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Sounds like someone could do with learning more tolerance.
Though I want to snap back a feisty retort, I choose for the first time ever, to hold my tongue.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The loud noise is shocking after a long period of quiet chatter and sullen silence.
My eyes flick nervously at the door. Great, let's add someone else to this pity party, looking at Athena I ask, “Do I need your permission to let them in?”
Athena sneers, broodily she opens the door.
A woman with the bobbed silvery hair and dark eyes smiles warmly at me. The stern form of Athena softens at the sight of the new guest.
“Athena, please stand guard in the hallway.” Her voice is soft, pleasant, and cheerful. A stark opposite to the goddess who has been instructed to keep watch over me.
Bowing slightly, Athena doesn’t argue. “Yes Mistress.”
Mistress? Who would a goddess call mistress?
Especially a goddess as prideful and stubborn as Athena.
My eyes widen in wonder at the woman before me. She must also be a goddess. I can’t see her being anything else. She was too perfect to be a human.
“Ah you're curious about Athena, aren’t you?” she confirms, her voice filled with a touch of amusement.
“That and wondering why she listened to you.” I mutter under my breath.
She smiles softly at me. "I'm Apollo’s sister, his twin. Disrespecting me is to disrespect him. You may call me Artemis."
Gods, this whole day has felt like a thing of fevered dreams. This can’t be happening right now. As though I'll wake up any moment.
“Nice to meet you… Artemis.” My voice feels a bit raspy and unsure.
How does someone address a goddess? Before today I have only ever seen one immortal and he wasn’t exactly the talking type. But Artemis feels so approachable and kind.
Which is unfortunate for her. How could someone be as kind as her and also be related to someone like her twin. I can’t imagine being related to him. “So what’s her deal?”
“Who? Theny?” Artemis furrows her eyebrows and cocks her head.
Theny? I want to snort at the nickname for the stern goddess. “Yes. She was so cold.”
The goddess shrugs.
“None of us were exactly blessed by an easy childhood. But Athena was all but isolated from everyone but Zeus.” Nibbling her bottom lip, Artemis continued, “Not even able to go to her mom. While she’s a Goddess of Wisdom, I believe that makes her past experiences weigh even more heavily on her.”
But why was she so isolated? Is her mom worse?
I furrow my brows. “Why wasn’t she able to spend time with her mom instead?”
Holding my breath, I watch as the goddess mulls over her words.
It must be bad for her to respond like this.
Bad feels like an understatement for the goddess’s reaction.
Artemis ponders how to respond. “Zeus… Ate her mother when she was pregnant with her.”
Horror fills inside me. Gnawing at my center. “That doesn’t make any sense. She’d be dead.”
