156. The Baby’s Cries Soothed
The Baby’s Cries Soothed
and after some time had passed,
Styx sat up with help from Pallas,
her divine body healing quickly.
As she rocked the child at her chest,
she looked up at Metis.
But it was I who spoke first to her.
‘Metis,’ I sighed, ‘why?’
Metis, who had been in silent awe
watching Styx with Zelus,
slowly turned toward me.
Her eyes were narrow,
anger written in the corners of her mouth.
‘Why? You dare to ask me why?
You have all been lying to me.’
Her hands shook. ‘You knew.
You knew and you called yourself
my sisters.’ Leto stepped forward
to take Metis’s hand but she wrenched
it away. ‘And you, Leto.’ Her voice rose.
‘I thought you were my ally, my friend.’
Leto’s eyes filled with tears.
‘I am, Metis. We did it to protect you!
Who knows what Kronos would have done
if he had learned a new Oceanid had—’
Metis threw her head back
and let out a short, bitter laugh.
‘Kronos does not scare me.
And he should not scare you either.’
It was Styx who spoke now.
She rose from where she lay,
handing Zelus tenderly to Pallas.
‘Metis, I understand your pain.
I understand being betrayed by your own.
Please know that we were only trying
to protect you from the rage of the God-King.’
Metis faltered, but her eyes hardened again.
‘That is why the God-King must fall.
A God-King should be fair, not cruel.’
Perses stepped forward now.
‘And what makes you think,’
he said quietly, his voice cold,
‘that Zeus would be any better?’