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He shook his head. “It was created long before castles were given names. They say that the God of Death used a mixture of lava and rain to create it. He conjured the lava from the underbelly of the mountains—weaving it to his liking. When he was finished, he brought down the rain, quickly cooling it off, thus creating a volcanic glass—the obsidian stone ye now see today. They say the God of Death was the first to use obsidian in the makings of things.”
“No, no, Irvine, you have that last part wrong,” cackled a woman two rows behind me.
I turned to look at her.
Her gray hair, a rat’s nest of a mane, was piled on top of her head. She dusted off her dark-green skirt, like one fleck might tarnish her reputation—the action contradicting her appearance. Looks-wise, she reminded me a great deal of the Goddess of Fate and I couldn’t help but wonder if the two were related. “The Three Spinners were the first to use obsidian in their makings.”
“Oh?” said Irvine. “How do you know that?” he questioned, his forearms crossing over his chest. Inquisitively, he tipped hishead to the side, his gruff features doing very little to hide the skepticism written so plainly in the setting of his face.
She smirked, waggling her spindly fingers magically as if she were casting a spell. “Because I do.” She looked at me, offering a knowing wink. “Life works in peculiar ways, wouldn’t you agree, my dear?” she asked, while letting a gentle wave of her divinity wash over me, telling me what I already suspected—she was a goddess, and I was fairly certain I knew which one.
I nodded in reply, but I didn’t say a word, deciding it was best to tread carefully—I was technically in my enemy’s territory, after all.
A few moments later, the boat came to a soft stop. My heels clicked against the brick-paved road as I stepped off the boat, along with the other passengers. Alternating on either side of the road was a string of tall, black poles with hanging lanterns. Even though it was daytime, the lanterns were lit—a blue flame flickering inside. The roadway led to a grand entrance to the castle, mountainous in width and topped with a pointed arch. The gateway, reinforced by metal plates, was suspended in the air.
Part of me wanted to turn around and leave, but it wasn’t because I was afraid—it was because something about this felt. . . final. Like once I did this, once I made this deal with the God of Death, Aurelius would never forgive me.
But I was past that point, wasn’t I?
If losing Aurelius’s love was the price I had to pay for saving the lives of many, many, many innocents, then so be it.
“Goodbye, miss!” Irvine called out from the departing boat.
“Goodbye. Thank you for the . . . ride.”
“Anytime,” he said with a big, warm-hearted smile.
“Come along, my dear,” said the goddess with the messy gray hair as she toddled forward.
I sped up to catch her and then dropped my pace to match hers as we walked behind the rest of the group towards the entrance. Under my breath, I whispered for only her to hear, “You are the Goddess of Destiny, aren’t you?”
She chuckled. “What makes you think I am her?”
“Because you are,” I said confidently. “Also, you look a great deal like your sister, the Goddess of Fate.”
“I do,” she agreed with a single nod. “To the untrained eye, we are easily mistaken as one another, especially amongst the mortals.”
I could see that now.
I had met the Goddess of Fate before, but I had never met the third sister—even though there was once a time that I had searched for her, in hopes of understanding more about my ability to reincarnate.
“I devoted many years to looking for the Goddess of Free Will, but I never found her. She is impossible to find,” I said as we walked.
A caw of a cackle sputtered from her thin lips. “She has always been that way, disappearing and reappearing whenever she wishes to. Sometimes I go centuries without seeing her. She’s never taken her duties seriously, at least not like she should.”
“I suppose that makes sense for someone who is the champion of free will,” I answered, my eyes fixing on those walking ahead of me—there had to be close to forty people. “Do you know why all of these people are going to the castle?”
“For the same reason you are—they want to make a deal with the king.”
I didn’t bother to ask the Goddess of Destiny how she knew—of course the all-knowing goddess knew the reason why I was here. And if she knew that, I wondered. . .
“Am I doing the right thing?” I asked. My regally tilted face and perfectly postured shoulders did very little to hide the uncertainty that slipped through my voice.
She pursed her lips in thought for a moment. “What does your heart say?”
I glanced down at her. “That’s hardly an answer.”
She looked straight ahead. “Nor was it supposed to be. The answer lies solely within you.”
