Page 3 of Oak & Ember

She rose to her feet, clasping her hands in front of her, and sank into a curtsy before inspecting the deity before her.

Her lips puckered into a scowl.

It had been an age since she’d last seen him. An age since she’d been to Elysium, really. But she remembered their last encounter with irritation and loathing.

Sol, the sun god.

His warm brown eyes were as alluring as ever, tainted by the smug smirk of his lips. His blond hair had grown since she’d last seen him, now falling to his shoulders. And his face, once clean shaven, was now covered in neatly trimmed facial hair that, Pandora begrudgingly admitted, suited his face quite nicely.

In fact, everything about him was attractive. Had he always looked like this? Surely not. The last Pandora had seen him, he’d been tall and scrawny, cold and distant. Nothing impressive.

Or perhaps she’d been too young to appreciate his lean, muscular form.

He had the body of a soldier—broad shoulders and firm biceps that she could easily see beneath the royal blue tunic of his apprentice uniform. Gods above, she hated to admit it, but he was gorgeous.

This didn’t change the fact that Sol, the sun god, was an absolute ass. Every time Pandora had visited, he’d made her life a living hell, constantly reminding her she was no better than the dust at his feet.

She lifted her chin. She’d been prepared to grovel at the feet of a prestigious god. Apollo, if she’d been lucky. Instead, the almighty god of sun and time had sent his lackey. As if Pandora wasn’t worthy of being greeted by the king himself.

“Actually, I go by the name Trivia now,” Pandora said with a sniff. She wasn’t sure why she said it; she was fully intending to adopt her Hecate persona. But ever since Prue had referred to her as Trivia, the identity had seemed more fitting. It felt a bit more true to who Pandora actually was. Her whole life had been a spiral of deception. It made her yearn for something real.

Prue. Her sister.

Anger and sorrow warred within Pandora at the thought of her lost sister. She didn’t care what became of her. If she had been destroyed along with the Underworld, it didn’t matter.

At least, that was what Pandora told herself.

Sol’s eyebrows lifted, his smirk widening. His eyes dragged over her body from head to toe, and she was torn between fidgeting under his scrutiny and punching him in the face. “Is that so? I didn’t realize you were grand enough for two names.”

“Most gods have two names, you imbecile,” Pandora said lightly.

“Very true,” he quipped, his eyes gleaming. “It has been a while, hasn’t it, Hecate? Or should I say, Trivia? I must say, you look simply radiant. From the scrawny girl I saw before, I never would have thought you would blossom into something so… beautiful.” He murmured the word, low and deep, as if that was meant to send her swooning.

Pandora snorted. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“It’s supposed to be whatever you want it to be,” he said with a wink.

She rolled her eyes. “So, what, am I not to be greeted by the great god himself?”

“He sent me to fetch you.”

Pandora bristled at that. Fetch. Like she was some item to be retrieved.

“You’ll be given a room and the finest food you could ask for,” Sol said. “His Majesty will see you in the morning.”

Pandora scoffed. “In the morning?” Her voice rang in the resplendent walls around her.

Only when Sol’s eyebrows lifted further did she realize how loud her outburst had been. Her mouth clamped shut, her teeth grinding together. Damn this god. He evoked her wrath, and now her entire plan of portraying herself as a humble deity was unraveled.

She sighed and said more quietly, “What could he possibly be busy with that would keep him from greeting a guest?”

Sol’s expression sobered. “He’s rather busy. In case it escaped your notice, Pandora’s box has been opened.”

For some reason, the sound of her true name sent prickles of awareness along Pandora’s flesh. So few ever used her true name that it jolted her every time. She had to forcibly remind herself that he wasn’t referring to her—only the box that had housed her magic.

Screams reverberated in her mind once more as the memory resurfaced again. The magic, tearing her soul apart, ripping her into pieces, consumed by agony and fire…

“Trivia?” Sol asked.

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