Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Pallas is short and petite, her long straight black hair pulled back from her delicate face. Her light-brown skin is smooth and perfect, no doubt with the help of both genetics and a horrendously expensive skincare routine. I’ve seen what my sisters consider reasonable when it comes to that sort of thing, but my wife doesn’t seem to share the same fascination.
No. I’m not thinking about Hera right now.
Poseidon shifts, attempting to draw my attention away from Pallas. “No point in wasting time beating around the bush. After this conflict with Circe has seen its end, I’m stepping down and Pallas will ascend as the next Poseidon.”
I blink. “What?” Surely I just heard him wrong. He may not have wanted it, but once people have titles, they don’t give them up without a fight.
Except Eris did. She only held Aphrodite for a few months. Bearing the burden of Zeus was easier with her sharing the load. It’s different with Helen as Ares. She wanted to become Ares to prove that she’s more than a pretty face. She’s done a damn good job of seeing her responsibilities fulfilled.
With Eris, we both understood the burden that comes with holding this kind of power. We both were trained from the time we were children to be able to bear that power. But, while Eris was willing to marry for the benefit of Olympus, she actually had the audacity to fall in love with her husband. She almost died in the wake of that mess, and the only thing she asked me while lying there in the hospital was to release her. It’s not something she technically needed my permission for, but I gave it all the same.
I know what my father would say. That I’m a sentimental fool. Eris is a sharp tool and was willing to be used ruthlessly in the pursuit of stability for the city. If I’d pushed, she would have folded. It’s what we were trained to do.
I couldn’t do it. She never asked anything of me but this, and watching her find such unexpected happiness in her little polycule has been bittersweet in the extreme.
As a legacy title, I don’t have that option. We don’t step down. We cling to our power until death takes us. Except Poseidon isn’t following the rules.
He doesn’t shift nervously as I contemplate him. He’s not even tapping his thigh in the way that he always does when stressed. He simply meets my gaze steadily. “I’m stepping down,” he says almost gently. “I’m starting Pallas’s training now to ensure a seamless transfer. She’s more than capable of holding the title.”
If there’s even a title to hold at that point. I haven’t forgotten about Hermes’s little visit, or the way she seems to want the downfall of Olympus just as much as Circe does, admittedly in a slightly less murderous fashion. “But why?”
Poseidon glances at Pallas and Orion. “Could you give us a minute?”
They don’t quite bolt out of the room, but they move with great efficiency. And then it’s just Poseidon and me. I don’t like what I see on his face. He’s always been shit at masking his expressions, and right now, he’s looking at me with something akin to pity.
I turn away. “No Icarus tagging along? Did he finally wise up and run?”
“I asked him to stay.” Poseidon hands over that piece of information with a frankness that sets my teeth on edge. The man hasn’t learned to lie in all the time I’ve known him, and the secondhand embarrassment is almost too much to bear. I would never expose myself like that to someone who might as well be an enemy. I don’t wish him harm, but he should know there’s no guarantee I won’t use any and all information against him. He should act as if I’m a threat in order to protect himself.
I make myself turn back to face him. If he can be brave enough to hold a frank conversation, then I suppose I can meet him halfway. “Why? It was clear that he loved you, and you him.”
“Yes,” Poseidon says simply. “But neither of us are our own people right now. I have responsibilities to Olympus, to my people, and Icarus has responsibilities to his. When this is over, I’ll go to him.”
As simple as that. Something strange and insidious takes root in my chest. What would it be like to love someone that much? To be willing to walk away from the things we’ve been taught to want more than anything? People lie, cheat, steal, and murder to claim one of the Thirteen titles of Olympus.
Poseidon is going to set his down for the sake of love? I’m…jealous.
Apparently my silence speaks for itself, because he continues. “Triton might have kept his daughters sheltered to a criminal degree, but Pallas is smart—and kind and fair. It will take her a little bit of time to understand exactly what she needs to do to be Poseidon, but I’ll be there with her until she’s steady on her feet.”