Page 69 of Styx

Something is wrong.’

I stood up slowly, not letting

my confusion show.

‘Why would she send you?’

I asked, my question a blunt arrow.

‘I have myriad sisters

she could send.’

Asteria shot me a warning look,

her arm around her sister.

I kept my gaze strong on Leto

as she hesitated to speak.

‘We Are All to Go to Her Chambers’

Leto’s words added to my confusion.

I stared at her. ‘Asteria and you as well?’

I asked, deeply perplexed.

The only times Tethys ever asked me

to come to her chambers was during childbirth.

But she was not pregnant.

Something was wrong.

I felt Leto’s words before my mind

could catch up with their implication.

I gave a terse nod to Leto,

and looked at Asteria. ‘We will go.’

Sensing the urgency in my tone,

Asteria rose and grabbed Leto’s hand.

They followed me as I ran back

to the palace, my heart pounding

as loudly as my feet.

Tethys’s Chambers

I knew how much my father