by Lizzy Ford
Nothing he ever did, however, would convince me he was genuinely good. I would never trust the god who cured my people or any god who came after him. At their approach, Paeon’s blue eyes turned brown as he let the human side of him control his body. They had learned quickly I responded better to a respectful human than an arrogant god.
Herakles climbed into the passenger side of my command vehicle. I got in back, and Kyros-Paeon slid into the seat beside me. It was just past dusk, and daylight had not yet completely faded from the sky. Several rainy days had given way to a warm, clear evening.
“Ready?” Herakles asked, meeting my gaze in the side-view window.
I nodded.
We left the compound, trailed by one vehicle with three armed soldiers instead of my normal escort of half a dozen. Tonight was special. We weren’t searching for more gods or scouts. We were headed in a direction we never went before – towards the wall.
We’re leaving your personal guard. Are you going to kill me tonight? Paeon asked into my head.
I make no guarantees for your safety on any night, I replied.
His hands were free, and he reached up to remove the muzzle. I didn’t care what he said around me, because nothing would ever change my mind about the gods. I ordered him gagged around others.
“I can’t speak to you as he does,” Kyros said.
I didn’t have to look at the man beside me to identify it was the human side of him speaking. His voice was always softer and a tad more respectful when Kyros was in charge of his body.
“If you plan on killing me this night, may I have a last request?” Kyros asked.
I pursed my lips. Unfortunately, your death is not the purpose of our mission tonight, I replied archly.
“Ah. Okay. We noticed you brought the one driver who doesn’t like us, and none of the guards who favor us, so we assumed the worst.”
I didn’t care for the reminder my own soldiers were discreetly disobeying my orders. In the time he had been with us, Kyros-Paeon had touched the lives of many people. Two weeks was long enough for the remaining men and women at camp to have heard how great Kyros-Paeon was. His reputation was unvarnished, despite his status as one of the gods we were supposed to be hunting.
“Do you not wish to know my last request?” Kyros pressed.
When the time comes, I will consider granting you a last request.
“He thought you might be more open to discussing it with me.”
I do not care to hear it now.
“Thank you for inviting us again. We like coming with you. It’s fascinating to see what you do.” Kyros sounded excited about the prospect of a ride along. His optimism clashed with my realism every time we were around one another. How ignorant did someone have to be, to believe any of us were destined to live happily in a world like this?
I ignored him with great effort.
“You seem so young to know so much about war and … this.” He motioned to the world. “I had a year to go before graduating college when the gods tried to murder us all. I didn’t know half what you do about politics or survival. You’re probably the smartest person I’ve ever met.”
What else I disliked about being around Kyros: I sometimes had a hard time remembering he was probably going to die by my hand in the near future. I didn’t always know how to handle the duality of this man. He was human. Allegedly, the god possessing his body meant him no real harm. I couldn’t forget the fact that Paeon was inside the human, though. The god was selfish enough to endanger the life of a human and to refuse to die as he should have if his existence were truly threatened. There was no honor in any creature that possessed another in order to preserve itself.
But … Kyros was still a man, and I was sworn to protect humans from the gods. On most days, I was too busy to deal with this complication. Trapped in a vehicle with the two of them, I was forced to face my conflicted feelings. Paeon was alive because I was unwilling to murder the innocent human whose body he had overtaken. If the god endangered Kyros, or displaced his soul, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill him.
In the meantime, I was left trying not to be curious about the life of someone who had been, by his own accounts, so perfectly normal, he was fascinating to me. I had never known anything about normal. Bred for one purpose – to become Queen – I was born into opulence and privilege, wealth and power. College was a foreign concept to me, as was the idea Kyros had grown up with his sister and brother – now both deceased – in a middle class household in southern Virginia. He played sports and went to the mall to hang out with friends. At times, I wondered if learning more about how normal people lived and how they thought would make it easier for me to relate to my soldiers.
“I’m talking too much again, aren’t I?” Kyros asked and turned his gaze from me to the scenery out his window.
People who spoke for reasons other than to convey an important message also puzzled me. Handsome, athletic and friendly, Kyros was also far more extroverted than those I was used to dealing with.
Yes, I replied. When you’re a Queen, people tend to say as little as possible to you.
“Sounds lonely.”
I prefer it that way.
“Oh.”
He said nothing else. I glanced at him. I didn’t quite know what to do with him yet. His chatter gave me insight into how normal people thought, even if his presence usually irritated me.
Kyros appeared relaxed and interested in watching the trees fly by us.
The vehicle reached the edge of the territory I had claimed as mine. The driver turned off the lights and maneuvered through a bumpy, muddy trail to an abandoned highway that used to be Highway 267. The highway was smooth, and the driver gunned the engine as soon as the vehicle behind us reached the pavement.
We raced towards DC at a pace certain to keep us ahead of any bandits or thieves lying in wait on this stretch of highway. The world outside my compound was one of general chaos, where food and life were the primary concerns of every survivor. My enemies were the gods and the political elite in DC. My people were under orders to avoid confrontations with local militias or bandits as much as feasible.
My hair was tied in a tight bun on top of my head to keep it in place amidst the warm breeze battering us through the open windows of the Jeep. Excitement energized me and lifted the fatigue I had accepted as normal. The wall around DC grew closer as we raced towards it.
“I’ve never been to DC,” Kyros said. “Even before the gods attacked us and the wall went up. Did you like it there?”
I raised an eyebrow. Like? It was my duty to be there.
“Duty aside. You have to like things sometimes, don’t you?”
How I feel about something doesn’t matter. My duties do.
“On second thought, you’re the smartest person I’ve ever met, except when you’re not,” he said. “Even Paeon pities you, and he barely has an empathy button.”
Pity? Startled, I turned my head to see him. I’m a Queen. What is there to pity?
“For one, you don’t get to do what you want with your life. That sounds miserable to me, even if you are the richest person on the planet.”
I leveled a cold look on him before returning my focus outside the truck. I had been the richest person on the planet, before I used ten thousand years of my family’s fortune to build an army and city beneath the streets of DC. I did exactly what I wanted with my life and my wealth. I had created the only force in history capable of challenging the gods and political elite on behalf of humanity. How could anyone pity me for that?
“I can kind of hear most of what you’re thinking, whenever I’m within about two meters of you,” Kyros said apologetically and cleared his throat. “Paeon didn’t want to tell you, but it doesn’t seem right for you not to know. He said he chose me partially because I have natural telepathic ability that’s much stronger than most people he’s met, aside from High Priests. If you have some way of thinking silently, you might want to try it.”
I decided w
hen the time came, I was personally going to be the one to kill him.
Kyros shifted beside me, aware of this thought, too. I didn’t care. He needed to understand his position here and mine.
I said nothing. I thought nothing.
Several kilometers from the massive structure, the driver slowed and navigated the vehicle across the crumbling median wide lanes where traffic used to flow in the opposite direction. He guided the truck through a ditch. I clutched the handle bar above my head as the vehicle lurched beneath me.
Crawling out of the muddy ditch, the truck continued down a short slope to an access road, around sound walls built to block the noise of traffic, and then proceeded into an abandoned neighborhood. Our journey smoothed out once again as we reached a road winding through a sprawling subdivision. The driver and Herakles both leaned out of their respective windows to see the numbers on the houses as we passed. No sign of anyone else present on the road was visible, and it was quiet, except for the sound of our vehicles.
The truck rolled to a stop finally, and I glanced towards the driver then the abandoned house.
“Stay here,” Herakles said and opened his door. “I’ll check it out first.” He strode towards the front door, weapon drawn.
“Paeon says something is wrong,” Kyros whispered.
Since when does a medicine god know anything about secret meetings? I returned.
“He says he thinks because he is a god, he can sense what humans cannot.”
My eyes remained pinned to the open doorway through which Herakles had passed.
Was there truth to Paeon’s divine instinct? Possibly. Would I trust his gut over mine or Herakles’ assurances? Never.
Clenching my fists, I willed Herakles to return safely. Minutes later, he poked his head out of the front door and waved.
I released a sigh of relief and gave Kyros a pointed look.
“He says to be careful.”
He cares nothing for my well-being, I replied and got out of the car. I didn’t know what game Paeon was playing, but I refused to go along with it.
One of the soldiers from the second vehicle trotted behind me as I went to the front door to meet Herakles. I stepped into the dark interior of the house. The soldier remained outside, and Herakles closed the door behind me.
He turned on a flashlight with a red lens and walked through the bottom floor of the two-story house and into a kitchen. One person was present in the vacant kitchen.
I didn’t need to see Theodocia’s smile; I felt it. With all disregard for formality and propriety, I hugged her. She wrapped me in her arms and squeezed. Her familiar scent – jasmine combined her natural smell – comforted me in a way nothing had since we parted. It wasn’t until she was hugging me that I realized how much I’d missed her.
“I’m so glad to see you!” she exclaimed in a soft whisper. “You’re skin and bones. Why are you not eating enough?”
“I told her so, too,” Herakles seconded from the doorway of the kitchen. He set down the flashlight on a counter, partially illuminating Theodocia and me.
I have too much to do, I replied, unconcerned with my physical condition, so long as I could perform my duty.
“You need to stay healthy.”
I smiled and relaxed in her arms. I barely remembered my own mother. Theodocia had filled more than one void when she appeared in my life, and I was grateful to her for becoming a consistent, trustworthy source of guidance and comfort.
“We can’t stay long,” Theodocia said, reluctance in her voice. “Are you well? Truly well?” She pulled away and peered into my face. Her brown eyes were concerned.
I am well, I assured her. Are you? Tommy?
She smiled. “We’re both good. Niko won’t let anyone near our son, and I’m raising hell for the Supreme Magistrate.” Her eyes twinkled with cunning. “They’ve been slow to react to our insurgency, but I don’t know how much longer we can rely on surprise.”
The Oracle? I asked. Has Cleon deployed her again?
Theodocia sneaked a glance at Herakles before she looped her arm through mine and led us to the side of the kitchen opposite him so he couldn’t hear her speak.
“Not on a scale like he did initially. Her power is growing quickly,” Theodocia said, voice tight. “Thanatos speaks to me on occasion and I have limited communication with Alessandra’s servant, Leandra. Cleon can access the Oracle’s magic and we fear, will soon be able to use it on his own.”
My eyebrows shot up. How is this possible?
“It would take an act of a god. Something was done to her, but I don’t know what or by whom. Leandra passes information carefully. I don’t know the full story of what’s going on in the walls of her villa.”
As if I needed another reason to hate the gods. Dread had been hanging heavily on my shoulders, but it was the sense of doom weighing down my stomach that left me scared for the future for the first time in my life.
What of Artemis?
“I have heard nothing from her recently.”
The gods are being elusive. I cannot find Zeus or Ares or any trace of them.
“Something is very wrong in all of this,” Theodocia said, a frown in her tone. “But I can’t identify what. I have heard something that really scares me.”
I waited, uncertain what someone with two divine patrons – Artemis and Thanatos – could possibly fear.
“It is said that Alessandra is likely to become corrupted,” Theodocia continued even more quietly. “If Cleon could turn her against us …”
… we would have no chance.
“It’s not her will. Of this much, I am certain. She is a prisoner, but the longer she’s with him, the harder it will be for her to break away.”
The answer seems obvious. We need to get her away from him, I said quickly, not liking this news one bit.
“I’ve yet to be able to strike on the compound,” she admitted. “My DC forces are effective in small groups. We would draw too much attention and give SISA and the military the chance to stop us, if we amassed the amount of soldiers needed to hit the compound.”
Who told you this information? I asked.
“I won’t say.” Theodocia looked away.
I trust your instincts. Do you feel it to be true?
“I do. Based on what I’ve seen, it’s credible.”
The news about Alessandra was the last thing I expected to hear. We had understood her to be in trouble, but I never thought any priority would trump my desire to rid the earth of the gods and political elite. Alessandra was a weapon unlike any other. The ultimate weapon, too powerful for me to hope for the best and continue with my plans, if the chance existed she could be turned against us. If what Theodocia discovered were true, we were already in danger.
If we remove Alessandra from his influence, we cripple Cleon, I reasoned. We can use her power against him. We need to do whatever it takes to pull the Oracle to our side and throw Cleon off balance.
“I’ll need an influx of your best soldiers to make an attempt.”
They’re yours. Whatever you need. We must have her on our side, outside the wall. Or we have to remove her completely from the board. We can’t risk her reaching her full potential and turning against us.
Theodocia glanced towards Herakles.
My forces outside the wall will be ready for a sustained attack later this year, but I hope to start some hazing operations in a month, I went on. Even if we only succeed in removing Alessandra from the board, we will need to strike before winter. The longer we wait, the more powerful and entrenched Cleon becomes.
“You’ll give me a month to grab Alessandra?”
I nodded. Take her alive, if possible. But Theodocia, there is much more at stake here than one life. She possesses the ability to destroy everything we’ve worked for, and the entire world, if we can’t neutralize her in some way. I would rather have her dead than give Cleon absolute power.
“You’re right. As always.”
We stood in brief quiet
. I didn’t want our time together to end, as necessary as it was for us to return to where we were needed most.
“We need to tell Herakles,” she voiced at last.
I debated with myself silently with a sidelong look at Theodocia. By the creases around her eyes, she was speaking as a mother, not as an impartial observer.
Herakles deserved to know. A good person would tell him. But I was playing for something much greater than the life of one person and the man who raised her.
When the time is right, I’ll tell him, I replied.
She nodded. “I’ll do everything I can to ensure Alessandra makes it out of the city alive.”
I hesitated then asked the question at the back of my mind. What of Lantos? Have you seen him?
“Once, weeks ago. There’s a lot of activity in the city but few details coming through our network about what’s happening at the top. Cleon is working on consolidating his military arm with SISA.”
This answer didn’t contain the information I sought, but it was probably better that I didn’t learn any real details about Lantos. He was a survivor, and he was a man of secrets. I should never concern myself with him. I had already personally experienced how far he would go – betraying me – to further his goals.
Theodocia had to know I wasn’t interested in Lantos’ public appearances. Was she protecting me the same way we were hiding the truth from Herakles? Because the time and place had to be right before the information was revealed?
Whenever I thought of Lantos, my lover for over a year, I braced myself for bad news. Rolling my shoulders back, I decided I didn’t want to know any more than what she had revealed. Lantos was involved in his maneuvering, and mine occupied me. Except, every once in a while, I began to think he and I were playing the same game, and I didn’t know it yet. Lantos had an uncanny knack of being a step ahead of everyone. I spent my life training for political maneuvering, but the bastard son of a Titan had the gift of secrets enabling him to pull ahead.
