“We only had one chance to act,” Nikoleta says miserably. “We had to make sure we got it right. And we did, but maybe we were too late.”
I open my mouth, to yell or argue or forgive, but I don’t have the ability to form any real thoughts. All I can see is the green mist surrounding and choking me, Hippomenes leaping over the finish line, and the startling height of a city suspended in a valley, where a god waits for me.
Isidora takes a step closer to me. “This is why we need to leave now, okay? If Apollo considers you on the level of the Pythia, he’ll send far worse than Hippomenes.”
“But Atalanta . . . I can’t just—” My voice cracks.
“I know,” Nikoleta says earnestly. “Believe me, I know precisely how hard it is not to be with the one you love, Kahina, but this is life or death.” She pauses, trying to read my expression. It must not be good, because she grimaces. “We need to take some horses and get the hell out of here.”
No. When it’s clear I’m not moving, she sighs and gently takes hold of my arm. “I’m sorry, Kahina.” Isidora takes my other arm, and they lead me back toward the stables. I can’t look at them—especially not Nikoleta. The attack seems hazy now: huntresses just seemed to pour in from every crevice of the caves under Apollo’s temple, armed and viciously certain of themselves.
I’d never given a second thought as to how they’d known girls were down there, or how they knew which rooms to check. I wish I knew how to feel. Angry, surprised? I don’t feel anything now, not even the sunlight beating down as we near the stables.
Before I realize how far we’ve walked, the blinding light is replaced by shadow. Phelix heaves open the doors, leading out some of the suitors’ horses. He stares at me sadly. There are no tears in his eyes, but I can tell he cried earlier.
“Where is she going?” Phelix asks, his voice still brittle and flimsy.
I realize he’s looking past me. I crane my neck. The golden fields blur together with the sunlight, but another flash of gold catches my eye. I blink as fast as I can, wiping my eyes and squinting into the distance.
A sob builds in my chest. It’s Atalanta.
Isidora lifts a hand to shield her eyes from the sun, as she and Nikoleta mount their horses. “Uh,” she says, “Artemis’s temple?”
I glance uneasily at her, unsure of how much she knows about its origins. My heart throbs, but I make myself watch Atalanta—she’s at the very, very edge of the eastern fields. She’s practically into the tree line.
Phelix wipes his nose with his sleeve, and nods. “Yeah, it’s over there. In those woods.”
Nikoleta sighs from atop her horse. “It hardly matters. It’s just tradition.”
“What are you talking about?” I demand.
Isidora twists her reins in her hands. Her gaze cuts between me and Nikoleta uncertainly. Atalanta is much too far to call out to, and I’m almost glad of it. “It’s customary for engaged virgins to bid farewell to their maidenhood, so to speak, before marriage and, ah, consummation.”
If it’s possible to feel hollow and overflowing at once, I am. “Oh,” I say. It’s a terrible sound. I can’t look away from her, though I know it’s only making this harder. Making this impossible. I drop the reins from my hand. I can’t do this.
“I—” My voice cuts off. A second figure slips beyond the tree line. Hippomenes. “Wait.” Everyone follows my gaze, frowning. Hippomenes is following her to the shrine. “That’s not part of the tradition, is it?” Isidora shakes her head slowly.
My head spins. This isn’t right. Nothing is right. I look at the others, and we’re all in silent agreement. Nikoleta grimaces, then flicks the reins of her horse. Isidora quickly mounts hers, then offers a hand to Phelix, pulling him up behind her. I grab hold of my saddle and haul myself onto my horse. We all flick our reins and squeeze our legs, breaking the horses into a run for the eastern fields.
My heart rams against my ribcage, and the fields between us stretch into eternity. I’m out of breath by the time we break through the trees, though I really haven’t moved. The temple’s there—familiar, half-broken . . . empty.
“Where is she?” I ask, voice cracking. Her half of our twin knives lays on the dirt, alone. Atalanta and Hippomenes are gone. I nearly fall off my horse, spinning wildly through the clearing. I look behind every tree, like she might be hiding. “She’s gone?” I whisper frantically, which isn’t very useful. I snatch up the knife.
Nikoleta quickly dismounts her horse, and walks straight to me. She grabs hold of my face and makes me look at her. She’s deadly calm. “Kahina,” she says. “Where is Atalanta?”
“Delphi,” I say. I almost laugh. Where else?
No one breathes for a minute.
“Delphi?” Isidora spits. “That’s—that’s so far! How could she possibly . . .”
I throw my hands into the air, remembering Hippomenes’s prediction that I’d laughed off this morning. Hysteria makes my voice high and rushed. “I don’t know. I don’t know! But it’s the truth.”
“It’s the truth,” Nikoleta mutters, almost apologetically. It’s her fault, I realize—all of this. But I can’t waste time blaming her. “So we go?” she asks, meeting my eyes unsteadily. I nod once, and some of the ice around my heart starts to melt away.
“All right,” Isidora says anxiously. She glances at Phelix. “All right, then. I . . . just like that?”
“Just like that.” Nikoleta slings a leg across her horse. “We’ve got our packs, don’t we? We’ll get the Hunt, and we’ll go to Delphi.”
Isidora laughs once—a sharp sound of disbelief. Phelix waves his hands, signaling for us to stop. “Wait. The hunt? You . . . you’re just going to leave right now for Delphi?”
It doesn’t seem at all ridiculous to me. Despite what Delphi did to me, despite what memories it dredges up, I have no doubt in my mind: we are going to Delphi, and we are going to find Atalanta and make Apollo pay for what he’s done to me. I nod, jaw quivering. I toss my arms around him, and I make myself remember this—the hay-sweet scent of his hair, the last glance at sundrenched Arkadia over his shoulder. I cling to him until he clears his throat.
“I don’t know what you’re doing that for,” he says. I pull back, confused. “I’m going with you.”
I open my mouth to argue, but this is Atalanta’s brother. He has a right. And I have no wish to say goodbye to him. Isidora glances at her reins, and Nikoleta clearly fights the urge to roll her eyes.
The sun is still high in the sky, its bright light bolstering through the trees above. I can’t believe Atalanta raced Hippomenes just hours ago. I mount my horse, and help pull Phelix up behind me. The reins are smooth and powerful under my fingers, and my mind races with urgency.
“We need to get back to Artemis first,” Isidora tells me. I grimace, but I know she’s right. Apollo is not a god we can tackle alone, but his twin sister’s help might prove sufficient. Nikoleta and Isidora lead their horses just in front of mine, and I let myself look back one time. The woods and mountains ahead are not ones I know, but it doesn’t matter now. Nikoleta and Isidora glance back at me one last time. I face forward, into the unknown, and flick my reins.
We weave up and over valleys and hills, the familiar greenness of Arkadia giving way to barren patches of rocks and scraggly trees. When there are paths, we take them. When there are none, we make them. I ride the horses as fast and far as I can allow, until the sun grows fiery and low.
Occasionally, Isidora and Nikoleta shout questions to each other as they retrace their route back to the Hunt. I know that they know they could probably ask me for directions, but I’m glad they don’t.
I never let the horses ride at anything less than a canter, but Isidora still makes herself heard over the thumping of their hooves. We try to make a plan, though we don’t have much information beyond Delphi. We figure Hippomenes is responsible for Atal
anta’s disappearance, but at the same time, Apollo has to be involved. I know this is a trap, but what else can I do?
Phelix keeps his arms wrapped around my waist and I keep riding us onward long after the sun disappears under the rolling blue hills on the horizon. Nikoleta says we’re close to Artemis, but not enough to reach before night comes. Still, I don’t stop until Isidora insists upon it, citing the horses’ fatigue. I know she’s right.
The girls know there’s a river close by, and after veering to our left for a mile or so, we find it—long and dark in the dusk, like ink. I see Nikoleta and Isidora shift back into the huntresses I’d known so well as they make efficient use of the day’s straggling light. They quickly dismount and pull their packs apart until they have four hasty bedrolls spread on a clearing before the water.
For dinner, we have nuts and dried fruit. I’m not at all hungry. I stare over the black waters and know that sleep will not come easily. Nikoleta and Isidora chew at their food in silence. Part of me wants one of them to ask me if we have a chance of surviving Delphi. But most of me knows that no answer would make me change course.
“So, this isn’t going to be easy to pull off,” Phelix mutters. We’re all thinking it, but I’m a little bothered he has the nerve to say it aloud.
“And what exactly are we trying to pull off?” Isidora adds. Everything waits in Delphi—Apollo, Hippomenes, Atalanta.
“Get Atalanta. Stop Apollo and Hippomenes.” The words are few, but they are not simple. “Make them pay.”
“Just that, then?” Isidora asks. She looks a bit faint. “Perhaps we can overthrow the whole damn pantheon while we’re at it.”
I know she’s trying to make me laugh, but I don’t have it in me to find the humor.
“We do have one thing going for us,” Phelix says. “They won’t hurt you, Kahina.”
At first, I think he’s telling a joke too. But Nikoleta sits up straight, moonlight and firelight mixing strangely across her face. “The Pythia . . . Kahina’s ability,” she tells him, looking at me the whole time. They’re right, I suppose—it doesn’t make sense that Hippomenes would go through so much trouble just for Atalanta, a girl he clearly hates. He’s just using her to get to me. White spots fringe my vision. It never fails to amaze me at how driven he’s become just by the idea of a woman doing a man’s job. Me inheriting my father’s fleet. Atalanta joining the Calydonian Boar Hunt.
I try to remember when he shifted from my mischievous older cousin into the entitled man who stole me from my parents to get me out of the picture.
“Well then?” I ask, my voice quaking with unfettered rage. “Let’s make a plan.”
I’m not sure if I sleep, but I use the sky as a cue—the instant that it shifts from black to blue, I shove my way to my feet. I rinse my hands and face in the water, and as soon as the sky shifts from blue to gray, I’ve already got my bedroll packed. I triple-check that the golden knives are still tucked securely in my waistbelt.
“You never rose this early in the Hunt,” Isidora mutters, leaning up on her elbows. Nikoleta yawns, nodding her agreement. “You’re all ready to go?”
I nod, not really caring at all if they sense my impatience.
“Well.” Isidora rubs at her eyes, looking remarkably beautiful for a girl who just woke up in the middle of a forest. “Let’s find the Lady, shall we?”
After we’re all packed again, Nikoleta and Isidora start to lead us through thicker trees. The progress is maddeningly slow, but the smaller the distance between us becomes, the more my stomach clenches. Returning to Artemis and her huntresses scares me more than it should, considering our final destination.
What if she demands I rejoin? I shove the thought aside. No time for that. The thought doesn’t scare me much anymore; I have no desire to answer to a god ever again. “Two miles westward,” Nikoleta warns.
I’m even more jittery and anxious than I’d thought possible, but I still urge the horses on faster. I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but Nikoleta and Isidora seem less enthusiastic about returning than I assumed they would be. There’s no hint of excitement on their faces—they’re both flat mouths with cruelly assessing eyes.
Guilt worms its way into my bloodstream. They’ll have to save my hide, again. They’ll have to make up excuses as to why I hadn’t left Arkadia the day they’d arrived, and then, they will have to convince Artemis to march to Delphi with all her huntresses to unleash hell on her brother’s domain. No matter how much Artemis despises Apollo, it’s still not a favor I’m sure she’ll be eager to grant.
Isidora catches sight of the camp first. She inhales sharply. “There they are!”
I’d forgotten how remarkable the huntresses are at adapting to nature. The camp they’ve constructed looks like part of the trees and stones itself, just an extension of the natural forest. My heart thunders as we get closer, and it becomes impossible to deny that every pair of eyes is focused straight on me. I yank back on the reins, and the four of us grind to a halt before them.
“Well.” I straighten my spine instinctively. Artemis’s voice is not one I’ll soon forget. “If it isn’t Kahina. Better late than never, I suppose.”
“Artemis,” I manage. I bow my head, mostly to avoid the curious stares of the huntresses. I’d known them all so well, once. I miss that. But I never knew any of them like I knew Phelix, or Atalanta, and especially not like I know the two girls beside me.
Artemis stands directly in front of my horse with her arms crossed, the blue of her eyes indistinguishable from that of the sky. I swallow hard at the sight of her—I’d forgotten how young she looks, even younger than me. It does very little to make her less imposing. I go to disembark, but she raises a hand.
“Don’t bother,” she says, her voice sickly sweet. Falsely sweet. I realize she has a pack slung across her shoulder, and a quiver of arrows resting by her side. As if she’s ready to charge into battle right now. She glances at Phelix, and I’m glad I’m between him and her.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t come sooner,” Isidora tries, but Artemis waves her to silence.
“I said don’t bother.” She looks at each of us in turn, then sighs. “I am a goddess, you know. Do you truly think I would not know precisely what happens to my huntresses? Banished or not?” She tilts her head at me. Phoebe, Kassandra, and the others behind her stare pointedly at the ground. “Besides, I keep tabs on potential maidens. I know when they fall into danger. How do you think I found you, after all?”
“Wh-what do you mean?” Nikoleta asks. She traces her reins with her fingers repeatedly. Artemis is the only being I have ever seen make Nikoleta nervous.
Artemis gives us a half-smile, then raises one hand high in the air. A flock of eight birds come flying down, wings flapping furiously as they hover in front of the goddess. She snaps her fingers once, and the birds are suddenly transfigured into glorious silver mares. I hadn’t blinked, but I suppose it was a movement not meant for mortal eyes.
The huntresses assemble around their horses. Artemis stares up at us, eyebrows raised. “We’re expected in Delphi, no?”
I let Artemis and the other huntresses take the lead. My mind still hasn’t quite caught up with what’s just happened and, based on Nikoleta and Isidora’s slack jaws, I’d imagine they’re dealing with quite the same confusion. It also doesn’t take long for me to realize more magic is at play; the trees rush past far too quickly for me to count.
By my best estimate, we’ve traversed nearly a hundred miles in less than two hours—and we haven’t even stopped to break the horses, mostly because they genuinely don’t need to rest. The extent of Artemis’s powers is unfathomable. I want to thank her, but I’m sure her motivations don’t really stem from love for me, but rather hatred for her brother. It doesn’t matter—I’ll take what I can get.
We move far too swiftly to speak; words would be ripped from us by the wi
nd. I wouldn’t know the first thing to say, even if I could. The other huntresses ride close behind Lady Artemis, and they never look back to ensure the four of us still follow. I can’t blame them, though. I’m fairly certain I’ll fly off my horse if I loosen my grip by even a millimeter.
By high noon, the terrain has become sickeningly familiar. The mountains grow steeper and slimmer, and the soil is littered with rocks. We’re near—far closer than anyone should have been able to travel in less than a day. We’ll be in Delphi today, I realize. One way or another, this all ends today. I glance over my shoulder to Phelix, who grips my waist, only to find him watching me carefully. I can’t tell what he’s thinking, but I’m glad to have him with me.
On my left, Isidora is uncharacteristically grim. There are dark circles beneath her round eyes, and I wonder if she slept at all last night. Her knuckles are white on her reins. She’s not bred for battles of brawn, Nikoleta had told me once, just days after we’d first met. Far longer than days, I realize, if Nikoleta was posing as the Pythia all along.
The harrowing steepness of this region makes our group move slightly slower, but I still find myself clutching my horse until my muscles grow tired. We skirt paths carved into mountainsides with nothing but sheer drops next to us.
But this is not an untraveled path. It’s well paved and marked, and it’s no surprise that it leads to the center of the world. Every man wants to know his fortune and future, even if it means trekking up this valley. The air grows thin and almost cold as we climb. The sky is so close I think I could touch it, if I tried.
In the front of our caravan, Artemis raises her hand, and we gradually slow to a halt. This is it. I breathe, and I soak in my surroundings now that we’re not cantering uphill. It’s not a sight I’d ever wanted to see again in my lifetime. It’s all here, the divine city suspended in the center of an impossibly soaring valley. The clusters of white marble buildings and temples and shrines remain unchanged, crowding the city and dotting the mountainsides. But something’s different.
Outrun the Wind Page 23
