Page 4 of A Crown of Hopes and Sorrows

2

Artemis

I twisted the knife around my fingers, the metal of it reflecting the muted greens and crisp grays of the world. Silver grasses tangled together in the wind as horses in the distance bowed their heads, snatching bunches of weeds to eat, their long tails flicking away flies.

I always thought I knew who I was.

Artemis.

Sister of the half-god Apollo.

Friend to many.

Huntress.

Well known for my weaponry skills.

I flung the knife out, and it vibrated as it slammed into a target board.

Temi, the girl who sat trembling and scared as she’d watched her village burn down around her.

The same girl who swore she’d never be weak and afraid and helpless like that again.

I slipped another dagger from my belt and danced it between my fingers. But now I suspected that my skills, everything I defined myself by, were because I was—unbeknownst to myself—a goddess.

I slammed the second knife forward. It bit into the wood deeper.

I snatched a third blade.

Frustration pulsed through me. I didn’t understand why my mother would have kept that a secret from me. She had to know and either didn’t tell the women in our village who raised us or asked them to keep it from me. And why had I been hidden with a veil, anyway? After all, Apollo had always known of his divine origins, of his prophecy to become the sun god and the deep powers lingering within him. And whoever my bastard father was—whoever abandoned me and didn’t step up and tell me about my life—I thrusted my hand forward a third time. The last knife sunk to its hilt.

The crunch of feet pattering through the meadow pulled me out of my thoughts. “You okay, Temi?”

I turned towards Epiphany, her long dark curls flowing out with the wind, a gentle expression flickering over the hazel of her eyes. “I don’t know.” My steps crushed masses of grass as I walked over and pulled my knives out of the board. “I think I’m still in shock. I can’t believe everything in my life might be a lie.”

Epiphany smoothed her hand across the wood, her fingers bumping over the dents and grooves. “Do you ever hit outside the center?”

“Rarely.”

She smiled and trailed her elbow into mine. “Everything about your life isn’t a lie.”

“Isn’t it though?”

“No. You’re still exactly who you were last week.”

I sighed and nodded towards the palace that peaked above the stables. We had a meeting to attend. “Maybe. But, if everything about me is just because I have powers I didn’t even know I was tapping into, what does that mean?”

Epiphany lifted her skirts as we continued through the pasture. “If that’s the case, you were a goddess last week, too.”

“Okay?”

She opened the gate but paused, cocking her head to the side. “The only thing that has changed is your perception of yourself.”

I frowned. “That and of my father.”

“You define who you are. Not your parents or anyone else.”

I bit back a groan, but it was nice to have Epiphany there, dismantling my arguments. Something about her presence soothed me. “Yeah. All right, we don’t want to be late for this meeting, do we?”