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Dad scoffs as he stifles his laughter. “Pandora,” he chides as the name lazily rolls off his tongue.
Narrowing my eyes, I shoot him a challenging look. Which so happens to be the very same glare that he swears makes me the spitting image of my mother. One of the rare times he’d even refer to her.
According to him, my mom and him were like oil and fire. Great when you need a bit of light during a dark night but horrendous when it gets out of hand.
Something which happened too frequently according to him.
Dad sighs loudly. I watch as his resistance gives way to a softer look. “Pandy.” He corrects. “Now what was it you came down here for?”
Rocking from my front heel to my back, my mind begins to spin. Thinking of everything I should’ve done first before involving Dad.
I wish I had time to sneak those traps from the deeper part of the forest and move them closer. This has been my game for some time. The closest bits of the forest have been over hunted.
Well, according to everyone but Dad. No matter what, we were to exclusively hunt there. Even though we rarely if ever have a catch. “Are you up to checking the traps with me?”
Worry crawls across his face as he knits his brows. “I'm not so sure about the forest today, my little amethyst.”
Internally, I groan. My cursed eyes are forever a sore spot, hinting of the Veil.
The mark of the River Lethe. Located deep in Hades’s Court of Erebus. A memory of my past. A reminder of my death. “Dad, you speak like my eyes are a blessing. You’ve seen how other villagers act when they see my eyes.”
I'm fully convinced that I could be the best person there is, but it does not matter. Everyone always gets caught up in my eyes.
I’m the dandelion that they would like to weed and dispose of.
“No, no. Few have a soul so blessed that they’ve the honor of passing through the River Lethe. Your eyes are a mark of pride, and you should wear them as such. People who see your eyes not for the heroism of your previous life, but the death that came after it shows their short-sighted nature.” Taking a breath, he continues, “Pandy, with that said, as brave and true as your soul may be, today isn’t a good day for anyone to encroach on the Veil.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I glare at him. “Fine. If you don’t want to go with me, I'll go alone.” Storming off toward the door of Dad’s study, a hand snatches my wrist.
How does he manage to move that fast? One moment he was sitting at his desk and now he’s across the room.
Turning slightly, I watch his frantic eyes as they silently plead with me to heed his warning. Standing tall, I don’t back down. Just because the entire town is terrified to go into the woods today, doesn’t mean that I should have any fear.
After all, the God of the Sun would never want someone with my eyes. Especially with all the maidens in the towns surrounding us.
“Pandora, I have a bad feeling about the woods today. Perhaps we should wait for the solstice to pass. Come here and look out the window with me,” he chides. Pulling me alongside him, Dad doesn’t give me a minute to think. Instead, I’m drug along beside him. Crossing the room, Dad tugs me along with him, and points through the paned glass. “What do you see?”
Staring into the woods, I try to see what he is seeing. When nothing was readily obvious, I joked, “You mean, other than the forest?”
Dry humor has always been my coping mechanism. When I'm stressed or scared, it’s what I turn to.
The lack of laughter from Dad is alarming. Normally, the man is so jovial. Now, everything feels gloomy. “Look at the woodland creatures.”
Scanning the edges, I can’t even see bees buzzing around the bulbous hive that we all avoid. Everything felt silent. Nothing scampering around. As though even the nimblest of creatures dared not risk being seen.
But what was he seeing that I’m missing?
“I don’t see anything.” Squinting my eyes, I huff in frustration.
“Exactly,” he says darkly as he watches the woods. “The Veil is open. I can feel the gods in the woods. So can the animals.”
That’s impossible.
Us mortals can’t feel magic.
“But Dad, if we do that, we can kiss whatever we’ve snared goodbye.” Frantically scanning the room, I searched for the others. I drop my voice down low when I spot no one. “You know as well as I that we do not have the luxury of being able to wait.”
It was a low blow but is painfully accurate.
