Crown of Thorns

Chapter Twenty-Three

The bottom of Aphrodisia, Day 98 A.F

"Tybira?" As soon as I was certain our captors had truly left, I scooted towards Tybira. I took hold of her hands, ignoring the dried blood that clung to her fingers. "Tell me what's wrong. What did they do to you?"

My friend stared blankly ahead. Her hazel eyes were unblinking and hollow. She didn't so much as flinch. It was as if she couldn't even hear me.

"No, no, no..." I whispered, cupping her cheek with one hand, still clinging to her fingers with the other. Not again... "Please, please... just say something. Don't shut yourself down."

I couldn't lose her like I'd lost Lalita. Tybira had been the person to hold me together after my sister had died. It was because of Tybira I hadn't died in Amire's laboratory with Lita. I couldn't let The Lovers Most Perverse take her. Especially after what I did to Enki.

Exactly, Lady Lotus urged, you already handed The Magician's Icon to The Lovers. Take Fauna's before they can!

"Tybira... look at me." I guided her chin forward so that her seemingly unseeing eyes were directed at my face. "Please. I know they hurt you. I know... but we can still get out of here. But we can't get out without you. I'm not going to leave you here."

My speech went unheeded. Tybira remained motionless.

Fear laced my veins, gripping my heart like a fist. I'd been utterly useless when it came to helping Lalita, and it had taken her nine winters to say a word. I'd never forgiven myself for failing to save her. How could I bring Tybira back to me? Sighing as hopelessness washed over me, black as the shadows that surrounded us, I dropped Tybira's hand, scooting behind her.

Her slender shoulders we hunched, and with a pang, I noticed her prominent spine. How long had it been since she'd received a good meal? My figure had thinned dramatically from a steady diet of berries, but at least I'd been eating well at Amire's mansion. I wondered if he'd given Tybira any morsels of food.

Tenderly, I ran my fingers through her tangled hair, carefully picking apart the numerous snarls. I hummed softly, as if a sweet melody might cut through the darkness. Her dark locks had become greasy with an accumulation of sweat and grime. Separating the strands into easy to manage segments, I dragged my fingers through them, slowly managing to remove the knots.

"Roman beliefs are similar to Greek, aren't they?" I asked, although I wasn't expecting an answer. "My sister loved the Greek belief system." Enki's story had me wondering if that love was due to me being evidently chosen by two Greek goddesses. "When I was little, she used to tell me all these incredible tales."

Although Tybira made no reaction, I'd learned from Lalita that she heard me, and was at least partially listening.

"One of my favorite stories was about Nyx. She was the Goddess of Night, born from Chaos. She lived in the darkest part of Tartarus, with her two favorite sons, Hypnos and Thanatos. Nyx had lots of children. Some of the better known were Moros, god of doom, Oizys, god of pain and distress, Eris, god of strife, Nemesis, goddess of revenge, and of course Hypnos, god of sleep, and Thanatos, god of death. But then came a last son, one that surprised all the Greek immortals—Philotes, god of friendship."

As I spoke, I began twisting strands of Tybira's hair together into a simple braid. "Somehow, Friendship was born from Night. Nyx also had several children with Erebus, god of darkness, because you can't have night without darkness. With Erebus, Nyx gave birth to Aether and Hemera, god of brightness and goddess of day."

I looked around, blinking through the inky darkness of the cell. "I can't tell if it's the time of Hemera or her mother. All I can see is Erebus, but Erebus wasn't bad. After all, you need darkness to appreciate brightness. Nyx wasn't that terrible either. You need night to appreciate day."