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Artemis rolled to face me, propping her head up with her hand. “Why would he task you with that?”
I shrug. “Who knows. Maybe me being here was my destiny and he knew it.”
Dad always seemed to make predictions that could be freaky accurate at times.
Turning, I watch Artemis as she calculates her response, “Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother, but it would be best if you don’t tell him that. He may get the wrong idea.”
Nodding, we sit in amicable silence.
Would he leave me to continue his quest to scour the world for his first love? Forgetting what he and I have going on. I ask Artemis, “Do you’ve any blankets I could use? it’s getting chilly out here.”
With a swish of her hands, Artemis plucks a blanket onto my lap from midair.
“Thank you,” I reply, curling into the thick wool. Smoothing the wrinkles, I trace the intricate weaving. A scene of a forest at night. Small critters nestled into their hiding holes while a tall gold deer gallop being pursued hotly by a gang of hunting hounds. The duality of the peaceful calm and the existential fear reminds me of my time with the immortals. On the surface, everything was fine until one looked deeper.
The night is dark. Not the same as Artemis’s room, which feels warm and comfortable. But the kind of spooky darkness that makes your skin crawl. Maybe Ari was on to something, “It is quite dark tonight. Not even the moon is in the sky.”
“True, growing up, my mother would always say that these were the days that monsters would be out and about. Prowling for their next prey. I used to think it was an old wives’ tale and that she maybe was being overprotective,” sipping her tea, she pauses. Thinking through her next several words, eyes eons away from the here and now. “Although, tonight make me think that she was onto something.”
Cocking my head, I watch her with a raised eyebrow.
Her words are perplexing to me.
What’s she going on about?
“Maybe you could leave before the equinox. I could iris you close to the border to one of the other courts. Perhaps to Hades. Not the best option but at least you’d be free, happy, and healthy. He and Apollo are enemies. The God of the Underworld would never hand you back over to my brother,” she explains as she snaps some boiling tea between us. “I don’t want to lose you to him but the ceremony…”
I ask, “What happens at the ceremony?”
“Bad, dark, and evil things. All that I wish to never be a part of,” she sighs. “Pandy, I don’t want you to become mud like the others.”
The more and more time that I spend in this world, I learn how much I have true control over. Which isn’t very much. Basically, it’s my emotions. My actions. Everything else is left up to the fates and the gods. “You know that I can’t leave. It would be dooming you all,” I whisper.
“But we don’t even know if it will work,” she insists. Her brow furrowed as she focuses her eyes on the fire. “I would much rather have you around however long we’ve until turning to marble, rather than cutting your life short for no certain gain.”
“Yes, but not everyone sees it that way.” I respond. It says a lot that an immortal has accepted her own mortality when face to face with the plague.
“Pandy, all it would take is one word and I'll make sure that you get out of this court, safe and sound,” she promises. “One word.”
Nodding, I think about her words. What do I want? I sure don’t want to
“Maybe let's do something fun instead.” If these are truly my last couple of days, I want to make these last days count, I think to myself.
Artemis grins wickedly. “Perhaps we’ve brunch in town and head to the market? Get you out of the castle and then you can think about it.”
I return her mischievous smile. “Now you're talking my language.”
Yawning, I stretch my arms as I ask, “Tired? We could lay down inside. I can take the couch,” Artemis offered.
“Artemis, I'm not going to kick you out of your own bed.” Shooting her an incredulous look, I add, “If it's a problem, I could sleep on the couch.”
“Haha, no. I guess we’re okay to share.” She returns my look with a grin.
Slipping under the soft and silky covers, it feels like only minutes before sleep takes me again.
Waking up, we promptly got ready for our adventure in town. We were up so early that Artemis let me borrow a gown of hers. “It was a gift from Apollo. He should know by now that I don’t wear long chitons, yet he still gives them to me occasionally as gifts.” She rolls her eyes. “Feel free to keep that one. I don’t think I have worn it since receiving it a millennia ago.
My eyes widen as I try to conceptualize the age of the dress. Throwing it on, I feel exposed. To one side, there’s a high slit that nearly goes up to my hip.
