares? Really?”

“I’m not here to discuss my personal life with you,” Ares said. Then, with all the authority of Olympus behind him, he added, “I’m here to bring Persephone back, in accordance with the ancient agreement struck between you and Demeter, under Zeus’s great and wise guidance.”

Hades let out a cold and humorless laugh. “There’s been a new agreement. Also come down from on high, also under Zeus’s
great
and
wise
guidance.” The sarcasm was clear in his voice. “The new agreement, the new order, the new way—” His voice became louder with each phrase. “—is that she’s
mine
. Always.”

“Even Zeus doesn’t have that authority.” Ares said. “Especially when only one party was present. You can’t seriously think he does.”

“He’s the king of the gods,” Hades bellowed. “Absolute. All-powerful.” His voice fell. “He does what he pleases.” Hades returned to picking at his threads.

“What about Earth?” Ruby’s voice sounded strangely calm to her. “What about the millions of people on Earth who’ll starve if Demeter doesn’t restore the seasons?”

“What do I care of the Earth?” He only glanced up for a moment. “Sure, we’ll get busier here, I suppose.” His eyes darted to the balcony that overlooked the Fields of Asphodel. “As for the seasons, that’s not really my thing. Ask Demeter what her problem is. Ask her how
she
could let the Earth starve.”

“Where’s Persephone?” Ares demanded.

“You’ll never find her.” He didn’t look up. “She’s hidden. Deep and well.”

“Aren’t you afraid she’ll hate you for doing this to her?” Ruby asked. “She must have come around to accepting her time here with you. You realize that you’ve probably ruined even that much now.”

Hades’s fingers stopped picking. He didn’t look up or move. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you an hour.”

Ruby’s heart stopped. Was he going to help them?

“One hour,” he repeated. “I assume it was your love, Ares, that made you do such a stupid thing as coming into
my
realm to steal
my
wife. I’ll give you one hour to right this wrong and erase the insult. One hour to make it as if this never happened. Go back the way you came or go some other way. I don’t care. Leave now, or I’ll send every beast of the Underworld after you.” He looked at them with these last words: “Leave now, or you never will.”

Ruby felt the hate coming off of him. She wanted to take his advice. She wanted to turn and run back to Death Valley. She wanted to run and never stop.

“We’ll find her, Hades,” Ares said, his voice steady. “We’ll find her, and we’ll free her, one way or the other. You can choose to lose whatever love or kindness she may have for you.” He paused. “Or you can help us. Let us tell her that you wanted to make this right.”

“One hour,” was Hades’s only response. He reached to a stone table between the two thrones and flipped over an hourglass filled with red sand. The thin red line fell from the full end of the glass to the empty one.

Two creatures appeared by the door behind them. They had men’s bodies, but lion’s heads. They held long, iron-tipped spears and wore red and yellow tunics. They moved into the room toward Ruby and Ares.

Ruby screamed, but her shriek was interrupted by an evil chuckle. “Yes, you’d better leave, Ares, and soon,” Hades said. “I don’t think your girlfriend will like it here much longer.”

Ruby’s only focus now was on the lion men. Their golden manes shook slightly as they came toward them. Their six-inch canines were bared in dual snarls. The sound threatened to turn Ruby’s legs to water.

Ares pulled his sword from its scabbard. Ruby grabbed clumsily for her bow.

The lion men circled, but kept their distance. Their intention was not to attack, but to get Ares and Ruby moving. It worked.

Ruby and Ares turned, keeping the lion men in front of them, and backed down the stairs. Ruby looked to Hades one last time before he was out of sight. He sat in his throne and picked at the threads of his robes as if none of this was happening. The red line of sand in the hourglass streamed down next to him.

The lion men didn’t follow them down the stairs. When Ruby and Ares reached the next level Ruby began to run, half-blind with fear.

Ares grabbed her and held her back. “Don’t panic,” he said with that now familiar warrior look in his eyes. “It’s time to dig deep. It’s time to gather our courage and do what we came here to do.”

She pictured the lion men waiting at the top of the stairs above them. They could walk down here and kill her in an instant if Hades told them to. She began to shake.

A tear rolled down her cheek, not because she was afraid of death, or even of an eternity as an undead captive here. Her tears were for being weak and scared when Ares was strong and brave.

He cupped her face and wiped her tears. His energy soothed her.

“I’m not going to live without you.” He kissed her, as if to seal the deal, as if their love could make it true.

TWENTY THREE

“Here,” a voice whispered from a room near them. “I’m in here.”

Ruby’s and Ares’s eyes met. They were on the bottom floor of the palace, near the entrance. Ruby’s mind flashed to the horrible lion-men a few floors above them. Chimeras, Ares called them, immortal beings that were a combination of man and any manner of beasts.

Ares pulled Ruby behind him as he drew out his sword, but once in the room he lowered it and relaxed his shoulders. He looked back to Ruby and motioned her closer.

It was a dining room. The board was laid with silver bowls of fruit, platters of whole chickens, ducks, and roasts. There were bread boards with crusty loaves half-sliced and flagons of wine. Each of the twelve places was set for a multicourse meal.

Ruby’s stomach growled. Cerberus had scarfed down the hardtack, the only thing Ruby could eat, with the Ambrosia Bars and the coins for Charon. How many hours had it been since she had eaten?

A man sat alone near the head of the table. He was brawny with red hair and a red beard. He looked young and strong, but he sat motionless, as if he were stuck there. “I know where the queen is,” he whispered.

Ares approached him, then stopped. “Pirithous?”

“I know where he’s hidden her. You must find her. Bring her back to me.” A tear stood in the corner of his eye.

“Where is she?” Ares demanded.

“
Tartarus
.” It came out as a moan. “Beautiful Persephone, imprisoned with those monsters.” His jaw clenched. Ruby saw anger overtake his sadness. His eyes met Ares’s. “You have to help her,” he demanded.

Ruby stepped closer to the man and saw that he was lashed to the chair, not with ropes, but with snakes. Their scales were light brown with darker brown splotches running up their backs. They wound their way up and down his arms and legs. One of the snakes reared its head in her direction. She could see a horn on each side of its head, like a devil. The snake flicked its long tongue out at her. She recoiled.

“What happened to you?” she asked the man.

“Save her. Bring her back to me,” was his only response. Ruby turned to Ares.

“It’s Pirithous.” There was little emotion in his voice. “A king foolish enough to fall in love with Hades’s wife.”

“She’s my only joy in this place,” he said. “And now she’s gone.”

“How do you know she’s in Tartarus?” Ares asked.

“Hades told his guards to take her there. He said that Zeus commanded it. I think he forgets that I sit here, day and night. I may not be able to move my body, eat when I’m starving, or fight for the woman I love, but I can hear. Information is the only thing I can offer her.”

“Does she love you?” Ruby asked, unable to stop her curiosity.

His face changed. “She might. She could have. She can never tell me if she does.
He
is with us all the time. They come to eat their supper while I starve, and then they leave. She can’t look at me. He’s too jealous.”

“If you want to help her, come with us. Ares, cut him loose.” She looked down at the snakes and wondered if Ares could kill them without cutting Pirithous.