I gave him a blank stare.
“Ares has made his apology, and what’s done is done,” Athena said from halfway down the table. “The best we can do now is continue with the rest of the sacrifices and hope Erebus accepts them.”
Zeus leaned forward in his throne, swirling his wine. “Do you think that would work?”
She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “This has never happened before, so I can’t say for certain. But we’ve received no message indicating we should just…give up. We finish the sacrifices. And if we somehow manage to finish this thing, perhaps Erebus will even decide to undo the punishment he’s given us.”
It was a good idea. And for the first time that evening, a few of the Olympians looked hopeful. Even Selene seemed pleased. She was nodding along, hands folded in her lap. No more nervous sleeve tugging.
“I don’t like it,” Poseidon said. “We can’t just go ahead with Nekros and pretend like nothing’s happened.”
Zeus scowled at him, a long-suffering sigh escaping from his lips. It was the first time I’d seen him visibly annoyed with the High King of Thessaly. “And what would you instead, eh? Stop the ceremonies and risk angering our god even more? I don’t think so. We’ll do Athena’s plan.”
“This is a mistake,” Poseidon said, punching the table with his finger. “You know they must have put Athena up to this. She likes to pretend she’s impartial, but she’s really one of them.”
Athena bristled. “No one has put me up to a goddamn thing.”
With a shake of his head, Zeus downed the rest of his wine, then wiped his lips with the back of his hand. “I’m going back to bed. I’ll see you all tonight. No one go wandering the woods in the meantime, eh?” He shot that last sentence at me, then strode out of the room without a backward glance.
Poseidon scowled and soon followed. Artemis and Hermes went, too. That only left the anti-Zeus crowd, Apollo, Athena, and…us. Me and Selene, who was starting to look achingly weary. I wrapped my arm around her again. For the performance. She leaned into me, sighing heavily.
It had been a long few days. The rain had injured us both, and we’d gotten little sleep—if any. She could do with the rest. I started to make the suggestion to her, but Aphrodite rose from her chair and darted to our side. She hopped up on the table, legs crossed demurely where they dangled over the edge.
“You actually got away with it,” she said with a laugh.
Selene tensed. “Got away with what?”
“Sneaking away together. Ruining our fucking ceremony.” Her smile widened. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think Zeus might actually have a heart, after all.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Selene leaned back, peering up at me with abject curiosity. “But he definitely lets you get away with more than everyone else.”
“I told you it would be fine.”
I knew she wanted more than that. A close alliance didn’t explain how easily he’d let it go, especially after the way he’d handled his suspicions about Selene and Hera. My actions had directly caused affront to our god. He should be far angrier with me than he was.
But my fate wasn’t the only one I was hiding from Selene. Zeus had received one, too. Three, in fact. Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis—the three sisters of fate—had all paid a visit to Zeus. He’d taken it as confirmation he was more important than the rest of us. Usually, only one of them ventured from their den to share a fate with someone.
And one of his fates was tied to me.
At my lack of elaboration, Selene stood. “Well, on that note, I’m going to get some rest.”
Aphrodite pouted. “Dion just opened another bottle of wine. Stay for a few drinks longer, at least.”
She hesitated. “I thought you’d all be annoyed at us, too. We ruined the ceremony, and Erebus has poisoned the rain because of it. Aren’t you angry?”
Aphrodite leaned forward with a conspiratorial smile, motioning Selene closer. “I’ve come close to ruining a ceremony, too. A few years back, I ventured into the woods with Demeter’s advisor, and…well. We got lost and barely made it back in time. God, she was a beautiful one. What happened to her?”
Demeter wandered over, shaking her head. “I knew it! You two were acting so strangely, and yet all you did was deny, deny, deny. She was myadvisor, Aphrodite. You should have told me. As it was, I replaced her not long after. I can’t have my advisors hiding things from me.”
Aphrodite shrugged. “It was just a dalliance.”
“And I met up with the harpist down by the beach once,” Apollo said, calling out from his stool beside the harp. “After we fucked, we fell asleep. I only made it back in time because the tide came in.”
Selene’s cheeks went red at that. I doubted she was used to those around her speaking so frankly about sex.
Dionysos trailed across the floor with the promised bottle of wine. He came to a stop in front of Selene, eyeing her. There was some tension between them. Dion had made it clear he’d hoped for her alliance, for her to make a bold and beautiful statement against Zeus, like he had. And yet she’d ended up frolicking in the woods with me instead. That had to sting.
I watched him carefully. He’d clearly taken a liking to her. Perhaps it went further than the hope of an alliance. It wouldn’t be shocking for one of the Olympians to want her.
