Page 24 of A Touch of Chaos

“I do not fear her,” he hissed. “But I will not be dethroned.”

“She did not try to overthrow you,” Apollo snapped. “SherestoredThebes, and you brought war against her.”

“And when the time came to choose a side, you opposed me. That is the same thing.”

An angry silence followed Zeus’s words.

“Why do you defend her?” asked Artemis. The goddess was one of a few who sat on her throne, her hands curled around the arms of her chair as if at any moment, she might launch herself from it and attack. “What has she done for you?”

Apollo glared at his sister as he answered, “She is my friend.”

Artemis scoffed. “You are a god. Mortals are dying to be in your presence.Theywill be your friends.”

“It is not the same,” he said. “But you would not know that because you have no friends.”

Artemis glared at Apollo and then looked at Zeus. “I will hunt her, Father.”

“You will do no such thing.” It was Aphrodite who spoke this time.

“You would defend her too, my child?” Zeus asked. Unlike the anger he showed Hermes and Apollo, toward her, he was hurt.

“She took a spear for her,” said Poseidon. “Or have you forgotten the way Hephaestus screamed for her?” The God of the Sea chuckled.

Aphrodite glared at her uncle before her gaze slid back to Zeus. “It is not Persephone or Hades who are dangerous, Father,” she said. “It is their love. Tear them apart, and they will tear you apart.”

Artemis scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“The prophecy has made the danger of their love very clear, Aphrodite,” said Hera. It was the first time the Goddess of Marriage had spoken. “Together or apart, they are a continuous threat.”

Zeus looked at his wife with affection, as if her defense of him was an illustration of her love, but Theseus knew otherwise—and so did everyone else in the room. Hera was just as afraid of losing her position and title, and while it was foolish for Zeus to think it meant anything more, his inability to see Hera for who she truly was worked in Theseus’s favor.

So did his attention to Hades and Persephone.

But that was the danger in attempting to unravelan oracle’s words. There was no way to guess how their predictions might unfold. Indeed, Hades and Persephone’s unionhadproduced a god more powerful than Zeus.

But that god was Theseus.

“How many times must we pick apart a prophecy when we all know there is no avoiding Fate?” asked Athena.

“Are those supposed to be wise words?” Hera asked.

Athena narrowed her eyes and lifted her proud chin.

“You should not even be allowed a voice here,” said Ares. “You and Hestia abandoned us on the battlefield. Cowards!”

“Do not pretend you participated in battle out of loyalty,” Athena shot back. “You only wished to satisfy your bloodlust.”

Ares pushed off his throne and took up his spear, but Aphrodite stepped in front of him, and the anger that had overtaken him seemed to vanish.

“Is she wrong, Ares?” Aphrodite asked.

Ares’s jaw tightened, and his knuckles turned white around his spear, but he did not move to strike or whatever he had intended to do when he rose against Athena. Instead, he took a step back and returned to his throne.

Zeus looked at Athena and then at the gods who had opposed him.

“I have escaped Fate more times than I can count,” he said. “I can assure you the last thing that will bring me to my knees is a pair of star-crossed lovers.”

“You haveprolongedFate,” said Athena. “There is a difference. Why do you think the same prophecy haunts you?”

---