30
“Wake up,” Arista shakes me violently.
“What? What’s going on?” I question while rubbing my bleary eyes.
Standing over me, my friend looks as pale as a shade trapped outside the River Styx. “Pandy, don’t you feel it?”
Pausing, I pat myself, doing a quick inventory. Yep, still whole.
Not Mud.
Feels like a good enough night to me.
Finding nothing discernibly wrong, I closed my eyes once more. Trying to return to sleep.
“What? Sleep? No, not now. Though I”m exhausted.” Flipping over, I shove my pillow over my head. Determined to ignore her.
Ripping the blankets from me, I groan.
“Come on, danger is afoot. I can feel it clear as day out in the evening air,” she warns me. “Let’s go spend the night with Artemis. Surely, she won’t mind.”
“But why not Apollo?” I murmur as I pull the blankets over my head.
Ari rips my covers off me. The cold air is pummeling against my body.
“Hey!” I shout. I thought you couldn’t touch things. Odd.
“It’s taxing but this is an emergency!” My friend’s voice is forceful. “Now, you”re getting up and going to Artemis’s room.”
Grumbling to myself, I wonder what’s got her panties in such a twist that she was willing to expend so much energy to make me so uncomfortable.
“Get up now,” Ari warns. “Otherwise, I”ll continue to make your room more unbearable until you do so.”
Groaning even louder than before, I finally give in, “You won’t let me sleep until I leave this bed, will you?”
“Absolutely not,” she promises with a serious look. “Trust me, I take no pleasure in pulling you from your precious sleep… You get so cranky every time I do it.”
“Not all of us can survive without sleep,” I grumble.
Sluggishly, I roll out of bed, throwing on a shawl and some slippers.
I mutter, “Lead the way.”
Ari nods before leading me toward the servant’s staircase. Pointing to the sconce, she waits for me to pull the concealed lever.
“Of course, we’re going the back way.” Yanking the floral level, the door springs open.
Ari gestures me to follow her into the passageway.
I shut the door behind us. The darkness here makes my skin crawl. Only the barest licks of light dot the tight walkways. But not enough to fully see anything around us. The lack of windows makes me anxious. So rarely I have ever been in a place absent from the sky. But this feels like a labyrinth in someone’s cellar. Like I was going to be left underneath a staircase and abandoned for all eternity.
“Um, yeah. I said that I could feel something is off and you think we’re going out the front door? No. No. Absolutely night.” My friend rambles. Hypersensitive to each tiny little noise from around us. Jumping at the slightest creak of the floorboards of the servant passage.
“Relax, jitters,” I snark. “Just the flooring.”
“Take this seriously. This is your life at risk,” she warns.
When did she become so paranoid?
Weaving and winding around in the dark, I felt lost with our extensive meandering. Though I choose to keep that comment to myself. I highly doubt Arista would be in the mood to hear any of this.
“Here, follow me through this door,” Ari orders. “Be silent until we’re at the door.”
Nodding, we step out into the main hallways. At night, the walkways were cool and drafty. My wool slippers don’t have the traction necessary and needed to make it easy to keep up with my friend who’s nearly running down the halls, “Slow down.”
How does Ari know where Artemis’s room is?
Pointedly, she ignores me before finding the door she was looking for. Large and silver like the moon. Knocking, I stand, waiting. Feeling ridiculous for this.
Just as I was about to knock again, the door cracked open. The icy hair of Artemis is visible barely from beyond the door.
While I looked like a mess, thrown from bed at an ungodly hour thanks to Ari, Artemis looked put together. Not even the slightest hint of exhaustion even from my little window of a vantage point.
“One second. I”m going to unlock my door.” With a clank, the gears unlocked from the other side and there stood Artemis. Dressed in her normal day attire. “Hey Pandy. What’s up?”
“Lie to her,” Ari instructs gloomily. “Tell her that you”re having a tough night or something.”
Turning to the side, Arista was gone. Vanished like she never was there, “Well. I … I was having a hard night and couldn’t sleep. I figured that as a Moon Goddess you may be up. Could I spend the rest of the night with you?”
Smiling, she nods, “Of course. Come on in, we can sit on my balcony. I”ll get some tea.”
Her rooms were like the night sky. Deep indigo tile floors span across the room, walls and ceiling with diamond shaped ivory and crystals inlaid onto the surfaces. Some are positioned into constellations. Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Pegasus, Orion, Sagittarius, and more.
Gold and silver astronomy instruments hang in the air. Clicking and making other soft noises as their position needs to adjust. Navy and violet curtains drape her four-poster bed. The fireplace crackles beyond us. Leading me outdoors, I see the fireplace is two sided. Able to be appreciated inside and outside.
Four chaise lounge chairs lay facing the fireplace. Set between are stone end tables. Some with candles, others decorate with the tall blossoms of red amaranth. Artemis choses a chair and I sat in the one directly beside her. Getting comfortable, we half watch the sky and partially watch the fire.
With a snap of her fingers, a cup of boiling tea and two cups pop onto the end table between us. The liquid sloshing from the movement. I pour a cup of tea for each of us. Pulling the glass to my lips, I melted at the smell of vanilla chamomile tea.
“I hope you like the tea. A friend of mine and I used to drink it when we couldn’t sleep.” A reminiscing smile crept onto her face. “Let me tell you, these pathetic excuses of dried leaves don’t quite compare to how she used to make it.” Artemis sighs.
“Was she a goddess?” I ask as I sip the tea.
The soft flavor reminds me of a tea my dad used to make when we were having a hard night.
“Yes,” Artemis muses. “She was the Goddess of Spring and Flowers.”
Damn it.
Why does she just keep coming up?
“So, you were friends with Persephone?” I ask. Perhaps she knows what happened to her or has an idea of how I”m to track her down.
“Yes, a long time ago.” Artemis sips the steaming liquid. The Goddess of the Moon stares at the fire. “She spent a lot of time in this palace. As the only heir to Arva, her mother tried from a young age to find a person who was ‘worthy of her hand.’ Like a son of Zeus.” Swirling my tea, I remain silent, hoping for her to continue. “And not any son of Zeus but his favorite son. Especially being that Hera and Demeter are siblings, that axed Hephaestus. Ares is the adopted son of Zeus and biologically son of Hera so that was a no go. Then it came to the illegitimate heirs.”
“Olympian family trees are confusing,” I rub my temples, trying to stave off a headache.
“You got that right,” she mutters. “Anyways, Apollo has always been the golden child of Zeus, so it was not a hard decision for our dad. My twin has always been a favorite of the citizens and of the gods alike. Zeus especially liked it because it kept an influential heir away from his throne and further strengthened the ties to Demeter’s Court. It even gave Apollo an unencumbered path to a throne. As a part of the betrothal, Demeter made a deal with Zeus. Her daughter would sit on the throne of Olympus to nourishing the plants, forests, and our people when she came to visit every spring.”
“There’s to have been a catch,” I state. Why else would Demeter make such a promise?
My friend nodded solemnly. “Yes. With gods, there’s always a catch. Political maneuvering is the name of the game. We all have goals, both private and public, that we attempt to accomplish. But with Persephone, she’d to tie herself to the throne, crown and the land.”
“Tie?” Raising an eyebrow at my friend, I watch the flames dance across her furrowed brow.
“Yes, like binding the land to her magic using the throne as a funnel of sorts while the diadem is a focus for her power. To Zeus and even to Apollo, this sounded like a great plan. But when she was taken from the realm, the world became a steaming pile of dung,” she sighed.
“Which is why mortals have to sit on the throne?” Quirking an eyebrow, I shake my head. Gods make no sense.
“That was by instruction of our oracles. A mortal is fated to cure the plague from our land.” Artemis shrugs. “But at what cost?”
“What do you mean,” I ask as I sip my tea.
“Athena and my brother have the best interests of the land in mind. I know they aren’t malicious, but we don’t see eye to eye on everything. Including this race to find the maiden.”
Raising an eyebrow, I ask, “But why did all of this need to start in the first place?”
“Right after Persephone left us 97 years ago, the oracles instructed us to use the maidens in her place. Every six months, they become a temporary fill in for the lost goddesses. But we are running out of time. Once a century has passed without Persephone, the curse will become permanent,” she explains.
“And all the gods will become stone?” My eyes widen in shock.
Artemis nods solemnly.
Stretching her legs, she continued after she repositioned herself, Artemis adds, “Too many maidens have been taken by the plague. It makes me sick. Personally, I think it’s time that we stop the witch hunt so no one else is harmed.”
Her words send a chill down my back. My throat feels crackly and dry. “What if we found Persephone and she was brought back to the Court?” I feel sick at my words. Apollo and I have had our ups and downs but the thought of his old love returning makes me ill.
But dad did say that I need to find her and that’s what it will need to do. Did he somehow know what was happening in Olympus?
Artemis laughs hauntedly, “If a goddess doesn’t want to be found, then that would be useless.”
“... But my dad told me that I need to find her,” I whispered.
In a vision. Hades, I don’t even know if it was him or if I”m losing my mind.
Artemis rolled to face me, propping her head up with her hand. “Why would he task you with that?”
I shrug. “Who knows. Maybe me being here was my destiny and he knew it.”
Dad always seemed to make predictions that could be freaky accurate at times.
Turning, I watch Artemis as she calculates her response, “Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother, but it would be best if you don’t tell him that. He may get the wrong idea.”
Nodding, we sit in amicable silence.
Would he leave me to continue his quest to scour the world for his first love? Forgetting what he and I have going on. I ask Artemis, “Do you’ve any blankets I could use? it’s getting chilly out here.”
With a swish of her hands, Artemis plucks a blanket onto my lap from midair.
“Thank you,” I reply, curling into the thick wool. Smoothing the wrinkles, I trace the intricate weaving. A scene of a forest at night. Small critters nestled into their hiding holes while a tall gold deer gallop being pursued hotly by a gang of hunting hounds. The duality of the peaceful calm and the existential fear reminds me of my time with the immortals. On the surface, everything was fine until one looked deeper.
The night is dark. Not the same as Artemis’s room, which feels warm and comfortable. But the kind of spooky darkness that makes your skin crawl. Maybe Ari was on to something, “It is quite dark tonight. Not even the moon is in the sky.”
“True, growing up, my mother would always say that these were the days that monsters would be out and about. Prowling for their next prey. I used to think it was an old wives’ tale and that she maybe was being overprotective,” sipping her tea, she pauses. Thinking through her next several words, eyes eons away from the here and now. “Although, tonight make me think that she was onto something.”
Cocking my head, I watch her with a raised eyebrow.
Her words are perplexing to me.
What’s she going on about?
“Maybe you could leave before the equinox. I could iris you close to the border to one of the other courts. Perhaps to Hades. Not the best option but at least you’d be free, happy, and healthy. He and Apollo are enemies. The God of the Underworld would never hand you back over to my brother,” she explains as she snaps some boiling tea between us. “I don’t want to lose you to him but the ceremony…”
I ask, “What happens at the ceremony?”
“Bad, dark, and evil things. All that I wish to never be a part of,” she sighs. “Pandy, I don’t want you to become mud like the others.”
The more and more time that I spend in this world, I learn how much I have true control over. Which isn’t very much. Basically, it’s my emotions. My actions. Everything else is left up to the fates and the gods. “You know that I can’t leave. It would be dooming you all,” I whisper.
“But we don’t even know if it will work,” she insists. Her brow furrowed as she focuses her eyes on the fire. “I would much rather have you around however long we’ve until turning to marble, rather than cutting your life short for no certain gain.”
“Yes, but not everyone sees it that way.” I respond. It says a lot that an immortal has accepted her own mortality when face to face with the plague.
“Pandy, all it would take is one word and I”ll make sure that you get out of this court, safe and sound,” she promises. “One word.”
Nodding, I think about her words. What do I want? I sure don’t want to
“Maybe let”s do something fun instead.” If these are truly my last couple of days, I want to make these last days count, I think to myself.
Artemis grins wickedly. “Perhaps we’ve brunch in town and head to the market? Get you out of the castle and then you can think about it.”
I return her mischievous smile. “Now you”re talking my language.”
Yawning, I stretch my arms as I ask, “Tired? We could lay down inside. I can take the couch,” Artemis offered.
“Artemis, I”m not going to kick you out of your own bed.” Shooting her an incredulous look, I add, “If it”s a problem, I could sleep on the couch.”
“Haha, no. I guess we’re okay to share.” She returns my look with a grin.
Slipping under the soft and silky covers, it feels like only minutes before sleep takes me again.