Chapter 151: He won't Hurt Her

Chapter 151: He won't Hurt Her
Third POV

Ragel woke in his chambers five days after the banquet.

His body felt like something had been removed and then pieced back together, but the seams were still visible.

The poison had left marks that weren't visible to the eye; but he could feel them in how his muscles moved, in the slight tremor that wouldn't leave his hands, in the way his mind still felt foggy around the edges.

He still wondered what kind of poison was used on him because as the King beast, he is immune to poisons.

Yes, they can affect for some hours and make him weak but it will never make him feel as weak as he was currently.

Theron was waiting in the chair beside his bed.

He wasn't in his punished form anymore. He looked like himself again; very tall, almost seven feet and eleven inches.

His silver-haired, white eyes were back. But something in his expression suggested he was still angry about the punishment Siofra had given him.

In Ragel’s mind, the god Theron reminds him of a playful child who has been admonished by her or his parents but they decided to hold a grudge against them.

Ragel instantly remembered the people that fought for him and his heart beat picked up.

"My people and the palace?" Ragel asked, his voice hoarse from lack of use.

"Damaged but standing," Theron said, choosing his words carefully watching the beast king wondering why he didn't listen to him. "We lost seventy soldiers. And thirty of your nobles. You should be proud, your soldiers held the line against the underworld beasts although the cost was high."

Ragel closed his eyes. Hundred lives are all gone because of his foolish pride and an ex-wife he should never have accepted back.

"Alvira and Zehran?" he asked.

Theron tried to be serious because of the young boy before him but his playful nature slipped through.

"They escaped like scrambling crabs in the chaos," Theron said with a smile, finding his little jokes of a crab amusing but seeing that Ragel didn't laugh, he decided to be serious. "They took some horses and rode east. They're gone, but they'll be back. People like that always come back."

"Not if we're not here when they return," Ragel snarled, angry at everything and himself, he could tell he was losing control or more like his beast losing control and no longer patient with him.

He could feel it, the loss of his bondmate was pulling at his beast and only little remained before he became no different from Hades beast.

He tried to sit up and managed it but barely. His body still felt like it wasn't entirely strong enough to move but his stubborn determination didn't stop him from giving up.

Theron watched him with the interest of someone who had witnessed thousands of people struggle against things beyond their control but still aren't willing to ask for help or give up.

"We need to talk about the abyss realm," Theron said, knowing that would interest him more, so he doesn't start wiggling to cause more damage to his lungs that were deeply affected by Hades’ blood. "There's something I didn't fully explain when I was explaining everything else."

"What?" Ragel asked, though something in his heart already knew he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Time," Theron replies baldly. "It flows differently there. A week in Salvatore is roughly a month in the abyss realm or lesser, the others never allowed me in so I can't be sure enough about the specifics. However, what I know is, the further you travel into Hades' domain, the more pronounced the effect becomes."

Ragel felt something cold settled in his blood. "What does that mean for my mate?"

"It means," Theron answers cautiously, once again, choosing his words, "that before you reach her, she might have already given birth. Or she might be very close to it. Or she might still be waiting depending on how far along she is. The timeline is impossible to predict because you're traveling through a space that doesn't follow normal rules."

Darius suddenly walked in, the man felt horrible. He wished he had not declined the offer of his dear friend to attend the banquet but he couldn't bring himself to attend especially after the insult Alvira gave to his wife.

Not only did he not attend, but also his twin brother. If a soldier had not alerted them and Theron had not intervened, he would have lost his dear friend.

Anger filled him afresh but he held back to focus at the present. Ragel looked up, a little surprised, he hadn't heard him enter, which meant he had been standing there listening.

"Why?" Darius asked. His voice was steady but something in his face suggested he was thinking about Seraffim being in that realm and how better he could protect her by knowing more about the realm. "Why does time move differently there?"

Theron stood and walked to the window, looking out at the damaged palace grounds. Servants were already working to repair the worst of the damage, but it would take weeks.

"Because Hades runs the abyss realm the way he chooses," Theron said. His voice went very cold. "When the nine gods created that realm as his prison, we set specific laws. Laws designed to keep him contained, to make sure he could never break free. But Hades is clever. He's spent three thousand years bending those laws, twisting them, making the realm respond to his will instead of to ours not ever being inside the realm. My sister, Siofra and the others are very protective of me and see me as a child who hasn't grown."

He turned back to face them bringing himself to the current topic.

"It's rebellion," he said. " He can't break the seal, but he can make everything else in his realm obey him. Time, space, gravity, the very laws of physics that govern your world. He's switched it all to please him and make himself feel more like a god."

Ragel closed his eyes. The thought of Lyra in that place, alone, her body changing without him there, and possibly giving birth without anyone who loved her present—it was something his mind couldn't fully accept.

"He won't hurt her," Theron said, reading the panic on Ragel's face as clearly as if he'd spoken it aloud. "That's the one thing you can be absolutely certain of. Hades needs her alive and unharmed. She's too valuable to him. She's his freedom. As for the child, she's what will make her obey. If he hurts her, it will break her and he will lose the chance to win her heart which is the passage of his freedom although I don't believe he knows that yet."

"Are you sure?" Ragel asked. His usual deep authoritative voice sounded like it belonged to someone else because of his fear.

"Yes, I am," Theron said. "As long as Lyra is safe. A blood moon born child is too rare, and too powerful even for Hades himself so he won't risk hurting her or the child."

Ragel held onto that. It was the only thing that made sense right then.