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by Unknown

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  “Let me see that necklace your mother gave you,” Cassandra

  replied, coming down the ladder with a book tucked under an arm.

  Reaching the bottom, she stretched out her hand.

  “How long are you going to want it for?” Helen asked as she

  fingered her necklace uneasily. She really hated to take it off for

  any reason, even if that reason was as important as Cassandra was

  making it seem.

  “I’ll give it right back. I promise,” Cassandra said, keeping her

  eyes locked on Helen.

  “Yes, of course,” Helen replied, feeling silly for balking. She obediently

  muscled through the naked, panicky feeling that came along

  with the thought of removing her necklace. Taking it off, she

  handed it over. As soon as she placed it in Cassandra’s outstretched

  hand she felt a burning sensation across her forearm.

  “Cass, are you crazy?” Lucas yelled. He snatched a small blade

  out of his sister’s grip.

  Helen felt someone step against her back and put a hand on her

  shoulder, and, from his size, Helen knew it was Hector, supporting

  and protecting her.

  “I’m sorry, Helen. But it was the only way to prove it,” Cassandra

  said, biting her lower lip and looking up with defensive eyes.

  “It’s okay,” Helen mumbled, not understanding what had

  happened yet. Everyone was staring at her arm. She looked down

  and saw a thin red cut dripping blood onto the carpet.

  “But it’s just a necklace,” Helen repeated as she ran the charm

  along the chain and looked at her arm. The cut had already healed.

  “It becomes whatever you need it to be, that’s part of its magic,”

  Cassandra said, grasping for words with frustration. “It’s like the

  way it looks different to everyone. That’s because there’s no such

  thing as the most beautiful ornament, or the most beautiful anything

  for that matter. How can I explain this?”

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  “What I think is beautiful is very different from what even my

  twin would think is beautiful because we’re all turned on by different

  things,” Ariadne explained bluntly for her.

  “That’s right,” Cassandra said.

  “But why a girdle?” Helen persisted.

  “You have to remember, a few thousand years ago girdles were

  considered very attractive, but they were also a form of protection

  for the wearer. Some even had bone or bronze plates in them, like

  lightweight armor,” Castor explained. He looked remote, though,

  not his good-natured self. “But there were two parts to the cestus.

  The girdle itself, and its adornments. It was the adornments that

  made the goddess irresistible to whomever she wanted to seduce,

  and they had the power to change to suit the tastes of whoever was

  looking at them. Time passed and girdles fell out of fashion, but

  the transformative magic of the cestus is still the same. It can become

  whatever you need it to be to make yourself more attractive,

  Helen. And all these years you’ve only needed it to be a simple

  necklace.”

  “I’ve always loved it,” Lucas admitted softly. “The way it falls into

  that place.” He touched the dent at the bottom of her throat for the

  briefest of moments. “I think it’s perfect.”

  Helen could see a hot flush wash across his cheekbones, but he

  kept his eyes down, conscious of the fact that everyone was staring

  at them with worried frowns. Castor especially looked so stricken

  he could have been at a funeral.

  “What I don’t understand is why are we all noticing it now? It’s

  like it just got charged with love mojo in the past few days or

  something,” Jason mused to no one in particular. Then a thought

  occurred to him and he looked from Helen to Lucas, then away.

  “Like it just switched on,” Ariadne said. She looked over at Helen

  and Lucas, sharing the same idea as her twin.

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  “What if I wanted it to be something else?” Helen asked, ignoring

  the strange stares she was suddenly getting from everyone. Cassandra

  shrugged.

  “I don’t know. Maybe try changing it?” she asked with an excited

  look. “But I’d take it off first! You never know,” she added quickly.

  Helen unlatched her necklace and tried to think about sexy

  things, but she couldn’t come up with anything. After a moment

  she realized that it didn’t matter what she thought was sexy, but

  what other people thought that would be important. She needed a

  guinea pig. She looked at Hector, focusing on him alone, and she

  felt her necklace change shape in her hand.

  “Helen!” Hector exclaimed.

  Helen looked down and saw that she was holding a tiny scrap of

  lace that more closely resembled diamond-encrusted dental floss

  than underpants. Everyone burst out laughing, pointing at Hector

  and making fun of his trashy taste. She looked at Lucas, concentrated,

  and it turned back into her necklace. He grinned.

  “I told you. I love that necklace,” he said openly.

  His gaze was so warm Helen felt she had to do something to divert

  all the stares they were getting. She looked around the room,

  pointedly seeking out a new victim. Everyone wisely decided to

  scatter.

  “Don’t even think about it!” Ariadne shrieked, running out of the

  room so Helen couldn’t focus on her.

  “Come on! That’s not fair!” Jason said. He backed away from her,

  alternately covering his eyes so he couldn’t see her and covering his

  face so she couldn’t see him.

  “All right, nobody panic!” Helen put her necklace back on and

  laughed, but no one was left in the library to witness her mercy but

  Lucas and Cassandra. “I like it best like this, myself.”

  “Good,” Lucas said, averting his eyes and trying to pretend he

  wasn’t embarrassed.

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  “Why aren’t you running?” Helen asked Cassandra playfully, but

  when she saw the dark look on her face she knew she had said

  something terribly wrong.

  “That will never work on me,” Cassandra said in a flat, distant

  voice. She brushed past Helen.

  “I’m sorry,” Helen said to Lucas, as Cassandra stalked out of the

  room. She put her hand on Lucas’s arm and made him look at her.

  “I don’t understand, Lucas. What did I say?”

  “Aphrodite’s power only works on adults—on sexually mature individuals,”

  he answered with a raspy voice, like his throat had gone

  dry.

  “Oh. I didn’t know, but that’s nothing for her to be ashamed of.

  She’s only thirteen. She hasn’t bloomed yet . . .”

  Lucas cut her off. “My sister will never bloom. She was taken by

  the Fates.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that even if she wants to, even if she feels what other

  woman feel, she’ll never fall in love or have children. She won’t

  even be able to have the kind of careless physical relationships that

  Hector has pretty much once a week,” Lucas said. “She is sacrosanct

  to the Three Fates, and they will not share their daughter.”

  “But if she feels like a woman, why can’t she act like one? Who

  cares
what three dusty old spinsters say?” Helen asked persuasively,

  but that made Lucas even more upset.

  “You’re not understanding this, Helen. We’re talking about the

  Fates, not a couple of overprotective parents with virginity issues.

  The Moirae can’t be avoided or tricked. Cassandra won’t be able to

  sneak out of her bedroom window and have sex with some hot guy

  she met at a party,” he said, pacing around. “Even if he was a man

  she truly respected, a man she could grow to love, the Fates would

  separate them. Fate herself would make sure Cassandra never laid

  eyes on that man again.”

  “How cruel,” Helen said, horrified.

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  “And someday the Fates will separate her from us, her own family.

  You can barely tell now, but she and I used to be so close. She

  used to take my hand anytime we walked next to each other, but

  not anymore,” he said, his voice breaking with emotion. “She was

  the sweetest little sister ever, I swear. Such a big, warm heart and

  such a big, clever mind—all packed into the tiniest girl you’ve ever

  seen. Now she’s becoming more like them. Cold, meticulous,

  unrelenting.”

  Helen put her hands on his waist and waited silently until he was

  ready to pull her into his arm and relax against her, which he finally

  did in a wave. She had held him for only a few minutes when

  Ariadne came into the library and told Helen she needed to come

  out to the kitchen.

  “What is it?” Lucas asked.

  “Your mom found out about the whole cestus of Aphrodite thing

  and she’s sort of throwing a fit, Luke,” Ariadne admitted with a

  heavy heart, her gentle eyes darting between the two of them with

  sympathy. “Aunt Noel has asked for a meeting with Helen.”

  All the air seemed to leave the room, most of it sucked into Lucas’s

  lungs. Ariadne spun on her heel and Lucas took Helen’s hand.

  “Is this bad?” Helen asked Lucas breathlessly as they followed

  Ariadne through the house.

  “Yes,” he whispered. “Listen, will you promise me something?”

  “What?”

  “Promise me that no matter what my mother says, that this isn’t

  the last time you talk to me.” Lucas made her stop and face him.

  He held her by her stiff shoulders and placed his lips against her

  forehead as he spoke. “Promise that you will speak to me again.

  Even if it’s just once.”

  “I promise,” she stammered, not sure if this was really happening

  to her or if she’d wandered into some bizarre dream.

  She and Lucas went into the kitchen holding hands tightly, as

  though for the last time.

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  Noel looked over at Castor and gestured to them as if they were

  “Exhibit A” in her prosecution.

  “Luke, go upstairs,” Castor said without being able to look him in

  the eye.

  “I think I’m entitled to hear this,” he replied calmly. Helen

  clutched his hand and glanced around at everyone’s solemn faces.

  Something was very wrong. Helen started to breathe so fast she

  felt like for the first time in her life she might actually

  hyperventilate.

  “I want you all out. It’s my hearth, and my sacred right by Hestia,”

  Noel said firmly, as if she were invoking some old ritual. “This

  is between Helen and me now.”

  After a few moments of silence, Jason was the first to move. Seeing

  the look in Noel’s eyes, he went to Lucas and physically separated

  his hand from Helen’s. If it had been anyone else, Helen was

  convinced Lucas would have put up a fight, but he allowed Jason to

  lead him upstairs. Everyone else filed out of the kitchen, looking

  sad. Everyone except for Pallas, that is. Helen noticed that he

  looked satisfied. Even a little smug.

  “Sit,” Noel said, pulling out a chair for herself, facing Helen. “You

  don’t understand what’s happening, do you?”

  Helen shook her head and swallowed. Noel asked another question.

  “Ariadne explained the Truce to you, right?”

  “She said the Houses have to stay separate or the gods will come

  back and start the Trojan War all over again,” Helen croaked

  through a tight throat.

  “Right. Now what does that mean? What would be the simplest

  way for the Houses to be unified?” Noel asked sharply. Helen

  shook her head again, scared dumb, and Noel continued. “There

  are two obvious ways. One House can destroy the others, or the

  Houses can intermarry. Usually this is impossible for Scions because

  the Furies keep everyone hating everyone else, but that isn’t

  an issue for you and Lucas.”

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  Helen let out a giant breath of relief.

  “Is that it?” she asked. “Nobody’s marrying anybody! Lucas and I

  are way too young! We’re not that stupid.”

  Noel shook her head, as if Helen had missed the point.

  “Do you know how marriage was defined in ancient Greece?”

  Noel said in a calmer tone. “It’s really simple. A virgin goes to

  man’s house with the family gathered as witnesses. The virgin and

  the man share a fire, a meal, and a bed. If the girl wasn’t a virgin in

  the morning, then the couple was considered married. That’s it.

  That’s all it took. You’re still a virgin, right?”

  Helen blushed furiously, her jaw dropping. “Yes. But that’s no

  one’s business but my own!”

  “It certainly is our business. Because you and Lucas have shared

  almost everything else on the list, all that’s left is the consummation

  of the marriage. If that happens, then as far as the gods are

  concerned you will be his wife. If you’re his wife, then that unites

  the final two Houses. And you know what that means.”

  “War,” Helen said, completely stunned. Her brain scrambled to

  find the flaw in Noel’s argument—the one thing that would make it

  untrue—but she didn’t come up with anything. “It’s impossible.”

  “No, it’s ironic. The first Trojan War started because two teenagers

  fell in love and ran off together, and here are you and Lucas,

  poised to make exactly the same mistake,” Noel said, her pity beginning

  to show through her anger.

  “And Lucas knew all this? Right from the start?” Helen asked.

  She felt strangely numb.

  “From the first moment he saw you,” Noel replied.

  “That explains a lot,” Helen whispered, still putting the pieces together

  in her head. “I thought he was just old-fashioned or

  something.”

  “Lucas? No.” Noel laughed, shaking her head at the thought. “But

  he is honorable, so I trusted him with you. I allowed this to go on

  because I believed that he would be able to control himself and not

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  do anything that the world would regret. But the cestus changes

  things.”

  “Why?” Helen asked, suddenly perking up. “I’ve always worn it,

  and he’s always been able to control himself. And I didn’t exactly

  make it easy on him, either,” she added with regret. “But from now

  on I won’t pressure him, and that way we can still be together,

  right?”

  “And then what?” Noel pleaded gently. All the anger had
gone

  from her once she saw how invested Helen was, how much Helen

  cared. “You could both stay true to your word and never touch each

  other, but what do you think that will do to your relationship over

  time? What do you think it will do to Lucas?” Noel paused and

  looked at her hands in her lap.

  “It’ll be hard, but we know what’s at stake. . . .” Helen began, trying

  to bargain.

  “I’ve already been told that I’m going to lose my daughter to

  madness. I can’t lose my son as well,” Noel interrupted, her eyes

  wide with fear. “Please, Helen. I’m begging you. Stay away from

  Lucas. If you get a little distance from each other, maybe he’ll be

  able to let you go before it’s too late.”

  “You’re talking like I’m going to drive him crazy or something,”

  Helen said, frustrated. Noel gave her a piercing look that warned

  Helen not to belittle the situation.

  “The cestus isn’t some silly love potion you can buy at the county

  fair. This is a relic from the goddess of love herself, and if you don’t

  think it’s possible for someone to be driven mad by love, it’s only

  because you haven’t truly felt it yet.”

  “Then I’ll take it off. . . .”

  “You will not,” Noel ordered. “The cestus has probably saved you

  more times than you can know. Do I need to remind you again

  how important your life is?”

  They sat staring at each other for a few moments while Helen

  struggled with her thoughts. She’d read the Iliad, and she’d hated

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  Paris and Helen as much as Lucas had. She saw them as selfish. So

  selfish that they were willing to watch a city burn to the ground

  rather than part. But was Helen Hamilton any better than Helen of

  Troy if she wouldn’t give up the man she wanted when it was

  required?

  “Why didn’t anyone tell me this before?” Helen burst out.

  “Lucas forbade it. He said he wanted a little time and a little privacy,

  and no one blamed him for that. Relationships are private

  things.”

  “But we’re not allowed to have a relationship, are we?” Tears

  tried to make hot puddles out of her eyes. “This isn’t fair.”

  “I know it isn’t,” Noel said, brushing a lock of Helen’s hair behind

  her shoulder so she could see her face.

  “Are none of us are allowed to choose?” Helen said, thinking of

  Cassandra and what she had to suffer. Her whole body was clammy

  with nervous sweat and starting to shake. How could she stay away