Page 224 of Styx
You do not need to be a Goddess.’
I let out a cold, bitter laugh at this.
‘Pallas. Do you not understand how that sounds?
You are already a God. What do you know
about being relegated to nurse and bride?
What do you know about being only a vessel
to carry Gods into existence, but never
being allowed the status or power of one?’
Pallas looked at me as though seeing
me for the very first time.
Then he said quietly, ‘I will not betray my brother.
Not even for you, Styx. I will not do it.’
He turned and began to walk away.
‘Wait,’ I called to him, my hand on Kratos’s hair,
soothing both him and myself.
‘You should know a truth before you leave.’
He stopped, but refused to turn around.
I opened my mouth and hated
the tremor that was rooted there.
‘We are to have another child.’
This was not how I wanted to tell him.
He had been overjoyed when I had told him
about Kratos and Nike. But this day
felt like there was a chasm between us.
He stood there silently for an age.
Finally, he said to me, ‘Send word
when the infant arrives.’
And with those cold words, he left.
I knew without premonition
that something between us had changed.
