The palace was quiet. Not a single sound penetrated through the walls and after pacing up and down the length of the enormous great hall where she had met the strange, white-haired god, Sakura was going stir crazy. The silence was deafening, leaving her ears ringing, desperate for anything to listen to aside from the soft taps of her feet on the floor.

She had busied herself with the room for an hour or so, walking the length of it to study the deteriorated busts and statues of gods she could barely recognize. At one time, they'd been carved beautifully and in the pieces that remained, the attention to detail was evident. Sakura paused in front of one that would have towered over her in its prime.

All that was left was one leg and half of an animal that had been curled around the god. She leaned forward and peered down at the marble, afraid to even reach out and touch the buckle of the sandal.

When memorizing the statues became a bore, she moved on to the ebony throne sitting in the center of the platform at the back of the hall. It was the only thing in the hall that wasn't carved from marble, instantly drawing anyone's eye to it. The back was tall, twice as high as the top of her head and twice as wide as her shoulders. A single, black cushion was placed in the center and though she wanted to see how comfortable it was, she resisted the urge to climb onto it.

Her captor could disappear and appear in a flash. She didn't need him to blind her while testing out his throne and catch her doing something he would disprove of. The thought was one that made her eyes roll and she circled the throne to stare at the carvings on the side. Delicate asphodel petals bloomed out of the marble, as detailed and beautiful as the real thing. Sakura could hardly keep her hands to her sides.

She carefully traced the edge of one of the petals and trailed the image up to where more symbols had been carved. Some were different plants, narcissus blooms, and tiny leaves, and others she couldn't make sense of at all. The longer she looked at them, the more they seemed to fade completely into the ebony stone and disappear.

Frowning, Sakura moved closer and glanced back at the flowers. They were there all the same as they had been but the carvings across the top of the throne were indistinguishable.

A trick of the god? Was she not worthy to look at them?

She would certainly not put it past him to cast spells on his throne but why waste power on something like a carving? It bothered her more than she cared to admit.

He forced her to be here, held her prisoner, and still thought so low of her that he couldn't reveal something as simple and insignificant as a throne for her lowly, mortal gaze? She crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back to the throne, frowning like a petulant child.

How long was she supposed to wait here for him to return? This flippant attitude the gods seemed to all share was just downright rude and Sakura was already tired of it. She wasn't about to wait around like some poor, neglected guests. Dropping her hands to her sides, she eyed the spot where she had hidden earlier. That passage led back to the dining room and while she was hungry, she didn't want to eat his food. She'd learned her lesson about sampling food given to her by the gods.

Instead, she shifted on her feet and looked at the main entrance to the hall. It led to the stairs she had climbed and just looking at them made her calves ache in protest. There was only one other direction she could go and while she wasn't too sure of where it led, Sakura's boredom was starting to get to her.

Wandering through random passages in the palace of the underworld was better than sitting like a good pet and waiting for him to return. With a nod, she stepped off the platform and hurried to the opposite side of the room she had entered from.

There was a single hallway, identical to the one she had sneaked through earlier, but instead of turning to the left at the end, it went right and she followed it with no way to know where she would end up. Without the disembodied lantern bobbing ahead of her, it was dark-eerily so.

The quiet that had been so bothersome back in the great hall had shifted into one that left her feeling unsettled. It crept along behind her, watching her move through the hall and she had to keep herself from turning back. Sakura swallowed and ignored the sense of unease that had blanketed her, holding her hand out to feel along the wall beside her.

She paused at a corner and felt around to find that the passage turned to the right. Though she knew she wouldn't be able to see anything in the impenetrable darkness, she poked her head around the corner and squinted her eyes. Faintly, just at the end of a long stretch in front of her, she could see the faint edges of light from a distant candle.

It barely reached where she stood but it was something to move toward and it was better than the darkness behind her. Keeping her hand to the wall, her steps were more sure and she made it quickly to the faint circle of light at the end of the hall. A door stood before her, open slightly-just enough to let out the warm glow of a flame and she carefully put her hands to it. Though she expected a creak of aged, rusting hinges, the door opened slowly and silently and she found the source of light. A long stack of candles, all different lengths, were lit on the center of a round table. White wax dripped onto the black cloth covering the table and Sakura frowned at the sight, instantly recognizing it and the fruit sitting beside the candle stacks.

It was the table that had been sitting in that cave, waiting for the poor, unsuspecting mortal to pass by and have a taste. She eyed it with a sigh and crept closer, folding her arms around her waist. With every step that she took closer to the table, the fruit-cherries and open pomegranates, vines of grapes and figs-came into focus, and she sucked in a breath.

Flies buzzed around the table, zipping through the rancid smell wafting up from the black and rotting fruit and Sakura slapped a hand to her mouth. She stared in horror, her eyes falling to the two halves of the pomegranate. Had this been what she had truly tasted?

The taste of rotten fruit had been lingering in her mouth since the moment she had eaten the first seed. Her stomach rolled, squashing the pangs of hunger that she had felt moments ago. Surely, not even a god as cruel as her captor would trick someone into eating rotten seeds. Before she could turn away and flee the rancid room, a squirming, wriggling maggot inched its way out from beneath the skin of the fruit. Sakura had seen enough.

Whirling on her heel, she spun back to the door, wanting nothing more than to return back to the great hall and forget this room even existed. As she took a step, a swatch of color caught her eye and she hesitated, one hand on the door while her eyes cut to the left.

Bright greens and reds were so foreign in such a drab place that she couldn't help but satisfy her curiosity. Turning from the door, Sakura found the brilliant colors that had caught her attention. In the faint light still flickering from that wretched table, she could see a painting mounted on the wall with a gilded frame. The corners were chipped and the gold leaf was flecking away from time but the painting had remained intact, if not a little dusty.

Sakura stood to her tiptoes and swiped her hand across the canvas, pulling away decades worth of cobwebs and layers of dust. Her eyes widened as she took two steps back and stared up at the painting-a portrait of the god who had stolen her life.

Alabaster skin stretched taut over defined muscles drew Sakura's attention up the portrait's chest to the cascade of silver hair down one shoulder. Eyes dark and deep, staring out over her head, half lidded beneath slender yet stern brows sent shivers down her arms and forced her to hug her waist tighter. He looked as lifelike as he would standing before her but unlike the shadows that clinged to him now, the portrait was brightly lit. A wreath of mint leaves hung around his neck, one side longer than the other, stretching nearly to his waist and the green was beautifully contrasted against the black robes he kept around himself.

In one hand was a scepter that came to two, dagger-sharp points and at the center of them was a brilliant blue crystal framed in onyx. Sakura wanted to study all of the details of the painting, the sheep and calf lying asleep at his feet, the pair of keys hanging from a belt around his waist, but couldn't pull her eyes away from his face.

This version of the god was different than the one she had met. He had an air of regality, sophistication, and a depth that, while she had no way to know for sure, gave her a sense of calm and compassion. How had it twisted inside him through these years, deforming and turning to cruelty and snobbery? Had the artist not known the true nature of the god...or was it Sakura who had not seen this side of him?

In her defense, he hadn't exactly shown this side of him to her.

Yet , a strange voice in her head, one that sounded less like her mother and more like a version of herself she wasn't familiar with, whispered.

"Do you always wander off when you're alone?"

Sakura whirled around, her throat squeezing the breath she sucked in before it could reach her lungs and clamped her hands to her chest. At the door, as silent as a ghost, the god had returned to his palace and stood watching her. A strange look was on his face, one of arrogant amusement and it did little to calm her racing pulse.

"Do you always sneak up on people?"

"This is my home. I'm free to sneak where I please."

She clenched her jaw and looked away, not in the direction of the painting even though it still called to her, but to the table. Being near to it now made her flinch and she moved toward the wall. It was the safest choice-still far from him but not close to the smell of rancid fruit.

"Is this what I truly ate that day in the cave? Is that why I haven't gotten the taste of it out of my mouth?"

It seemed that no matter how afraid of him she was, she couldn't quite bite her tongue when he annoyed her. She knew it was a stupid thing to do, that he would surely lock her away if she continued to annoy him.

To her surprise, the corner of the god's lip curled in a small smile and he stepped forward. Sakura kept her feet planted where they were though she couldn't deny the sudden urge to back away from him. She watched him move, cautious and guarded, ready to flee if he decided to lash out for her incessant questions.

As he stepped close to the table, circling it until all that stood between them was the candles and rotting fruit, his eyes met hers over the top of the flames. With a single pass of his hand, the table and its disgusting contents shimmered like a mirage before her eyes and when it settled seconds later, the fruit and flies and maggots were gone-vanished into thin air and Sakura blinked in surprise.

She looked up at him and frowned. "An illusion."

"Of sorts." The god passed his other hand over it and the sight of the fruit she had tasted from, the fresh, crimson pomegranate seeds from the cave reappeared. "Is this more to your liking?"

His question surprised her and she looked up from the glistening fruit to his face. There was that stern furrow from the portrait, hardened and angered, but the fear she'd grown used to feeling around him wasn't as intense. As much as she wanted to thank him for taking the buzzing flies and disgusting maggots away, she would have never had to see them if it weren't for him stealing her from her home.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Sakura looked away from him and pursed her lips for a moment. The echo of her mother's voice was back, whispering for her not to anger the god. Maybe one day she will listen to her mother's advice. It wouldn't be today though.

"I'd prefer to not look at it at all. I'd prefer to be let go-"

The god moved in a flash, grabbing the edge of the table and flipping it aside with a force that sent it flying across the room. Wood splinters rained down onto the floor and the candles that had been stacked on top went dark in a rush of air, plunging the room into black. Sakura sucked in a breath as she scrambled back on her heels until her back pressed into the wall that held the portrait.

She could see nothing before her but heard the soft shift of thick, dark robes as he neared her and she held her breath, waiting for the moment he gave her the same treatment as the table. It wasn't until his palm hit the wall beside her head that she realized her eyes had been squeezed shut out of fear. They snapped open now and in the darkness, she could feel the god near her.

An aura of power wafted off of his body like static clinging to the air after a lightning storm and the energy arced from his skin to hers, sizzling her with tiny jolts of heat. The soft touch of something across her forehead startled her and she realized with a gasp of breath that he had ducked his head so close to hers that his hair brushed her face.

"I'm growing tired of your insolence," he spoke quietly but she felt just as frightened as she would be if he had yelled the words. His nearness, the warmth of his breath on her face, the hum of his magic that she could feel in her bones was almost too much for her to stand. "What will it take to melt the ice around your mortal heart and make you happy?"

"Happy?" She whispered, her eyes open and searching where she assumed his gaze was. What she wouldn't give for a single flame left from those candles. "You know what would make me happy. I want to go home."

A growl, deep and rumbling through his chest, made her eyes shut once more and Sakura flinched as his other hand met the wall on the other side of her head. He had her completely surrounded, his body closer than it had ever been before. Sweat was beading up along her spine and she fought for a breath to help ease the dizziness in her head. " This is your home now. You'd do well to remember that."

"What if-" she nearly swallowed the words before she could speak them. "-What if we played a game."

"A game," he repeated, the sound of his voice and breath closer now. She flinched but didn't turn away from him. "And what, pray tell, would this game be?"

Sakura took a deep, shuddering breath and thought back to the messenger's words. They say the god of the underworld can't resist a game of wits. Challenge him and win, and you just might make the impossible happen.

"A game of riddles. If you cannot answer my riddle, then I get to go home."

"And if I win?"

Her eyes fluttered closed and she had to force the words out. They sat at the back of her throat, heavy as a stone. With another breath, she opened her eyes and stared up at him in the pitch darkness. "Then, I'm yours."

The sudden raspy chuckle he let out surprised her, filling her with a rush of warmth that settled in her belly but she didn't dare open her eyes. On either side of her head, she heard his hands slip down the wall a bit before falling away. As he straightened to his full height, the brush of his hair tickled her brow and in the space he put between them, she was able to breathe.

"You're awfully confident in yourself to wager your freedom against me."

"Does that mean you won't accept my game?"

Again, his quiet laugh filled her with heat that she felt in her face and she swallowed down the need to look away from him. In the darkness, she couldn't see the god lift his hand until the touch of his fingers on her face surprised her. He tucked her hair behind her ear and traced her jaw with his middle finger, letting his hand fall away from her just before he reached her chin.

"I accept," he said quietly and Sakura let out a breath of relief-a bit prematurely. "Under the condition that I pick the rules."

She frowned and blinked in the darkness that was finally starting to lift enough that she could make out the edges of his body before her. The tip of his horns pointing to the ceiling, the shape of his shoulders, and his arms crossing at his chest gave her a clear enough picture. "Rules?"

"Yes, rules . You are familiar with the concept, aren't you?"

Though she could make out no details of his face, she knew there was a smirk curling the corner of his lips. "Yes, I am. What are your rules?"

The god took a deep breath that expanded his shoulders and Sakura couldn't help but watch his dark form take a step to the side. His hand, pale even in the darkness, lifted from his chest and waved through the air. In an instant, the broken and splintered table returned to its previous place in the center of the room and a lone candle sat in the center. The tiny, flickering flame offered just enough light to see that the fruit was gone from the tabletop. In their place was a single scroll of paper and a feather quill lying beside it.

She pushed away from the wall just a bit, leaning forward to see the scroll better and the god took a few steps toward it. He didn't turn to face her as he spoke and her eyes shifted from the table to him, watching the light dance across his features.

"Since you are at a disadvantage being a mortal, I will play with a handicap." She nearly scoffed at his arrogance and told him not to do her any favors. But this time, she listened to the hiss of her mother's voice in her head and snapped her jaws shut before she could dig herself deeper. She watched the god reach the table and turn to look at her from over his shoulder. "One riddle to your three. Do we have a deal?"

Not even an entire day in the underworld had passed and she was making deals with gods. Sakura swallowed and crossed her arms over her chest, letting her gaze fall to the table where the scroll sat waiting. As the words left his mouth, the rules of their game appeared across the page and her eyes widened as they bled through. Without realizing it, she slowly took a step forward and then another until she was at his side near the table.

"One riddle to my three," she repeated under her breath, trying to decide if it was a good idea to make a wager like this. Her thoughts were in turmoil, split down the middle between knowing this was another trap and wanting nothing more than to go home. If this was her only chance at freeing herself, she had to do it. Lifting her head, she peered up at the god and frowned. "How long do I have to think up the riddles?"

A slow, curling smile spread across his mouth, one that pulled her gaze to it and filled her with another flush of heat. This time, she felt it burn through her core and struggled to find her breath in its wake.

"Two weeks for each riddle. From the time you think it up to my answer. If you can't think of one in that time period, I win. If I cannot answer in that time, you win."

"Six weeks," she murmured to herself, another question instantly popping into her head. "And your one riddle. How long do I have to solve it after you thought it up?"

The god turned to face her now, his head tilting to the side to let his hair spill over his shoulder. It was so light compared to the darkness that surrounded him and Sakura couldn't help staring at the strands contrasted against his robes.

"I've already thought of one and you may have the entire six weeks to solve it."

Her eyes instantly snapped up to his and her brows furrowed in disbelief. "You've thought of one already? How?"

"Do we have a deal, Sakura?"

Her name on his lips startled her, almost enough to distract her from the fact that he hadn't answered her question. With her heart racing and thoughts whirling, she dropped her gaze from his face and stared down at the scroll on the table. The rules appeared as they spoke them and she watched the ink bleed through the paper, more unsure of herself than she had ever been before.

Swallowing down her trepidation and ignoring the voice telling her not to, Sakura reached for the quill and held the feather between her fingers. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and scratched her name across the bottom. As soon as the tip of the quill lifted from the scroll, it disappeared and she sucked in a quiet breath, turning to peer up at the god in the faint light of the candle.

He was watching her, a strange look on his face, one that didn't necessarily frighten her and she almost wanted to glance back at his portrait to compare their expression. The sudden nearness of his body as he faced her stole her breath and she could only watch the way his gaze lowered to her lips. He lifted a hand and once more, she felt the touch of his cool fingers against her jaw. The brush of his thumb across her bottom lip sent a twist to her stomach that was both painful and left her wanting more of it. Her thighs tensed and the sudden sensation between them nearly made her whimper.

"Rest tonight," he spoke softly, his eyes lifting to meet hers the same time she managed to look into his gaze. "At dawn, our game shall begin."