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“Drink your ambrosia. We need to continue having you build up your tolerance,” he explains.
Leaning forward, I watch the golden liquid with trepidation. Raising the glass to my lips, Ari reaches out, catching my hand. I pause to look at her.
“Don’t drink it Pandy,” whispers Arista. Her grip on my wrist tightens. “It will only bring bad news.”
Pausing, I pretend to take a sniff as I think to myself, not now Ari.
It's not like I could dump my cup into the soil of the nearest dead plant.
“What’s the hold up?” Ov asks in a gruff tone. One eyebrow cocked to the sky as he laughed with a loud rumbling chuckle. “Do you see something on an empty table setting? Shall we fetch a servant to clean it up?”
Lifting the cup, I raise my glass sarcastically to Apollo before downing the molten liquid. I swirl the liquid back in my throat. Trying not to splutter at the taste of alcohol invades my senses.
Ari groans, “Don’t come whining to me when you figure out what they’re doing.”
Ari, you make it sound like they’re poisoning me.
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” huffs my friend. “You hardly know them as well as I—”
“Thank you for your concern,” I half replied to Ov while trying to discreetly reply to Arista. Regardless of her help, I didn’t want to feed into her worries. With how long I have known her, I know that her fears are unending. “I just wanted to savor the ambrosia. It's not everyday a mortal gets to drink it while keeping their mind intact.”
Ov analyzes me. Eyes peering deep into my soul.
If someone could read minds, that would be the look they would give.
Looking like he wanted nothing more than to move on from this trivial topic, Apollo clears his throat. “I have received word from the Marium Veil Crossing.”
“What reports do they have for us,” Ov asks intently with a raised eyebrow. “When was it sent?”
Intently, I listen while trying to look disinterested. Focusing on my food instead while masking how interested I truly am.
“It was sent days before the Winter Solstice, but we barely got to it this morning,” explains Apollo. As he thumbs the correspondence from the outpost. “They discussed they’ve been having issues with people attempting to cross the Veil.”
Pausing my meal, I couldn’t help but lift my gaze to watch the four gods.
Artemis was listening as intently as I am. On the other hand, Uncle Ov looked like he was only half listening.
Apollo looks rather bored as he reads through his scroll once more.
“Why?” Artemis asks in a tone of disbelief.
“The plague,” he sighs. “It is spreading once more. Though it’s just as bad in the other courts.”
All of us sat in silence. Images of the stone covered chest of Apollo sends a chill down my spine. For several minutes the five of us sat in uncomfortable silence. The plague felt like a thing from nightmares. A tale told from merchants from the population heavy city centers from distant lands.
Ever since my first day here, I inspect myself before bed. Checking for the slightest change of me turning to mud. So far, no changes but who knows with the plague. From how the gods see it, they seem terrified of it and I’m a mortal.
Surveying the room, I see mostly worried expressions. That is, except one.
Athena continued with her normal stony demeanor. It seems that since she sided with her father, she prefers to take a more neutral stance these days.
Uncle Ov sighs, “Well that was distinctly not the news that I was hoping to hear. The blasted curse seems to continue spreading through the lands with each passing day.” Pointing his fork with a chunk of divine meat on its prongs in my direction, he adds, “Just last week I lost my favorite errand boy. Now I need to train someone entirely new.”
My eyes widened as I took my meal. Uncle seems more upset at inconvenience rather than the life of the person lost in the situation. It all felt so out of touch.
“You could say that again.” Ari rolls her eyes.
“On another note,” Apollo adds, “Hera sent word today from Demeter’s Court.”
