Page 160 of Styx

ITS SEEDS. METIS TOLD ME

SHE WAS GOING TO AIGAION.’

I was startled by this. No God lived there.

‘To Aigaion? Why would she go—’

Nyx raised her hand. ‘YOU HAVE

YOUR ANSWER. IT IS TIME TO LEAVE.’

Even I, with all my impatience and ire,

did not have it in me to question

the Goddess of the Night.

The East Wind, Eurus

At the edge of the hall

of the nocturnal and diurnal feast,

my body ached with fatigue

and I swayed. Both Asteria

and Leto were immediately

by my side, Pallas moving forward

to wrap his arm around my waist

to steady me.

‘Perhaps…’ Pallas suggested gently,

‘you should rest for a while.’

I shook my head, but leaned into

the solid warmth of his body.

‘I will rest when I see her.’

I would rest when I apologized

to her for hiding her true origin

was what I truly wanted to say.

I saw Pallas’s jaw tighten slightly.

I could see the conflict in his eyes,

but he nodded.

Perses took this as his signal.