“I can’t even begin to imagine you following someone’s orders,” Percy teased, pulling me down an alley. “Here,” he whispered.
Cerys awaited us beside an alcove, watching the rippling water in a fountain’s basin. A statue of Ma’at rose above the fountain’s tiers, holding a pair of judging scales aloft. Wingsflanked her head, like angelic hair.
No one else would have recognized the Oracle like this. Wearing only a simple toga and dirty cloak, hair tucked into a wrinkled turban, she looked perfectly ordinary.
“Set,” Cerys hissed before she’d fully turned around.
I winced. She was furious.
“Listen,” I started. “I wasn’t going to—”
“Oh, enough.” Cerys rubbed her forehead. “What’s done is done. And I’ve already decided your repentance.”
“Repentance?” I raised an eyebrow. “Last I checked, you’re from thelesserbranch of the family.”
Smiling, Cerys took my arm and guided me to the edge of the alley. We overlooked a square and a set of great stone steps leading up to another street.
A woman stood at their height—naggingly familiar. Several Hades Knights gathered around her, one of whom wore the commander’s fur mantle. Aeacus.
Narrowing my eyes, I tried to place the woman: Silken black waves, crimson eyes, a dress that revealed more skin than it covered.
Her identity clicked: my older sister, Eris. We’d spent little time together—she was born of another woman. Only during my training with Aeacus had we lived under the same roof.
“Eris,” I breathed. “I haven’t seen her in years. She looks different these days.”
“She’s inherited Ma’at’s city.”
“What?” I snapped. “Ma’at has only one child. Me.”
“Eris was born during Ma’at’s reign as queen,” Cerys countered. “Good enough for the king.” She nodded back toward the scene. “With Icelus out of commission, Aeacus is set to take over and exterminate the insurgency. No doubt he’s searching for the Duat’s escapees as well.”
Percy squeezed through to Cerys’ other side. “What’s she like? Your sister?”
“I didn’t know her well,” I said, glancing away. “She had a strange fascination withme, though. I never knew why.”
Cerys answered without breaking her gaze from Eris. “Because her magic doesn’t work on you.”
“She has magic?”
“Set.” Cerys slowly turned to regard me. “Did you pay her any attention at all?”
“Not really,” I admitted. “I have a lot of sisters.”
“You do?” Percy piped up, waggling his eyebrows. Remembering Cerys, he paled and quickly backtracked. “Are you two close? You never mentioned.”
Rolling my eyes, I turned back to the scene in the square. “My father had a daughter with every Elpis maiden. I have alotof sisters.”
“Whoa. You’re the only boy?”
“Yes,” Cerys confirmed. “Can we focus?” She stared at me. “Eris’ blood enchants. Most people fall under her spell if the mist she creates from her wounds brushes their skin.”
“Like a siren?” Percy asked.
“Something like that, yes.”
Had Eris tried to cast magic on me? The image of blood-red mist did seem familiar, but it might have simply been from the blood Aeacus and I spilled during our training bouts.
“She sounds dangerous,” I decided.
