“Arin!” I gape at the dark-skinned god. “What are you doing here? I thought…”
He appears uncomfortable beneath my scrutiny. His weight shifts, one leg to the other. “The Council of Gods decided, as a reward for such anengagingtournament this year, that they would resurrect those that were killed in the trials. Which is lucky, I guess.” He frowns as he says this. “But that’s not what I wanted to say to you.” He takes a breath. “I wanted to apologize for my behavior in the tournament.”
“Don’t,” I whisper, touching his sleeve. “It’s in the past. I don’t hold it against you.”
“You should.”
My time in the City of Gods has not been without its epiphanies. Arin may be a god, but he has family he cares for. He bleeds, as I do. “You sacrificed your life for your sister. It was a selfless thing to do.”
“Hello, Min from Marles.”
I stiffen. It would be rude to ignore the goddess, who has appeared at Arin’s side, so I dip my chin. “Demi.”
She studies me intently. “I’m glad to see you made it through the tournament unscathed.”
Unscathed? I scoff. “Yes, well, no thanks to you.” The Council of Gods so dearly loves their entertainment.
Her gaze is wary. I have been a mouse all my life, but this goddess has suddenly found herself facing a venomous snake. Demi is no fool. She recognizes something has changed. “May we speak privately?” she asks.
I chew on the side of my cheek, considering her request. I do not have to agree if I do not want to. But a part of me dearly wishes this has been a gross misunderstanding. “Very well.” I follow her into a small study, moonlight limning the curved wooden desk. Once I pass through, she shuts the door behind me.
At once, Demi seems to deflate. She is a tall woman with great presence, but even she is minimized when distant from the light. “So,” she says. “Now you know.”
Fury climbs my skin so readily I wrestle with the urge to scratch at her eyes. “That’s all you can say?” I spit. “Now you know?” I would never expect this lack of consideration from someone I’d believed to care for me. “You lied to me,” I hiss. “All this time, you were on the council, and I was too stupid to see past your façade.” How deeply do I really know the goddess standing before me? If she is on the council, then she must be one of the most powerful and influential of all the gods. “Who are you? What do mortals call you, I mean?”
“I believe in Marles, you call me the Mother of Earth.”
My gut lurches with bitter poison, that Demi would jest in such a manner. “I see. You’re making fun of me. Well, I don’t appreciate it—”
“Min,” she says, sorrow swimming through her eyes. “It is the truth.”
My face grows uncomfortably warm, and I realize how crowded the study feels, with its bookshelves and desk and chairs. “You can’t be. You—”
You smell of chervil.
I press a hand to my stomach. I had spoken of the Mother of Earth before, at length. Demi had every opportunity to reveal her identity. It feels like further manipulation that she chose not to, taking advantage of the poor mortal. “You should have told me.”
“Yes.” She looks away, her eyes downcast.
“So why didn’t you?”
The goddess wraps her arms around her front. “I’m sorry to say I don’t have a good answer for you beyond that I enjoyed what it felt like to live a life of anonymity, however brief.”
“I thought we were friends,” I whisper, voice warbling.
“We are, Min.”
“But you were only using me to get information on Eurus, weren’t you.”
The Mother of Earth reaches for me. I take a step back, warning her without words to keep her distance.
“That’s not it,” Demi says. “It was never about getting information on Eurus. As I said before, our relationship was over long ago. Though I do still care for him, I wanted to spend time with you because I enjoyed your company, if you can believe it.”
I do not.
“If you still care for him,” I say, “why didn’t you try to help him? Why did you vote to banish Eurus and his brothers from the City of Gods?”
“Min.” She sighs, and at her back, the darkness shifts, thinning around her generous curves. “There is no easy choice. There is onlyachoice. Unfortunately, I am on the Council of Gods. If I want my voice to meananything, that means acting in accordance to what we all believe is best for the realm, whether or not I agree with it.”
