“Nay, akra. It’s not that…” Obviously, he’d aggravated her about Xyn so much that it’d become a sore topic for the goddess. So he quickly changed the subject to what had caused him to disturb her tonight. “I’ve asked Xanthia to marry me.”
She dropped the sfora.
Xedrix ran to catch it.
Apollymi rose up to float above them all. She wasn’t standing; she hovered in the air, over the black waters. “Pardon? Do you love her?”
Unsure of her mood for once, he swallowed hard before he answered her honestly. “Nay, akra. It’s … a mutual benefit.”
“I see.” Her eyes began to glow red. “And this favor you would have of me?”
More than a little nervous at her peculiar act, Urian took a deep breath. “Do you remember what I said to you when I was a child?”
“Aye, but you said many things to me when you were young. To which one are you referring now?”
The one that haunted him constantly. The one that weighed on his conscience the heaviest. And it was the one he couldn’t go into marriage without addressing first.
“About children, akra. I meant what I said. The last thing I want is to father a babe I have to watch die. Or one I have to stand over when he or she goes Daimon and becomes a soulless killer. Hunted. Hated. Can you please make it so that I will never father any while I’m an Apollite?”
Her jaw dropped at his request. “Do you understand what it is you’re asking me, Urian?”
“Aye, akra.” His gaze went to the pillow she’d dropped on the ground. “I know the pain that haunts you. The pain that drove mi solren to bargain away his very soul. I’ve killed enough treli here, and seen enough Daimon conversions and Apollite deaths to know well what fate awaits me. I don’t want that for my children. It’s no way for anyone to live. Please spare me your heartache, akra. I beg you for that mercy.”
More tears glistened in her eyes as she lowered herself to stand before him. Reaching out, she drew him into her arms and kissed his forehead. “Then it is done, my precious one. You are sterile.”
Strange, he didn’t feel any differently. But if she said he was sterile, he would trust in her. “Thank you, akra.”
“Don’t thank me, Urian. Not for this. Because I’ve taken from you the single greatest joy I’ve ever known.”
“Nay, akra.” He glanced down at the tearstained pillow. “As you said, it’s all about how you look at things. What you took from me was the greatest heartache and pain you’ve ever suffered.”
She inclined her head to him. “As you say, m’gios. Life is all about perspective.”
*
Xanthia froze as she felt a chill rush down her spine. It was one she was intimate with and the one she hated more than anything. Yet she knew better than to let it show, for that would be a death sentence. Bracing herself, she forced a false smile to her lips.
“My lord.” She curtsied before the ancient god.
Disguised as an Apollite, the god of sorcery and the blackest craft glanced around the small room with a sneer. “What a wretched hovel they’ve given you.”
Honestly, it was better than the death sentence his pantheon had bestowed upon her and her children. All things considered, she’d much rather have the cottage.
Besides, experience had taught her that the ancient god didn’t want her to speak. So she kept her gaze on the floor and her thoughts to herself while he pranced and preened about in front of her. And she didn’t miss the irony that the god of sunshine certainly brought none whatsoever to her life whenever Helios came near. Indeed, she’d be hard-pressed to decide who was gloomier—Helios or Apollo.
He stopped short and turned toward her. “How far have you progressed in my plans?”
“Stryker’s son has proposed to me.”
“Good girl! Which son?”
“His favorite.”
For once he seemed pleased. “Well, aren’t you full of surprises…” He smiled. “Does he love you?”
“Not yet, but he will.”
His gaze intensified. “Excellent. You’ve proven yourself worthy. So I will give you what you’ve asked. You want to walk in daylight again … help me to remove Apollo from my pantheon. Destroy his bloodline and I’ll see to it that you reign at my side as the new queen of the dawn.”
“And what of my blood-hunger? How am I to eat if there are no more Apollites?”
“You remove Stryker and his wretched brood from existence, child, and I’ll hand-feed you the ambrosia and nectar you need for immortality, myself.”
He moved to stand in front of her. “It’s a simple exchange. I want that repulsive upstart removed from my pantheon and you want your life back. Give me what I deserve and I’ll give you your dreams. All you have to do is remove Apollo’s bloodline from this domain where I cannot reach him without causing a war.”
Helios smiled coldly. “A simple exchange and we’ll both be happy.”
*
Xyn shivered as she felt a presence she hadn’t felt in so long that at first she thought she must be imagining it. Surely, this was some forgotten nightmare.
“I’ll be damned, daughter.”
Her blood went cold … er.
Turning, she was stunned to see her father in the shadows of the falls, where Apollymi would splinter him into oblivion if she caught him invading her domain. “What are you doing here?”
Helios swept an appreciative gaze over her human form. “But for the red hair and green eyes, you are the very vision of your mother … before her curse.”
“And again, I ask why you’re here. You have one heartbeat before I alert my goddess and see you well met for your treachery.”
“I doubt that. If Apollymi comes, I’ll simply tell her you let me in. How else would I have been able to get through her portal without her knowledge?”
Xyn sucked her breath in sharply at his threat. She’d call him a liar, but it was the type of betrayal he and his kind specialized in. The Greeks were bastards that way, and none more so than the Titans. Hence why Zeus had castrated his own father after his father had murdered his own child.
There was nothing she’d put past them.
“How did you get in?”
“Like I’d tell you my secret?” Helios reached to touch her chin.
She recoiled from his touch as if he were a viper. And indeed, that was how she viewed him. “You’ve never been a father to me.”
“True, but then you’ve never been useful before.”
A chill went down her spine. “How do you mean?”
His gaze went past her to the grove where Apollymi’s sacred tree grew. “The ypnsi of the Haxyn tree. There’s something I want you to do with it.”
She wanted to tell him that she wouldn’t help him. But she knew that she didn’t have the power. He’d blackmail her into it. So long as it didn’t harm Urian, she’d go along with his plans.
And that made her hate herself all the more.
Just please don’t let Urian find out about this …
June 27, 9511 BC
Urian paused as he caught sight of Apollymi sniffing at the air around him. She even smelled his hair and cloak. “Is something wrong, akra?”
She sniffed twice more at his shoulders. “I swear I smell Greek!”
Perturbed by the way she continued to sniff and paw him as if his body were the odor that offended her, he scowled. “There are a lot of olive vines my solren placed about for the ceremony.”
Apollymi gave him a most peeved glare. “I know the difference between a plant and the greasy smell of one of their ilk. It reeks of a god. And this is the repellent odor of…” Her voice trailed off as Davyn approached them.
With Urian’s mother.
Delighted beyond belief, he gasped at the sight of her. “Mata!”
Smiling, she rushed to hug him and kiss his cheeks. “Oh! Look how beautiful you are!”
“What are you doing here?”
“You didn’t think I’d miss your wedding, did you?”
Apollymi scoffed and pressed her hand to her nose.
Urian ignored her as he realized that it was her way of saying that his mother must be the Greek she thought she’d been smelling.
He glanced at the goddess over his mother’s head to catch her swirling gaze and rolled his eyes at her meanness.