Chapter 38
Hercules
It’s strangely soft, the hide I removed from Gata. I turn it over in my hands, the feeling sending something delicious flowing through my body.
Since having a tanner on Cancer fashion it into a long cloak, I’ve been testing it with everything I have at my disposal on the ship. I’ve so far found nothing that can penetrate it. It will serve me well against a three-headed beast. I lift a glass of ouzo to my lips and lean back into my seat.
“Captain?” a gruff voice rings in my head.
“I asked not to be disturbed until we reach Libra,” I say quietly.
“We’re one hour away.”
“Asterion, if you value all parts of your anatomy, do not bother me again until we are ten minutes away,” I growl to the Minotaur.
“Yes, captain.”
He’s trying too hard to recover his standing after making such a fool of himself on Cancer.
A Minotaur should not be so thoroughly beaten by a bunch of dim-witted giants, and I’m in no hurry to let him forget that.
As I raise my glass once more, an intensely bright light fills my vision.
I swear and turn my face away, closing my eyes tight.
“You won’t be the first one there, you know,” booms a voice. I turn back.
“Hello, Father. I thought I’d see you sooner after my victory. Ouzo?” I gesture my glass at Zeus.
“Your victory?” the lord of the gods replies. He has made himself a foot taller than me, and is sporting his usual cropped beard and dark hair. His eyes are violet as they flash, his eyebrows knitting together. “You call being shot by a girl half your size a victory?”
Indignation fills me, and without thought, I slam my glass down on the table. “I won! I won the first Trial! How is that not a victory?”
The purple energy rolling off Zeus crackles, and I can smell the tang of electricity in the air. His eyes lock on mine, and I’m unable to look away. Power rolls over him, and my knee slowly begins to bend of its own volition. No, of Zeus’s volition.
Losing your temper with any god is unwise. Losing your temper with Zeus is downright foolish. And I am no fool. “Forgive me, Father,” I grind out.
My knee straightens, but the power still pins me.
“You know as well as I do, the risks I take in coming here. Do not test me. You put on a pitiful display in the last Trial. You were blindly seduced by the beast herself, lost in a cave until that girl of yours freed you, and then shot by your own daughter. You may have won the Trial, but you have not won anyone’s respect. ”
Zeus’s words smash into me one after the other like physical blows, and my face heats.
“What do you mean, freed me? I had everything under control the entire time! And Lyssa shot me after I had killed the beast, in an act of cowardice,” I spit.
“She shouldn’t have shot you at all,” my father says.
“If you were a better hero, she would not have been able to. And the girl on your crew, Evadne, convinced one of the giants to remove the tree blocking the cave for you. If she hadn’t, you’d probably still be in there.
” He glares at me, and I do everything I can not to glare back. But fury is ricocheting through me.
“I could have gotten out of the cave myself,” I say quietly.
“Whilst fighting a man-eating lion? I doubt that very much. Listen to me. As I don’t trust you to cope without it, I am bringing you something to help you.”
The god holds his hand out in front of him, and purple lightning begins to roll and race around his forearm. It builds, crackling and pulsing, racing faster and faster until Zeus flicks his wrist hard.
The lightning shoots down his arm to his hand, solidifying in an instant in the form of a massive sword.
I stare, transfixed. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
Other than Hedone, perhaps.
Zeus holds it out to me, and I take it greedily. It’s as tall as most men, the handle smooth glass and the blade gleaming silver. A lightning bolt is carved into the clear hilt.
“She is called Keravnos. You must tell nobody I gave her to you, though most will guess. Say you found it somewhere on Leo before the Trials began. You should not be challenged.”
I swing the sword slowly, testing its weight.
“The handle is made from diamond. It will never break or shatter. And it has the same magic as your ship. She will respond to your thoughts and absorb your power. With her, you should be unstoppable.”
“Thank you, Father,” I breathe.
“Thank me by not making such a mess this time. And wear that lion skin, always,” Zeus says, then vanishes.
Bitterness at my father’s harsh words wars with the delight of wielding the incredible weapon in my hands. I tentatively reach out with my strength, in the same way I control the Hybris.
The blade thrums to life, a deep red glow forming around it. It feels lighter and I swing it easily toward the cushions on the opposite armchair. Without a hint of resistance, Keravnos cleaves the entire chair in two.
I pull the blade up in surprise, then begin to laugh.
With this, I really will be unstoppable. And I will prove to my father that I can win the respect of all of Olympus, without any help at all.
“But captain—”
I cut Evadne off with a wave of my hand, moving to the railing to see Libra growing as we speed closer.
“I have made my decision. Go and get me my boots. We are arriving momentarily.” When she doesn’t reply, I turn back to look at her. She’s clenching her lips together. “I said, go and get my boots.”
“Captain, I don’t think you realize how much Asterion and I can help you,” Evadne says, her voice painfully measured. She holds out her hands as she speaks.
Annoyance begins to prick at me. Evadne was so helpful, so compliant, last night. I don’t want to get angry with her now, but she’s choosing to ignore me.
“I will not tell you again. I am doing this Trial alone. That is final. Go and get my boots.” I speak slowly, my voice low and laced with the danger I want her to hear.
Evadne drops her eyes to the floor and takes a long breath. “I think you are making a mistake,” she says.
I tense. “What did you say?”
She looks up at me. “I said I think you are making a mistake. Athena is the goddess of warfare and strategy—she would never design a Trial that could be beaten by one person alone. It’s not how she works.”
Anger rolls through me. This girl thinks so much of herself and so little of me? I step toward her, but she holds both her ground and my gaze. That angers me even more than her words.
“You saw what I did to the lion, yes?” I hiss.
Evadne nods.
“You are aware that I am imbued with the strength of the lord of the gods himself, yes?”
“A Trial set by Athena will require more than stren—”
I strike her across the face, and she stumbles backward with a yelp.
“You should be grateful for this demonstration of my control,” I spit. “I could knock your head from your shoulders if I wished. This is the perfect Trial to prove to the world that I am their true hero, and that the mighty Hercules needs nobody to help him.”
Evadne stares up at me, her hand on her reddening cheek. I can see the anger in her eyes, but now it excites me. I want her to defy me. I want to push her further.
I step toward her and bend so my face is close to hers. “Do you wish to challenge me?” I breathe.
“No, captain,” she mumbles. Slight disappointment mingles with satisfaction as I step back.
“Go and get my boots,” I say.
“Yes, captain,” the girl replies sullenly.