A Thousand Thrones

Twenty

***DON'T YOU DARE READ THIS BEFORE YOU READ CHAPTER NINETEEN!!!1  I'VE DOUBLE UPLOADED!***

Twenty

I didn't go find Damon. 

First, I just needed to make sense of everything in my head, so I went to the one place that I knew would help.  My garden. 

As I walked down the hallway toward the double doors leading out into the courtyard, I was going through every one of my memories since they were now clear as day in my mind.  I was married the the most handsome man and had a beautiful daughter with him.  I could just forget about everything else and be happy with that if I had to.

"She's beautiful," I said, still staring at the picture.  "She looks like you, too."

Damon smiled slightly, turning it back toward him so he could look at her.  "More like her mother, I think," he said, and looked back up at me.  "You're probably wondering about her, aren't you?"

I nodded, not saying a word.

"We lost her a few years after Zoe was born."

Why I assumed that she was dead, I had no idea.  And why I couldn't see my and Zoe's resemblance, I didn't know that either.  The day that I met her, she almost let the word 'mother' slip out a few times.  Apparently I didn't catch onto that either.  

I didn't know how I found myself in the garden then, walking among the flowers and trees.  It looked almost exactly the way I'd left it, so someone must have been keeping up with it.  I let my fingers drift lightly over the petals as I walked down the pathway.  I looked up at the familiar glass dome that covered the area and the slight orangish glow given off by the fire.  We were in the Underworld after all.

"So you remember now."

It was the sweet voice that I remembered, the one that would calm me when I was upset or angry, the one that would laugh for hours on end as he played with our daughter as she grew up...the one that whispered sweet nothings in my ear as he made love to me.  It made goosebumps appear on my arms and a shiver go through my body.  I couldn't turn around, though...because I wouldn't know what I would do to him when I saw him, saw that love for me shining through his eyes the exact same way he'd looked at me for the few weeks that he'd been back in my life. 

"Yes."  My voice was barely even over a whisper. 

I heard him sigh then and sit down on the stone bench that I'd passed.  "Do you have any questions?" 

I shook my head, still not turning around.  "No, everything makes sense now."

"Are you mad that I lied to you?  About us?  About Zoe even?"  He voice was starting to sound like he was panicking slightly. 

I shook my head again.  "You don't have to explain anything."

He took a shaky breath and I caved.  I turned around just slightly so I could look at him.  Only he wasn't looking at me.  He had his elbows leaned on his knees and his face in his hands. 

"Whats's wrong?"

It took him a moment, but then he lifted his face from his hands and his fiery blue eyes met mine.  "When are you going back?" he asked.  I could tell he was trying to sound indifferent, but I could still hear the pain.

"What are you talking about?"

"You've obviously made your decision.  You're not staying with me.  So when are you going back?  I can have Charon take you.  Better yet, Ari and Hector will be here in a few hours.  Maybe they can.  I'm sure you want..."