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My eyes widen, as my voice croaks, “What?”
He bites on his lower lip. “Yes. In my many years on this plane, I have seen god's dip their arrows in a waxier version of this, which can incapacitate an immortal with a nick of the skin. Otherwise, this liquid is nearly odorless and can adhere almost seamlessly into any other liquids with mild use of magic. Slipping it into the wine, the only way of detecting the presence being by dropping a couple drips on the table. If they drip into perfect spheres like this,” he gestures to the drops on the counter. “Then the liquid is tainted.”
Biting my lower lip, I hold back tears. “Was dad trying to poison me?”
The healer sighs as he grimaces, “I don’t know.”
I want to believe that he has his reasons, but I don’t know any more. All I know for certain is that I'll find him, and he'll tell me what’s going on.
Pressing my lips into a neutral place, I hold back the tears that threaten to form.
Dad, what were you doing to me?
Having been officially discharged from the infirmary, albeit with stern instructions from the healer, I rest on a chair in my room. Already I miss the company of Chiron. Even watching him preparing tinctures brought me the comforts of home.
The healer’s words echo in my mind. Quicksilver. Why would he put quicksilver into my medicine? There must be a reason. Even if it’s lost on me.
After identifying what was in the liquid, I can’t bring myself to continue using the liquid. But I can’t get rid of it. Not until I know what dad was doing to me.
Shoving those fears from my mind, I watch Athena who stands solemnly from her usual position at the door. I make small talk with the goddess, but it’s not easy. She prefers short and clipped answers while hardly asking any questions of her own.
The most that I have heard her talk so far was when I asked about her boxing match against Ares. Oh boy, she gave me an enthusiastic play by play of precisely what occurred. The image was so vivid that I could’ve been seeing it through a vision.
A single knock reverberated off the door. “Come in,” I shout. Not feeling like standing up. Artemis opens the door with a look filled with concern.
“How are you doing, Pandy?” On one hand, she’s a vase of flowers and on the other she’s a stack of books.
I shrug. “I have been better.”
Artemis shoots me an encouraging look. “You gave all three of us quite the scare. Even Apollo was freaking out.”
My heart craves for that to be true.
I highly doubt that he broke his normal stony demeanor. “Yeah, it was an odd thing. Chiron suspects seizures but further testing may be required.”
“But it's curable, right?” she questions.
Shaking my head, I shrug, “Partially manageable but not controllable. There are some things that I can do to keep them in check but even that won’t stop all of them.”
Nodding, Artemis fiddles with her hair. “At least you may be able to stop some of them. You scared me back there. I thought you were dying or being poisoned or something.”
“True,” I reply. “But question for you, why did you give in to Apollo?”
Ares was obviously someone that she despised. Yet when her brother went behind her back and made him her fiancée, that seemed like such a low blow. I expected Artemis to fight back. Especially for someone as strong and empowered as the Moon Goddess.
Artemis is the epitome of ‘I don’t need a man. I'll do it by myself.’
But in front of her family at the dining table… she looked so meek. Nervousness is so unlike my friend. “It is my duty,” Artemis stated simply.
“To whom?”
Artemis’s eyes remain locked on the fire. “To my Lord and my court.”
To her Lord? The same Lord who’s also her brother. He has responsibilities to protect his sister? Shouldn’t he be looking over her wishes too?
Tucking my feet on the sofa, Athena’s demanding voice rings out. “Pandora, that’s a 500-year-old chair that was given to Hera by Hephaestus. Please remove your shoes from it and sit like a lady,” chastises Athena.
“Whatever,” I grumble as I remove my feet from the chair. “Back to more pressing issues than my disrespect against the hated forsaken former queen’s furniture. Artemis, you deserve to be happy. What about your duty to yourself?”
