I clutch the table for support. I’m glad I’m already sitting down so I’m not staggering back in shock.
‘I’m going to leave,’ Tempest says.
Neither Hades nor I say anything, our eyes locked on each other. I’m moving slowly, processing too much, but within allthat I have to wonder why I’m seeing echoes of my own despair mirrored back to me in Hades’ face.
‘Show me,’ I say, squeezing past him and starting down the hall. Hades’ quick steps follow me.
I’ve had so much more time than I thought I would get and my disgust swells as I think about how long my list of potential suitors must have been – four of the twelve, even. All those men desperate for me to be bound to them …
When we reach the Lake of the Five Rivers, the vision shows Mother on our island, screaming at the sky for Zeus to take notice. Nymphs run about behind her in a frenzy and I can see the terror on their faces.
Oh. I didn’t even think about the consequences for them.
Mother howls and a group of nymphs fall under her out-swept hands, shrieking in agony as their legs meld together, fish scales racing up their arms and their voices turning to the scratch of salt water.
My hand covers my own startled shriek. I’ve seen Mother turn nymphs to sirens before, always as a punishment.
But this ismypunishment, taken out on them.
You stupid, stupid little girl, Kore.
Either Zeus is ignoring her or he’s not paying attention. I watch silently as Mother returns to the house she has already torn apart, or perhaps the nymphs did. And what for? In case I was hiding in a cupboard?
She grabs some seeds from a drawer and runs to the ocean. She dips her fingers in the foam of the waves and screams for an audience with Poseidon. There are tears in her eyes but she blinks rapidly, refusing to let them fall.
‘What’s all this hysterical nonsense for?’ a gruff voice says,and there’s Poseidon, king of the court of Oceanus, weathered and tanned skin, and wild, sea-matted hair and beard.
‘Someone has taken Kore,’ Mother says and I’m startled because she doesn’t sayShe’s missingorShe’s gone– things with many possibilities. She’s certain she knows the story.
I shrink back and feel rough rock behind me. My eyes flit for a second to Hades. I am painfully aware of the vulnerability I am showing.
‘They couldn’t have,’ Poseidon grunts. ‘The wards on the island are too strong.’
Mother’s lip curls in disgust. Poseidon’s ocean realm has crashed against the shores of my island my entire life. He has evidently tested the strength of my mother’s wards.
‘I need you to make enquiries,’ Mother says. ‘Your realm is vast and someone might have seen something.’
‘Come now, surely there’s no need for all this fuss.’
‘Fuss? She’sgone,’ Mother snarls.
‘So?’ Poseidon shrugs. ‘Say someone did take her – she’s a woman grown. It’s no matter. They’re both having some fun, so what? You kept her contained too long, Demeter. She’s probably screaming with delight on some lucky man’s lap. Leave her be.’
I think I might be sick.
Hades mutters a string of unintelligible curses, glaring at the lake like he might leap through it to throttle Poseidon himself.
‘I was going to bribe you,’ Mother says as she drops the seeds and crushes them underfoot. Wild weeds sprout beneath her as they always do when she is angry, just as flowers spring from me when I’m nervous. ‘But I think I’ll try threats instead.’
Poseidon snorts. ‘Your domain is land, Demeter. Good luck with that.’
He turns and Mother calls after him. ‘My domain is harvest and fertility, you insatiable prick. Let’s see how the creatures of your world cope when I cause the corals to wither and die, when every plant in the ocean curls in on itself.’
‘You wouldn’t – you couldn’t –’ Poseidon stutters. Surely no one has spoken to him like this before.
I stare at my mother. This anger is something else. And I’m … impressed. For years she’s ranted about the world Zeus created, the power he gifted Poseidon and Hades instead of her – and here she is, threatening those men with the very power they disregarded.
But it’s also a betrayal. My whole life she’s taught me the only way to survive is to keep my head down, make pretty things and nod when a man speaks. Butshegets to be angry? She gets to make threats? I know she has more power than me but how is that fair?
