The Golden Locket E-Book

Russell Nohelty

• Herausgeber: Wannabe Press
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Hope will get you nowhere.

With her wedding looming, Nimue has precious little time left to free herself from the King in Yellow’s clutches. If she can’t, then her future will be spent groveling at his feet until he eventually kills her.

Meanwhile, Ariel searched the depths of the ocean for Rapunzel’s eye and came up empty-handed. Now, with the fate of every soul in Queen Aine’s kingdom relying on her, she has no choice but to venture into the Nightmare Realm and hope she doesn’t go mad, or worse, before discovering a way to save the Dream Realm.

Across the universe, the Celestial Realm erupted in chaos after Zeus’s death. Now, warring factions grapple for control in the aftermath. Can Rose, Red, and Chelle take advantage of the power vacuum and usher in a new golden age for the universe, or will they be thwarted by the formidable forces that work to undermine them?

Find out in the penultimate book of the third arc, The Golden Locket.

Leseprobe

The Golden Locket

THE OBSIDIAN SPINDLE SAGA

BOOK ELEVEN

RUSSELL NOHELTY

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Special Thanks

1. Nimue

2. Ariel

3. Rose

4. Bethel

5. Red

6. Rose

7. Nimue

8. Ariel

9. Red

10. Bethel

11. Red

12. Nimue

13. Ariel

14. Bethel

15. Rose

16. Nimue

17. Rose

18. Bethel

19. Red

20. Ariel

21. Nimue

22. Ariel

23. Rose

24. Bethel

25. Red

26. Ariel

27. Red

28. Nimue

29. Rose

30. Bethel

31. Nimue

32. Red

33. Rose

34. Bethel

35. Ariel

36. Rose

37. Bethel

38. Ariel

39. Red

40. Nimue

41. Rose

42. Bethel

43. Red

44. Nimue

45. Ariel

46. Red

47. Nimue

48. Ariel

49. Rose

50. Bethel

51. Rose

52. Ariel

53. Nimue

54. Ariel

55. Bethel

56. Red

57. Nimue

58. Ariel

59. Rose

60. Bethel

61. Red

Epilogue

Author’s Note

The Dark Planet Preview

Chelle

Red

Ariel

Also By Russell Nohelty

About the Author

Special Thanks

Talinda Willard, HyliaKumatora, Chris Roeszler, Amy Teegan, Chip Orlikowski, RHR, Victoria Nohelty, Alexander Joyner, Pierino Gattei, Caspar Williams, Gerald P. McDaniel, Walter Weiss, Sunny Side Up, Kenny Endlich, Amber Reeves, Joshua Bowers, Elias Rosner, Noah Carruba, John "AcesofDeath7" Mullens, Jamie Minnich, Rowan Stone, Taiga Char, BAOCHAU TRAN, Jeff Lewis, Dave Baxter, Chad Bowden, David Irgang, James Kralik, Emerson Kasak, Matthew Johnson, Paul Rose Jr., Shannon, Dr. Charles Elbert Norton III, Edward Nycz Jr., Jessica Meuth, Caledonia, GMarkC, Chris Cheek, Bianca Tatjana Višić Ritorto, John Otway Jr, Brett Bennett, Jason 'XenoPhage' Frisvold, Scott Chisholm, Amanda Sarah, Alexandra Corrsin, Giles Fox, Rick Parker, H, Rob Steinberger, Alec Loases, David Stephenson, Anthony James Frandsen, JohnDoe, Joshua Easter, MadCatter (Cat Fleming), Kevin Potter, Bill Lisse, Michael Szewczyk, Robert Woods Tienken, Ronald L Weston, Karen Haughn, Shem Bingman, Susan Wilson, Brigitte Ziegler, Matt Soucy, Alyssa, Michelle Pelo, Richard A Shirley, PerryC, Elizabeth Kiefer, Tim, Nicolas Mandujano III, Karen Roads, Rhel ná DecVandé, Zeb Berryman, Al Gonzalez, S. D., Jörn Flath, Rick Radzville, Aaron Loren, Justise Briones(That/Them), Genevieve Slunka, Michael DeCarlo, Kitty Crab, Jeanne L. Warner, Vi Ta, Bridget D Laurent, Jaime Bialer, Wendy Martinez, Nicholas Harezga, Mira Hunter, Cara Reasner, Lori Case, Melevorn, Rebecca Hill, Jane R., Talia Denham, Jordan Harju, Jesse Coe, Greg Levick, and Andrew Messiah.

The Golden Locket

Book 11 of the Obsidian Spindle Saga

By:

Russell Nohelty

Edited by:

Leah Lederman

Proofread by:

Katrina Roets

Cover by:

JV Arts

Formatting by:

Turbo Kitten Industries

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental. The Golden Locket. First edition. July 2021. Copyright © 2020 Russell Nohelty. Written by Russell Nohelty.

Chapter1

Nimue

I chose to marry Hastur. It was a rash decision, made in the heat of the moment, but I had agreed to it all the same, and couldn’t back out now without consigning myself to immediate torture and likely death. Now, all I could do was live with the consequences of my decision.

“Are you sure this is wise?” Cassandra asked after Hastur sent me away and I fell into her arms on the way back to my room. “Those who have resigned themselves to that fate have never lived more than a few days.”

“It was absolutely not wise, but it was the only choice I had to make.”

She brought me back to my room and tried to heal me, but the wounds were magically imbued to prevent such things. I had learned as much when I nursed Delilah back to health after her beating at his hands during my first days in the castle. The pain was written all over her face then, but she refused to show it, and I did my best to mimic her stoic power now. Unfortunately, I had never been good with physical pain, and Beatrice’s body was not accustomed to it, either, which made it all the harder to keep how deeply I suffered written all over my face.

“I made him promise not to touch me until the wedding, in lust or in anger,” I replied, willing myself from wincing. “And he swore not to touch any other for as long as I obeyed him. Weddings take time to plan, so that should buy me a few months, at least.”

There was no love lost between any of the princesses that served at the King in Yellow’s behest. It was a constant struggle not to fall into his crosshairs and that, more than anything, caused them to be catty and cold to each other. They would turn on each other in an instant to avoid his wrath, and that drove Cassandra to act. It was a wicked deed, but the longer I knew Hastur, the more I understood why she did it.

I hoped that my sacrifice at the dark lord’s hand would bind them together against a common enemy. Now, they did not have to worry about the misery he brought upon them. I would take all their punishment for as long as I was able, and shield them from pain until my dying breath.

“He has never kept his word when it did not further his ends. He will find a way to manipulate your words against you.”

Cassandra placed her hand on my lacerations. She still wore my skin, and it hung from her face, loose and unhealthy. She looked more a monster now than she did without skin, truth be told, and I had at one time hated her for taking it. However, in my short time in the castle I grew to understand her plight and now sympathized with her. She was also one of the few women in the universe who understood my own predicament, which made me trust her implicitly, even given her past transgressions.

“I have no doubt of that, Cassandra, but I have dealt with powerful men who wished me ill all my life. I have supreme confidence that I can bend the king to my will, and not the other way around.”

The muscles of her mouth twitched, but the skin did not move with them. “I appreciate your confidence, Nimue, but you have never seen one as cruel and manipulative as the King in Yellow. He is every bit the equal of any other in malice and cruelty. To think otherwise is folly.”

I pushed myself to stand despite the pain. “Can you please wrap me in the gauze Bethel left on the table so that I do not bleed through my dress?”

“Of course,” Cassandra replied, rising and taking the wrap from the table. “What do you plan to do?”

I raised my hands above my head. “Bring down a god, of course, before he can terrorize any others, or kill me.”

Cassandra wrapped the gauze around my chest, pulling it taut so that it didn’t slip. Every time she passed my wounds, it sent a shiver of pain through me.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “The pain will be over soon.”

“You are wrong,” I replied. “I will have to withstand an untold amount before the end. That much I know for sure. I only hope I can survive long enough to find the king’s weakness and take him down.”

She ripped the gauze with her teeth and pressed it tightly down against my side. “If there is a weakness in the king, I do not know it, and no others have mentioned a whisper of it in my presence.”

I went to my closet. “You have never spoken with all your sisters at once before, have you?”

She shook her head. “No. Sometimes I dined with Elvira, and I had tea with Delilah on occasion, but the others walled themselves off from me.”

I picked out a slip and put it on, the soft cloth of it burning my back and shoulders at even the slightest touch. “And that has worked to Has—” I remembered then that there was an enchantment in using his name, which called him forth and let him sneak in on any conversation. “—the king’s advantage. Today, we eliminate that advantage.”

“How?” Cassandra asked.

“Together, the six of us are more powerful than any one alone. I believe that, between us, we can find a weakness in him and exploit it.” I faced her. “I still do not completely trust you, but in this place, you are the only that I can give this task. Call the princesses together. Tell them it is of utmost importance that I see them immediately.”

“And if they will not come?”

In the moments after my lashing, the six of us came together in a way I didn’t think possible, as a unit, and agreed to work together in an effort to kill Hastur and take his head as our trophy. Still, it was a fractious partnership, and Cassandra was right to question it. I did not have that luxury. If I didn’t believe fully in our alliance, then I was condemning myself to death.

“They will come. They must. Their future queen demands it.”

A black statue in the corner of the room let out a loud shriek, and in its wake, my betrothed spoke in a booming voice. “Nimue, I have need of you.”

Cassandra shook with fear, and her eyes, hidden partially behind the flaps of the skin on her forehead, were wide with panic.

“It’s okay, my friend,” I said in a soft voice. “I have used what power I have to safeguard this room from prying ears. Call the princesses and have them meet together once I am done with him.”

“And if you do not survive this encounter?”

I smirked. “Better men have tried and failed, but if the worst happens, then it falls on you to carry the torch, and make me a martyr to the cause.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.”

I placed my hand on her loose face. “I believe in you.”

“Why?” she said, softly, leaning into my hand. “I have done nothing to prove that kind of faith.”

“Because I must, Cassandra. Because we all must. Killing the King in Yellow is everything for every one of us. It is all that matters.”

Chapter2

Ariel

After defeating Loki, Hypnos led us back to his palace, where he secured both the god of mischief and my sister deep in the bowels of the Emerald City. When we finally emerged into the glimmering emerald gleam of the castle, he turned to me with a glint in his pink eyes.

”Thank you for your service to the Dream Realm,” he said, his voice dour. “I hate to ask more of you, but there are few I trust among gods or men anymore.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

“The reasons are complicated, but—in the past years, a sickness has spread among my people, one that has turned even the righteous selfish, and twisted the weak-willed into the worst kind of monster.” He sighed. “As for humanity, they were created in our image, with all the ego and self-centeredness, but without an eternity to temper their tempers. They look only to the nearest moment, and never to the long-term. They cannot be trusted—save for ones like you, who do the right thing for its own sake.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “I do not know about all that, but I have lived in the dark for too long not to move to the light now.”

For almost three hundred years, I lived in the underwater castle of Ursula, queen of the sea, blind to the machinations of the surface world, unaware of the light that existed just out of my reach. Now that I had felt it, I had no interest in going back.

“Those are prescient words, and they give me pause, as what you must do now will take you into a darkness like you have never experienced.”

My eyes narrowed. “You’re talking about the Nightmare Realm.” I knew this because when Hypnos saved me from my duplicitous sister, he told me that the right eye of Rapunzel was there, and that it was incumbent on me to find it.

“I am,” he replied. “Even though my brother is dead, I have been barred from entering there. Even if I could, none would trust me enough to give direction to my quest. Unlike this place, that I control with every inch of my being, I am as ineffective in Sprig as a child cast adrift in a vast ocean.”

“I understand,” I said. “If you have need of Rapunzel’s eye to save the Dream Realm, then I will do my duty and deliver it to you, my lord.”

“I hoped you would say as much.” He reached out his hand. “Then come along.”

I placed my hand into his and together we vanished into the abyss. We materialized again on the top of a giant mountain, high above the plains of Oz. A range of snow-topped mountains expanded into the horizon, and a chilly bitterness whipped against my cheek.

“This is the Mountain Realm, isn’t it?” I asked, breathlessly. I had spent so much time below the sea that the idea of staring down at the whole of the world was completely foreign to me. The whole range of mountains speckled the sky, but we stood above them all.

“Yes,” Hypnos replied. “And this is what remains of Agrona’s castle.”

A horrible mouth, carved into the mountain, spewed rock that barred any from entering, though I had no idea why any would want to do so. Hypnos clapped his hands together and placed them on the edges of the caved-in entrance. I watched as time stood still and then seemed to fold back in on itself. Whatever damage befell the great keep disappeared as the rocks reformed, creating a hallway lined with paintings. A spongy tongue plumped up to carry us onward. When he was done, the collapsed mountain was completely restored. The snowy mountain top glistened like its brethren around it, shining like a beacon above them all.

Hypnos beckoned me forward. My bare feet touched the spongy tongue and the feel of the rough, course, undulating ground sent a shudder up my spine. However, I stayed behind him, clinging closer than seemed comfortable, hoping for protection from anything that waited to attack.

The hallway broke into a pristine throne room, but Hypnos ignored its many treasures, walking towards a tall, faceless wall that rose thirty feet or more into the air.

“Yes, I can feel its power here,” Hypnos said when he stopped in front of the wall.

“What power?” I asked.

He turned to me. “Maybe Agrona didn’t even know it when she chose this as her castle, but the veil between Urgu and the Nightmare Realm is thinner here than anywhere else. No wonder she worked so hard to keep me from this place.”

He returned to examining the wall, running his fingers along its rough surface. After several minutes inspecting it, he placed his palm on a rock near the center.

“This is how I will enter the Nightmare Realm?”

He nodded. “I can almost push my fingers through to the other side myself, but it is just out of my grasp. Powerful as I am in this place, my mother set limits on what my brother and I could do.” He held up the eye. “However, with this, I believe I can make a path to the other side.”

My heart leapt into my chest. I had only heard stories of the monsters that came through from the Nightmare Realm, and of the great battles waged to save the Dream Realm from complete destruction. Could I hope to survive the monstrosities I would face on the other side of the portal?

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked. “The last time this portal was opened, Urgu was infested with horrible monsters.”

“I was not here, then,” Hypnos said. “Please trust that I know what I’m doing, both in opening this portal, and choosing you as my champion.”

I took a deep breath. “I will…I do…trust you I mean.”

“Then let us begin.”

He closed his eyes and muttered under his breath for a long time. The air whipped through the room, and then, with a thunderous boom, an enormous red portal swirled in front of me, half the size of the wall itself.

“I will keep it open as long as I can,” he said. His voice was slightly strained. “But make haste. My power is great, but it is not infinite.”

“How will I find the eye?” I asked, the thunder of the void forcing me to scream to be heard even as I walked closer.

“The eye craves power. Follow where it leads, and you will find the eye.”

I wished that the gods would speak plainly, without riddles and double-speak, but that was not their way. This was as good as I would get. It wasn’t even clear he knew what he was doing, but what was clear as I stepped through the portal was from this point I was on my own.

Chapter3

Rose

“Do you see this here?” Kadlu said, holding up a baggy of blue crystals. We had not poked our head above ground in three days, nervous that Rama and whatever cabal he hired to kill Kadlu would be on the hunt. For the most part, we stayed in the shack that acted as the goddess’s safehouse from the acid rain that pounded outside and from whoever wanted her dead.

Rama didn’t want me dead along with Kadlu, even if he had a funny way of showing it. If he did, I never would have agreed to go back to the Celestial Realm to save his life from whatever organism was eating his brain.

“It looks like rock salt,” I replied.

Kadu examined the bag’s content. “It does, doesn’t it? But don’t put it on your dinner. It will literally kill you if you’re not infected with the Spore.”

This morning she left the safehouse early in a frenzy after receiving a phone call on a line that I thought dead. The phone had been mostly eaten by the acid water that slid under the foundation and leaked into the room most of the day, leaving only the half-eaten receiver and a speaker box hanging loosely.

She didn’t say a word when the call came in. She simply leapt up and dashed through the door without saying goodbye. We weren’t the best of friends, but over the days of isolation we had shared stories about each other’s lives. Not much at first, being wary of each other for many reasons. Her because there had been an attempt of her life moments after I sauntered into her office, and me because of all the terrible things Rama said about her.

But soon the truth came into focus, at least from Kadlu’s perspective. If she was to be believed, then Rama was the evil one. Somehow, a plague, or a spore, had infected him and turned him against her, warping his brain and twisting it to a path of conquest and destruction. I found it a hard pill to swallow, especially because the cause Rama backed when I first met him was to bring down the Board and institute democratic elections in the Celestial Realm for the first time in eons.

“Then don’t give it to me, you loon,” I replied when she tried to hand it to me.

Of course, if he was to be trusted, then why did he try to kill me? I had gone over it a hundred times since the explosion in Kadlu’s office, and nothing else made sense. Rama and I were the only two people who knew my plan, save for Chelle, and she would never turn on me.

Gods, I missed her.

“We don’t have much choice in the matter. Rama trusts few, and you have won his graces.”

I allowed her to place the plastic bag in my hand. “If he trusts me, then why did he try to kill me?”

“It wasn’t personal,” Kadlu replied, her face soft and glowing. “He would do anything to kill me and gain what I have taken from him. Which reminds me⁠—”

She pulled the brahmastra from the far end of the shack. It glistened in her hand. Rama had used the lance-like weapon to slay the demon king Ravana, thereby earning his place as a god.

“It’s incredible that he would kill you for something so trivial.”

“Not the whole weapon.” She pointed to the gold inlaid in the blade. “Just this, which he can use to forge a new key to the Dark Planet and bring forth untold evil onto the world.”

“Are you sure we should be giving it back to him, then?”

She bit her lip. “I am not sure about much, but without it, you will be questioned. If you bring this back with you, his excitement will overpower his common sense.”

I held up the bag. “And that’s when I use this?”

She nodded. “If I’m right, then this will kill the disease controlling his brain, and give him clarity for the first time in an age.”

“What is it?” I peered at it more closely.

She sighed. “It’s magic, old, dark, deep magic; the type which shouldn’t be called without good reason, because it could disrupt the foundation of our whole universe.”

I let out a small laugh. “Oh great. That’s all I need, to cause the destruction of the cosmos.”

“Without it, whatever has infected Rama’s brain will take root even deeper, its horrible vision will grow from an impossibility to an improbability, and eventually manifest into an inevitability. We must stop it before there is no turning back.”

“Okay,” I replied. “You’ve made your point. Please, no more speeches.”

Kadlu reached over and opened the bag. I jittered as she pulled a single crystal out using just her thoughts and left it hovering between us. “This is enough to destroy the spores.”

I looked down at what was left. “And what about the rest?”

“He will not be the only one turned, and with any luck his memory will lead us to the others.” She pointed to the bag. “The rest is for them.”

“Oh great,” I replied. “An army of infected gods. That’s just peachy.”

“Listen carefully.” She concentrated on the crystal. “Sahaq.” The crystal jittered in the air and crumbled into fine dust. “Rih.”

With a flick of her fingers, the dust plumed across the room. I scooted back until I slammed against the wall. The ground was still wet with acid rain, and the burning under my hand made me scream. The sand neared my mouth, but just as it did, it stopped in midair, and then retreated into Kadlu’s hands.

“That is all it takes,” she said. She muttered another incantation and the sand reformed into a crystal, which she placed back into the bag. “Remember those words.”

I zipped the bag. “I will.”

“Then I have nothing else to show you.” She handed me the brahmastra. “May the gods carry you on your journey.”

“And not stop me before I can fulfill it.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Well spotted. Probably not the best idea to invoke the gods right now.”

“Not when they are trying to kill us.”

“Not all of us.” Kadlu smiled. I didn’t know whether she meant not all gods were trying to kill us, or that the gods weren’t trying to kill all of us, but before I could ask, she rose to her feet and opened the hatch to the tunnels underneath the city. “We must make haste. Every second we delay brings Rama’s doom closer to fruition.”

Chapter4

Bethel

“Let my pain be your pain,” I growled at the puny sod who found himself on the wrong side of my cat-o-nine tails. I wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve such torture, only that the King in Yellow demanded it, and his will must be done, else I find myself at the wrong side of his fury.

“Pleeeease!” the ugly man shouted as I lacerated his back, opening a half dozen tiny gashes.

I had no mercy to give, and none would be given to me should I fail. My master required a flagon full of suffering. I looked under the whimpering body to find that I was barely half-full of the crude needed to sustain Hastur and keep me in his graces.

“Do not beg me, cur!” I screamed. The man’s back was so raw that another lash would add nothing. Instead, I exchanged my whip for a filet knife, and dug into the man’s thigh. He writhed in agony, and the black bile of his suffering funneled into the flagon below.

“Sister.” Cassandra stood in the doorway of the torture chamber, waving. “Might I have a word with you.”

“How dare you disturb my work!” I screamed, slashing through the air at her until she yelped, giving me the upper hand in our exchange. Cassandra always ceded her advantage to me the moment she looked into my cold, glassy black eyes.

“I’m sorry, sister, but I have need of a moment of your time, if you can spare it from your important work.”

I looked back at the man, whimpering on the table while his blood drained down into the colander below. It separated his suffering from the bile and blood that seeped out with it.

“Very well,” I replied, cocking my head from one side to the other. “I suppose this one has been thoroughly drained for the moment. I don’t wish to kill him after all—at least, not yet.”

“Thank you, mistress,” the man said, whimpering.

“Don’t speak, cur. I only wish not to kill you so I can use you later for the same purpose. If I keep you within an inch of your life for long enough, you might even prove some worth to me.”

I stepped out into the stone hallway and slammed the iron door. The cool of the basement always refreshed me after a long torture session, and the wind whipping through the corridor nearly made me smile.

“Thank you, sister,” Cassandra said, dipping her head, and then her body, in a low curtsy.

“Your pleasantries will not save you,” I hissed. “Speak plainly. I have no use for flowery words.”

“Yes, your grace.” The fear dripped off her. It was so sweet that I would get a toothache if I drank it. “Your presence is requested by the queen.”

“Future queen,” I growled. “Should she live long enough to accept the crown.”

I reached for the black thorn crown on my head. It was the royal crown, bound for the queen, but until that moment, Hastur had given it to me for safekeeping, a sign of his affection. The thorns of it dug deep into my skin, but I enjoyed the pain. It heightened my emotions and kept me laser focused on the mission at hand.

“Of course, sister.”

“We are not family,” I spat. “You should know that better than anyone. You wear your betrayal on your skin.”

She stepped backward, her loose skin rippling. I did not have to be so cruel, but I did so enjoy it. Perhaps it was better than torture, or simply that of a different nature.

“You are right, of course.”

“I know I am,” I answered. “It is my nature to be right. Now, about this queen you serve. Where does she request I go, and when?”

“She requests your presence in her powder room in the hour. I have already convinced Delilah, Elvira, and Lydia to attend, and now I come for you.”

“Why would she need to see us all at the same time?”

Cassandra’s eyes dropped and she took a step back towards me, lowering her voice. “To discuss matters of utmost importance.”

Of course she meant the death of the King in Yellow, an absurd notion that had not worked in a thousand coup attempts of the past. What made her think that she would succeed where so many had failed, even my own kin? Still, I had no love for Hastur. He had built his harem from the death of our families, and that was the only thing that bound us together as one…loss, and hatred for the one that destroyed our lives.

“I have no love for the…for Nimue, but you can count on my attendance. Now if you will excuse me.”

I spun back to the door, letting myself lose my thoughts in the death of Hastur, and how satisfying it would be to rip the heart from his chest. I would very much like to see the look on his face as he laid on the ground, his heart in my hands as I squeezed the last breath from it.

A twitch of a smile crossed my face, though I suppressed it. Hastur’s death was too much to wish for, but I supposed it couldn’t hurt to go and listen. Or it could, but I would do it anyway. If nothing else, it would give me fodder to turn on the other princesses and ingratiate myself more as Hastur’s favorite. That was how I survived until now, and if what it took to keep surviving was to turn on them, I would throw them all to the wolves without a second thought.

Chapter5

Red

After Zeus’s death at my hand, everything changed. I was freed from my solitary confinement in the Crystal Keep and took an esteemed position at Rama’s side. Athena was stripped of her rank and forced into a private cell for dissidents until it could be determined whether or not she would be a problem for the new order of things.

Zeus had been the figure the rest of the Board rotated around. Rama, Brahma, Ukko, and Svarog hate him, while Osiris and Tengri loved him. Either way, without him at the center of their world, everything was fracturing.

“Will you come with me?” Rama asked after a particularly grueling meeting with what remained of the Board. He slumped against my shoulder as I led him to Zeus’s old office. Since the god’s death—or murder depending on how you saw it—Rama had taken temporary control of Zeus’s seat, but was prevented from voting on any matters of import until a proper replacement could be found.

“Of course,” I replied, bearing his whole weight. Rama held a terrible secret from the Board. Zeus had stripped out the piece of divining in him, turning him from a god back into a human. Ceaseless activity and movement had never bothered Rama before, but without the strength of a god or the conditioning of an athlete, it took its toll on him.

“I’ll get you some water.” I went to a small refrigerator I’d brought in under the guise that I needed to keep food nearby to maintain my strength. I didn’t, of course, but I couldn’t rightly say the real reason was because Rama was a human.

“Thank you,” he replied weakly after taking a sip. “I will never get used to this cursed human body.”

“I didn’t find it so bad when I had mine.”

“And how many eons ago was that?” he said, rolling his head to me.

“A fair few, I admit. Maybe we can⁠—”

The door flung open, and a massive older gentleman walked in wearing a cape made of thick hair and hide. An eyepatch covered his right eye, and a crow perched on each of his shoulders.

“I am sorry to hear about your recent troubles, old friend,” he said, walking with a confident swagger.

Rama nodded, shuffling over with what remained of his strength. “It is good to see you, my dear friend Odin. I hope all is well.”

Odin pulled him tightly for a hug. “You have grown weak, Rama. I hope nothing is wrong with your constitution after taking your place on the Board.”

“Nothing a glass of mead and a good wench cannot fix.”

Odin let Rama go. He picked up the water, whose glass looked tiny in his great paw, and sniffed it. “Yet, you drink this tasteless mixture.” He cocked his head at me. “And is this your wench? Not much to her.”

“Excuse me, sir, but I am no wench,” I said with as much authority as I could muster. “I am personal guard to Rama.”

Without a word, and in a motion too quick for my eye to catch, Odin reached into his belt and pulled out a jagged, serrated knife and held it up to Rama’s throat. “Not doing a very good job, girly. That’s why you don’t send a human to do a god’s job.” He smiled and placed the dagger away without breaking eye contact with me. “Which is the purpose of my visit.”

Rama sat down behind the desk with a groan. “And what purpose is that?”

Odin tapped his finger on his chin and paced idly. “It’s just…I know about your little predicament.”

Rama gave Odin a blank look. “And what, pray tell, is that?”

“That you are a human.”

“Preposterous.”

Odin, who had stopped walking momentarily while speaking to Rama, now resumed his pacing. “No, it’s not. I took your friend, the gorgon one, and I hurt every little snapping snake on her otherwise pretty little head—her whole body actually. And unless I’m very wrong, I believe that breaks your bond with her sweet, little, blonde girlfriend.”

Chelle. He was talking about her and Rose. I should have leapt over the table and taken him out, but instead I simply raised my golden dagger into the air. “Watch what you say. I killed two gods with this, and I have no qualms in slitting the throat of a third.”

“Ha!” Odin spat without so much as a smile. “I am not as blinded by power as Zeus, nor as weak as Epiales, so please save your fantasies for Urgu.”

I couldn’t hold it another second. I lunged forward and would have sliced Odin in half if Rama did not step between us.

“You can’t let him push you around, Rama!” I shouted.

He held up his hand. “It’s okay, Gabrielle. Odin and I have much to discuss. After all, we are old friends, with old grudges. This could take a while. Why don’t you go, and I will call you when I have need of you.”

“You can’t possibly think that I would⁠—”

“I am still on the Board, and thus you work for me!” Rama snapped. “I am trying to be polite, but go, or I will have you taken, unless you think I am as weak as Odin does. If that is the case, I will show you both just how wrong you are.”

I bit my lip and glared at him. “If that is your wish, then I will see it granted.”

I was used to being kicked out of important meetings, but somehow the sting of it never faded. Still, I went, and when I closed the door on them, I swore I heard laughter peal through the room. Powerful men, it seemed, were the same, no matter what side of the aisle they fought.

The Golden Locket

RUSSELL NOHELTY

Contents

Special Thanks

Nimue

Ariel

Rose

Bethel

Red

Rose

Nimue

Ariel

Red

Bethel

Red

Nimue

Ariel

Bethel

Rose

Nimue

Rose

Bethel

Red

Ariel

Nimue

Ariel

Rose

Bethel

Red

Ariel

Red

Nimue

Rose

Bethel

Nimue

Red

Rose

Bethel

Ariel

Rose

Bethel

Ariel

Red

Nimue

Rose

Bethel

Red

Nimue

Ariel

Red

Nimue

Ariel

Rose

Bethel

Rose

Ariel

Nimue

Ariel

Bethel

Red

Nimue

Ariel

Rose

Bethel

Red

Epilogue

NIMUE

Author’s Note

The Dark Planet Preview

BOOK 12 OF THE OBSIDIAN SPINDLE SAGA

Chelle

Red

Ariel

Also By Russell Nohelty

About the Author