208. My Chest Felt Hollow
My Chest Felt Hollow
Under our feet,
the blood of Perses was turning
the white marble floors of Olympus
into ichor gold. A reminder
of everything we had lost.
I turned to look at Pallas.
His eyes were closed in pain,
his jaw clenched tight.
I reached for his hand, but he flinched.
I knew he blamed me for this.
But this would have been our sons’ fates,
his fate too. Could he not see that?
I did what I could to save them all.
But Zeus was not finished.
He turned to those of us gathered.
‘As for the Titanides, the wives
and daughters of these Titans’ –
he paused to look at his brother
Poseidon and they both smirked –
‘to the victor go the spoils.’
My heart froze.
A cry resounded across Olympus:
‘NO!’ It was so hoarse and broken
I almost did not realize that the voice…
the word… it was mine.