132. A Revelation
A Revelation
Of the three ways we had travelled
by the winds of the Anemoi,
without a doubt, the hurricane
was the most unfriendly of all.
Notus was the youngest of them,
so it stood to reason why his means
of transport was as young and impetuous
as he was. But for me and the child
I carried, the eye of the hurricane
did not spell calm as the grey and white
whipped around us so quickly it made
my head spin. Notus pointedly ignored
all of us as he worked, so Pallas
came to sit by me. ‘Styx.’
I kept my eyes closed to abate
the strange feeling within my womb.
‘You do not seem yourself.’
His words were like iridescent pearls
coated in worry and care.
I took a deep breath and said,
‘I am weary, that is all.’
But when he did not answer,
I turned to look at him.
‘Styx,’ he said more urgently,
his eyes travelling down
till they landed on my swelling womb.
I shifted so the drape of my clothes
hid my secret a bit better.
But it was too late. His eyes
widened as he looked at me.
‘You did not tell me.
Why did you not tell me?’
It was the pain in his tawny eyes
that made me realize perhaps
I had been wrong to keep this
secret from him.
Pallas had been nothing
but kind to me. He was nothing
like my father or brothers.
But my fear of being controlled,
of being told what to do,
had spoken louder than our love.
‘Pallas…’ I started to say,
but Notus interrupted before
I could explain…