Metis’ body shifted as though she sensed it too. Then the woman sank down beside the hydria and pressed her handsto the earth, murmuring, ‘The tree of life, grown from the heart of the world.’
Just as swiftly as they had melded, the sounds fractured, and the wind reclaimed its bite.
When Metis raised her head, her eyes were bright with tears. ‘She grew a tree … just for you.’ She pressed her forehead to the ground. ‘Mother forgive me, I thought you had forsaken us.’
Danae opened her mouth then closed it again as Metis rose to her feet. Something in her had shifted. There was a light in her face that had not been there before.
‘I don’t know how Prometheus expected me to help you,’ said Metis. ‘It’s been almost a thousand years since I last set foot on Mount Olympus. But there is one thing I can do. I will teach you the ways of the Mother.’
Metis moved towards her, stretched out her earth-stained fingers and gripped the iron collar around Danae’s neck. There was an intense surge of heat, then with a click the metal opened and fell to the ground.
Danae gasped, sobs erupting from her chest at the sudden rush of feeling her life force flowing through her body. It was like she’d been living in a dark, freezing cave, her senses smothered, and now she was stepping out into the sunlight for the very first time. The air was sweeter, the colours brighter, the sound of the wind the most beautiful thing she’d ever heard.
I am here, said the voice.I never left.
23. Divine Revelations
Hermes flew down the pillared corridor, screeching to a halt just in time to avoid crashing headlong into the megaron doors.
Two days earlier, he had left Hera in the north tower and flown back to Erebus to confront Hades once again, this time determined not to leave until his uncle gave him answers about the Underworld girl. He would never, in his wildest imagination, have expected the sight that greeted him.
Now, standing before the throne room, he longed to flee to the safety of Arachne’s hut and never come out again. But he knew he could not. However devastating, his family must hear this news.
Heart thundering, he lifted a gauntleted hand and knocked. In the other he clutched a twisted piece of gold.
After a moment that felt like an eternity, the doors swung open.
Silence fell as he entered.
Nearly the entire royal family was in attendance. Enthroned at the feet of their marble statues were the twins, Apollo and Artemis, Poseidon, Hera, Athena, even Aphrodite. Hermes swallowed as she caught sight of him and sat up, her emerald eyes gleaming with expectation. The others were watching Ares, who had the floor. The God of War remained silent as, from the central throne, Zeus raised a hand.
Ares turned as the eyes of his family fell on his younger brother.
Hermes dropped to his knee. ‘My lord father, my deepest apologies for the interruption, I have just flown from the Underworld –’
Ares whipped out a hand, and a rope of life-threads curled around Hermes’ neck. The air pressed against him like an invisible fist squeezing his gullet. He dropped the piece of twisted metal he’d been carrying as he struggled for breath, instinctively clawing at the threads even though he knew his fingers would pass straight through them.
‘How dare you interrupt my report, you insolent little –’
‘Ares,’ said Zeus softly.
Quiet rolled across the throne room.
Ares released Hermes and turned to his father. ‘As I was saying, the Trojans are rallying their defences against the allied Greek army. Priam has secured aid from the Carians, Halizones, Lycians and Phrygians. This is shaping up to be the largest mortal war that has ever –’
‘What is that?’
Ares fell silent as Zeus gestured to the lump of gold lying by Hermes’ feet.
He retrieved the item with trembling hands. As he approached his father, Hermes could feel himself coming apart. He knew he must deliver his news soon or his mettle would fail him. Yet he must be careful; Zeus had forbidden him to reveal his mission to anyone, and like the sun burning his cheek, he could feel Aphrodite’s eyes boring into him. He had not spoken to her since he visited her son and failed to convince the youth to leave Troy. That too he must keep secret. An ache began to pulse behind his eyes.
‘I journeyed to Erebus to visit Hades.’ This much he dared admit in front of his family. In reality, on Hera’s suggestion, he had returned to question his uncle further on the Underworld girl’s whereabouts. ‘He wasn’t in his palace, soI searched the Asphodel Meadows and then Tartarus, where I found the giants set loose and the dragon’s well empty –’
Gasps echoed around the megaron.
‘Typhon is free?’ asked Poseidon.
‘Yes,’ whispered Hermes, his ears ringing.
