The Gatekeeper's Secret: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Five (The Gatekeeper's Saga) (2 page)

This party by Zeus is suspicious
, Athena agreed after Than had made his concerns known to them.

You don’t think he means to make amends for what he did?
Persephone asked.

Hades turned to the god of truth.
Can you sense what will become of this?

Apollo shook his head.

Are you suggesting we move up our plans?
Hephaestus addressed Athena.

Than glanced at Therese, who
frowned.

That would be unwise
, Hades put in.

I agree
, Athena said.
We’ve put too much work into these plans to change them now.

Drat!
Meg complained.
I was rather excited for a moment there.

Than
rolled his eyes at his sister, who seemed to be too eager for revenge.

Don’t be too eager
, Persephone warned.
There’s no guarantee we’ll succeed.

No
, Artemis agreed.
Especially without Poseidon. I still believe, as I have from the start, that we cannot afford to carry out a plan against Zeus without Earth Shaker.

I share my sister’s belief,
Apollo said.

But how can we trust him after what he did to me?
Athena asked, as her face turned red with suppressed rage.

Than agreed with Athena. Poseidon was not to be trusted.

Let me feel him out,
Apollo suggested.
Of all of us here, I have been his ally most often, and we share a past that has always connected us.

You refer to the days after Hera’s scheme?
Hades asked.

Than remembered it all too well.

Artemis rested her hands on her knees.
The last attempt to bind Zeus.

Which was an utter failure
, Hephaestus added.

That was then
, Athena said, straightening.
This is now.

In any case, I should find out what I can from Poseidon
, Apollo said.
And see if there’s hope of winning his alliance for our cause.

Waste of time,
Than thought.

Poseidon has a soft spot for Therese,
Artemis said.
You might take her with you.

Than’s
throat tightened. “What?”

The Hydra stopped smacking her cakes.

“Shh,” Hades commanded.

Blood rushed to
Than’s face. He didn’t like calling attention to himself, but he had to stand up for Therese.

Everyone waited silently for the Hydra to continue eating. She could be agreeable at times, but when frightened, she was vicious and terrifying. Although the group could likely contain her, they would all rather avoid fighting her if they could.

It’s true,
Athena prayed, once the sounds of cake-eating resumed.
Poseidon has been obligated to work against Therese in the past, but I’ve heard him speak fondly of her as he once did of Pelops.

At that moment,
Than felt their plan to bind Zeus had taken a turn for the worse. Although Artemis had previously mentioned attempting to gain Poseidon’s alliance, this was the first plan to do so. Than believed Poseidon had too much invested in his partnership with Ares and Zeus and would likely report any suspicions of a rebellion directly to them. Poseidon might even imprison Apollo and Therese in his golden net and hand them over to Mount Olympus.

I don’t like it
, Than prayed.
We should move forward as planned, without Poseidon. We still have hope of converting Demeter to our cause.

Don’t count on it
, Persephone said with a frown.

Than knew he was pulling at straws, but he had to say something.

What do you think, Therese?
Artemis asked.
Would you be willing to go with Apollo to get a sense of Poseidon’s loyalties?

I don’t know how I can help,
Therese replied.
But of course I’m willing to go and try.

Therese avoided
Than’s eyes. He couldn’t believe it. Not again.

Chapter Two: Earth Shaker and Dream Maker

Therese followed Apollo to the stables where he bridled two of his flaming red horses,
Lampos and Acteon, to his chariot. As she stroked Stormy’s mane in the stall beside Swift and Sure, she wondered how she could possibly add anything valuable to this mission. Artemis’s comment was the first Therese had ever heard of Poseidon’s supposed fondness for her. She shuddered at the memory of the earthquake two years ago at the Durango natatorium after she had refused Poseidon’s help during her swim meet. He may have been kind to her before that moment—allowing her to ride his favorite dolphin, Arion—but his kindness had ended the year she had undertaken the five challenges of Hades. Poseidon had also tricked her during her quest for Artemis to replace Callisto with another bear in the sky. Worst of all, he had taken Athena prisoner, keeping her in a humiliating tube under the sea as though she weren’t the venerable goddess of wisdom that she was. How did anyone expect Therese to help Apollo win over Poseidon’s good graces?

Sitting beside Apollo in his golden chariot as they entered the
Upperworld gave Therese the opportunity to study the god of light. With the exception of the events of last autumn during the attack on Athena and the Underworld, she hadn’t spent much time with him, and never had Apollo and she been alone. It was true what everyone said about him: he was the most beautiful god, though she had a particular preference for Thanatos. She knew little about the golden god—aside from his powers of healing, prophecy, lie-detecting, and making music on his lyre. Those were things everyone knew. She wondered, as she glanced his way once more, what he thought of her.

“I know what you are going to ask me,” he said suddenly.

“Oh?”

“You are going to ask me about my past with Poseidon.”

Heat rushed to Therese’s face, for that
was
what she was about to ask, though she had been thinking of other things. Without looking at Apollo, she squeaked, “And?”

“You’ve heard the story of how Poseidon and I built the Wall of Troy?”

“Um, sort of.” She held on to the side of the chariot as they swooped down a mountainside toward the sea. “I read about it in school. Something about Hera’s scheme to bind Zeus?”

“Yes,” Apollo replied. “As you have come to learn for yourself, Zeus’s libido has often led him astray from Hera.”

Therese didn’t comment, though she wanted to say plenty. The admiration she once felt for Zeus had faded these past few months.

“It’s hard to blame Hera for attempting to outwit him,” Apollo continued.

The chariot swerved past a headland and then skated across the Aegean Sea. Despite her anxiety over their mission, Therese took pleasure in the chariot ride. It was even more thrilling than flying, in her opinion.

“We might have succeeded in chaining Zeus if Thetis hadn’t sent her one-hundred-handed mon
ster to wake Zeus from his drug-induced sleep. Zeus grabbed his thunderbolt, and we were at his mercy.”

“I read that he hung Hera up in the sky,” Therese said, stifling a smile. The idea of the queen of the gods dangling helpless among the stars was pretty hilarious, given the queen’s mean treatment of Therese over the golden apples.

“For one
day
,” Apollo said. “She wept so loudly, he let her down.”

Therese had a hard time imagining Hera weeping. She never showed her weakness, at least not that Therese had seen.

“Poseidon and I had a much longer punishment,” Apollo went on. “For one
year
, we labored for a stingy, unjust king. He promised us payment if we could build a wall around his city in a single year, but he never expected us to do it. He didn’t know who we were, and he treated us worse than slaves.”

“Poseidon was against the Trojans in the war, then, right?” Therese asked.

“Right.”

“But why did he make so much trouble for Odysseus, who also fought
against
the Trojans?” If Therese hadn’t managed to contact Odysseus last fall when she and Than, Galin, and Cubie were trapped in Ida’s cave…she shuddered just to think what might have happened.

“Because Odysseus made Poseidon angry.
You don’t want to get on Poseidon’s bad side, if you can avoid it.”

Therese was fairly certain she had already done that.

The chariot plunged into the ocean. Therese, now used to breathing underwater, enjoyed this part of the journey, too, in spite of the growing apprehension she felt over having to meet with the god of the sea. Before long, Arion and his pod were swimming alongside them, struggling to keep up with the flaming horses’ electric speed. Therese gave her dolphin friend a wave, which he acknowledged with a nod. Then the palace came into view, its translucent crystal revealing the merfolk bustling around the foyer. As the chariot approached, the palace doors lifted open, and a trio of merfolk greeted them and unbridled the horses. Therese and Apollo were given a boulder each to carry to keep them from floating, and then they were led through a series of corridors to Poseidon’s chambers, the walls of which were inlaid with Mother of Pearl.

Poseidon sat on his throne with his wife, Amphitrite, beside him. Two sea nymphs stood nearby.

“To what do I owe this unexpected visit?” the god of the sea asked.

Therese had no answer as she sat clutching the strap of her quiver, but Apollo was quick with his reply.

“Our newest goddess was asking me about the days we built the Trojan wall. I thought it might be fun to tell her our stories together.”

Poseidon’s face brightened, much to Therese’s surprise. “Indeed, it would. Please have a seat, and I’ll have my servants bring us some refreshments.”

***

Jen held onto the rail of the catamaran beside Hip and shouted, “Woo-hoo!” into the wind. “Can you make us go faster?” Her dreams had never been so fun, and she was determined to make them fun for Hip, too.

“Of course,” Hip said, laughing.

The boat sped up.

“Now take us Peter-Pan style, up into the night sky,” Jen said.

“If you say so.”

The boat lifted up from the sea and ascended toward the moon waning in a cloudy night. The sky was beautiful and the breeze exhilarating. The city below twinkled it lights up at them, as if it was enjoying the show above.

“Awesome!” she squealed as she looked around in amazement. “Have you ever done
this
before?”

“You can try all you like to come up with something new, but I’m telling you, you can’t. I’ve done everything imaginable in the
Dreamworld.”

She frowned. “Well, that’s no fun for you.” She couldn’t imagine a more boring life than to have nothing new to look forward to, and she was disappointed that every idea she came up with had already been thought of before by someone else. She had rather hoped she could be someone different for this magnificently beautiful god who, for whatever reason, had chosen to spend time with her.

Hip took her hand, lifted it, and twirled her around, as if they were dancing. When she spun around to face him, he smiled at her and said, “Watching you experience things for the first time…now, that’s priceless.”

He couldn’t have said a nicer thing. She sighed and smiled up at him with delight.

He touched his lips to hers, and she closed her eyes and kissed him back, unable to believe that this beautiful god, who had done everything and had been everywhere, could be so wrapped up in her. How long would it last?

The gray clouds hid the moon, and for a while, they were in darkness.

“Why are you frowning?” Hip asked. “I could have sworn you gave me a brilliant smile only seconds ago. Do I kiss that badly?”

“You can see me?”

He laughed. “You seem to forget who you’re talking to.”

So gods can see in the dark. Every day, she learned something new.

“Therese told me what she had to do to become a goddess,” she said.

“What did she say?”

“She told me about how she first had to avenge the murder of her parents. She couldn’t do it. And then about the five challenges your father gave her. She couldn’t do them, either.”

“Did she tell you she could have been killed at any point, since the moment she decided she wanted to be like us?”

“Um.” No, in fact, she hadn’t.