Page 25 of A Crown of Hopes and Sorrows

Hyacinth

The carriage bumped along an uneven road that led to a smaller city of the kingdom. Lilac mountains undulated like rippling silk in the distance, the air taking on a bite to it. Our group trotted ahead, the horses’ hooves clattering against the road in rhythm. Apollo scowled and pulled his plain gray coat out, looping his arms through the sleeves.

“Glad to have that now, aren’t you?” I said.

He groaned but nestled down farther into the thick lining of it. He’d remained quiet since the previous night and hadn’t brought up whatever occurred that disturbed him so much. His arm had healed already, but something seemed to weigh on his soul. I readjusted the reins.

“Why don’t you wrap them around your hand, so you don’t have to keep adjusting them?” Apollo said.

I chuckled. “That’d be a good way to break your hand.”

He chewed his lip, and that quiet, insecure expression hovered over him again. “Do you wish you were riding horses like Delon and Len?” He gestured towards them where they trotted ahead, their laughter punctuating the air with clouds of their breath.

“No.” I dropped my free fingers onto Apollo’s thigh. “I like horseback riding fine, but I’m happiest to sit beside you here.”

He nodded, quieting again. His eyes drifted to the scrubs of fir trees that peppered the horizon, but he laced his fingers into mine. I squeezed his palm, a sweeping desire to push whatever weighed on him away filling me.

“Would you tell me now what happened last night?”

He sighed, his shoulders dropping. “Ares visited.”

My muscles tensed. “For what purpose?”

Apollo turned towards me and tucked his chin on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. It was for my sake. Nothing related to war… yet.”

“Yet?”

“My father isn’t oblivious, Cyn. He knows something is happening. I think currently he’s focused on Jupiter.”

The carriage hit a dip in the road, and it jostled us, causing Apollo to sway away from me. “What did Ares have to say to you, then?”

Apollo’s veil glimmered, gold shimmering through before his features settled. “Just the usual. He wanted to warn me and remind me of who I am.”

A god.

A son of Zeus.

Who had to ascend soon.

“Hopefully we can stall some of that,” I said.

His expression tightened, but he bobbed his head.

I parted my lips to speak, but Apollo jerked his fingers free of mine and withdrew his veil. The silver light of him shimmered around me, like we shared it.

“We aren’t in the city yet,” I said, my hand aching with the absence of his touch.

“We’re close enough to be seen. I may not like to lie.” He winced. “But I know when it’s time to play a part.”

I sighed. Yes, yes, he did.

Once we made it into the city and marched through the streets, we went through the temple ceremony, blessing Zeus. It took every inch of my years of training as a prince to do so with decorum as my mind buzzed around Zeus’ treatment of Apollo and how he pressured him to ascend. I didn’t know what it was like to have a wicked father who you despised. But Apollo would spend eternity with him if he didn’t fall. And I wasn’t sure how long we had. I liked to think we had my lifetime at least, but between my mortality, the upcoming war, and his looming ascension, it felt as though time eroded like wet sugar and the more we grasped at it, the quicker we ushered it along.

We returned outside the temple to speak with a crowd who gathered around, strands of their hair rippling on a cool breeze.

“Citizens,” I began, my voice booming off the sides of buildings as Apollo, with his straight posture and glowing eyes, stood at my side. “Thank you for hosting us today and for your gracious reception. We are honored to have Apollo, son of Zeus, aligning with our country to bring consideration from the gods to our—”

“You whore yourself to gods at the expense of your citizens,” a man in the back of the crowd yelled.