All Chapters of Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

From some sensible part of his head Octavius knew what he was about to do was the most foolish thing a non-citizen of Mount Kpamos was ever to do but he was beyond reasoning. The moment Ashterah has climbed the bed to expose herself to him something in him had snapped. While his body longed for her his broken soul knew better, his anger at her one solution to everything brought a rage so intense he could almost taste on his tongue. As he lunged at the red-haired goddess her face had shown pleasure and she had reached up to kiss him but when he got close enough that she could see his eyes something strange had passed across her face. Instead of kissing her and waiting for her to direct him on how to please her as he used to, he grabbed her throat and pulled her up so she could meet his mouth. The kiss he bestowed on her was passionless and brutal but she took it because she was Ashterah and she was stupid. She even reached up to wrap her hand around his neck. "That's

With hands across her chest, Cleopoda looked up while Remin applied fresh ointment to her arms and shoulders. The joint in her shoulder ached and the skin around it was so swollen it looked like a deflated ball. On her face were white streaks from her tears, tears that she had long since grown weary of. Her face hurt less now but if the hurt in her hands were anything to go by she would have preferred to have her cheeks stinging than her hands laying uselessly on her body. Mama Remin worked in silence but Cleopoda could hear her sniff from time to time. She refused to look at her and see the pity in her face, in fact, she wished the woman would be done dressing her injuries so she would leave. All Cleopoda wanted was to be in peace, she wanted to have a quiet place to herself, why wouldn't anyone let her have it?  As if the troubles of the palace were not enough for her the voices in her head were louder. In the night they were unbearable, so much that she only had time

A year has come and gone but some things remain constant. Cleopoda the strings of the battered armor to tighten it around her body, the laces were so worn that she took great measures to pull it carefully so they don't cut. No doubt Garius had a squire who dressed him in his own armor. Garius armor was clean and shiny whereas hers was old and rusted. Strukus had come to her room the previous day like he always did these days but was long gone before the crack of dawn but before slipping out of her room he had pressed some coins into her hands. He never said what she was to use it for since there was nothing she could possibly buy in the palace but he asked her to keep them and promised to send more through Remin. Now that the coins were safely stowed in her trunk she knew what she would use them for, she would get a new sword, shield and armor since she couldn't ask Garius for new ones.  "Will you stay in there all day plotting what evils would befall the royal househol

Cleopoda woke up with a start. Darkness engulfed her and for a moment she could still feel the rocking of the horse beneath her, trying to lull her to sleep but she struggled to resist it. It was as if the cloak was still over her head and Garius was above her whispering snidely for her to remain still but her eyes adjusted she realized she was in a room. It was so dark that she couldn't tell if the room was big or small all she knew was it appeared to be empty. She tried to lift her hands to rub her eyes but noticed too late that something bound them, she winced as whatever it was clinked against each other. It was a chain, she was chained. Shock ran through her body making her jerk herself up until she realized that her legs too were bounded and the chains of her hands were linked with that of her legs so tight that she couldn't even stand up straight. The way she had stood up so quickly put a strain on her back forcing her to bend forward. How long she had been here she didn't kn

Preparations were well underway at the palace. Servants moved hurried from the main hall to the kitchen to the queen's room that had been empty for so long that it took the servants a whole day to make it clean and habitable. The queen's room that once housed Octavius' mother and Emilia will now also house Lady Amelia. She sat in the sunlit room with a smile on her face while the maids took great care with her clothes and hair to make her look good for the marriage and birthday feast. Emilia had left the laces and frillies that adorned the room while Octavius' mother was alive but at her arrival, Amelia got rid of them all replacing them with satin of dark red and blue. She had directed the servants on how she wanted the room decorated.  Octavius sat in his room with his eyes shut tight, cursing at the gods and at fates for making his life miserable. In the days before, when everything was good Emilia would wake him on his birthdays and surprise him with little gifts. H