Zeus added his torch to Kronos’ fire and lowered himself onto a rock beside his father. Kronos delved into his pack and handed his son a couple of strips of dried goat meat, then took a swig from his waterskin. Zeus devoured the goat, groaning as he chewed.
A smile twitched Kronos’ lips. He held out his hand. In the centre of his palm lay an almond.
Zeus swallowed his mouthful.
Kronos curled his fingers around the nut and blew on his knuckles. Then he opened his hand to reveal the almond vanished.
Zeus’ brow darkened. ‘I’m not a child.’
Kronos sighed, retrieving the almond from his tunic pocket.
‘I care,’ he said softly. ‘You, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hestia, Hera … You will always have my heart.’
Zeus leant forward, his voice nothing but a hoarse whisper, as though he feared the mountain might be listening. ‘Once you have become a Titan you could come home in secret, use your power to heal Hestia, then return.’
Kronos shook his head. ‘You know I cannot. You must be strong now. Take up the responsibility as head of your family.’
Zeus recoiled, the fire in his eyes cooling to ice. ‘Ourfamily. You always said we came above all else. Was that a lie?’
Kronos’ ribs tightened. ‘I have never lied to you, son.’
‘Then why will you not save your own child?’
Kronos gazed up at the mountain’s highest peak, his heart aching. ‘I have been chosen for a higher purpose. As one of the Twelve, maintaining the balance of the tapestry of lifewill be my responsibility. I cannot place my own loves above every living being on the earth.’
The look in Zeus’ eyes was too painful to hold. So many words lay piled between them, and yet still he could not make his son understand.
After a long pause he added, ‘I saw the face of creation. This is how it must be.’
Zeus’ expression grew thunderous. ‘My mother gave her life so Hestia could join this world. Do you care so little for her sacrifice?’
At the mention of his wife, Rhea, Kronos flinched.
‘Your anger shames your tongue.’
‘It is you, Father, who should be ashamed.’
Kronos clenched his jaw, swallowing the torrent of words he longed to hurl at his son. Silence raged between them. Drawing deep, calming breaths, Kronos let Zeus’ anger wash over him until the tidal waves faded to ripples and the fight in his son’s eyes ebbed away.
Zeus hung his head. The knot in Kronos’ chest eased. Finally, acceptance.
Brightness crept along the edge of his vision. He looked to the east, where the sun crested the sea, spilling its rosy glow across the world. Then he turned to gaze at the ridge of stone behind him. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks as that honeyed light burnished the mountain, transforming its grey crags into golden rock and, below their stony ridge, its dark forests into swathes of gleaming emerald.
Then he heard it.
A melody sang to him that before, he had only heard in his dreams. Harmonies of bright birdsong, rasping leaves, whistling wind and the pulse of rumbling stone. The heartbeat of the world. The song of life itself.
The tangle of emotions roiling in his gut melted away.
‘It is time. This is where I must leave you.’
They both rose to their feet, and the air between them grew tight as a drum skin. Then Zeus threw his arms around Kronos, clinging to him as though he were driftwood in a tumultuous sea.
‘I’m sorry, Father.’
Something in his tone struck unease through Kronos. He tried to pull away, but as he moved pain seared through his back. He gasped, unable to fill his lungs as Zeus let go of him. Kronos fell to his knees, palms hitting the hard rock as he coughed blood onto the ground.
Zeus stood over him, Kronos’ knife clenched in his trembling hand.
