“Did you tell her anything before she went in? Prepare her in any way?” Fulla asks me.
I share a guilty look with the others. “We couldn’t. They would know about our alliance and we can’t let that happen. At least, not yet.”
“How would they know?”
The exams are a secret—no one outside the actual trial can discuss them. No one wants to. They’re embarrassing. Revealing. The judges use tricks to get in your head, dig out your biggest fears and spread them across the playing field like land mines.
“They would know. Trust us,” Thor says, catching Fulla’s eye. They’re close and she seems to believe his word over mine. “It’s nothing you can prepare for. That’s the whole point.”
Ten minutes have passed and the tension among our group rises. Loki plays with a rubber ball, bouncing it off the stone floor. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. The ball beats back and forth.
Next to him, Triton reads. Always reads, but at least he’s not talking, explaining the odds or the likelihood of Artemis’s failure.
Thor raises his eyebrow. We both know what it means the longer it takes. A quick mind gets in and out, solves the problems, fights the demons. A weaker one…well those get mired in the fantasy. Confused and overwhelmed.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
“Loki…” I say, annoyed at the sound, but the next pass is stopped short.
There’s no warning before Thor snatches the ball mid-air and hurls it toward the garden. It sails through the air like a bullet, nailing a statue in the arm and breaking off a chunk.
“Hey!” Loki jumps up, eyes fiery, ready to fight, but the door of the training facility swings open and Artemis, looking exhausted and worn, steps into the sunshine.
Fulla stands and quickly greets her. Artemis’s face is pale—haunted. I have a terrible feeling about what she’s going to say. Thor gives me an uneasy glance. He senses it too.
“Artemis, what happened?” Fulla asks.
We’ve all approached her now. Triton’s curiosity gets the best of him and he slides the book into his bag and follows Loki, who has forgotten his ball.
Artemis’s eyes skirt over the four of her allies. I feel uncomfortable under her gaze. There’s something wrong. Unable to take her silence any longer, I blurt, “It’s okay if you didn’t pass. The test is difficult. So many students didn’t make it through.”
“You were there.” She studies me and reaches for my cheek. Her fingers are shaking. “You were severely injured. Your face destroyed.”
“It was nothing but a trick,” I tell her. I take her hand in mine and squeeze. “I’m fine. Just been waiting out here the whole time.”
She drops her hand but doesn’t let go. “You all were there. Triton, you saved me from a terrible sea creature.” She looks down at her leg, seeking phantom injuries. “And Loki, one minute you were you and the next you were…” she shudders. “Not. I thought you were going to kill me.”
There’s a touch of hurt in his eyes. Loki always straddles the line with good and evil—at least in others’ opinions. Artemis isn’t immune to the gossip and rumors, either. Thankfully he shrugs it off. “Don’t let it get to you. The judges know the best ways to make you panic. They take the tiniest question or worry floating in your mind and turn it on you.”
“They did this to you too?” she asks all of us.
“Yes,” Thor answers and I nod. “That’s what the test is about. Your fears and paranoia. We all had to face our demons. I imagine some are worse than others.”
“I guess that makes me feel better.” She takes a deep, steadying breath. “I do have one question for you all.”
“What’s that?” Triton asks.
“How did my brother die?”
We share a look and Thor nods, taking ownership for the answer. “He was strangled.”
“Hanged?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.” Artemis releases my hand. “So, now that the test is over, what do we do next?”
“Wait,” Loki says. “You passed?”
“Of course, I passed.” She snorts and Fulla frowns. Artemis ignores her. “We have a week before the next trial, correct?”
“Yes,” Triton answers. “We spend our days preparing. The training rooms are open. Instructors and equipment are available for us to use.”
“Good.” She smiles for the first time since she exited the building, then links her arm with Fulla’s. “I’ll see you there.”
The two walk off together, and even though I didn’t just complete the test I feel like I’ve been through a whirlwind. One look at my friends’ faces and it seems they feel the same.
Once they’re gone, Triton asks, “What do you think they showed her?”
“Something bad. Obviously having to do with Apollo,” Thor says. “His death was gruesome.”
Loki nods. “Do you think it was an attempt to break her?”
“Definitely,” his brother replies.
“Do you think it worked?”
I can still feel the warmth of Artemis’s hand in mine, the callouses from years of hunting, the strength from surviving in a world much harsher than this.
“No,” I reply, thinking I understand this goddess more than before. “I think they underestimated her power. If anything, they’ve made her stronger.
18
APOLLO’S JOURNAL
SEPTEMBER
I called a meeting before the first trial. After asking Loki if he put her up to it and believing him when he said no, the encounter with Cassandra took a new meaning.
“Someone is trying to scare me,” I told the others. Loki, Thor, Dion, and Triton all sat around the lounge in our dorm. “I think they want me to quit the Trials.”
“Who?” Thor asked.
I shook my head, not wanting to drag Cassandra into this. Not yet, at least. “My father took me aside this summer. He didn’t tell me what was coming but he gave me some advice. He told me to make an alliance with those I trust.” I met each eye in the room. “You are these people. You’re not only my friends, but my brothers.”
Dion nodded. “You know we feel the same.”
“Winning the Trials means more than what we’ve been told. It’s time for a change in regime. My father wants me to take that role, but not for the reasons you think.” I know I have to be honest with them to gain their trust. It’s a risk. The politics are controversial, but I believe in them. “I want my sister to come home. I want our mothers to exit the shadows. I want our future wives, lovers, and consorts to have a voice.”
Loki frowned. “What are you saying?”
“If I win, I plan on removing the gender laws. The goddesses will regain equal rights.”
“Odin will not approve,” Thor said. He looked a little embarrassed to admit it.
“Are you sure? Doesn’t he have an army of Valkyries? Doesn’t Freya hold the key to Valhalla?”
“True, he uses Norse law to subvert the society, but ultimately he fears Hel,” Loki adds.
Hel. Skoll and Hati’s mother; she rules the underworld. “If she gained political power, she could earn her own position on the Academy board. She’s looking for any opportunity to begin Ragnarok—right now, with her limited position, it’s much harder.”
“Maybe a seat at the table would give her a voice and calm her desire for destruction?” I offered. “For too long, we’ve viewed oppression as the answer to dissent. We have to change that.”
Loki and Thor exchanged a look. The God of Thunder spoke for them both. “You’re my best friend and you know we trust you. Rebelling is risky, but since when have we shied from a challenge?” He laughed. “You’re also dead-on about our family politics. Keeping an eye on Hel and her sons will be important.”
“Zeus is close to Hati—I think he is already turning him away from the ideas of war and hate.”
To my surprise, Dion stood. “Well, I, for one, am a yes. I’m completely with you, Apollo.”