Dungeon of Torment

27. The White Priest

"Where are you going today?" Zeus asked, picking Mariam up as if she weighed nothing. Mariam squeaked in surprise. He was carrying like she was a little kid, balancing her on his hip. Mariam clung onto his shoulders, wary of being dropped.

"I have a work shift at the petrol pump. It doesn't pay much and I won't be long." Her lips turned down glumly. Zeus looked up at her face, gazing at her with fascinated interest.

"Don't go. You don't need to. I have money to take care of you." He offered, his tone sweet. Io felt uncomfortable, spectating this intimate exchange.

"Your mothers money." Capricorn cut in, not looking up from the steamy novel she was reading. Zeus scowled.

"I don't want to use your mum's money, that's not fair."

"Well then I'll get a job." Zeus declared, his expression resolute. "So don't leave, baby." He cooed.

Pan pulled a face behind his friends back. The Titan prince seemed disgustingly smitten with the girl. Mariam argued and wheedled, and they all watched in surprise as she won.

"Thank you, Zeus. Laters everyone." She chirped, waving goodbye before setting out the door.

"You didn't use your powers." Capricorn commented, her book now face down on the table.

Zeus shrugged his burly shoulders.

"I don't want to manipulate her." He replied. "I want her to trust me."

Io and Pan exchanged a look of surprise. Zeus had fallen for girls before, they'd seen it happen numerous times. Pan had taken to calling the girls Zeus' pets. But they'd never seen Zeus enthralled by a girl before.

Zeus pulled on his jacket.

"Where are you going?" Pan questioned.

"I want to catch up with her. I'll walk her to work." Zeus replied, running a hand through his hair to smooth it.

"But your lesson-" Io's words faded as the door swung shut behind Zeus. He hadn't heard her. "This is different isn't it?" Io spoke to the room in general.

"It's madness." Pan suggested in response, flouncing down on the sofa only to be immediately attacked by a very grumpy cat.

Capricorn pursed lips, her expression thoughtful. Rhea would be interested to learn about this...

               At the end of her shift, Mariam looked warily up and down the street. No sign of Prathum. She fiddled with the memory stick in her pocket. Shoulders set with determination, Mariam turned left – heading towards the underpass. She couldn't help repeatedly glancing over her shoulder, fancying that Waki would appear from the shadows. Her nerves were stretched taunt.

She had Wave's cap pulled down low, obscuring her face, as she approached the meeting place of Titan worshipers. The worshipers met in a club house in the middle of Haruka park. The houses encircling the park had been badly damaged in the raids and left unrepaired, the bricks and tiles looted. But the park was flowering, evidently immaculately cared for. Turning around a hedge, she came upon a man knelt in front of a rose bush.

He turned at the sound of her approach and his lips parted in surprise. He was a young man, with a delicate, pinched face, pink cheeks and large pale green eyes. Mariam's mind conjured the image of woodland pixies and elves.