The gods abandoned us. Life was not like we once knew. They grew envious of our reliance on technology rather than prayer. In their haste to depart and forsake this world, they left us a parting preset, one that would surely end the human race. Now at the bottom of the barrel, women were scraping to get by. A disease had come. It wiped out majority of fertility in females, placing those who could bear children back to being the low man on the totem pole. Only seen as broodmares, we were reserved solely for the right to breed. Sold to more than one man, we were to become endowed to a house. Inside, we were subject to the demands of our men’s desires to keep the population rising. Once I hit puberty, I tested to be a prime specimen for their ruthless requirements. All of this because those with power wanted to prove how much control they still had. I spent several years in the academy, learning to be a docile female for their use. For no more worth than the uterus in my body, I had come of age to be marketed off to a house. The daft idea might not fare on my behalf, but it also offered a freedom from being treated like a porcelain doll in the school I was forced to attend. Filled with dread, I was about to find out what it was that made porcelain so fragile.

Things would never be the same after the beginning of our secrets unraveled. Like they say about lies spinning a web, we were all caught in the center of the same snare. Leading to certain people that would destroy us, it was time to put our differences aside in order to save ourselves. But what about the side of me that I didn’t know? My family had their own abundance of secrets they never shared with me. It left me feeling like the prey in a game I never knew I had been playing. With the cursed gods at my side, I just hoped they would help me figure out my history. I had to hope they believed me when it came to me lacking the knowledge of my parent’s past.

Secrets set me apart from the others, ones I didn’t know about myself. While some looked at me in wonder, their questioning stares made me feel deceitful. The more we uncovered about my past and family, the less we truly knew. When one of our greatest enemies detered our path from figuring it all out, I put my own quest on pause for those I love most. But this new journey only revealed more that hurt my heart. The cost of knowing my secrets grew steeper and steeper, and I was paying the toll demanded.

Hunted. The word lingered in my thoughts, causing a rift to expand between me and my plans to break the curses placed on my men. Being with child helped complicate what I was able to do at the wrong time. There was no time to be sidelined with Hades sending his demons after me. With our own missions to complete, it felt like time wasn’t on our side. Too much kept happening, setting us back from finding the Curse Canceler. Fear swept through me every time a new challenge faced us because I wasn’t sure how we could defeat it. My confidence was fleeting, but I knew it had to be done even while I was down. Trying to stay focused, I tried my hardest to not fall apart for the others not to worry. Sometimes, that’s all one could do.

What’s the worst that could happen aside from being extremely pregnant while trying to save the world? I must’ve left out that more betrayal unmasked along our path. Our number of allies felt like enough until someone pulled the rug out from under us all. Even with the odds against us, I knew we’d all be willing to fight. The bloodshed wasn’t what worried me. It was what we learned along the way.