Page 47 of A Crown of Hopes and Sorrows

This. This was what we traveled for. I swallowed back the excitement that wanted to peel through my voice and kept it even instead. “So I’ve heard.”

Zephyrus’ tone came heavy and charged with something that seemed to lace through the surrounding air. “Do you know much about the spark of Olympus?”

I stepped closer to a bookshelf, tracing my finger over the scrolls. “It’s the source of the high god’s powers, is it not?”

“Yes.” Zephyrus frowned. “Zeus holds it, but it doesn’t belong to Mt. Olympus.”

I turned to face him where he leaned against the desk, his wings draping over the shining surface of it. “I have not heard that before,” I said.

He shrugged. “Zeus has worked hard to keep it that way, I assure you. But the spark isn’t the property of the most powerful god; it goes to the god who has exercised the most power.”

I crossed my arms. “Isn’t that the same thing?”

“No. Because another could take it. If they could overpower Zeus.”

“Who could possibly do that, though?”

Zephyrus studied me, his face half lost to shadows. “Surely you believe someone can, as you seem so eager”—he paused, his wings stretching out—“to form connections that stand against him yourself.”

I fiddled my thumb against one of my rings. I felt a wariness in this conversation. Zephyrus was clearly not loyal to Zeus, but for whatever reason, that didn’t make him feel like an ally. I couldn’t discern if it was just our personal history and my dislike of him, or something else. “Who might take Zeus’ place if he fell anyway, though?”

Zephyrus shrugged. “The Fates willing, not another high god.”

“Why?”

He scoffed. “The high gods are all so removed from the mortal world, from human experience, they make terrible leaders.”

I smoothed my robe out. “So, a low deity is who you have in mind. Someone like you, maybe?”

He smirked and pushed off the desk. “Maybe.” He crossed the rug between us, sauntering, his feathers ruffling. He reached me, his arms brushing over mine, and my heart picked up again. “Perhaps,” he whispered, drawing a finger across my shoulder, “it’s not a bad idea, if you’re looking to make connections, to start with me.”

He pulled in even closer, and my skin ran cold, but I kept my voice light. “That was precisely my thinking when I decided for us to come here. I always knew you were ambitious.”

I didn’t always realize he was foolish, but that was rapidly becoming apparent if he thought he could take Zeus on and had revealed those ambitions so easily to me.

But he was foolish and well connected and generally liked, which he had shown with his connections with the crowd that evening.

That was a problem.

“That’s one word to describe me.” He leaned in close enough that his breath brushed my cheek. The door flickered with golden light, and I cleared my throat. He bent down, his gaze on my mouth.

A knock came. “Prince Hyacinth?”

Zephyrus frowned, his jaw jumping, but he pulled back and gestured to the door. I walked over, opening it. Delon stood in the hall. “Apologies, Your Highness, but Lord Boreas is looking for you. There’s something he wishes to discuss with you.”

“Of course. That’s no problem.”

I tossed an apologetic smile to Zephyrus, who nodded before I strode out into the hallway alongside Delon. Once we made it several doors down, I leaned in towards him and whispered, “It took you a fuck of a long time to come get me.”

“Making sure you had a chance to get what you needed.” He smirked. “Why? Are you finding the wings less intriguing now?”

“That’s not… wait… where did you hear that from?”

He grinned. “It turns out Apollo is very honest when he drinks.”

“Hades’ realm.” I blew out a breath and smoothed out my robe.

“Put your game face on,” Delon said. “There’s more than a few beings aware that you left.”