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“Because you love her, and she you. It would have to be more than you not liking a possible partner to go to such extremes. You would put your sister’s happiness first, as I believe the same is true for her.” I dared return my eyes to Artemis with nary a blink.
The twitch at her lips said she was at least mildly impressed. “You’re not wrong. I thought I loved Orion and wanted Apollo’s blessing. He knew Orion to be one with many partners, the untrustworthy, insatiable type.” She made no attempt to hide her meaning with that comparison. “Apollo did not trick me so much as made certain that I caught Orion in the act of bedding another. Now, he adorns my tunic and the skies, forever out of reach of any woman’s touch.”
She looked up, and although no stars were visible, I caught the shimmer of the constellation she meant on her dress—the three points of Orion’s belt, which he would never remove to philander again.
Vengeful? Undeniably. But earned.
The twins fired at the third target, of which there were a total of five.
This win went to Artemis.
“You gave yourself fully to your priest, you said,” she began before even lowering her weapon. “Yet you abandoned him without thought?”
“I was taken,” I said. “Brought to Olympus without my say.”
“So, you’ve asked to be returned?”
“No—”
“Then you abandoned him.”
“I was unhappy!”
“You abandoned him because you were unhappy,” she made it sound so thoughtless and harsh in her repetition, “when you once believed you would stay with him and only him. Did you not?”
“I… I did.”
“You abandoned him without looking back because it suits your desires now.”
“All fair,” I said, and she looked smug in her seemingly second win of our questioning. “I did ask what would become of my priest, what he would think after discovering me missing, and when Apollo said all would be handled, I didn’t question it.
“Until after that day on the earth with you.” I turned my eyes to Apollo. “We parted a little earlier that day, and I found myself feeling… overrun with guilt. Having witnessed in the waters that man who wished to heal his friend, I went back to the bowl and asked to see my priest. He honestly looked relieved. I think he knew we were not a good fit. He had been granted a vision from Aphrodite of my fate and is happy for me. He will get first pick of next year’s ascended.
“But even knowing all that is not enough. I have been writing a letter to him. I wish to explain myself, so that any wounds my parting caused him might be healed. The god of healing was very inspirational for me that day.”
The suns of Apollo’s eyes flared. “That was what you were writing the next morning?”
“That. And other things.” I was not yet ready to tell him all I had been writing. “Does that better answer your question, my lady?” I returned to Artemis.
“Hn,” she huffed, which I took for a win to my side again.
The fourth loosed arrows announced Apollo as victor.
I had a simple question this time, one with only a one-word answer.
“Tell me, my lady, if you truly believed your brother to have found a worthy partner, would you accept it and wish them well?”
A moment of fury passed over her features, but she eventually said, “Yes.”
Vengeful, but a good sister.
They moved to the fifth and final target. Artemis shot first, superbly centered like all the rest, but knowing she had at least one more question she ached to ask of me, I joined Apollo when he readied his bow.
“My lord, I believe your stance might be a bit tilted.” I took hold of either side of his hips, bringing my own up close behind him as if to mold against his back.
The arrow loosed wildly, missing the target by such a wide margin, its high arch shot it into the woods.
“Oops. Perhaps I was wrong.” I stepped back.
