RoyalTides

TOG: 

I. Pg. 8 “On his black doublet, an emblazoned gold rendering a wyvern occupied the entirety of the chest. His red cloak fell gracefully around him and his throne”. 

the Adarlan colors being red and the symbol being a Wyvern. This may be coincidence since in the beginning SJM was planning a Celeana/Dorian end game but I think SJM chose to make the Crochan capes red to parallel the first time we see Dorian in TOG . Manon then bonding with Abraxos who is a wyvern is the icing on the cake.

Dissenting Opinion: The red cape was just a coincidence and red feels like the obvious color for witches given it is the color of blood. And the King of Adarlan/Erawan chose to breed wyverns because it was the symbol of house Havilliard.

QoS:

I. I know that the Valg eyes are why Manon was able to scare the Valg prince away in Dorian and pull him out of the possession. What interests me is:

Pg. 420, Roland was only able to regain control for a second after speaking to Manon before the demon took back over. I’m not going to quote this cause it’s the whole scene but go reread if you want. Dorian is able to beat the demon down and essentially say screw off while talking to Manon. Is it possible Dorian was able to regain control for a longer period of time because of a bond with Manon?

Pg. 463 “step away, get away. The demon prince inside him yanked so hard he took a step. But not away. Toward the white-haired witch”. Are we sure it’s the demon that was yanking him?? Especially since he was yanked towards her instead of away from her even though the demon wanted him away???

her name continued to ring in his head even after the demon took back over:

Pg. 469 “the words soon faded, swallowed up by screaming and blood and the demon’s cold fingers running over his mind. But those eyes lingered- and that name. Manon. Manon”

Pg. 518 “he could not remember a time when the demon had not been there inside of him. And yet- Manon.”

Is this a classic SJM easter egg similar to how we thought the bargain between Rhys and Feyre was the reason for the pull between them? Could she be trying to mislead the reader?

Dissenting Opinion: Manon's valg eyes and his want to be killed is why he remembers her name. He regained control longer because Dorian is stronger willed than Rolland.

II. Pg. 463, Dorian seeing Manon for the first time: “He’d never seen anyone so beautiful”. 

Sarah uses the “most beautiful person ever seen” repeatedly for her mated couples when they first meet. This could be writing style but it seems like a pattern in how she writes her mates meeting. I read ACOTAR and CC before TOG and when I read this line I was like yep they are mates seen this before.

Pg. 188 ACOTAR “standing before me was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen” - Feyre when seeing Rhysand for the first time 

Pg. 536 ACOMAF “you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I thought it from the first moment I saw you on Calanmai” Rhys about seeing Feyre the first time

In ACOWAR Lucien about Elain “she was the most beautiful female he had ever seen”.

Pg. 346 HOSAB “Ruhn found himself staring at the most beautiful female he’d ever seen” Ruhn seeing Lidia the first time.

Dissenting Opinion: Manon is canonically one of the most beautiful females in the world, especially because she is a witch designed to attract men.

III. pg. 492 “She stepped closer to the prince’s horse. ‘Dorian’… Sapphire eyes snapped to hers”..he remembered his name when she said it without looking into her Valg eyes. interesting.

IV. pg. 511 “Manon couldn’t tell why that thread kept yanking, why it felt so urgent, but she pushed them hard, all the way to Rifthold”. A thread is pulling her urgently towards Rifthold to save Dorian. Using the terms thread and Manon not knowing why it feels so important is so incredibly mate for shadowing.

Pg. 184 ACOTAR “go, a voice said, tugging at me. Go see.”

Pg. 412 ACOTAR “I was pulled from sleep by something tugging at my middle, a thread deep inside”. A THREAD.

Dissenting Opinion: Sarah does multiple times in TOG reference a tug pulling her main heroines to do things so this could just be the gods/fates pulling the thread.

V. pg. 640 “Dorian didn’t know what awoke him”. Some force awakens Dorian, he then goes out to his balcony and sees Manon outside.

Similar to Feyre being pulled to Rhys, Pg. 412 ACOTAR “I was pulled from sleep by something tugging at my middle, a thread deep inside"

Pg. 640 Manon says “she didn’t know why she’d bothered to go; why she’d been curious”. Manon Blackbeak, maneating witch, for no apparent reason, decides to go check up on a human man. Need I see more?

And again, her name echoes in his head (pg. 641) “through the darkness of his memories, through the pain and despair and terror he tried to forget, a name echoed in his head”. 

EOS:

I. Manon saving Dorian from the yellow legs (duh). She says her “instincts took over her” when she saw someone “taking her kill” ... then proceeds to rescue said kill. 

Pg. 44: “I have no doubt the Yellowlegs will try to claim his head. Stop any one of them who dares take it.”

Pg. 84: “And when Manon had spied that Yellowlegs sentinel perched inside the tower, readying to claim this kill for herself... a century of training and instinct had barreled into Manon. All it had taken was one swipe of Wind-Cleaver as Abraxos flew by, and Iskra's sentinel was dead.” WHAT INSTINCT? THE INSTINCT TO CLAIM YOUR KILL? Cause you actually rescued him afterwards not killed him sweetheart.

Clearly it wasn’t to claim the kill for herself. So what was it? Instinct? Helping the witches? She didn’t know of Dorian’s magic at this time, so how would saving Dorian help the witches? Seems like the instinct was from something else.

Pg. 85: “Some ancient, predatory part of her awoke at the half smile. It sat up, cocking its ears toward him”. Ancient and predatory? Mates.

II. The one million times Dorian protects her even though she starts off on Erawan’s side and he has no reason to be so protective:

Pg. 87: “Manon crashed to her knees. The king was instantly at her side, studying her for a heartbeat before he roared down the stairs, “NO!”” 

Pg. 369: ““No.” The word ripped from Dorian’s lips before he could think. But then it came out, over and over, as the wyvern and rider sailed closer to the ship. The witch was unconscious, her body leaning to the side because she was not awake, because that was blue blood all over her. Don’t shoot; don’t shoot— Dorian was roaring the order as he hurtled for where Fenrys had drawn his longbow, a black-tipped arrow aimed at the witch’s exposed neck. His words were swallowed by the shouting of the sailors and their captain. Dorian’s magic swelled as he unsheathed Damaris— “. This lowkey makes me chuckle like what is he gonna do with Damaris against a bunch of fae warriors lol.

Pg. 395: “Dorian didn’t feel like mentioning that he’d been the one who’d jumped into the water. He’d just … acted, as Manon had acted when she’d saved him in his tower. He owed her nothing less”.

Pg. 438: “Ice danced at Dorian’s fingertips as he slid beside Manon, still chained by the bed” when the bloodhound shows up on the ship.

Pg. 574: "That hunger shifted into something icy and vicious: 'You once asked me where I stand on the line between killing to protect and killing for pleasure'. His fingers grazed the seam of the scar across her abdomen. 'I'll stand on the other side of the line when I find your grandmother". Earlier in EOS Manon asks him why he didn’t make the bloodhound suffer, that there is a line even when it comes to their enemies. Apparently not when someone harms Manon.

III. Dorian’s magic reacting every time she is in danger or threatened:

Pg. 369: “His magic felt it before he did. A sense of awareness, of warning and awakening” when she comes in injured on Abraxos.

Pg. 369: “His words were swallowed by the shouting of the sailors and their captain. Dorian’s magic swelled as he unsheathed Damaris—“

Pg. 396: “Manon’s voice was flat and cold as death. “Tell Aelin Galathynius not to bother using me for negotiations. The Blackbeak Matron will not acknowledge me, either as heir or witch, and all you will get out of it is revealing your precise location.” His magic flickered. “What happened after Rifthold?”

Pg. 438: “Ice danced at Dorian’s fingertips as he slid beside Manon, still chained by the bed” when the bloodhound shows up on the ship.

Pg. 441: “Manon froze entirely. And didn’t particularly care as the Bloodhound lunged for her throat, teeth bared. It was not flame or wind that snapped the Bloodhound’s neck. But invisible hands. The crunch echoed through the room, and Manon whirled on Dorian Havilliard. His sapphire eyes were utterly merciless.”.

Pg. 457 ““If you were me,” Aelin murmured in a tone that had Dorian’s magic rising, ice cooling his fingertips. Aedion’s hand slid to his sword. “If you were me.” His magic flickering when Aelin RAISES HER VOICE at Manon (like come on this is mates shit).

Pg. 498-499: “ "As far as I recall,” Dorian went on with a sly grin, “you two—” The attack happened so fast that Aelin didn’t sense or see it until it was over. One moment, Manon was seated at the edge of the fire, the marshes a dark sprawl behind her. The next, scales and flashing white teeth were snapping for her, erupting from the brush on the bank. And then—stillness and silence as the enormous marsh beast froze in place. Halted by invisible hands—strong ones.” The fact that Dorian was mid sentence, not paying attention, and doesn’t even move a finger to protect her.

Even Aelin comments on it, Pg. 499: “But Dorian’s magic held the beast still, frozen with no ice to be seen. The same power as the one he’d wielded against the Bloodhound. Aelin surveyed him for any tether, any gleaming thread of power, and found none. He hadn’t even lifted a hand to direct it. Interesting.” IT IS INTERESTING AELIN. I also find it interesting that Aelin says the same power he wielded against the bloodhound, which was also to protect Manon.

Dorian about his magic sensing Rowan and Aelin’s bond, pg. 131, “His magic had felt the bond between Aelin and Rowan—the bond that went deeper than blood, than their magic, and he’d assumed it was just that they were mates, and hadn’t announced it to anyone.” Obviously later we find out it was because Aelin and Rowan were mates. So his magic canonically can sense a mating bond.

Also Rowan on Pg. 357 “I wanted to chuck you off a cliff, yet I bit you before I knew what I was doing. I think my body knew, my magic knew." His magic knew when he tasted her they were mates. Similar to how Dorian's magic has been acting? Like it knows something he doesn't?

VI. Pg. 575 “Manon thought the king tasted like the sea, like a winter morning, something so foreign and yet familiar it at last dragged that moan from deep in her.” The so foreign yet so familiar is so mate coded. Especially bc...

in HOF the Wastes are described as having winter mountains and near the western sea

Pg. 71: “To take our host to reclaim the Wastes from the mortal pigs who now dwell there." A fierce, wild thrill pierced Manon's chest, sharp as a knife. Following the Matron's gaze, Manon looked to the horizon, where the mountains were still blanketed with winter.”

Pg. 68: “Manon herself had never set foot in the former Witch Kingdom, had never seen the ruins or the flat, green expanse that stretched to the western sea.”

So it makes sense that the Wastes would smell of winter morning and the sea

VII. Pg. 577 “ Wondered what he’d say if she told him she’d wanted to sink her teeth into his neck and find out what he tasted like”.

Rowan on Pg. 357 “I wanted to chuck you off a cliff, yet I bit you before I knew what I was doing. I think my body knew, my magic knew. And you tasted …” Rowan loosed a jagged breath. “So good…” 

Manon in HOF Pg. 33: “The common, watery taste of the man, laced with violence and fear, coated her tongue, and she spat onto the wooden floorboards.”

Manon in QoS Pg. 463 “I’ve been with plenty of men. You’re all the same. Taste the same”. 

Manon has not shown to be particularly interested or intrigued by the blood of men aside from just to hunt and feed until Dorian. We also have Rowan describing how good Aelin tasted when he bit her and how he thinks "his magic knew". Is her attraction to Dorian’s blood because of this similar mating bond logic?

Dissenting Opinion: She just wants to taste Dorian's blood because she's attracted to him and so his blood is more enticing to her. She does say that the blood of the men at the Ferrian Gap distracts her in HOF, so obviously she sometimes does crave man blood.

KOA:

I. Again, we see Dorian’s magic reacting to her in a way instinctually

Cyrene attacks, pg. 78 “As Manon whirled, Dorian’s magic surged, already lashing at the unforeseen foe”

Pg. 130: “Despite who walked ahead of them, behind them, Manon smiled slightly. He surprised her further by saying,"I've been tunneling into my power since they appeared. One wrong move from them, and I'll blast them into nothing." This is so touch her and you die vibes I love it.

Pg. 227: “ “I care.” His temper rose to meet hers. And he decided to hell with it—decided to let go of that leash he’d put on himself. Let go of that restraint. “I care about more than I should. I even care about you.” 

Same scene: Pg. 228: “Dorian smiled slightly, and fell asleep once more, letting his magic warm them both. When they awoke, something sharp in his chest had dulled—just a fraction…Where that edge had dulled in his chest, his magic now flowed freer. As if it, too, had been freed from those inner restraints he’d loosened slightly last night. What he’d opened up, revealed to her. A sort of freedom, that letting go."

This is right after he says he’s been trying with Vesta for days to get his eyes to change color and it hasn’t worked but one time with Manon and she warms his heart enough to let his magic go free.

Pg. 286 “Who do you wish to be? “Someone worthy of my friends,” he said into the quiet night. “A king worthy of his kingdom.” For a heartbeat, snow-white hair and golden eyes flashed into his mind. “Happy,” he whispered, and wrapped a hand around Damaris’s hilt. Let go of that lingering scrap of terror. The ancient sword warmed in his hand, a friendly and swift heat. It flowed up through his fingers, his wrist. To that place within him where all those truths had dwelled, where it became warmth edged with sharpest pain. And then the world grew… He made to touch his face, but found he had no hands. Only soot-black wings. Only an ebony beak that allowed no words past it. A raven.” In this scene Dorian thinks of Manon, which makes him think of happiness and very similar to the scene where she made his magic flow before, his magic begins to flow through him and he shifts, for the second time due to Manon warming his heart, into not just a bird, but a black beaked bird. I repeat, BLACKBEAK bird. This one I honestly think is crazy and such strong evidence of mateism , especially bc it happened TWICE in this book.

Manon fighting the Matrons, pg. 474 “Dorian’s magic writhed, seeking a way out, to stop this.”

When Maeve glamours as Manon to seduce Erawan, Pg. 639: “icy rage, pure and undiluted tore through Dorian as Manon stood before the Valg king.. Dorian focused upon his breathing, on the stones beneath him, anything to keep his magic from erupting at the desire on Erawan’s face” (also important bc when she glamoured as Aelin his magic didn’t do this!!!)

II. Pg. 225 ““Which do you like the best?”… “I like the ice best,” Dorian admitted at last, realizing he’d let the silence drip on. “It was the first element that came out of me—I don’t know why.” I know why!!

HOF pg. 230 “If Manon was ice and Asterin was fire, then Sorrel was rock.”

QOS pg. 68 “Asterin had always been that way—and that wildness was exactly why Manon had chosen her as her Second a century ago. The flame to Sorrel’s stone … and to Manon’s ice.”

III. Dorian refers to Manon as his equal, pg. 536 “she would be his wife, his queen. She was already his equal, his match, his mirror in so many ways”.

SJM is very consistent about mates being equals and being mirrors of each.

Quote from Tampon in ACOTAR: “High Fae mostly marry,' he said, his golden skin flushing a bit. 'But if they’re blessed, they’ll find their mate—their equal, their match in every way.” This is almost verbatim what Dorian said about Manon.

Feyre to the Suriel: “How can I possibly be his mate?' Mates were equals- matched, at least in some ways. '

Rowan about discovering Aelin is his mate pg. 678 EOS "His equal. His friend. His lover. His Wife. His mate."

IV. Also in this scene Dorian talks about wanting to “claim her” as his wife/queen... Pg. 538 “the temptation that his every instinct roared to claim. Not the body, but what she had offered…” This could just be SJM writing style (fair argument), but nevertheless "his every instinct to claim" is VERY matey especially with the instinct part and because "the claiming" is a thing. Some examples:

HOF Pg. 158: “the bite so strong and claiming that she was too stunned to move”

EOS Pg. 352: “You are mine,” Rowan breathed, and she felt the claiming in her bones, her soul.

EOS Pg. 422: “A claiming, mighty and true, that she understood he so desperately needed.”

Dissenting Opinion: This is just SJM's writing style. Just because the word claim is used doesn't mean they are mates.

V. Manon screaming his name when he almost dies pg. 133 "Manon bellowed his name, and Crochan arrows fired... Manon screamed his name again, but he couldn't move... Then there were iron-tipped hands gripping his shoulders, and gold eyes glaring into his own".

This reminds me of in HOF when Manon shoots Rowan with an arrow and Aelin screams his name

Pg. 477 QoS... "Aelin's scream echoed down the Ravine" when Rowan is shot.

Pg. 655 EOS Aelin admits to Maeve she knew Rowan was her mate, "The moment the arrow when through his shoulder. Months ago"

This is also parallelled by Dorian screaming for Manon when she is in danger in EOS:

Pg. 87: “Manon crashed to her knees. The king was instantly at her side, studying her for a heartbeat before he roared down the stairs, “NO!”” 

Pg. 369: ““No.” The word ripped from Dorian’s lips before he could think. But then it came out, over and over, as the wyvern and rider sailed closer to the ship. The witch was unconscious, her body leaning to the side because she was not awake, because that was blue blood all over her. Don’t shoot; don’t shoot— Dorian was roaring the order as he hurtled for where Fenrys had drawn his longbow, a black-tipped arrow aimed at the witch’s exposed neck."

Dissenting Opinion: Aelin tells Rowan she saved Manon because Asterin screamed her name the same way she screamed Rowan. So technically by this logic Asterin and Manon could be platonic mates. And maybe Manon just screams Dorian's name because she cares about him not anything to do with being mates. (Counter Argument- but then why did Dorian scream her name in EOS so aggressively when he didn’t even know her then??)

Debunking arguments against them being mates:

I. Mates are only fae.

Manon is part fae, so she could have a mate.

E.g. Bryce is half fae half human also and mated with Hunt (who confirmed in HOFAS is the product of two angels and not fae); Lorcan is a demi fae and can have a mate (believed to be Elide who is human but unconfirmed); Aelin is demi fae prior to forging the lock and is mated with Rowan.

I also cannot find anywhere there is a rule that you must have XYZ amount of fae blood to have a fae-like mate, just have to have some fae blood. But we don't really know what percentage of Manon is fae vs Valg. Given she is half Ironteeth and half Crochan, she likely falls around that 50% fae line which is just as much fae blood as Lorcan, Bryce, Aelin, etc.

II. The Crochans believe in Mates

It’s not confirmed whether the Crochans do or don't have the traditional fae mating bonds, however we learned in CC2 basically anyone can have a true mating bond as long as one person has fae blood, E.g. Bryce and Hunt.

pg. 139 EOS the Crochans "... had adopted the Fae habit of selecting mates- if not a true mating bond, then in spirit".

pg. 139, EOS Manon's grandmother says about her father "But he did not love her- not with your mother as his true mate, the song of his soul". This sounds to me like her parents were believed to be a true fae mating bond not just "in spirit".

Pg. 316 HOSAB "Angels have mates. Not as.. soul-magicky as Fae, but we call life partners mates in lieu of husbands or wives". Sounds like the Angels have a mating bond "in spirit" similar to the Crochans. Except that Hunt then truly "fae mated" Bryce, and he doesn't have any fae blood.

When then find out Hunt and Bryce are "true mates"; Pg.492 HOSAB "It means that he's going ballistic in the way that only mates can when the other is threatened. It's what happened then and happened now. You're true mates- the way Fae are mates, in your bodies and souls".

III. Fae can have non fae mates.

We see this with Rhys/Feyre, Cassian/Nesta where they felt a pull prior to Feyre and Nesta being fae but it clicked into place when they were made.

We also see Bryce/Hunt in CC that are different species and have a traditional fae mating bond.

There is also Elide/Lorcan and Gavin/Elena in TOG that are “mates” (unconfirmed since the humans never became fae). Fae queens Mab and Mora also give up immortality for their human "mates".

So it is canon that you can have inter species mates or human mates, it just may never "click" into place if they are human.

via Hunt and Bryce, we do know the bond can completely click (souls and scents merging, etc.) between "magical" species once it is accepted, but we do not have this evidence with fae and human bonds.

I also don’t believe Dorian is entirely human. But that is completely my speculation

Pg. 933 KOA " 'I am human.' It warmed in his hand... 'I am human," he repeated, to the stars now visible above the city. The sword didn't answer again. As if it knew he no longer needed it." Yes he is human but he can be other things too. Similar to Aelin's quote about being a human in a fae body below. They identify and choose their human moral side, but that does not mean there are parts of them that are not human.

Aelin KOA Pg. 723: "I am human, deep down, Faerie Queen nonsense aside. I had human parents, and their parents were human, mostly, and even with Mab's line running true... I'm a human who can turn into Fae. A human who wears a Fae body".

On par with the theme of "Be grateful for your human heart" (Rhys, ACOTAR)

Also curious as to whether he does or does not have valg blood from his father. Because he could also have fae blood (distantly) from Elena/Brannon/Mala (Valg + Fae= Witch?)

IV. The mating bond would have clicked when they fucked… I think we all know this ain’t true anymore (cough cough Nesta and Cassian). You can have sex but if you do not accept the bond it will not click.

Rowan also says on pg 396 HOF "Sometimes, mates can be together intimately before the actual bond snaps into place"

V. Wyrd/Urd/the Mother/Fate (aka Sarah) gets to decide whose mates and who isn't

The only thing Sarah has been clear about is that she can basically make anyone mates that she wants as long as one person has fae blood. And even then, there is very much a "fate like force" aka Wyrd/Urd/The Mother that is working to pull the strings of fate and make people mates.

This is why we see so many interspecies fae bonds throughout the series. There is the fae bond like Ruhn and Lidia, but then there are the fae bonds that the Mother is orchestrating in the background.

Hellas speaks to Lorcan and Hellas's consort, the goddess Annieth, speaks to Elide. Lorcan and Elide are never confirmed mates as Elide remains human and yet there are still signs she is his mate even as a human.

Rhys's mind has able to find Feyre's when she was still human years before they met. Yes he has demati abilities but finding Feyre's mind is because they were fated to be mates.

Adias says about Hunt and Bryce mating bond HOFAS, Pg. 551 "I think that was left to higher powers. Whatever they might be".

There is no special "formula" for a mating bond. It happens when fate demands. Therefore it logically makes sense why the Mother/Wyrd/Urd would manipulate fate to ensure that Dorian and Manon were mates because they needed Manon to get into the witch mirror and raise the witch forces. They needed Manon to unite with Brannon's heir to defeat Erawan and destroy the keys, whether that be Aelin or Dorian. A mating bond would ensure that.

Also Wyrd/Urd means fate/personal destiny in nors mythology —> https://www.mimisbrunnr.info/ksd-web-of-wyrd and https://norse-mythology.org/concepts/destiny-wyrd-urd/ (read these if you want to theorize about acotar)

In conclusion, I think they could be mates but it won't fully snap into place (they won't fully merge souls, scents, etc.) unless Dorian is somehow Made. The only evidence of interspecies true confirmed fae mating bonds is Bryce and Hunt, and while they were able to fully "click" without Hunt being fae, it is very unclear why this is other than "high powers". We do know though that human Elide was very likely Lorcan's true mate, but we were never told of any clicking between them on that fae physiological level. So it is safe to assume that for a mating bond between a human and fae it will not "click" into place unless that human is turned fae.

HOWEVER, I do think it is possible because of Dorian's raw magic, he could be a rare exception to this rule similar to Hunt. So maybe it just has not clicked because Manon and Dorian have not accepted it. Which would also make sense given the nature of their relationship through most of the series, them denying their feelings to each due to their emotional unavailability.

Dissenting Opinion: But we also don't know how the angels were created by the Asteri, so maybe Hunt is "made" and not actually an exception.

Anyway, there's my evidence. There was some more evidence that I had and then removed because even though I think it is proof of a deeper connection I didn't think it was mate related (e.g. Abraxos taking Manon to Dorian when she says take me somewhere safe, I came to the conclusion that that showed Abraxos's awareness in protecting Manon).

Here are the links to some other tumblr posts on them being mates. I did look at these when putting this together so full credit to those individuals :)

(Original: The Last Olympian, p. 120-126)

“All right, traitor. You’ve got your prize. Take me to the stupid palace.”

Traitor.

Percy might as well have punched me for as much as the word stung. My chest constricted; I tried to squash my anger back down. It wasn’t the time or place, yet I couldn’t help but feel a little bitter. Why couldn’t he understand that I really was trying to help him? It’s not like I’d wanted to trick him, but I knew him better than he thought– he wouldn’t have agreed to come see my father willingly, and I don’t think I could fault him for that. Hades wasn’t exactly a warm and fuzzy deity to be in the presence of, and it certainly didn’t help that the two of them had a bit of bad history.

This is a small detour, that’s all. I tried to convince myself that everything would be fine. Father had promised information in return for seeing Percy. (As for why he wanted to see him though, I didn’t know for sure. I could only hope that he held out on his promise). Once that was done we could go to the River Styx. I could prove my usefulness, that I really did want to help him, and then…

I risked a glance in Percy’s direction. The son of Poseidon dangled in Alecto’s grip, his mouth pulled in a tight line. His sea green eyes were dark with anger, reminding me of a storm brewing far out over the ocean.

I looked away. Getting sucker punched might have hurt less, actually. 

I tried to focus instead on not slipping from the Fury’s clutches as we soared toward the palace gardens. The Furies might have been in the service of my father, but that meant very little to me at the moment. With my luck I’d end up a demigod smear in my step-mother’s garden and poor Bob– the amnesiac Titan formerly known as Iapetus that now served as a janitor within the palace– would be tasked with scrapping me off the ground while my father watched from a window somewhere.

Poor Nico di Angelo, he’d probably say. Alas, I hardly knew him. Oh well, time to go enjoy the symphony of tortured souls! I decided not to think about that too much, either.

Finally we descended into the center of the gardens. I watched as Alecto dropped Percy like a sack of potatoes. He didn’t land gracefully. I wanted to call out and ask if he was alright, but I somehow doubted he would appreciate my concern, so I kept my mouth shut. The third Fury– Megaera, I think her name was– set me down at Percy’s side and joined her sisters on the back of my father’s throne, which was currently unoccupied, though I knew it wouldn’t stay that way for long.

I tried to ignore the scathing look Percy shot me and watched as the air began to shimmer around the thrones. Hades and Persephone appeared with an older woman standing between them. I grumbled. Demeter. I wasn’t entirely sure why she was still here since all she did was complain about the lack of sunlight, argue with my father, and try to feed me Wheaties (for some reason), but I was getting real tired of the constant bickering. Even now the three of them seemed to be in the middle of an argument.

Hades noticed our presence first. “We have visitors!” he barked. “Please!”

I wanted to look at Percy again, just to see his expression. I wanted to assure him that my father only wished to speak with him, but now that we stood here, I was no longer sure of my father’s true motives. Suppressing the rising uncertainty in my gut, I knelt.

“Father,” I said. “I have done as you asked.”

Above me on his skeletal throne, the Lord of the Underworld grumbled. “Took you long enough. Your sister would’ve done a better job.”

His words hit me like an oncoming wave and left behind a tight, wrenching feeling in my chest, like a tiny skeleton was stomping across my heart wearing iron clogs with spikes on the soles. First Percy called me a traitor and now this.

Whatever, I thought. He’s probably right. Bianca would have been able to bring Percy a lot quicker than I had. She probably could’ve asked him to come willingly and he would’ve agreed in a heartbeat. After all, she’d appeared to him last fall in the labyrinth but not me, even after I’d spent days trying to summon her. But I didn’t care. (I really didn’t). I hung my head and hoped that my face didn’t betray my thoughts.

Next to me, Percy spoke. “What do you want, Hades?” he demanded. I admired his ability to be so blunt with the literal god of the dead. Had I tried to talk back to my father like that I would’ve ended up a black Me-shaped smudge on the wall somewhere.

“To talk, of course,” my father said. “Didn’t Nico tell you?”

I raised my head and caught a glimpse of the cruel smile twisting the edges of his mouth. I suddenly felt cold all over, like I’d belly-flopped right into the Cocytus. I didn’t trust that look. That was Hades’ I’m-About-to-Disintegrate-This-Hero look. I was so engrossed in figuring out what my father could possibly be up to that I missed the next exchange between him and Percy. I sat up straighter and tried to meet Hades’ eyes.

“Father,” I said. “You promised that Percy would not be harmed. You said if I brought him, you would tell me about my past– about my mother.”

I probably shouldn’t have mentioned my mother. Too late, I realized my mistake. Another back-and-forth argument started up between Persephone and Demeter, the same as usual.

“This scoundrel Hades is no good. You could’ve married the god of doctors or the god of lawyers,” Demeter was saying.

Persephone sighed. “Mother–”

“But noooo.”

My head bounced back and forth between the two goddesses, like I was watching some sort of tennis match. A tennis match that would no doubt end in the entire garden, me, and Percy all going up in a huge mushroom cloud of smoke if it was allowed to continue any longer. Fortunately, before we could be blasted off the map, Percy spoke up once again.

“Excuse me,” he said. “But if you’re going to kill me, could you just get on with it?”

My mouth twitched, but I forced the smile away. It wouldn’t look good if I was caught laughing at the gods’ expense. I tried to force my face into a neutral expression while the three gods bickered over whether or not they should melt Percy on the spot.

“Husband, we talked about this,” Persephone chided. “You can’t go around incinerating every hero. Besides, he’s brave. I like that.”

Hades rolled his eyes. “You liked that Orpheus fellow too. Look how well that turned out. Let me kill him, just a little bit.”

For once, I agreed with Persephone: Percy was brave. Brave, and dangerous to his enemies. And if he didn’t make it out of the palace today to bathe in the River Styx… well, I wasn’t sure the world stood much of a chance against the Titans.

“Father, you promised!” I broke in before Persephone could start waxing poetic about the hero Orpheus and his abs, or whatever it was she’d liked about that guy. “You said you only wanted to talk to him. You said if I brought him, you’d explain.”

You promised. For a second, I found myself back in the woods of Camp Half-Blood, two years before, when Percy told me that Bianca was dead. That she wasn’t coming back. I’d said the same thing to him then, and here I stood again, holding out on a promise that threatened to break apart at any moment. I decided that clinging to a promise could be just as dangerous as harboring a grudge.

Hades glowered, training his dark eyes on me as he smoothed the folds of his robes. I would never admit it to anyone, but his eyes unnerved me. They were the same eyes I saw whenever I looked in the mirror (which wasn’t that often). I’d heard people describe his eyes as that of a madman before and it made me wonder: is that what people thought when they looked at me?

“And so I shall,” Hades said, shaking me out of my thoughts. “Your mother– what can I tell you? She was a wonderful woman.” He shot Persephone an apologetic look before he continued. “Forgive me, my dear. I mean for a mortal, of course. Her name was Maria di Angelo. She was from Venice, but her father was a diplomat in Washington, D.C. That’s where I met her. When you and your sister were young, it was a bad time to be children of Hades. World War II was brewing. A few of my, ah, other children were leading the losing side. I thought it best to put you two out of harm’s way.”

I let this information wash over me. World War II… It didn’t matter how many times I heard it said. Every time I was reminded that I wasn’t from this century it was as if the wind had been knocked out of me. Just one more reason to feel like I didn’t belong, I thought bitterly. As if I needed any more reasons. I was afraid to hear any more, but I couldn’t back out now. Not after I’d made Percy so mad just to get here.

“That’s why you hid us in the Lotus Casino?” I ventured. I tried to picture my mother’s face, yet nothing came to mind but a foggy image– the same one I had seen in Melinoe’s cave a few months ago when the goddess had taken on the guise to trick me and Thalia Grace. I shook my head, frowning. All I had was a vague image. How could I not remember my own mother?

My father only shrugged. “You didn’t age. You didn’t realize time was passing. I waited for the right time to bring you out.”

Okay… I thought. This was hardly new information. I needed more, but I could tell he was holding back. “But what happened to our mother? Why don’t I remember her?”

“Not important,” Hades snapped.

I blinked. Not important? “What?” I demanded. “Of course it’s important. And you had other children– why were we the only ones who were sent away? And who got us out?”

My father grit his teeth, and for one horrible moment I thought he would zap me with that black fire of his. “You would do well to listen more and talk less, boy. As for the lawyer…”

He snapped his fingers. Behind him, still perched along the back of his skeletal throne, Alecto began to morph shape right before my eyes. I stared, watching in horror as she took the form of the lawyer who had taken me and Bianca out of the Lotus Casino– a middle-aged man in a pinstripe suit with a briefcase.

“You!” I said. My head swam. I sort of felt like I might pass out, but the last thing I needed now was to embarrass myself further in front of three gods and Percy. So Alecto had been the lawyer all along. My father had placed us in the Lotus Casino and left us there for roughly seventy years, only to remove us now… It didn’t make sense. There was something here, something that I wasn’t seeing. I tried to control the trembling in my legs and spoke again. “But why did you free us from the casino?”

“You know why,” Hades said. (I wanted to yell. No, I didn't!) “This idiot son of Poseidon cannot be allowed to be the child of the prophecy.”

There it was. Styx! Why hadn’t I seen it sooner? Of course my father wouldn’t want one of Poseidon or Zeus’ kids being the chosen one. If I hadn't been so distracted with wanting to protect Percy, or with my own stupid past, I might’ve seen it sooner. I could’ve kicked myself. Unfortunately, I didn’t think I was flexible enough to manage it.

Feeling numb, I stared at the ground. I was vaguely aware of Percy next to me, arguing with my father. He threw something– a ruby from one of my step-mother’s plants– at Hades. I wanted to stop him before he got blasted into a fine cloud of Percy Dust, but at the same time I wanted him to keep yelling at my father and put him in his place. I could almost imagine that he was mad at Hades for my sake, rather than for the sake of the whole world.

I pulled myself from my thoughts yet again just as my father cast me a distasteful look.

“–And my son here, Nico,” he was saying. “Well, he’s not much now, I’ll grant you. It would’ve been better if Bianca had lived. But give him four more years of training. We can hold out that long, surely. Nico will turn sixteen, as the prophecy says, and then he will make the decision that will save the world. And I will be king of the gods.” Another sucker punch to the gut. I clenched my fists at my side.

“You’re crazy,” Percy said, and I had to keep myself from nodding in agreement. My father was insane to think he could hold out for four more years. Kronos wouldn’t spare him. Despite being relegated to the Underworld and all but shunned by the other gods, he was still an Olympian. I didn’t think the Titan army would let him off easy, and I was certain that the Underworld wouldn’t be able to hold them off for that long, no matter how many dead guys we threw at them.

I tried not to think about what it would mean to be the child in the prophecy. Having the weight of such a decision on my shoulders… I didn’t think I would be able to stand it. How could Percy bear it, knowing that the fate of the whole world potentially rested with him?

Percy must have voiced my same thoughts– that Kronos wouldn’t hold back just because Hades wasn’t sided with Olympus– because my father spread his hands before him.

“Well, you’ll get a chance to find out, half-blood. Because you’ll be waiting out this war in my dungeons.”

At that, I staggered forward. “No!” I said, my heart racing. “Father, that wasn’t our agreement. And you haven’t told me everything!”

“I’ve told you all you need to know,” Hades responded. “As for our agreement, I spoke with Jackson. I did not harm him. You got your information. If you had wanted a better deal, you should’ve made me swear on the Styx. Now, go to your room!”

No! I wanted to yell. I wanted to say more, I wanted to throw something at him. I wanted to march right up to him and knee him right in the godly groin. He’d tricked me into bringing Percy here, and now Percy hated me. He’d promised me information and gave me next to nothing.  My fingers curled into a fist, but it was already too late. The air around me shimmered, and I was gone, banished to the other end of the palace like some misbehaving dog.