The Gatekeeper's Secret: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Five (The Gatekeeper's Saga) by Eva Pohler Page A
Authors: Eva Pohler
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too?
“Come inside, Thanatos,” she said.
He found her seated at her table with her head in her hands. She might be powerful, but just now she appeared totally incapacitated. How could such a supreme being look such a mess? When she lifted her face to meet his eyes, it was red and pinched-looking, her eyes swollen and flooded with tears.
He sat across from her. “Do you weep like this all winter?”
She sighed. “It’s my affliction, but it’s also my friend. I can’t let the sadness go after all these years.”
He’d never felt sorrier for her, had never seen her in such despair. Why did she come to this lonely cabin in the woods when she could be with him and the rest of their family all autumn and winter?
“You should come and live with us in the Underworld. It’s not such a bad place.”
“What brings you way out here, Thanatos?”
So she would change the subject. He cocked his head to one side. “Have you heard that Therese and I are to be married on the summer solstice?”
“No. Congratulations.” She gave him the hint of a smile. “I’m glad I’ll be on Mount Olympus to see it.”
“It won’t be at Mount Olympus,” Than said. “It will be in Colorado, at Therese’s childhood home.”
He went on to explain Zeus’s announcement, but he did not reveal Athena’s plan or his suspicions of Zeus’s counter-attack. Instead he said, “There’s been a prophecy that someone close to Therese will die on our wedding day. We want you to come and sit with her little sister and protect her from harm.”
“If the girl is fated to die, there’s nothing I can do…”
“We don’t know the identity of the person referred to in the prophecy,” Than said. “And we don’t know which choices we make affect future outcomes. Your hand in this may be the reason only one is mentioned in the prophecy and not more.”
Demeter eyed him up and down. “You make a good argument. I suppose I can do my best to protect the child.”
Than stood up and smiled, full of relief. He was glad to have something positive to tell Therese for once. Demeter’s protection would bring his bride great comfort. “Thank you,” he said.
***
Later that night, Therese pretended to get ready for bed—though neither she nor Than would be sleeping. He was down in the basement on the sleeper-sofa, which Carol had made up with fresh linens. Therese and Than planned to leave once everyone else was asleep. Than would relieve Hip, so Hip could return to his duties, and Therese would take Hades’s chariot—parked a little way up the mountain behind her house—to answer as many prayers as she could during the seven or eight hours before morning.
As she waited for Carol to come in and wish her a good night, she snuggled with Clifford on her old bed, just like they used to do. A rush of nostalgia came over her as she recalled those days when she was still a little girl, and her parents weren’t birds and could hold her in their arms, and there was nothing at all to worry about. Although it was winter and cold outside, she had opened her window so her parents could sit on the sill and talk to her. She and Clifford were immune to the cold, and though Therese spoke with her parents nearly every day through prayer, it was nice to see them and to speak with them out loud. When they spoke, they made the most beautiful bird sounds, but Therese could understand them just as she could the speech of all animals. She hadn’t told them about the prophecy, or Athena’s plan, or the counter-attack they were expecting from Zeus, because she didn’t want to worry them. Consequently, when they spoke to her, they were full of excitement.
“There’s a big white plastic container in the attic,” her mother said. “It has my wedding gown in it. You don’t have to wear it if you don’t like it, but I just wanted you to know it was there, in case you would like to wear it,” her mother chirped.
Therese climbed from the bed and crossed
“Come inside, Thanatos,” she said.
He found her seated at her table with her head in her hands. She might be powerful, but just now she appeared totally incapacitated. How could such a supreme being look such a mess? When she lifted her face to meet his eyes, it was red and pinched-looking, her eyes swollen and flooded with tears.
He sat across from her. “Do you weep like this all winter?”
She sighed. “It’s my affliction, but it’s also my friend. I can’t let the sadness go after all these years.”
He’d never felt sorrier for her, had never seen her in such despair. Why did she come to this lonely cabin in the woods when she could be with him and the rest of their family all autumn and winter?
“You should come and live with us in the Underworld. It’s not such a bad place.”
“What brings you way out here, Thanatos?”
So she would change the subject. He cocked his head to one side. “Have you heard that Therese and I are to be married on the summer solstice?”
“No. Congratulations.” She gave him the hint of a smile. “I’m glad I’ll be on Mount Olympus to see it.”
“It won’t be at Mount Olympus,” Than said. “It will be in Colorado, at Therese’s childhood home.”
He went on to explain Zeus’s announcement, but he did not reveal Athena’s plan or his suspicions of Zeus’s counter-attack. Instead he said, “There’s been a prophecy that someone close to Therese will die on our wedding day. We want you to come and sit with her little sister and protect her from harm.”
“If the girl is fated to die, there’s nothing I can do…”
“We don’t know the identity of the person referred to in the prophecy,” Than said. “And we don’t know which choices we make affect future outcomes. Your hand in this may be the reason only one is mentioned in the prophecy and not more.”
Demeter eyed him up and down. “You make a good argument. I suppose I can do my best to protect the child.”
Than stood up and smiled, full of relief. He was glad to have something positive to tell Therese for once. Demeter’s protection would bring his bride great comfort. “Thank you,” he said.
***
Later that night, Therese pretended to get ready for bed—though neither she nor Than would be sleeping. He was down in the basement on the sleeper-sofa, which Carol had made up with fresh linens. Therese and Than planned to leave once everyone else was asleep. Than would relieve Hip, so Hip could return to his duties, and Therese would take Hades’s chariot—parked a little way up the mountain behind her house—to answer as many prayers as she could during the seven or eight hours before morning.
As she waited for Carol to come in and wish her a good night, she snuggled with Clifford on her old bed, just like they used to do. A rush of nostalgia came over her as she recalled those days when she was still a little girl, and her parents weren’t birds and could hold her in their arms, and there was nothing at all to worry about. Although it was winter and cold outside, she had opened her window so her parents could sit on the sill and talk to her. She and Clifford were immune to the cold, and though Therese spoke with her parents nearly every day through prayer, it was nice to see them and to speak with them out loud. When they spoke, they made the most beautiful bird sounds, but Therese could understand them just as she could the speech of all animals. She hadn’t told them about the prophecy, or Athena’s plan, or the counter-attack they were expecting from Zeus, because she didn’t want to worry them. Consequently, when they spoke to her, they were full of excitement.
“There’s a big white plastic container in the attic,” her mother said. “It has my wedding gown in it. You don’t have to wear it if you don’t like it, but I just wanted you to know it was there, in case you would like to wear it,” her mother chirped.
Therese climbed from the bed and crossed
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