Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
I allow myself to sink into him, to relax little by little. “Circe won’t bargain. I don’t know what she told Hera, but she won’t accept anything less than the ultimate destruction of Olympus.” I know her story as well as anyone, so I don’t exactly blame her for hating the city that let her be hurt even before it believed she died and moved on as if nothing had changed. The city that watched impassively as the same thing happened to her predecessor and the woman who held the Hera title after her. Three Heras, all rumored to be dead by the last Zeus’s hand, and no one did a single damn thing to try to stop it. If I were her, I’d want to burn this place, too.
I certainly have similar thoughts about Aeaea when I go to a particularly vengeful place.
I don’t hold any great love for this city. It’s been kind and cruel to me in turn, and it shares equal responsibility as Minos in abusing my sister. I shouldn’t care one way or another what happens to the people here. I’m not like Ariadne, too good for this world, determined to minimize casualties in every way she could manage. I’m the selfish sibling, the indolent one looking for his next pleasure to numb the pain of never being good enough. If anything, a full-out battle should give me the opportunity to slip my captor and escape to keep my promise to Ariadne.
And yet…
If the city falls, Poseidon will fall with it. He doesn’t have a navy, but he’s not one to lead from the back. He’ll fight even though he’s not a warrior, and he’ll die in service of a war he doesn’t even believe in to protect the innocents he feels responsible for. All while the rest of the Thirteen argue and politic. I’ve only known him a short time. The thought of him dying shouldn’t bother me—but it does. Deeply.
Which means there’s only one play.
“Zeus is right. At least partially.” I speak without raising my head, feeling my way through the reasoning. “If I can convince Circe’s generals to abandon her, Athena and her people should be able to sneak aboard and assassinate her and whoever else of value is on her ship without too much risk.” I almost tell him to just sink the ship after that and be done with it, but a little voice in the back of my head warns of unnecessary death. It sounds a lot like Ariadne.
I clear my throat. “But before you sink it, you should allow the crew to surrender. Aeaea is different from Olympus in a lot of ways—but it’s the same, too. When our people decided not to turn the island into a tourist destination, it started the long death of our industry. I still don’t think it was the wrong call, but if people don’t leave after secondary school, then there are only so many routes available to them—especially if they don’t have a family business to step into. The navy is the main route.”
Poseidon strokes a hand down my back. “I can’t risk our people by—”
“I’m not asking you to risk anything. If you’re already on the ships, you can evacuate them and send them to the nearest port that isn’t Olympus. Without Circe in the mix, they won’t be in a rush to fight.” I’m asking for extra steps, extra effort, and it’s not like I know any of those people, but it still feels…right. And not just because Ariadne would want it.
He keeps rubbing my back while he ponders it. It’s tempting to push him for an answer, but I stay silent and let him work through it. Ultimately, I can only argue. I can’t actually make the decisions that will change anything for anyone.
Finally, he says, “It’s not a bad suggestion, and lessening casualties means it’s less likely we’ll be dealing with another revenge-fueled invasion in a decade or two. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll see what I can do.” His lips brush my temple. “Thank you for suggesting it.”
I tense instinctively, ready to keep arguing, but then the meaning of his words wash over me. He’s agreeing with me. Not making promises, but then Poseidon isn’t the type of man to promise anything he can’t actually fulfill. The success of this plan depends deeply on Zeus’s support, which I suspect won’t be easy to get.
But Poseidon listened. He…found value in my input. I reach out and tentatively grip his big bicep. “Poseidon?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you still angry with me?”
He huffs out a laugh and what little tension was left in his body dissipates. “No, I guess I’m not.”
Thank the gods. I shift, earning a muted groan from him. “We still have another hour or so until sunrise.”
“That’s true.”
I smile a little at how deep and gravelly his voice goes. The world still feels slightly unsteady around me, but the man holding me is a rock in the midst of a storm. I don’t know how to tell him how sorry I am for hurting him, how much I appreciate the fact that he actually listens to me without rejecting my suggestions out of turn. I’ve never had to say anything like that before. Historically, I’m usually fighting for my life just to avoid being the biggest disappointment.