Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning #2)(42)

O Hades, who rules the dark and silent world,

to you al born of a woman must come.

Al lovely things at last return to you.

You are the debtor always paid.

A little while we tarry upon earth.

Then we are yours forever and ever,

but I seek one who came to you too soon.

This bud was plucked before the flower bloomed.

I tried to bear my loss, but oh, oh, I do love her so and the pain of her loss is kil ing me slowly.

Love is too strong, a too tempting god.

I beg you return to me what was mine.

Then weave again her sweet life's refrain,

which ended too quickly,

I ask this smal thing.

That you wil lend her back to me.

Yours again when her life's span is ful she shal be.

Because oh, oh, I do love her so

and the pain of her loss is kil ing me slowly.

Orpheus' words ended, but his fingers kept plucking a soft, sweet version of the melody of his song. Lina felt her heart ache and break. His music moved her like she had never before been moved. Her cheeks felt wet and she touched her face, wiping off the tears she hadn't realized she was shedding.

She looked at the silent God sitting beside her. His face, too, reflected the grief of the mortal's song. Hades began to speak, and then he stopped. His head turned slowly until his dark gaze met Lina's tear-fil ed eyes.

"The choice is yours. I gifted you with the next judgment, but even if I had not Eurydice has pledged herself to your service. Only you can release her; therefore, twice over you are granted the power to decide her fate. Choose wisely, Goddess of Spring." Hades said in a voice that mirrored the emotion in Orpheus' song.

Lina drew in a shaky breath, feeling for the first time the awesome responsibility that went with being Goddess. Eurydice's future rested on her decision. She turned in her chair so that she faced the girl.

Eurydice's slender body had gone very stil . The only movement that came from the girl was from the tears that washed wet trails down her colorless face and dripped steadily onto the gauzy fabric of her gown.

"How did you die?" Lina asked softly.

But Eurydice didn't answer her. Instead the tune Orpheus played changed to a darker melody, underscoring his words.

"Only one month after our wedding day we were taking a moonlit walk. She became separated from me, lost in a sudden fog. She chose the wrong path. Instead of leading her back to me, her loving husband, it led her to a nest of vipers where she met her untimely death." Although Orpheus didn't sing, his words stil sounded lyrical. Lina felt them create a spel of sadness around her. She wept anew over the tragedy of Eurydice's death. So that was the wrong choice the girl had made, and the loss of her young husband was the price she had paid for that choice -  a price that stil weighed heavily on her soul. So heavily, Lina noted, that Eurydice had been struck speechless with grief at Orpheus' appearance.

Lina reached out and grasped the little spirit's hand. Eurydice's hand was cold and Lina could feel the silent tremors that shook her body.

"I free you," Lina said through her tears. "You may return to your life with your husband. Now I understand your sadness, and I am so happy I can do this for you." Eurydice gasped in surprise. Her body trembled visibly and her mouth twisted in grief.

"Oh, honey! Don't worry about me. I'l be just fine. Iapis wil take good care of me, as wil Hades." Lina squeezed the girl's hand, glancing at Hades for support.

The dark God was watching Eurydice closely.

"Persephone has spoken. I bow to her decision. I have but one condition." Hades' gaze speared Orpheus. "Eurydice may return to the Land of the Living only if you do not look back at her; you must trust that she fol ows you. When you turn from this palace you may not gaze upon her again until she has departed my realm and stands firmly once more in the mortal world."

"I wil adhere to your wil . She wil fol ow me, of that I have no doubt." Orpheus bowed low to Hades and Lina. "Hereafter I wil sing praises to you extol ing your benevolence." His eyes captured Eurydice and his words turned to liquid music:

Fol ow me, fol ow me... Together forever we shal be... You belong to me, you belong to me...

Together forever we shal be...

Orpheus strummed magic from his lyre. With one last piercing look at his wife, he turned, and, singing his Siren's song, he walked from the Great Hal . Eurydice began to fol ow him as if he held her on an invisible tether. She stumbled down the stairs from the dais, righted herself and continued with jerky steps after her husband. She glanced once over her shoulder. Lina was shocked at the glazed expression in the girl's eyes. Eurydice looked as if she were in agony. Orpheus, his music and Eurydice drifted from the Palace of Hades.

Hades spoke into the sudden silence. "Petitions are closed for today." Iapis stuck the spear against the marble floor and the group of women bowed to Lina once more before they faded out of the entry way, leaving her alone with Hades and Iapis. None of them spoke.

Lina couldn't get out of her mind the expression on Eurydice's face as she fol owed her husband from the room. The girl had looked - Lina wrapped a strand of hair around and around her finger -

trapped. Eurydice had looked trapped. Now that Orpheus and his seductive music were gone, and Lina was replaying the scene' in her head, it felt wrong. Her intuition was screaming that something was very wrong.