15. Confession

Madeline knew that sometimes silence was more effective than words. She continued feeding the ducks until her damp plastic bag was emptied of peas and let the air turn heavier and heavier. Athan cleared his throat. 

“It’s … a long story.”

“Start at the beginning,” Madeline suggested. 

“The beginning … when I encountered the Moirai, the Fates as you call them, I was only a toddler. A late son, a god born in a century when religion had turned into myth. I grew slowly and was left to my own devices, but the strings of fate – they are quite pretty. And yours was the most fascinating of them all. I just wanted to play with it for a bit, but I underestimated how delicate a mortal’s life can be.

 “For damaging your thread, I was tasked with ensuring that you reached the end of your string, the life the Moirai had originally intended before I interfered. Whenever your thread was thinned or frayed, misfortune would seek your life and I would do my best to prevent it. At first, I thought this was a punishment, but the more time I spent here on this plane, growing up, the more time I spent with you … I realised it was the best thing that could have happened to me. 

“Your world might appear simple, but there is so much to it, so much to explore and experience. Mortals are not mere shades but living beings, their paths allowing them so many different ways to continue on. The souls I had come into contact with previously were already done, incapable of experiencing anything new. 

“I realise now that the reason your thread, that piece of your soul, drew me when I was barely old enough to think is because you draw me, still. You shine, Madeline. Nothing brings you down or stops you, you’re simply so full of life, of joy, of love. I want to bask in it. 

“I saved you from the sea and the fire, from gravity and beasts. There is nothing that could take you from me, except this truth. I am indeed the reason you have lived so perilously, always just the final tear away from death.”

Madeline allowed his words to settle between them for a moment, feeling their weight like a warm blanket draped over her lap. 

“Childhood foolishness.”

“What?”

“That is what you told me was the reason for your punishment.”

“I was foolish in how carelessly I treated your thread, but it was childhood ingenuity that made me pick it in the first place.”

Madeline grinned. “Silver-tongued, aren’t you?”

He smiled back. “Come find out.”

And really, how could she resist such a dare?