Page 63 of Prometheus' Priestess

“Be that as it may, priestess, Prometheus still disobeyed me.”

“But—”

“Silence. You have said your piece. Interrupt me again and I will have you serve your time withHades.”

Amara snapped her lips shut.

“But, for your bravery in defending a man we both once called friend, I will ask my wife to spare your life,” Zeus continued before turning to Hera. “Her fate is otherwise yours, myQueen.”

Amara’s gaze flew to Hera’s, whose smile turned cruel in an upward sneer. She paused for a few minutes, letting the weight of silence engulf them all, dread filling Amara’sbones.

“My husband may have spared your life but you still broke myrule.”

“No,” Amara whispered to herself, her eyes widened in horror as she realised what Hera meant. When she had first met Prometheus and he had asked what would become of her should she be caught, Athena had said she would not be done for meddling, for the rule only applied to gods. Except she’d just condemned Athena and her sisters, and now they sat stoically watching on as Hera unleashed her anger on the only person in the room she was allowed towhip.

“You will be exiled from Olympus and consumed by your mortal flesh,” the Queencontinued.

“NO!” Prometheusshouted.

“Hold your tongue,” Hera hissed, her face contorting into a vile, pinched expression that belied her true nature. When he went to bite back a rebuttal, she interruptedhim.

“Gorgons, if you can’t restrain him, take him away,” Hera said coldly. “As for the humans, they too shall pass into extinction. We will have new toys created in their place.” A pointed glance at Zeus in affection. “Artemis and Aphrodite, you both, with Athena, shall pay the patronages for these new toys, given your meddling. The others here present bear witness tothis.”

With that, Hera clapped her hands and the sentencing passed.

Pulling against the chains, Prometheus rose to his feet, tugging against the full force of the three Gorgons, and carried himself towards Amara and cupped her face in his roughly calloused hands.

“She may bind you to mortal flesh but she cannot eradicate your soul. Your essence is immortal. Do you hear me, Amara?”

Her eyes pooled with tears as she nodded and placed her hands gently either side of his cheeks, desperately trying to take him in, to remember every inch ofhim.

“You will find another mortal body andI will find you.In every lifetime, my love. It may not be in this one, or even in the next century, but I will find you. You must stay strong. You must fight, even when the days seem bleak and the nightmares come.” He wiped away tears that dashed down her cheeks. Understanding dawned as his foresight rose once more to the fore.

“Have hope, my love. I will survive this. You will be the reason that I do, but promise me you willfight.”

Amara nodded, unable to say anything, Prometheus’ face blurry behind her tears. She desperately wanted to see him, to memorise every crease and crack in his skin. Instead, her hands followed the contours of his face, as if reading him in Braille before touching a desperate salted kiss to his lips.

Two of the Gorgons stepped forward, taking either arm of Prometheus as he was led from the auditorium. Denied even the chance to watch him walk away, Amara clenched her fists, her shoulders hitched. She flinched as she heard the crack of a whip through the air meet flesh and Prometheus let out a painful groan as the Gorgons cackled. Their laughter died in the wind.

“Come,” Hermes said to Amara, having appeared at her side. “I will take you back toEarth.”

CHAPTER XXXIII

It had been a year since Amara had been banished back to Earth, to serve the remainder of her existence, when she found herself in the exhibition section of the library where she had met Prometheus. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Her immortality bound to human life had taken on a new quality now she knew that there really was a death at the end of her sentence, even if it came with rebirth in a new body. An everlasting hell on Earth.

Prometheus’ words reverberated in her ears.There would be other lifetimes.At the time, her faith in him, in his words, had been unwavering. But Chronos had a funny way of making time fade all things. Even a year in human terms seemed both too short to change anything and yet held the potential to changeeverything.

Now, when grief consumed her and Dionysus tried to tempt her with wine, she would go to reach for the bottle and stop herself. It took conscious effort to pull back, close her eyes, and think of her love, of their time together, of being reunited once more. After a year of this, she had finally woken with a decision.

Smoothing her hands over her emerald-green dress that fell to her knees in playful pleats, Amara continued to walk around the exhibition, perusing the ancient lost treasures it housed, restored to their former glory. She stopped at a podium in the middle of the room. Inside the protective glass container was the most beautiful box. It must have originally been ornamented with jewels, but those had fallen away over the years and cracks and dents had aged the box. And yet, someone had taken the care to lace every indent with gold until it looked as if the box had always meant to be that way.

Amara bent down to read the label. ‘A take on Pandora’s box’ it read. Of course, Pandora’s box had been real. Amara had seen it when she was back in Olympus. It had been given to the first woman. She, in turn, had been presented to Prometheus’ brother as a bride and − in her desperate curiosity − had released the first evils on the Earth. The only thing, according to legend, that hadn’t escaped was hope.

Amara snorted.The history books had got something right atleast.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” A petite Asian woman, whose lanyard around her neck indicated she worked here, gestured to the case inside the glass pillar.

“Yes,” Amara repliedtruthfully.

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