Theta (31 page)

Less certain about how the armies would
react to a monster queen, I felt somewhat relieved to learn I could
still contribute, that I wouldn’t be stuck in a tree for hours at a
time, waiting for dawn, until I could resume my activities. At
night, I would become a warrior or scout. During the day, I’d rule
as a queen and commander.

The longer I thought about it, the more
excited I became about the prospect of helping the army – and my
cause – in a manner I hadn’t thought possible before.

I flew for a short time, growing accustomed
to my wings, and gauging what they could do, before I noticed the
line of yellow on the eastern horizon announcing the sunrise.
Circling the trees beneath whose canopies Herakles and Kyros
waited, I coasted down from the sky and landed lightly near
them.

Both were sleeping. I plucked up Herakles’
backpack and circled a thatch of brush to await the sunrise. He had
packed practical clothing for me, consisting of cargo pants, a
t-shirt, boots and socks, bug spray, and the lucky knife he’d given
me. I set everything out then caught sight of something else in the
bottom of the bag. Removing it, I lowered the backpack.

A picture of Alessandra and him had been
tucked at the bottom of the pack. He looked almost identical, but
she was several years younger, grinning widely with her arms around
his neck.

I didn’t notice the difference in her
appearance until this moment. When she magically appeared beneath
my tree, she had seemed pale, her eyes haunted and her manner
flustered. I didn’t quite understand how it was possible for her
mind to merge with Cleon’s, but it was clear she was under duress
of some kind. I trusted my instincts too much to feel guilty about
abandoning her to her fate, though I was troubled by the change
between the vibrant, fearless young woman I recalled meeting in DC
and what she was becoming.

I sensed Kyros’ approach and replaced the
picture.

“
You have to tell him,” he
said.

You don’t understand what’s
at stake,
I replied.

“
You keep saying that,” he
responded. “Because what? I’m a human-god combo, and therefore, I
can’t understand what someone like you, elevated beyond us mere
mortals and gods, is doing?”

Because I can’t manage
armies by myself, and Herakles is the glue required to keep
everything together,
I replied, glaring at
him.

“
That might be true, but
you also have this irrational fear of being abandoned by everyone.
I think this is why you won’t tell him. You don’t want him to leave
you.”

I turned away, irritated.

“
If you tell him, he may
decide the best way to help her is to attack in fall, as you’ve
planned,” Kyros pressed.

It’s not your concern.

“
It
is
my concern. I’m part of this now,
whether or not you want me to be.”

I’ll tell him when I determine the time is
right.

“
What if something happens
to her between now and your attack? He deserves the chance to make
this decision for himself. I mean, she’s his family! You know
firsthand what it’s like to be ditched by everyone you care
about.”

A god will never
understand!
I retorted.

“
He doesn’t,” Kyros replied
promptly. “But I do. I saw my sisters murdered by bandits, and my
mother and father were killed in the initial fireball attack. I
know what it’s like to lose someone, and I know what it’s like to
regret not having the chance to protect them or say
farewell.”

The raw note in his voice struck me hard.
The picture of Kyros in pain did not sit well with me. I didn’t
want Herakles to feel what I did about Lantos, my mother, Mismatch,
Theodocia and everyone else who had been ripped out of my life. I
didn’t want anyone to feel that way.

I’m sorry for your loss,
but I’m in a different situation. I have a duty to fulfill,
I said more calmly.
I
can’t afford to jeopardize it, or more innocent people like your
family will die.

“
If you gave people a
chance, they might surprise you.” This time, anger was in his
voice.

Kyros marched away, back towards where
Herakles slept. Twisting, I watched the possessed human. He was
good at disrupting my plans, whether it was by his mere existence,
or the fact I sensed he was, in part, correct. I didn’t trust
people, because of my position as a leader and Queen, but also for
the simple reason I didn’t want to be hurt anymore. Because that’s
how it always ended: with me alone, hurt, and still responsible for
the fate of humanity.

Sunlight crested the sky, and fire raced
through me. I closed my eyes and banished Kyros from my mind while
I changed from a monster into a human. Shuddering at the sensation
of my body tearing itself apart and putting itself back together
again, I gritted my teeth until the transformation was
complete.

I stood naked and alone in the forest. My
dulled senses were a relief after the onslaught of my night.
Dressing, I found myself stuck on Kyros’ assertion that Herakles
needed to know about Alessandra’s danger. Theodocia had claimed the
same.

When I was ready, I left the private area
and returned to the others. Herakles was awake and brushing away
any sign we were present with a branch of leaves while Kyros
watched.

The two glanced my way, and I lifted my chin
another notch. I was ready to return, now that I understood I posed
no threat to others and that becoming a grotesque was part of my
curse that might help me meet my goals.

Neither of them spoke, for which I was
grateful. I waited for Herakles to finish. I was drained from
staying awake all night. I learned yesterday that I slept best in
the morning. Unfortunately, today, I had an army to manage.

“
This way,” Kyros said and
started through the brush.

I trailed him, while Herakles followed me. A
four-seater, all-terrain vehicle waited for us, a hundred meters
away from where we’d been. It was hidden beneath a layer of
branches and leaves. Herakles and Kyros cleared it away and
Herakles climbed into the driver’s side. Kyros hopped in back, and
I sat in the passenger seat.

We moved through the forest as fast as
possible, following an old four-wheeler path that hadn’t been
cleared in years. Branches smacked the frame of the vehicle, and I
kept my hands and legs far from the door, just in case.

Half an hour later, we reached a highway.
Herakles kept to the drainage ditches. The jarring ride left me
nauseated – a combination of movement and morning sickness. Exiting
the ditches for a familiar dirt road, Herakles drove us through
several back roads before we arrived at the outer perimeter of the
camp.

He slowed, and two guards in purple emerged
from the forest near the fence. With a quick glance at us, and they
opened the gate. Herakles waved as we passed through and drove us
into camp via the back entrance before finally stopping in the
motor pool. I sat perfectly still, uncertain if my stomach was
going to revolt when I moved.

Kyros touched my shoulder. I didn’t feel his
magic, but I experienced its effects. My stomach righted itself
immediately. I released my death grip on the roll bar overhead and
moved away from his touch to exit.

Two of my other five top commanders waited a
respectful distance away.

“
What do you want us to do
with Kyros?” Herakles asked, rounding the vehicle. He handed me a
notepad.

My desire to throw him back in the barn –
tied to a chair – was nowhere near the level it had been when we
left several days ago.

Find him a
bunk
, I scribbled on the paper.

Herakles said nothing, but he didn’t have
to. This was good news to the army that had fallen in love with the
cheerful, possessed human.

“
Your Majesty,” one of my
commanders stepped forward. He bowed his head before continuing.
“We have a visitor.”

I raised an eyebrow, uncertain what that
could mean and worried another Kyros-Paeon had showed up at my
camp.

“
He’s requested to see you
specifically.”

Herakles joined me and waited for my
decision.

I nodded.

“
I’ll accompany you,” he
said.

The commanders turned and strode away,
towards the squat former anchor store housing the common areas.
They led me into the back offices, past my room – which I
desperately wanted to visit for a quick nap – and into a break room
we had converted into a meeting area for senior staff.

I paused in the doorway, my gaze falling to
the visitor on the opposite side of the room. He stood rather than
sat, and he was neither armed nor tied. But … that didn’t surprise
me about Adonis. He wasn’t going to let anyone bind him, and he
didn’t need weapons for those around him to understand how
dangerous he was. He radiated command and lethality unlike anyone
else I had ever met.

Gazing at one another, I didn’t know if I
should have been excited to see the one person who understood what
I was going through – or wary of the butcher who never should’ve
known where my camp was to start with. With his direct blue-green
gaze and royal command of the room, I began to wonder how I had
never suspected what and who he was before this.

“
Leave us,” he said to my
escort with the command of the prince he had been.

My
commanders obeyed without so much as a look at me!

“
No,” Herakles growled,
glaring at Adonis.

I glanced up at him and rested a hand on his
arm. His jaw tightened, but he relented. Herakles left and closed
the door behind him.

Adonis studied me. There was nothing soft
about the man, no smile lines around his lips, no warmth in his
eyes, no excess weight in the lean musculature of his frame.

“
You must have questions,”
he started.

What are you doing
here?
I asked.

“
I was hunting in the area
last night and sensed you.”

The little girl he abandoned wanted to
demand to know why he hadn’t returned all those years ago, but I
didn’t feel ready to open the box of emotions this topic was
certain to stir up. My feelings were much closer to the surface,
now that I was pregnant.

He tilted his head, and his eyes rested on
my lower abdomen.

You can hear my
thoughts,
I grated internally, infuriated.
Would he tell his friend, Lantos, about my children? I would kill
him before he spoke!

“
Yeah,” he admitted. “I
don’t know where to start. Twelve years ago? Four
thousand?”

Another thick silence fell. I assessed him,
not liking the idea of creating a bridge to a man I had no reason
to respect.

Except he was family. A distant predecessor
of mine, the butcher and confidante of my betrayer was also the
only family I had left in the world.

Start from the
beginning,
I decided finally and reached
for a chair to sit.
But be brief. I have
problems awaiting me.

“
I have a feeling I’m the
right person to help you with them,” he said, the corner of one
side of his mouth lifting in a half-smile.

Not about to trust him, just because the
same curse ran through our veins, I folded my hands in my lap and
prepared to listen.

Before I spent several days with the Silent
Queen, I had little insight into her personality. I recalled
meeting her as Mismatch when she was a lonely, isolated child, as
well as the few times we had crossed paths in the political circles
in DC. She was on Lantos’ level, not mine, so those circumstances
of our co-existing anywhere simultaneously were rare and normally
consisted of high-level security meetings of the political
elite.

Phoibe exhibited the best traits of the
bloodline: intelligence, ambition, discipline, willingness to
sacrifice for her goals, consideration of those she cared about and
coldness towards the rest of the world. She was a born leader, bred
and raised to rule, and she’d learned to survive the DC political
climate at a young age.

She also inherited the trait that made her
out of place in this world. Her ambition blinded her to the cost of
achieving her goals. While displeased initially to see Herakles at
her side, I quickly assessed this pairing was for the best.
Herakles’ experience, genuine warmth and grounded personality
softened Phoibe’s drive to rid the earth of the gods at all costs.
She knew when to defer to his judgment and when to stick to her
own. If she were considering altering her plan, it was because
Herakles had likely urged her to do so in private, despite the
natural animosity he and I shared when Alessandra was caught
between us.

I’d been invited this morning to her weekly
conference with senior staff.

You believe this to be the
best plan.
She was studying the edits I’d
made on her initial strategy for a two-pronged attack against the
military and SISA security elements in DC.

“
I believe it to be the
only plan with the resources at your disposal,” I
replied.

Her commanders were studying the proposed
changes as well, along with Herakles, who seemed more interested in
watching me than reading what was in front of him.

“
This has merit,” said one
of her commanders. “A simultaneous attack following an incredibly
risky diversion.”