The Sky Throne

by Chris Ledbetter

  “Now then,” Eros said. “Let us begin. Erebus, you’re up first.”

  I squinted to see Erebus behind the brightness of the scepter’s orb. “Zeus,” he said in a commanding baritone. “How long have you attended this program?”

  “I haven’t been here long, actually,” I said. “I arrived from Crete a few weeks ago. I’ve been to a few class—”

  “You’re new, then? As in you have never attended classes here before?”

  I nodded. “What does being new have to do with anything? Metis is new here also.” The words flew from my mouth recklessly. I gasped as a pang of guilt slammed into my chest. I shouldn’t have mentioned her name.

  Eros whispered something to Erebus in the shadows.

  “Thank you for your candor,” Erebus said. “We’ll be sure to inquire about that when she enters the chamber.”

  Dragon Balls! I couldn’t believe I’d just done that. My dry mouth hung open as my gaze shifted toward the darker recesses of the room, simply to find brief respite from the blinding light of the scepter. I clasped my shaking knees together.

  “What is your lineage? Who is your father?” Erebus asked.

  I shook my head and shrugged.

  “What about your mother?”

  My lips tightened as I shook my head again. “I don’t actually know. Not for certain, at least.”

  “You don’t know that either?” Erebus asked. He paused and cleared his throat. “All right. Tell us everything you did on the night in question. Begin with the wrestling match.”

  I inhaled deeply and combed through my mind. I’d almost forgotten what happened that night. “Uhmm … ” I stammered. “I went to the match. Then I left and went back to my bungalow.”

  “Can anyone vouch for your being in your bungalow after the match?”

  “Sure. Tia. Shade. Hera. Meter.” I paused for a moment, unsure of whether or not to say the next name. “Metis.”

  “And by Tia, Shade and Meter, you mean?”

  “Sorry … Hestia, Hades, and Demeter.”

  “So all students, yes?” Erebus asked. “Any faculty?

  “Yes, actually—” I said, before realizing that I could’ve been the last person to see the Headmaster. I would’ve given anything to take back those last two words. Sometimes silence is golden.

  “Out with it,” Phanes demanded, “You said yes … who is it? Give us a name.”

  My voice thinned. “I was going to say that Ouranos, were he here, would vouch for me.”

  “Were he here—” Phanes said in a grim tone. “I’m sure that he would.”

  “So let’s recap,” Eros said. “You … saw Hestia and Ouranos in your bungalow … on the night both went missing.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “It wasn’t a question.” Eros’ face appeared just above the bright orb. Light shined upward, casting haunting shadows across his face.

  I gnawed on my lip and rocked back and forth in the throne. My mind raced. Thoughts blurred. I blinked rapidly under the assault of the brilliant light, wanting to shrink into the recesses of darkness in the room.

  “Zeus. Answer the question, please. Were you in your bungalow all night?”

  “Wha—” How had I missed his question? I shook my head to clear it.

  “So you were not in your bungalow the entire night?” Erebus asked with emphasis. “Where were you then—”

  “Yes, I was there.” My voice was laced with frustration. “I was there all night.”

  “But you shook your head,” Erebus said. “Which is it?”

  “Great Gaia!”

  “I will instruct you not to raise your voice in these proceedings.” Phanes stepped into the orb light. “Now, were you or were you not in your bungalow all evening?”

  I growled out a deep sigh. “Yes! I was in my bungalow all night.” I shifted my gaze away from the light.

  Eros stepped forward. “Can anyone vouch for you being in your bungalow all night?”

  I exhaled sharply through my nose. “No. I suppose not.”

  “Very well then, let’s continue,” Erebus said. “I gather from others that you and Hestia were working on a project together?”

  They gathered this from others? Was someone trying to set me up? “Yes, we were.”

  “And it is our understanding from previous conversations with Ouranos that Hestia had some impressive research. That is, research many might kill for. Do you understand that to be true?”

  “I knew it was something big, but who would kill for it?”

  “We ask the questions!” Erebus growled. “Now, you were, in fact, helping Hestia with her project that night, were you not?”

  “No, actually.”

  “No? And why not? Can’t pull your own weight?” Erebus asked.

  The heat of my blood warmed my skin’s surface. I swiped the beaded sweat that had gathered from my brow. Memories of that day and night swirled. Metis’ bruises. The fire-spitting opening ceremony. Kronos. Pallas. Rhea.

  I spoke with a measured pace. “I had a lot on my mind that night.”

  “So it seemed. Isn’t it correct that you knocked an Othrys student unconscious with a single punch?” Eros asked.

  “Wait. How did you know abo—”

  “A move that was unprovoked as far as all could see,” Eros continued. “Isn’t that correct?”

  My mind spun on hyperdrive. I gazed at the floor and dragged my sweaty palms down my tunic. I couldn’t believe they threw that in my face. “But I was attacked before that!”

  “That’s not what the witnesses say,” Phanes said. “And it was not your first violent encounter since you showed up here, was it?”

  “What? Wait a minute … you don’t think that I had—”

  Eros crossed his pale arms in the shadows. “We are simply collecting as much information as we can. Answer the question.”

  “But it sounds like you’ve already made a decision.” My blood ran even hotter beneath my skin, so much so that I wished I could go jump in the ocean.

  “Yes,” Erebus said. “I am not going to lie. It doesn’t look good for you. Best you can do is answer our queries honestly.”

  “Are we done?” I asked.

  “I must confer with the council,” Eros said. They walked to the corner of the room, talked for a few moments, and then returned.

  “One more question,” Phanes said, bringing forward the spear we’d discovered in the lab. Erebus grabbed it and his skin was the same color black as the spear’s shaft. “Have you seen this spear before?”

  My mind ran rampant with theories as to what might happen if I said ‘no’ given that I’d already told Rhea and Pontus that I had seen a spear like it. That wouldn’t have been a lie, though. I hadn’t seen that particular one. Or had I? What if it were the same spear Hyperion had used?

  “You will answer the query posed to you,” Erebus barked. “Have you seen this spear before?”

  And then my mind snapped to lucidity. “Yes. It is Hyperion’s.” I wanted to throw that bastard under the chariot. If I couldn’t find him, maybe they could.

  Eros took a step backward. “Hyperion’s?”

  I nodded. “He’s the one you should be investigating, not me.”

  They looked at one another. Then I disclosed to them how I had first seen the spear during the attack on my family. I explained about my mother’s health and of my friend’s death.

  The three of them retreated into the corner of the room after my explanation of how Hyperion was involved. They returned with solemn gazes.

  “Zeus, you have provided us with a great deal of information,” Eros said finally. “But at the end of the day, we know this: you are new here, you have a history of violent tendencies, you saw both missing parties late on the night in question—at your bungalow no less—you have no alibi for your whereabouts for most of the night, you were involved with the research of one of the missing parties, and you admitted to hav
ing intimate knowledge of what could be the weapon used to kill one or both of them.”

  My mouth went dry.

  “In other words,” Erebus said. “You are our number one suspect.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  I couldn’t breathe; the weight of that last statement sat on my chest like a rhinoceros. I rose to my feet. “I didn’t do anything!”

  “There’s that temper.” Phanes studied me.

  “I’m serious. I had nothing to do wi—”

  “You would do well to sit back down in your seat.” Phanes pointed his staff toward me. “Don’t force me to use this.”

  “Erebus,” Eros said. “Fetch Rhea.”

  He swept across the room through the darkness. Light pierced the room as he opened the door and called Rhea’s name. As she entered, her footsteps as light as feathers brushing across tiles, I couldn’t bear to raise my gaze from the floor.

  “Rhea, I must apprise you of the severity of our preliminary findings,” Eros said. “For reasons I’ll divulge in due time, Zeus is our primary suspect.”

  Rhea covered her mouth with her hand.

  I dropped my head.

  “Somewhere between the darkness and light lies the truth,” Eros said. “And we will uncover it.”

  “Rhea, as acting headmistress we must ask you if you are impartial enough to restrict Zeus’ travels until we can further investigate the other leads we have.”

  “So, you do have other leads, then?” Rhea asked.

  Phanes nodded slowly.

  Rhea cradled her forehead in her palm and shook her head. I felt like I was imploding on myself. I forced every stray thought from my mind to the point of even holding my breath. If I could’ve stopped my heart for that moment and a half, I would have. Her eyes raked over me. Searched through me.

  She turned back to Eros and sighed. “I can guarantee that he will remain on campus until you need him further.”

  “Very well,” Erebus said. “He is remanded into your care. If so much as a hair from his head leaves campus, you will be held as guilty as he.”

  She nodded, putting her arm around my shoulder and leading me from the room. Metis gripped my arm as I passed her. Her gaze reflected all of my agony and confusion, like she somehow knew everything that happened in the room without needing me to speak a word. Rhea tugged me forward and Metis’ fingers slid to my hand. Our pinkies locked for a moment and then released.

  When Rhea and I reached the end of the hallway, she turned to me. “I want to believe in your innocence. So far you’ve not acted in a manner inconsistent with your thoughts.”

  “You can read minds,” I said. “Search me. I’m clean. I swear.”

  “I know you are.”

  “Thank you,” I murmured.

  “When you find yourself in a storm-bent, roiling sea, you have nothing but your internal strength on which to rely. And you only discover its true power when the storm winds are highest. The side effect? Once you recover, if you recover, you won’t be the same person who entered the storm. Go get some rest. I’ll check on you later.”

  At daybreak the following morning, I walked near the Cloudwell. I wasn’t sure how I’d ended up there. I’d simply followed my feet.

  Gaia’s beautiful Earth stretched out before me like a humongous, sage green woven rug over the peaks and valleys. Earthen pillars and jagged rocks rose as if trying to offer themselves to the sky.

  A bird called in the distance. Then a dark brown eagle leapt from its perch near the top of a tree. I stared in awe at its strength and grace as it circled above. I clapped my hands loudly. There was the bird I needed, my escape.

  I waved my arms, but as it turned toward me, I retreated several steps. I hadn’t actually expected the bird to acknowledge me. It stormed toward me and buzzed me a few times. The eagle would’ve taken my head off if I hadn’t ducked. It climbed effortlessly back into the sky. Flap. Flap. Soar. Coast. Turn.

  With a sudden swoop, it dove straight toward me again. I turned and cringed.

  Just before it plowed into me, the eagle spread his wings and hovered right above my head. Its dark brown wings whipped the air as I looked into its eyes and soul. He returned my gaze like he knew me.

  He landed near my feet and folded his wings in. He paced around me in a circle, studying me. It creeped me out, if I’m being honest. But something drew me out of myself. I extended my hand and smoothed over the golden brown feathers on its head. It nuzzled into my palm, then leaned back and emitted an ear splitting call, “Weee-awwwww!”

  I snapped my hands to my ears and turned away. The bird stared at me and stepped forward. “There we are. Nice birdie.” I stroked its feathers and he opened his mouth as if to speak. I glared at him. “Don’t you dare call out like that again.”

  I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the bird’s energy. Nothing happened … and then I gasped, inhaling sharply as the strong jolt of the eagle’s essence surged into my hand. The bird’s energy filled me, and suddenly my eyes were not my own. My gaze sharpened. I could see deep into the valley with such detail that I never had before. I nearly shed my feathers when I saw my feet. Or rather, my talons.

  The eagle beside me rustled his feathers, spread his wings, and took flight. I desperately wanted to do what he’d done. To fly.

  My talons dug in the soil, refusing release. Shapeshifting into the bird had been easy. Ignoring my fear of heights was not. Yet the soul of the beast roared within my chest. Pushing me. Daring me to fly.

  I extended my wings and launched into the air. I climbed higher and higher, relishing the wind swooshing past my face. The freedom was incredible, as I was neither shackled by gravity, nor hindered by space. Each flap of my wings brought me closer to peace.

  I tilted my head downward and toward Gaia’s earth. To my surprise, I didn’t feel an ounce of fear. Over the expanse below, I could clearly see small animals scurrying on the valley floor. The other eagle soared below me. I pinned my wings to my sides and dove.

  My hooked yellow bill leading the way, I tore through the air at an unnatural speed. The ground drew closer. The wind swept past me until I spread my wings and the nosedive ended abruptly. Air caught beneath my wingspan and I rose again.

  “This is amazing!” I yelled to no one in particular.

  The other eagle glided up beside me. “You find any food yet?”

  “You’re joking right? Yeah, just as soon as I get my stomach out of my throat.”

  “What?”

  He obviously didn’t understand. And then it dawned on me … I just communicated with an eagle!

  I regained my focus and wondered if I might be able to hunt down Hyperion in this form. The sun inched across the heavens high above. If I couldn’t find him elsewhere, I could definitely find him in his chariot.

  I swooped down and then sharply upward, flying higher and higher. The air grew thinner and bluer and colder the higher I climbed. But no matter how fast I flew, Hyperion’s chariot never felt any closer. With mounting frustration, I turned back toward the ground.

  Once I returned to a reasonable altitude, I focused on looking for Tia and Ouranos. I skimmed treetops all the way to the Agora, turning my keen eyes to the valley floor. Even with my amazing vision, I still needed a closer vantage, so I scoured the countryside. I swerved in and out of tree clumps, banked left and right through crevices, gorges, and rock formations all over Thessaly.

  Seeing no one who looked like Tia or the Headmaster, I was ready to find solid ground again. I sailed toward campus, caught a gust of wind, and pushed past the Cloudwell to my bungalow. Through the trees, I nimbly landed on a branch outside my window.

  After jumping to the ground, I shifted back into myself. I blinked several times as my eyesight changed back to normal. I already missed my eagle-eyed vision. After several moments, I checked myself over to ensure the rest of my normal body had returned. My legs wobbled slightly as I walked around my bungalow toward its entr
y. But, I smiled like a fool after having experienced the wildest ride of my life.

  Metis startled me when she seemingly appeared out of nowhere, walking around the corner of my bungalow. Goose bumps prickled my skin. She pulled down the hood of her cloak, smiled, and spoke evenly, “Do I make you nervous?” Her golden hair fell to frame her face.

  I narrowed my eyes, thinking of something clever. “Hardly. I often find beautiful girls hanging out at my bungal—”

  “Bull patties. I was the first. I could tell by how your eyes lit up that night after the wrestling match.”

  I laughed as I recalled the incident.

  “Look at you. Your soul is smiling.”

  I tried to hide my smile, but I couldn’t. “I guess it is,” I said, clearly under the influence of both the eagle’s flight and Metis’ charms.

  “That was a neat trick you just pulled there.” She looked at me like she knew all my secrets. She teased her fingers through her wavy, blonde hair, folding a mass of it over to the other side of her head. “Just hope you don’t get in trouble for shifting off campus. Or for leaving campus at all.”

  “But I didn’t. I shifted at the Clou—”

  “Yeah.” Her lips twitched with a half-laugh. “And proceeded to fly … off … campus.”

  “You saw me shift? How?”

  She arched an eyebrow and flashed an absolutely wicked smile. “You liked it, didn’t you? Admit it.”

  “What?” I attempted to be coy, but she saw through me.

  Her gaze intensified. “You liked it. The ride. The exhilaration. The freedom. The escape.”

  I took longer to confirm than I probably should have. Eventually I nodded, almost against my conscious will. I didn’t want to agree with her and wasn’t sure I wanted someone else knowing my inner workings that well. But I had enjoyed the heady rush of adrenaline. Or maybe it was just Metis.

  “You’re an outsider at this school, aren’t you?” she asked. “Not sure you belong. Not sure whom to trust. Alone in a crowd. A leaf caught on the wind’s whim.”