The Gilded Vow (Gods & Beasts)

Chapter One

Apollo

Few things rattled a god, and even fewer made Apollo, god of the sun, nervous. But somehow, what he was about to do shook him to his very core.

“It’ll be fine, stop worrying.”

Apollo turned to his sister, Artemis. “Who said I was worried?” He mustered his most confident, toothiest smile.

The goddess of the hunt crossed her arms over her chest. “Have you forgotten that I’m your twin sister? That out of everyone in the entire world, I’ve known you the longest.” Artemis reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to put up that confident facade around me, you know.”

He blew out a breath, allowing his posture to slump.

“It’s just…this is important, you know? Literally nothing has been more important than this, not in the thousands of years of my existence.

And what happens today will affect the rest of my immortal life.

The council has to agree to give Geri the golden apple so she can live forever.

” Just the very idea of his mate one day dying while he remained alive and youthful made his chest ache.

“You’ll have my vote,” Artemis assured him. “And a few others on the council, for sure. But…”

“The decision must be unanimous,” Apollo finished.

Immortality was not a trivial matter after all.

Usually, only demi-gods—the sons and daughters of gods and goddesses–could eat the apple to gain immortality.

Just recently, they had approved of another mortal to partake of the apple, but that had been very specific and special circumstances. “What if–”

A soft chime rang throughout the hallway, interrupting Apollo. “It’s time for the council meeting,” Artemis said. “Let’s head inside.”

They were the first to arrive, and so Apollo and Artemis entered the divine hall, where the twelve–well, now it was eleven–most powerful gods and goddesses of Olympus met for their meetings, where they discussed important, world-changing matters.

The Council of Olympians was one of the more powerful forces in the universe, after all.

Inside the hall, eleven white marble seats of equal size and height sat in a circle.

Previously, Zeus’s throne-like seat had risen above the others’, but when it turned out he had obtained the territory of Olympus through deceit, they cast him off to Tartarus for his crimes.

The rest of the council decided to change the seating, for now, so that they were all equal, but they kept the twelfth chair, as they had yet to decide who would take over Olympus.

Apollo and Artemis took their positions and waited for the others to arrive.

A few chose to walk in from the hallway like they did–Hestia, Demeter, Ares, and Aphrodite.

The rest–Poseidon, Hades, Athena, and Hera–simply materialized at their designated seats.

This left two seats empty– Zeus’s and that of Hephaestus, god of forges and fires.

While the former was a newer development, the latter was more or less an accepted fact.

Hephaestus had not attended a council meeting in thousands of years, but he always read through the meeting notes and sent his vote in.

On most trivial matters, he voted with the group.

Actually, in the last thousands of years, the council rarely split in their decisions.

Normally, that would have filled Apollo with hope, but he knew that the vote could go either way.

“Are we all here?” Poseidon spoke first. “Then the meeting of the Council of Olympians will come to order.”

With Zeus leaving the leadership spot, the god of the seas had “helpfully” stepped in to moderate and lead the meetings. Apollo was not quite sure if that was a good or bad thing, but no one else in the council took the initiative. Besides, with no one in charge, the council would be in disarray.

Poseidon continued. “All right, let’s begin. Is there any business any member wishes to bring up?”

Apollo’s heart thundered in his chest, but he managed to raise a hand in the air. “I do.”

Nine pairs of eyes trained on him, though only about half of them looked surprised. Artemis, Hades, and Demeter already knew what he was going to say, but he was taken aback at Hestia’s knowing smile.

“You?” Ares, the god of war, scoffed. “You haven’t even been here for the last couple of meetings.”

“Er, yeah, sorry about that,” Apollo said sheepishly. “I had, er, an emergency in my realm.”

“An emergency?” Athena asked. “Exactly what kind of emergency must the god of music and poetry attend to? Did a composer somewhere lose his sheet music?”

Apollo ignored the guffaws from Ares and Hera. “Something like that,” he said. “But I promise, I plan to be here for every single meeting from now on. Anyway, if I may–?”

“Go on,” Poseidon said. “What is it that you would like to discuss, Apollo?”

“I–” His throat suddenly went dry as a desert. Swallowing to moisten it, he spoke. “I wish to petition the council for permission to give the golden apple to a mortal.”

Silence stretched across the room, filling it until the atmosphere grew thick with tension, until Poseidon finally spoke.

“The golden apple of immortality isn’t some party favor we hand out to any mortal,” the god of the sea said, his tone humorless. “I’m sure you’re aware of that.”

“Only demi-gods and humans who can prove they are worthy of such a gift can partake of the golden apple,” Hera pointed out.

“You did it for Georgious, Demeter’s husband and Persephone’s father,” Apollo reminded them. He bit his tongue to prevent himself from adding, you know, the man who Zeus, your husband, blackmailed and then imprisoned for thousands of years so he could control Olympus?

“That’s a special case. We made reparations for a grave crime,” Athena said. “One that affected the very history of the universe and this council. Unless the same can be said of this mortal, I move to dismiss this petition.”

“One moment.” Hestia raised her hand. “Before we do, Apollo, to whom would you give the golden apple to?”

“The woman I love,” he declared. “The one I wish to spend my immortal life with.”

Ares let out a scoff. “A woman? Well, that’s a surprise,” he said, words dripping with sarcasm. “Apollo, if we gave every slut we fucked–”

“Shut your damn mouth!” Apollo growled as he shot to his feet. “You will not speak of her that–”

“Apollo, sit!” Artemis hooked her hand into her brother’s arm and pulled him back down. “Don’t rise to his bait,” she whispered. “Let me handle this.”

He shot daggers at the god of war, who seemed to relish the attention. “That asshole! How dare–”

“Shush!” Artemis practically shoved him into his seat as she stood up.

“Just follow my lead, okay?” Clearing her throat, she smoothed her hands down her front.

“Fellow goddesses and gods of the council,” she began.

“While my brother’s, er, reputation may precede him, in the thousands of years of his existence, he has never, ever asked the council for anything.

Not even when his best friend died.” She took a deep breath.

“We only ask that you hear him out and plead his case as to why he thinks this mortal should receive the apple.”

Poseidon rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “All right, go on.”

“Thank you.” The goddess of the hunt clapped her hands together. “Apollo, tell us about this woman you love.”

“Her name is Geri Andersen, and she’s not just a human.

She’s also a wolf shifter,” Apollo said.

“We have fallen in love, and I wish to spend the rest of my life with her.” He glanced over at Demeter, who smiled back at him.

The goddess of the harvest, after all, was a good friend to the wolf shifter.

“But being mortal, she only has a few more decades to live.” The very idea of watching Geri die made his insides ache.

“You love, and sometimes you lose that love.” It was Aphrodite who spoke. “Such is what happens when it comes to matters of the heart.” There was a tinge of sadness to her tone.

“But it’s not just that you’re in love, is it, Apollo?” Artemis said.

“I love her and she loves me. What else is there?”

Artemis clucked her tongue. “Apollo, what else?”

“Huh?” Apollo cocked his head to the side.

“Oh, for goddess’s sake!” Artemis stamped a foot. “Tell them about the bond.”

“Wha–oh yeah!” He scratched his head. How could he have forgotten? “We are also mated.” Pulling at his neck collar, he showed them the scar from the bite Geri had given him.

“M-mated?” Hera choked.

“Yes,” Apollo said. “We are mated in the way of her people. Her wolf chose me, and then we gave each other claiming marks. She has my bite on her neck as well.”

“But she is a wolf shifter, and you are a god.” Aphrodite leaned forward. “I didn’t even know that was possible. How could her wolf have chosen you as its mate?”

“No one else tried, I guess?” he shrugged. “But I wouldn’t lie about it. I couldn’t, not to you, Aphrodite. Look into my heart and see for yourself. Our love is true, and our bond is stronger than anything I have ever experienced in my entire immortal life.”

The goddess of love’s silvery blue gaze bore into him, her face changing from skeptical to surprise. “He speaks the truth. The bond is present.”

“See?” Artemis said. “Apollo and Geri don’t just love each other.

They are truly bonded on a metaphysical, and dare I say, spiritual level.

The bond allows them to feel what the other feels and connects them as long as they live.

Apollo is the chosen mate of a shifter; thus, he would suffer immensely when she dies.

It would not only be cruel to allow that to happen, but unnatural.

As per shifter law, the bond is sacred, and it would be going against nature to keep them apart. ”

“I agree,” Demeter said. “And I am in favor of the shifter Geri Andersen receiving the golden apple. In the time I’ve known her, she has proven to be responsible, level-headed, and practical. Good traits to balance out Apollo’s personality. They will be loyal partners to each other.”

“And obviously, I vote in favor as well,” Artemis added.

“Wait a minute, I–we haven’t called for a vote yet,” Poseidon interrupted. “Besides, in such a case, the council must vote unanimously, and I am not ready to vote.”

“As am I, and I am the goddess of marriage, and I rule over the golden apple grove,” Hera said. “Aphrodite?”

The goddess of love glanced at Apollo. “I’m sorry...I’m not ready either.”

Now that surprised Apollo. He thought for sure that out of everyone on the council, Aphrodite would be immediately on his side. He swallowed hard.

“Apollo, this is not a no,” Hestia said gently. “But, choosing to be immortal is not a decision to be taken lightly. Even demi-gods, who are already nearly divine in their own right, must carefully consider if this endless life is what they want.”

“I understand,” Apollo said. “So, tell me what I need to do to convince you all. We will do anything.”

Poseidon glanced at the others, then at Hera and Aphrodite. “I propose this first: Hera and Aphrodite will speak to you and Geri. And then they will report back their findings to the rest of us.”

“What do you want to know? What questions will they ask?”

“That is up to them.” He nodded to the two goddesses. “It is their realm, after all.”

The heaviness of Poseidon’s words, as well as what the road ahead would be like, weighed heavily on Apollo. “I understand. Thank you all, for your time.”

“Now, can we get on with other business?” Poseidon waited for a heartbeat for any objections. “All right then…”

Artemis sauntered back to her seat next to him, then squeezed his hand. “See? I told you it will be okay.”

Unfortunately, he didn’t share his sister’s sunny optimism. “They didn’t say yes.”

“But they didn’t say no, either.” Smirking, she leaned back into her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ll do great, I know it. I believe in you, Apollo.”

Artemis could be a pain in the ass some–well, a lot of–times, but in this moment, Apollo was glad she used her pushiness to help him. “Thanks, sis.”