Chapter 48 Hercules
Hercules
“Icould have gotten myself back here without you,” I say through gritted teeth.
The words are out before I can stop them, and I immediately regret them.
Pain surges through me—not from my wounds, but from Zeus. From head to toe, every nerve ending screams. It’s like being struck by lightning from the inside out. I can’t bite back the shout that tears from my throat.
“You’re so desperate to look the victor?” Zeus’s voice is a hoarse whisper. The walls of my washroom on the Hybris tremble. “You, who just failed spectacularly because of your own arrogance?”
“Father, I—” I gasp, but he cuts me off with a gesture. The pain intensifies and I collapse fully onto the cold marble floor, convulsing.
“For that delusion, I’ll leave some of these wounds unhealed,” he says. He crouches down beside me, and I can feel the raw power radiating from him. He’s not just my father. He’s the ruler of Olympus, and the lord of gods. He could unmake me with a thought.
I force myself to meet his eyes. The purple energy still crackles there, fierce and lethal. “I’m sorry, Father.”
“I do admire your courage,” he says softly, and the pain lessens. I gasp in relief. “But I deplore your stupidity. Next time, you take the girl with you. She can help.”
“Yes, Father.” The words come out barely a whisper. I try to inject proper respect into my tone. “Forgive me. I spoke without thinking. I am… grateful for your intervention.”
The words taste like ash, but they’re true.
“If any of the other gods had seen me pluck you from Athena’s metal abominations, you would be thrown from the competition,” Zeus says, straightening to his full height.
He towers over me. “Do you understand what you almost cost me? What you almost cost yourself? That your success in this competition reflects on me?”
“Yes, Father.” I keep my eyes down now, submissive. My pride burns, but survival instinct is stronger. “I understand. I’m sorry.”
“Without the lion skin, the crabs would have killed you. Those wounds would have been fatal. Fool.”
I close my eyes and focus on breathing. There’s no good to be had from losing my temper with Zeus.
Especially when he’s healing me. I’m struggling to believe his words, though.
I didn’t feel close to death when I was in the middle of the heaving mass of metal crabs.
I was sure I would fight my way out eventually, that my strength would be enough.
But I suppose that the wounds would have slowed me down for the next trial.
“I have enough to worry about without having to nurse you back to health like some mortal infant.”
I feel his power flow into me, knitting flesh, mending bone. It’s not gentle, and I have to clench my jaw to keep from crying out again. After an infernally long few minutes, the pain once more subsides.
“That’s as much as I can do without it being obvious I have been involved,” he says.
“Thank you, Father,” I manage.
“For the next Trial, use your head, and use the girl! She’s proven herself capable.”
“Yes, Father. I will.”
“And win the next Trial,” he commands. “Prove to me that my faith in you isn’t misplaced.” Before I can answer, he vanishes in a flash of bright white light.
I let out a groan and use the copper bathtub to pull myself to a sitting position. My head swims, and for a moment I think I might vomit. I grip the smooth metal edge until the sensation passes.
Looking down at my torso, I finger my shredded shirt. The fabric is soaked with blood and torn to ribbons. Maybe the crabs really would have killed me. The few that got under the lion skin appear to have done far more damage than I realized in the heat of battle.
I tenderly touch the new scars on my chest. Some are just pink lines now, but others are still angry and red, barely closed. A reminder of my failure. A punishment.
If Zeus says I should use Evadne, I will. It doesn’t make me weak to follow a god’s orders, I decide. It’s not weakness to accept help when commanded by the ruler of Olympus himself. That’s just… strategic obedience.
I concentrate on a mental image of Evadne’s face. “Evadne, come to my quarters,” I say, pushing the words through our ship’s mental connection.
“Yes, captain,” she replies immediately, surprise clear in her voice. She wasn’t expecting me to be back so soon. Probably thought I was still at the swamp, after watching my defeat.
Everyone will know by now. Anger gives me the strength I need to get to my feet. My legs hold, though they tremble slightly. I begin to peel off my shredded clothes, wincing as fabric pulls at the wounds.
Evadne gets to my cabin in moments, and I order her to bathe me. Willingly and carefully, she wipes away the blood and grime as I let the hot water of the bath soothe my muscles.
“How…” Evadne starts, but she trails off when I look at her. She knows how I magically returned to my own ship. I will not say that my father helped me out loud.
“Who won the Trial?” I grind out. I need to know.
Her eyes drop from mine. “The Orion. Which is good, really. Theseus is your biggest rival, and obviously”—she pauses and looks nervously at me—“obviously the Orion is better than the Alastor.”
She’s right. If it isn’t me, the giants winning probably is the best of a bad situation. I close my eyes.
“When is the next Trial being announced?”
“Soon.”
“How soon?”
“I’m not sure—Asterion is watching the flame dish,” she answers.
“Good. As soon as we are done here, I need to let Olympus know that their hero lives.”