Seconds later, it was like being hit with a battering ram as both crowded her, familiar waves of magic wrapping around her as they held her close.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” her mother whispered, stroking her hair. “Nothing, Nya.”
When they pulled away and gave her some space to breathe, she met her father’s eyes—hereyes—and felt her heart sink at the terror reflected there.
I’m sorry.
His brow creased, and he shook his head slightly.
Your mother is right. You have nothing to apologize for.
Yes, sheisright. And perhaps, for once, you should have listened to her,Thessilnn grumbled down the pathway.You made us lie for you, and look where that got you, little one.
Her father’s mouth twitched, and her mother muttered, “Yes, well, if you two lazy beasts had better counseled her, perhaps this wouldn’t have happened either.”
Heles is lazy. I am merely tired after cleaning up all your messes for nearly two-hundred years.
Heles didn’t say anything down the pathway, but Nya heard the snapping of enormous jaws just outside the window. From the corner, Juno cleared her throat amidst the chaos and said, “Ana was the one who performed the betrothal ceremony. Nya just confirmed it.”
Nya’s mother looked at the Goddess of Fate sharply. “I thought she was still in D’anna, with Cion?”
Juno shrugged. “Perhaps the queen sent her away. She is near to the end of her mortal life now, and Ana will always maintain her youth. Humans can be very vain about age.”
“I doubt it,” Nya’s father muttered. “If she left D’anna, it was for a reason.”
“I just gave one,” Juno pointed out.
Nya worried her bottom lip between her teeth and glanced between her parents. “You both knew her—Ana—from before?”
Her mother took a deep breath, her thumb brushing over her wedding band. It was a nervous tick both her parents had done without realizing it for as long as Nya could remember.
“We did,” her mother said. “I’m sorry, Nya, love, we should have told you much more than we did, especially before you left home.”
Juno laughed softly. “I fear you were several years too late with any warnings, Sora.”
Nya tried to school her expression into confusion at Juno’s words, even as her palms turned clammy and cold. Her mother glanced at her, brow furrowed.
“What does she mean, Nya?” But before she had to try and think of how to reply, her mother’s expression became faraway. Silver flooded her eyes for a flash, and her throat worked. “Your hikes. Of course… You were meeting someone.”
She glanced at Nya’s father, and he let out a tight laugh, running a hand over his face. “Yeah…afield. They were meeting in a ‘field.’”
Nya said nothing, a little unnerved by how quickly they’d figured it out, by how much she now realized her afternoons spent with Morgen had resembled her parent’s first meetings. She hadn’t known many details about their past before leaving Mise last year, but as a child, whenever she’d asked her mother how she had met her father, she had always been given the same answer: on a warm, late summer day, in a field of wheat. They weren’t supposed to meet, but her mother kept returning, despite the danger. Because sometimes, you loved someone more than you cared about duty or honor. Because sometimes, love superseded those things.
Nyx rose from where she’d perched on the arm of one of the couches. “Would you mind explaining to the rest of us?”
Nya’s mother turned to the Goddess of Night. “I’m surprised you haven’t caught on. We’re referring to the circumstances that led to your former king tearing my heart out with his bare hands.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Nya noticed both her father and Thanatos flinched at the words. Nyx remained completely still, but the shadows at the corners of the room deepened, stirring as they swirled across the hardwood.
Nya’s head felt light. Too much was happening, and she didn’t—couldn’tthink or even breathe…
“Out. Everyone,” her father barked suddenly.
Nyx’s brow furrowed. “We are not finished discussing?—”
“We’ll finish talking once my daughter can stand for more than a few minutes without fainting.Out.”
His tone brooked no argument, and maybe Nya was a bit delirious, because she couldn’t hold back a laugh, covering her mouth with her hand to stifle it. It was just too much, to see herfatherorder around a bunch of principals. He was technically one of them, she supposed. If Vulcan ever fell, as heir, his place would be in Arcadia, on the council.
