“What does Helios say about all of this?” Aeëtes blurted before he could stop himself, his face turning a slight shade of red as soon as he said it. Hermes stopped, turning his whole body to face Aeëtes, his eyes narrowing as he studied him.
“Ahh,” he nodded slowly, appraisingly. “You’re a son of Helios.”
“How did you—”
“It’s my job to know things.” Hermes shrugged, sounding grandiose, but Hecate let out a squawk.
“Ha! He’s nosy. He’s incredibly nosy is what he means to say.”
Hermes only brushed her off.
“Helios normally doesn’t spend much time on Mt. Olympus, you know.” He waved his hand around aimlessly. “He’s pretty occupied during the day. If I see him, I’ll tell him…”
“Don’t,” Aeëtes muttered, his eyes going downcast. “It would be best for now if I wasn’t brought up.”
Hermes fell silent before he nodded slowly, a rare and somber look crossing his face.
“Understood.”
There was a beat of silence and a moment between them, Aeëtes acknowledging the god’s restraint with a quiet nod. It would be easy for Hermes to get involved, to entertain his normal tricks, to stir up some more chaos about their journey. Yet, Aeëtes trusted him to keep to his word, and it seemed like Hecate liked him—that was enough for Aeëtes, as much as it made him want to throw Hermes back into the sky.
“One more thing, Hermes.” Hecate held up a finger. “I don’t want word of this getting to the Underworld. Have Nyx and Erebus heard about this?” Hermes shook his head.
“I would imagine that Hades knows. He keeps up with Poseidon quite regularly. Ever since that whole coup attempt.”
“Thatwhat?”Pelias yelped, looking between the two gods. Of course, this was news again to the mortal men, who had heard a very different story about what happened with the titans.
“Don’t worry about it. It happens more often than you’d think.” Hermes playfully rolled his eyes at Pelias.
“Hermes.” Hecate got his attention again. “I’m serious. I want to make sure that Nyx and Erebus don’t know.”
“Why not? You know that Nyx would easily help end this.” Hermes leaned against the mast, examining his fingernails as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. As soon as Aeëtes thought about their journey coming to an end, it made his chest ache. He knew that it would eventually, but he certainly didn’t want it to end prematurely. Or at least, what he considered to be prematurely.
“She could,” Hecate nodded, “but I will not be like Hera. She runs to Zeus and the other gods to cry foul instead of fighting her own battles. I will do this honorably, and I’ll do it without dragging other people in to fight my fight.” Her voice decreased in pitch until she was nearly growling at the end, which did something to Aeëtes’s insides.
“Alright, your deviousness.” Hermes only smiled as his eyes went from Hecate to Aeëtes and back to Hecate. “You know that I simply live to serve you.” He gave her a little mock bow that had Hecate rolling her eyes and tossing a braid over her shoulder.
“All of the gods do, even if they don’t know it. Now, play nice with the other boys, Hermes, and I want to see how close we are to landfall.”
Hermes gave her a salute as she sauntered off to find the navigator, leaving Pelias and Aeëtes standing next to the god. Pelias looked at Hermes with a wide-eyed expression, still getting used to cavorting with the gods.
“Don’t leave your mouth open, young man, it’s hardly very becoming.” Hermes pointed at Pelias playfully, who immediately let out a little sound of indignation.
“Young man! Why, I cannot believe you—”
“Everyone mortal is a ‘young man’to me, Pelias. You can’t take it personally.” Hermes cut him off with a chuckle that made both Aeëtes and Pelias soften. Hermes collected himself and stood a little straighter, cocking an eyebrow as he leveled his gaze at Aeëtes.
“Now, you.” He cocked his head to one side. “Do you want to tell me a little bit more about how in love you are with my darling Hecate?”
“YourHecate!”Aeëtes felt his blood boil, and his face darkened as he looked at Hermes. “I’ll believe that as soon as I hear it from Hecate herself.” He stepped a little closer to Hermes, squaring his shoulders back and his hands tightening into fists. He stood about the same height as Hermes, and while they were both immortal, Aeëtes had no powers. Hermes had the full powers of an Olympian. Hermes’s face darkened as he stepped towards Aeëtes in return, and for a moment, it looked like the immortals were about to brawl. After a few seconds of terse silence, Hermes broke the tension with a belly laugh.
“Oh, oh I was so curious if I was right…” He could barely speak through his own laughter, nearly bent over at the waist. “You proved my point so gloriously, Aeëtes!” He stood up and clapped the man on the back. “My goodness, you are smitten with her.”
Aeëtes felt his face flush as he realized that he had been set up, and he glared at Hermes. A fresh wave of embarrassment washed over him. He chewed on his lip and said nothing, waiting for Hermes to finish. Pelias, next to him, tried to stifle his amusement as he saw how quickly Hermes had been able to push Aeëtes’s buttons.
“Oh, don’t be a bad sport about it,” Hermes told Aeëtes, a devilish grin on his face. “C’mon, what did you expect from a trickster?”
He held his arms out as if he was offering himself up to Aeëtes. He still said nothing, but he scoffed. It had a lot less anger behind it.
