Page 15 of Blood of Olympus

Yes, she drawled. Although I do not like to do so. He is rather dim-witted.

Unexpected amusement threatened to curl my lip. Please ask him to deliver a message to Aros.

What message?

That I still don’t trust Hermes. Assign a guard to watch him — covertly.

Done.

Aros’ gaze flicked to Rufus, his bonded manticore, before crashing back to mine. He inclined his head ever so slightly, too subtle to be noticed by anyone else. Except, perhaps, the overly large shadow I now possessed in the shape of a storm-wielder.

Nothing slipped by Caelus these days. He was always alert, always ready to intercept danger at a moment’s notice. He barely ate, barely spoke, barely even slept, and when he did, it was punctuated by night terrors.

He had taken to sleeping at the Palace of Hades this past week. As though he were as loath to be alone as I was. As though his grief was as sharp as mine.

And perhaps it was.

When I’d admitted my suspicions about Charon’s true parentage to him in a moment of profound guilt, Caelus was forced to open himself up to the possibility that Fate had claimed his own brother’s life as payment for my refusal to relinquish his.

Grieve later. You have work to do, Velira admonished softly — gently nudging me back to the present moment and my new duties.

I locked eyes with the huntress still crouched at her brother’s feet.

“Your turn, Artemis.”

To her credit, she rose gracefully, chin held high. Ready to withstand whatever I threw at her.

“Did you instruct your daughter to sabotage me during Hermes’ trial?”

The god of thieves wandered back to his seat, though not without eyeing her keenly, waiting intently for her answer.

“Yes.”

A sharp inhale came from Hestia’s direction.

I had expected that answer, however. “Why?”

“Because my queen required it of me.”

I frowned — an expression that was mirrored in various faces throughout the chamber.

“You had no queen.” Caelus scowled. “My mother was unseated the moment she murdered my father.”

“Respectfully, I did not know that at the time,” Artemis replied smoothly.

“Disrespectfully, whether you knew or not changes nothing,” he argued.

“It changes everything,” she countered. “Hera had just as much claim to the crown as any one of us here. And I honoured centuries of her steadfast ruling by agreeing to disqualify the usurper I believed you to be.” The last sentence was directed at me. Her eyes shone with sincerity, imploring me to understand. “I would honour you the same, Nyssa.”

Artemis dropped my gaze as she dipped her head — a gesture of respect I had not expected from the goddess of the hunt.

“You will address her as ‘my queen’ until such time as she instructs you otherwise,” Caelus growled from my side.

“Or ‘lady of the sharp tongue’ perhaps,” Aros interjected quietly with a smirk.

“Or ‘she who is not mindful of where she places her feet’,” my mind added unhelpfully in Charon’s playful tones.

Artemis’ lips pressed together, but nodded smoothly all the same. “My apologies, my queen.”