King of The Reaper: Reaper

By Mariah Kingsley

For Callum the war is over, and he is king. But heavy is the head that wears the crown. Betrayal can be at every turn, and forgiveness can be a hurdle that is hard to cross.

Serena's heartbreak is a funny thing. One moment you are fine, and the next you are singing sad love songs about the man that you loved. Watching a love bloom after yours has died is a hell no one prepares her for.

Eternity is a long time for Piper, and revenge is her only motivation, no matter the consequences.

The battle is over and the war was hard fought, but life is a battle of its own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mariah Kingsley
• Release date: May 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223588917

Mariah Kingsley

What was a stay at home mom to do while her family slept? Write. Write about dirty talking alpha males who had a thing for spankings and handcuffs.  Now her alter ego Mariah Kingsley writes about love, life, murder, and toe curling sex. The concept of what happens after “Happily Ever After” changed her life.  Now a blushing mom who never imagined she would run across her work on her mothers kindle loves the life. The author, blogger and advid reader now there are so many books I lose count!

Book preview

ONE

three wise women

CALLUM

What has been done cannot be undone, King of the Reapers.

I stood in front of the Fates. One moment I was in my bedroom and the next a door was opened to me. Three women older than time stood there, weaving time and space around them. Starting new life and ending life without a second glance. It was a little unnerving if I was honest. 

I don’t understand. What can’t be undone? I asked them. They speak in rhymes, often starting and finishing each other’s sentences, completing each other’s words as if they were one person. Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos did their jobs for the world. No one thanked them or hated them. They just were. 

The string of life cannot be unclipped, Clotho said. Her sister Atropos stood at the beginning of the line, And a life cannot be erased, she finished. 

I still was lost.

It angers us to rewrite the threads of time.

What was she saying? Are you saying that you don’t want me to do…what exactly? I thought I had a clue about the riddle, but I wanted to be sure. 

No god, past or present, can unclip the strings of time. You are a powerful king, but even your power can’t do this.

But my power could do this. 

You should not do this. It goes against the balance of life or death, and even you, mighty Callum, cannot go against the balance of life and death, Lachesis said.

Life and death are in our hands only. We have allowed it for our purpose, but there is no purpose that can unbalance the scales. The scales of life and death must be balanced. For all of us.

And if I do it again, the scales will be unbalanced. Then what happens? I asked them all, and for a second, the Fates stopped what they were doing and stared at me. It was unsettling, to say the least. 

Then you will have enemies that even your sword can’t fight. Atropos’ unseeing eyes laid on me. 

Enemies that can cut your life without even raising a blade to you. Clotho picked up a string and cut it. They made their point. I was to not bring anyone back from the dead. I was to not interfere with their work, or I would deal with them.

Women that I could end me where I stood.

Women with power beyond my imagination.

They were here before time. They would be after I am long gone

Now that you understand, you can leave.

The door opened, and they were done with me. Without a glance back, I walked back into my room. I heard the portal close and hoped that this was the last time it would open for me. 

I didn’t want to face the Fates. I didn’t want to anger them. So, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t rewrite time ever again.

TWO

love come softly

SERENA

I was sitting in the field; the sun wasn’t up yet, but I couldn’t sleep. I slept long enough. Thousands of years of nothing. No love. No happiness and nothing to look forward to. Just emptiness. I got out of bed hours ago, the melancholy making me move. I wanted to see Anubis, wanted to have him hold me like he did the day before I died, but that couldn’t happen. He was with another woman that had given him a son. A son that was the most powerful god this world and all other worlds have ever known. And that son gave me my life back. I was grateful for that, but I still missed Anubis. 

There were other things that I missed, like my sisters. Since we have been back together, we have talked and laughed, even cried together, happy to have this chance at life again. We talked about the things that we would do differently. How we wouldn’t bring attention to ourselves. That would be hard. We basked in knowing our powers. To make decisions about life and death was a heady experience. To kill even a god was something that I could never describe. We had it all.

And then love came in. 

I knew Anubis wanted a seat with powerful gods. I knew he would do anything to have it. He talked about it all the time, and yet I never thought that I would be a pawn in his quest for a seat. I remember the moment the blade went across my throat, thinking, He doesn’t mean this. And then darkness followed. I should hate him, and for what he did to me, a part of me does hate him. A bigger part still loves him. All of my loneliness and confusion welded together in one upsurge of devouring yearning. And there was nothing I could do about it. 

There was something else that I yearned to do while I was in nothingness. Play my kora, the instrument I played in secret. The kora was only for men, the tradition passed down from father to son for centuries. The man that taught me had no children and he was one of my followers. He prayed for children. He and his wife were older and wanted one so badly. I granted him a son and daughter, and in return, he taught me to play late at night. I loved my kora, and I knew mine was destroyed after all this time, but I wished I had one. I closed my eyes, and I saw it in my mind. The round bottom, the long strings that reached to the heavens. It reminded many of a harp, but it had only had twenty-one strings. It was played with two fingers on one hand, the thumb and the pointer finger, and the music was beautiful. 

In my hands I held my beloved instrument. And without a thought, I began to play. From the first melody I felt my heart grow light. I sang the song of a lover gone far away, never to return. My eyes were closed, and I felt the breeze against my face. For only a moment I felt alive. I opened my eyes and saw him walking to me. The man that I loved, my Anubis. I wanted to run to him, but I knew it was only a dream, only a figment of my imagination. I played with all of my heart and waited, hoping he could hear what I was saying. Hoping my words got through to his heart. When he was so close I could touch him, I reached out.

Don’t stop playing.

It wasn’t Anubis. He and his son looked a like but didn’t sound alike. Anubis’ voice stroked my soul, where Callum only piqued my interest. I did as he asked and kept playing. Singing the song of the Mali people. When the song was over, I looked into the eyes of the son of the man I loved and waited.

I have never heard that instrument before. It is beautiful. 

I smiled up at Callum, The men that played this were called Griots. They are from the West African country of Mali. A Mali man taught me to play many, many years ago. Women never learn to play; they don’t even sing the songs. I granted him children in his old age, and he taught me. It’s one of the few things in this new life I can enjoy. 

You like music? He sat down on the grass next to me, his arms resting on his knees. 

I love music. When they would have festivals, I would go all the time. Blessing the men and women that sang and danced. I loved the way the music beat through my body.

We have concerts in this time. But there is something that you should have. Let me show you. He stood and took me by the hand. You were singing about a woman who lost her love?

I forget you are god. Yes, it was a song from long ago.

Do all gods understand every language?

Yes. It’s a blessing and a curse. We can hear the pleas of the needy. We can also hear the wants of the greedy.

I don’t hear a lot of different languages in West Texas. Mostly southern English, and maybe some Spanish. Which I speak already.

Give it time, you will hear the people in all tongues. We reached the door, and he opened it for me, allowing me to go in first. He walked up the stairs and took me to his bedroom. He opened a drawer and handed me something. 

This is my old iPod player. It has the radio, as well as downloaded songs. When I get home tonight, I will download more for you. You put these headphones over your ears, and you can hear music. He took the headphones and placed them over my ears. The sound was muted, and I stood there looking at him for a moment, waiting on something to happen. Then I heard a woman singing. Her voice was so beautiful. 

Callum pulled the headphones away from my ears. If you want the music louder you push this button. If you want to turn it down, push this one. If you like the song and want to hear it again hit, the back button and if you want to skip it, hit the forward.

Who is this singing? He showed me the screen. It read Whitney Houston. 

This is my mom’s playlist; she loves love songs. I like rap mostly. But there are thousands of songs on this thing. It will hold you over until I get home today. He smiled at me. I smiled back. He looked so much like his father it was painful to watch him, but his heart was gold. Just one look in his eyes and you knew that. 

There was a knock on the door, and Essence and Furor were there. What is that on your head? Essence asked me, and I turned to her. 

Headphones. Music comes out of them, and this woman is amazing. You have got to hear her.

Why are you yelling? yelled Furor.

It’s because the headphones are loud. 

I picked up the iPod and hit the button for the sound to go down. Once it was softer, I turned to my sisters, and Furor was smiling at Callum. My sister loves music. Thank you for the gift.

My pleasure. If you think you can handle it, I can show you how to find music on the internet.

What’s the internet? Essence and I asked at the same time. 

This is a computer. He pointed to a square box on his desk. It had a flat piece in front of it with numbers and letters on it. When you turn it on, you can find anything you want about anything that has ever happened in the world. Right at your fingertips. All you have to do is get on the internet. He took his finger and magically an arrow glided across the screen. Then he hit a white box with a blue circle that held a compass in it and used his fingers to point down twice. It made a clicking sound and then a white page with the word Google came on the screen. Ask me anything? 

Does the kora exist in that this time? I asked him. 

Come sit. I sat in the chair, and he said, All you have to do is type in the question. I found the letters and typed in the question. Now press return. I did that and within a second I saw photos about the instrument that I loved. Then he pointed to the screen. If you press where it says video, you can watch people play it.

That sent a thrill through me. The sounds of the kora went through the room, and then I heard the sounds of a woman. A woman playing the kora. Oh, how times have changed. I smiled and turned to Callum. This morning was lonely, now I have a friend. This woman plays. I can’t wait to learn more about this world. How many questions can I ask this Google?

As many as you wish. We pay for the internet. Just don’t ask anything about how to kill someone and we will be fine, he said with a smile. 

I know how to kill someone. I don’t need to ask that question. Furor and Essence laughed, and Callum just shook his head. 

I will get ready for school in the bathroom. Enjoy the internet and music. I will be home in a few hours, and you can tell me all that you learned.

I was looking forward to it. 

My sisters and I searched the internet all day. We searched our names and found stories about the goddess that disappeared. There were people that actually studied us. 

We found that in universities all over the world they had ancient gods as a level of study. There were abstract photos of us on the internet and we marveled at what they showed. Three powerful sisters that disappeared one day. 

Humans didn’t have the full story, but they made up stories about what happened to us. We even read papers published about us. You see, we haven’t been wiped off the face of the Earth, I told my sisters with a smile. 

The internet was a beautiful thing. We should write the story of what really happened to us. Let the world know from our point of view how we were killed for power. Essence meant how Anubis killed us. 

We could write a book about our adventures. We had a grand time together, Furor said with a smile, bumping my shoulder. I smiled at her. 

We really should write a book. Tell the stories of our past, and the adventures of what we are facing now. 

I got excited. What should we call it?

"King of the Reapers. We can honor Callum in it."

Search how to publish a book, Furor said, and I did just that. From the looks of it, it would be a lot of work, but we could tell the world our true story.

THREE

the sounds of sorrow

ANUBIS

I hadn’t heard the sounds of a kora in many years. I woke to the sound of it this morning and the heartbreak in Serena’s voice. I did that to her. All for power. I had nothing to show for all that I put her through. All that I put her sisters through, and if I was honest, all that I put myself through. 

I lived several lifetimes missing the sound of her voice. Singing, laughing, saying my name. I knew she still loved me, and if this was another time, say one hundred years ago, I would beg her to forgive me and take me back. My eyes drifted over to Celeste. She was my world now, and I learned nothing was more important than love. I learned the