The Sky Throne
Page 29
Most of all, I had so many questions for Rhea that I didn’t know where to begin. I desperately wanted to see Tos again. Wanted to go home. I missed my mother.
“Um, we all need some quality time in the bathhouses before we go anywhere.” Hera pinched her nose.
Meter threw her arm around me. “Stinky or not, I can’t thank you enough. The Underworld is an unforgiving place.” The gold flecks in her eyes were still mesmerizing.
“Hey, I was on the rescue team too, you know,” Shade said as he slid next to Meter. Meter’s smile bloomed as she looped her arm through his.
“And don’t forget Metis and Hera.” I said.
Rhea smiled. “After you wash up, I want you all to join me in the Headmaster’s office.”
Meter turned to Hera, Metis, and Tia. “Ladies, I think it’s time for some balneotherapy and spa pampering.”
Hera raised both hands. “Girl, after our little adventure, I’m gonna need about two days of therapy.”
Everyone turned toward the bathhouses in silence. I think the day had been too much for all of us. I finished bathing before Don and Shade. My hands trembled with nervous energy about what Rhea had to tell us. I dressed quickly and then closed my eyes for several long moments on my bed.
Some time later, a knock at my door brought my attention back. Shade peeked his head around my door. His black tunic had returned, along with his black arm cuffs. “Are you ready? We’re going to walk in together.”
I rose to my feet and joined Shade and Don outside on the path down the hill from the housing area. All aglow, Hera, Meter, Tia, and Metis padded down the walkway and assembled with us. Together we trekked to Headmaster’s office. Sadly, Rhea now reigned as sole headmistress.
Don announced our arrival by the lion’s head doorknocker.
“Come in,” Rhea called out.
We entered and arranged ourselves around the giant marble slab that had been Ouranos’ desk.
“Recent events have been nearly too much for me to grapple with … partly because I knew what you didn’t.”
“That you were our mother?” Tia asked with a shaky voice.
Rhea nodded. She gazed at Tia. “I gave birth to you near a roaring hearth fire on the island of Kerkyra. You were the first. I cried ugly tears when I had to leave you. But I knew you were in very good care.”
She ambled around the desk and held Don’s hand next. “You were my only water birth, the biggest of all of my children. I delivered you to Arne among a flock of lambs on the island of Euboea.”
Don wiped his eyes.
Rhea turned toward Hades. She cradled his chin in her palm. “My second born. I spawned you in the mouth of the volcano on Limnos, swallowed by shadows and the safety of darkness. I knew you’d be safe there.”
Rhea then sat on the edge of the desk near Meter. “Demeter, you were my most difficult labor. You simply refused to come out. Water didn’t work. Darkness didn’t work. Finally, exhausted, I lay down in a field of high grasses on northern Kithira. It had been cloudy all day, but a strong ray of sunshine shot through the clouds and you were born right into it.”
Meter covered her mouth with her right hand. Hera held her left hand.
“And Hera, you actually were my easiest childbirth. You seemed to be in such a hurry. It was a bright, sunny day on the shores of the river Imvrassos on Samos. I knew you’d fare well there.” Rhea rifled her fingers through Hera’s dark curly locks.
“And lastly … ” Rhea turned to me, “You, the baby brother to all of your older siblings, were of course born on Crete in the cave on Mount Ida. Amalthea and Adamanthea nursed you to be the strong young man you are today. And there was another newborn, Anytos, that I was certain would grow to be one of your best friends.”
Hot, fresh tears emerged as memories leaked from my eyes. Metis eased to my side and embraced me tightly.
Rhea shook out her hands, clenched and stretched her fingers. “I am so sorry for any undue agony I have caused you. Please accept my apology. I felt like this was the correct moment to underscore your similarities instead of your differences. As we move forward, rebuilding this school and toward Kronos’ trial, you all will need to be tighter than ever. Do you understand?”
We all nodded.
Don stepped into the middle of us. “I am blown away that we’re all siblings. This is amazing and scary. It’s a lot to digest.”
“Exactly,” Tia offered. “I mean, it’s not a bad thing … but every memory I’ve ever had now has to be threaded into a new narrative. A much larger tapestry.”
“I don’t know.” Meter paced back and forth. “This actually makes perfect sense now. It totally explains why we fought like stags and goats.”
“Whatev … ” Hera folded her arms. “I’m just glad we’re all here together right now to enjoy this revelation.” She propped herself against the side of the marble desk. “Samos was a fine beginning to my life. And yes, I now have a bit of context … but don’t think it’s going to alter my world domination plans.”
“Well, I still want to go back to Crete to see Amalthea,” I said. “To make sure she’s all right.”
Rhea smiled. “I’d be upset if you didn’t go. I owe her so much. Take everyone with you. She’ll want to meet them—”
“Deal!” I said before she’d finished.
“We’d never dream of letting him go alone,” Don said, beating his chest. “Mu Omega Pi. The six of us will be fine, together,” Don said. “Especially with the deity magic that Zeus, Hera, and Shade have.”
“I am itching to get some of that cosmic dust,” Tia announced. “It just occurred to me … Kronos stole my research. What a ride that was! Attacked by Kronos in the Observatory. Epic fight between him and Ouranos, let me tell you. Tables flying. Air bending. If it weren’t so terrifying, it would’ve been amazing.” Tia was definitely back to her true chatterbox form.
“We figured as much,” I said. “But, we did find something helpful that you’ll want to see.”
“The scroll,” Shade and Hera said at the same time.
Meter laughed. “Are you two friends now?”
Hera wrinkled her nose. “Girl, stress and a common enemy will work wonders. And, he did save my ass down there.” She pointed to the ground and smiled. “No one is all bad. But don’t get the wrong idea. I’m still all business.”
Shade smiled and put his arm around Hera while shooting a glance at Meter. “Well, Meter, I just don’t think things are gonna work out between us, being siblings and all.”
Meter threw her head back and cackled. “Way to let a girl down easy.” She winked at Shade. “Somehow, I’ll live.” She paused and smiled. “We both will. Come over here and give your little sister a hug.”
Shade closed the distance between him and Meter. Their embrace was sweet and supportive. And perfect.
“After we grab something to eat, let’s hurry to the Cloudwell,” I said.
Don smiled. “Look at you. You’ve gone from tiny twig to full grown tree in one term.”
“I guess I have.”
“Every being goes through an incubation period,” Rhea said. “And when the time comes for them to emerge into the world … it happens, whether they’re ready for it or not. Consider this your coming out party.”
“Do you remember our earlier conversation … about life and opposition?” Rhea asked me.
I nodded.
She smiled the warmest smile I’d seen from her yet. Her eyes welled with tears again. She sniffled and wiped her eyes. Her voice cracked. “Way to grab those reins.”
After eating, I walked to the Cloudwell with my brothers and sisters and Metis. Bright pinks and oranges streaked through lapis across the western sky, while indigo darkened the east.
My heart ached for Rhea … and for Amalthea … but especially for Tos, that he would never meet my real mother, or these great siblings of mine. He could never see what I’d become, or the power I wielded. Then,
I realized that perhaps everything happened exactly how it was supposed to happen, not necessarily how I wanted. But, all the events had fallen into place as the cosmos had designed them. My existence was part of a larger, more complex mosaic, where if I drew close, I could only see my tile. However, if I stepped back, I could see the entire vision. But, I still missed my friend. I palmed my chest where his wound had been.
Once I reached the Hurler, Metis brushed my shoulder and said, “You know, the thing I’ve always loved about sunsets is the interplay of dark and light colors. Lines blurred. No ending. No beginning.”
I’d recently been so caught up with Hyperion’s relationship to the sunrise and sunset that I hadn’t stopped to simply admire them for what they were. Beautiful. I appreciated Metis’ refreshing ability to do that, to remind me of life’s beauty.
“All right—” I interrupted my own thoughts. “Are we all ready?”
They nodded and placed their hands atop the Hurler.
“When we get back, we’re going to need to design some killer weapons to protect us against future threats,” I said. “So be thinking about what kind of signature weapon you want to make. And Hera, we definitely need to get you a better weapon than just your mind.”
She smiled. “There is no greater weapon.”
I held my hand in the air. A sphere of yellowish-white energy strings crackled, pulsing around my closed fist. “I beg to differ.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As always, I thank my loving family for supporting me through teeth gnashing and hand wringing, the late, late nights and the up way too early’s that it takes to realize a dream.
The saying, “It takes a village…” definitely applies to this novel’s journey. I first conceived this story in 2011 at the SCBWI International Conference in New York, fittingly under the watchful eye and powerful scepter of Hermes who stands high above Grand Central Station. SCBWI, is a village all by itself, an ultra supportive community of like minded writers and artists. I’m so glad I joined.
I then joined forces with the best critique group ever from NV SCBWI. CRITERATI, we called ourselves. And it was in this group of awesomeness that The Sky Throne took its first baby steps as I sent out chapter by chapter every two weeks to get torn apart. I then got accepted to the world renowned NV SCBWI Mentor Program, where I was mentored by Suzanne Morgan Williams.
Additionally, I want to recognize all the critique partners, BETA readers, and others who ever helped on the story: Heather Petty, Tracy Clark, Ellen Hopkins, Dawn Callahan, Temoca Dixon, Jenny MacKay, Julie Dillard, Caryn Neidhold, Kim Harnes, Naomi Canale, Lisa Marcusson, Stacey Rice, Amanda Tremblay, Joel Pettipiece, Amy Cook, Jason Roer, Nikki Mann, Marissa Graff, Martina Boone, Melpomene Selemidis, Maria Bitar, Ella Kennen, my editors, Laura Whitaker and Michelle Millet, and finally Georgia McBride. Thank you so much.
CHRIS LEDBETTER
Chris Ledbetter grew up in Durham, NC before moving to Charlottesville, VA in 11th grade. After high school, he attended Hampton University where he promptly “walked-on” to the best drum line in the conference without any prior percussion experience. He carried the bass drum for four years, something his back is not very happy about now.
After a change of heart and major, he enrolled in Old Dominion University and earned his degree in Business Administration. He’s worked in various managerial and marketing capacities throughout his life. He taught high school for six years in Culpeper, VA, and also coached football.
He has walked the streets of Los Angeles and New York City, waded in the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and climbed Diamond Head crater on Hawaii and rang in the New Year in Tokyo, Japan. But he dreams of one day visiting Greece and Italy.
His writing awards include: Evernight Publishing Readers Choice: Best YA Book of the Year 2015, Library of Clean Reads Best Reads of 2015, USA Today HEA Blog Must-Read Romance 2015.
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Acknowledgements
About the Author
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