“Yes,” Theryxa said calmly.
Everyone paused.
“I am one of Zeus’s children.”
“Well,” Maldenis blinked once. “That certainly simplifies things.”
“I suppose it does.” Theryxa chuckled softly as she folded her hands over her lap. “Zeus visited me while I was growing up. Every couple of years, he would appear. Not often but enough.”
Her gaze drifted toward the window, toward the distant ridges.
“He always told me the same thing,” she continued. “That one day I should announce that I was his child.”
“Announce it?” Liora frowned slightly.
Theryxa nodded. “He said the world would need to know when the time came.”
Maldenis exchanged a look with the triplets.
“When was the last time you saw him?” he asked.
“A couple of years ago,” Theryxa said. “Not long after that, the news reached us that the Olympians had banished him to Tartarus.”
Her gaze drifted back toward the window, the light catching the silver threads in her fur. “When I was younger,” she continued, “I did what he asked.
“Nothing came of it,” she gave a soft huff of amusement. “I was young, and I thought perhaps something important would happen. That someone would come looking.” She shrugged one broad shoulder. “But nothing did.”
Liora exchanged a quick glance with her siblings.
“What did Zeus say when you asked him about it?” Maldenis asked.
Theryxa leaned back in her chair, remembering.
“I asked him the next time he visited. I asked him why it mattered. He said he had heard of a prophecy.”
The room grew still.
“He told me he was searching for an heir before the others found them.”
Elian frowned. “The others?”
“Yes,” Theryxa said. “That’s what I asked him.”
Her voice lowered slightly as she repeated the memory. “‘Others?’ I said.” She looked around the room. “He simply nodded and said, ‘Yes. But don’t worry. You are safe.’”
Theryxa studied them for a moment longer, then her gaze softened slightly. “There are other demigods,” she said. “Among the clans.”
Everyone leaned forward just a little.
“Children of Zeus?”
“Yes.” Theryxa nodded slowly.
Maldenis’s expression sharpened. “Do you know who they are?”
“No.” Theryxa shook her head. “Not personally.
“The clans are large.” She leaned back into her chair again. “Our lives do not always cross.”
