Theta (47 page)

Again, I was left trying to understand what
he was really saying. The coronation tradition had not changed in
ten thousand years. What he said was correct, but how he said it
left me uneasy.

“
We should hurry,” he
finished in a whisper, his eyes on the full moon.

Something in his expression scared me. We
stood in silence for a full five minutes, waiting for Theodocia. I
heard the distant thump of a helicopter, a sign Theodocia hadn’t
just requested our transportation but had to have called in an
emergency order for them to be in the air this fast.

She, too, felt something was wrong. Her
relationship with Lantos troubled me, not because he brought her to
me, but because she had never spoken to me about him. I had told
her when I was younger about my shadow friend. I wanted to believe
she didn’t bring up meeting Lantos because she didn’t want to upset
me. However, after witnessing their exchanges, I had a feeling
there was more than a simple meeting between them.

While young, I had learned
the hard way, at a very young age, how to read people and to be
cautious of their true intentions. I was in a position many envied
and which led many more to try to use or influence me. I had dealt
with enough people to know Theodocia’s reaction to seeing Lantos
was born of deep distrust, the kind someone had to earn. Even so,
she believed him about the threat. I struggled to reconcile how she
could both trust and distrust him, or perhaps, trust his warning
without trusting
him
.

It seemed likely they had dealt with one
another on many other occasions. I was not entitled to know
Theodocia’s personal business, but this wasn’t on the same level of
Theodocia dealing with the father of her son.

Whatever was between Lantos and Theodocia,
it seemed to revolve around me. I didn’t expect Theodocia to keep
these kinds of secrets from me.

“
Chopper’s coming,”
Theodocia said, returning to the courtyard with Tommy in tow. She
had an overnight bag slung over one shoulder. “This way.” Her gaze
lingered on Lantos, and her jaw ticked. But she didn’t object to
him accompanying us.

We hurried through the temple and behind it
to a common park area inhabited at night by the homeless. My
personal guard closed in around me as we crossed the street. Unable
to hold the scepter upright any longer, I let my arm fall to my
side then picked up my skirts in a very un-royal way in order to
quicken my pace.

The deafening sound of the helicopter
prevented us from speaking as we waited for it to touch down in the
center of the small park. Theodocia left Tommy with me and trotted
to the head of my guard, who stood at the helicopter. Releasing my
dress, I took his hand, and we waited with my royal guard.

Theodocia soon waved us over, and we joined
her at the helicopter.

Twenty minutes later, we were in the air
over New York City. The passenger cabin of the helicopter was
opulent, designed for a queen, with comfortable, dark purple
leather bench seats that reclined, an in-flight entertainment
system, small bar, and very private. A secondary cabin for staff
and guards was at the rear of the helicopter.

Theodocia, Lantos, Tommy and I sat in the
spacious main cabin, which was almost as quiet as the temple had
been.

“
Are you the queen now?”
Tommy asked, gazing up at me with his large, green eyes.

Shifting my gaze from the City visible out
my window to the little boy beside me, I started to relax. We had
taken off without any sign of danger. I wondered if Lantos were
here for some ulterior motive rather than to warn us as he
claimed.

I am,
I replied to Tommy. Like his mother, he could hear my words in
his head.

“
Just like the cartoon?” he
asked.

Just like the
cartoon,
I confirmed with a
smile.

“
Wow.”

Seated across from me, Lantos smiled. “It’s
rare for such a gift to be passed down,” he said to Theodocia.
“Will your son follow you into the service of the gods, or his
father’s less honorable footsteps into the arena?”

“
My son is none of your
concern,” she replied firmly.

There it was again. Another indicator the
two knew each other better than I would have guessed. I knew the
name of Tommy’s father, but not his profession.

Why are we here?
I asked, pinning Lantos with a look.

“
I was about to ask the
same thing,” Theodocia said.

“
As I explained, I’m not
completely –”

“
Fire,” Tommy said. He had
his face pressed to the window nearest him.

I instinctively glanced out my window and
started to ask Lantos another question when what I saw beneath us
silenced me.

We were high enough in the air to see the
entirety of the city. From some point below us, around the same
elevation as the smog, streaks of lightning and fireballs formed
and flashed downward. They smashed into tall buildings and were
followed by massive explosions, rendered silent by the noise
cancelling insulation of the helicopter. First a few streaks fell
and then hundreds, if not thousands, of bolts of lightning and
fireballs barreled out of the sky. The City erupted into pockets of
fire and smoke.

“
I’m assuming that’s why,”
Lantos said in a whisper.

Brilliant flashes of light pummeled the City
as we watched.

“
Mama,” Tommy’s voice was
shaky.

“
Move away from the
window,” Theodocia said hoarsely.

Tearing my gaze away from the surreal scene
beneath us, I reached out for him and pulled the little boy into my
lap. Theodocia twisted away from us to speak as quietly as she
could into her mobile, no doubt contacting the royal guard
commander in the rear cabin of the helicopter.

Everything will be
okay,
I told Tommy without understanding
what we were witnessing.
What else did the
Oracle tell you?
I asked Lantos.

He, too, appeared shocked as he stared out
the window. “The end of the world. But I thought she was … I mean,
who would say such a thing seriously? And if it were true, how
could she not warn everyone? She swore me to secrecy and sent me to
save you.”

Why?
I asked. While I was considered one of the most important
people on the planet, so were many of those in my company at the
coronation ceremony.

“
I’ve spoken only once to
her, but I came away believing the Oracle says what she wishes and
nothing more,” Lantos said, meeting my gaze. “She does not need to
explain her actions, visions or advice to anyone. She said I must
warn you today, after your ceremony, but before the end of the
reception.”

And you agreed, even though it sounded
crazy?

“
We made a deal,” he said
vaguely. “Not one I care to discuss. I warned you in exchange for
something I needed.”

Lantos hadn’t come here because he cared.
Why this disappointed me, I didn’t know.

“
She said nothing more,” he
finished.

“
It’s not just happening
here,” Theodocia said. Her ear was pressed to the cell phone. With
her free hand, she tapped the touch screen controlling the
entertainment system. The televisions in the walls of the cabin lit
up, each of them with a different station.

“…
this just in,” one
newscaster was saying. “
The Gods Must Be
Crazy
sitcom
has
been cancelled this evening. Instead, we’ll be covering the events
in New York. It appears as though fire is being cast from the sky
…”

“
We interrupt
The Bachelor – Olympian Edition
for this important news update. Seconds ago, in
Los Angeles …”

“ …
fireballs over St.
Louis? Arty, where are the reports …”

“…
lightning struck down
the world’s largest statue of Zeus in Miami, Florida …”

“
American Oracle
will not air tonight, though you can still vote
for this year’s winner online. Please stay tuned for an emergency
message from this station.”

Baffled, horrified and stunned newscasters
struggled to explain what we were witnessing. Theodocia began
flipping channels. On every station, across the country, news
tickers and reporters were popping up on the screens with breaking
news of the attacks.

I don’t understand,
I said as I stared numbly at the reports from
around the country of fire and lightning falling from the
sky.

“
The gods have turned on
us,” Lantos said.

I looked from him to Theodocia. My mentor
didn’t disagree with him.

That’s not possible,
I objected.
Zeus himself
attended my ceremony!

“
And brought with him the
omen of death,” Theodocia said. “I don’t know what this is, but
Artemis would never forsake you, my queen. Even now, I can hear her
whispering to me to protect you. She promises never to abandon you.
I can’t think the gods would do this, either.”

“
Look at the city below.
This is not the work of men, priestess,” Lantos said roughly. “And
you, little queen. Your Bloodline is cursed by the very gods who
pretend to be your patrons. How do you believe them capable of
enslaving ten thousand years worth of privileged,
chosen
rulers but not
turning on the humans who disappoint them? History is filled with
instances where the gods withdrew their favors and lashed out at
those they were supposed to protect.”

My mouth fell open in a gasp. Theodocia’s
sharp intake assured me she hadn’t been the one to reveal my
family’s secret.

“
How can you possibly know
of the curse?” she questioned.

“
I have my ways,” he said.
“What’s important is realizing what’s happening here. This isn’t
the work of people. The Oracle may have been speaking the truth
when she claimed the end of the world is here.”

His words struck me hard.
I’d struggled not to begrudge the gods for the curse they placed on
my family. Theodocia, ever a dutiful priestess, was constantly
cautioning me against speaking out against the gods and advising me
to control my anger towards them. But whenever I thought of my
mother, who had been turned to stone when I was four, how did
I
not
consider the
gods to be cruel at the very least? How did I not feel fury towards
them for forcing my own mother to abandon me when I needed her
most? The older I grew, the more difficult it was not to feel that
anger. I understood so much more as a young adult than I had as a
child. Such as how unnecessary it was for my family to suffer and
how any number of gods and goddesses could put a stop to the curse
– but didn’t.

And now? When they turned on the people I
was duty sworn to protect?

I was a symbol without
power. My royal guard was forbidden by the other members of the
Sacred Triumvirate from growing to more than a hundred members. I
had no ability to be the guardian I was meant to be and yet,
watching the City I’d called home my entire life being destroyed by
the very gods who cursed my mother, who cursed
me
, to an eternity of living death, I
began to think Lantos made more sense than anyone else in my life
at that moment.

Only the gods could destroy a city, a
country, for selfish reasons. Only the gods could stop such
destruction, if they chose to. I knew from my family’s history that
the gods rarely dealt with the consequences of condemning humans.
If destroying everything suited them, then they wouldn’t think
twice about doing it.

The day I discovered my true fate, I had
started to hate the deities, with the exception of Artemis. This
night, that hatred was solidifying. How many of my subjects were
going to be massacred tonight? For what purpose?

“
Perhaps you will be known
as the Queen of Death because your reign will oversee the
destruction of humanity.” The words were uttered by none other than
sweet Tommy, whose eyes were glassy and face was blank.

The phone fell from Theodocia’s hand as she
stared at her son in horror. Lantos appeared surprised as well.

I recognized the possession of a god when I
saw it and tightened my grip around Tommy, not about to let the
poor boy be taken away.

Who are
you
? I asked cautiously.

“
Thanatos.”

Why are you doing this?

“
I am here to collect souls
and carry them across the river to Hades,” he replied through
Tommy’s childish voice. “The underworld remains open, even when the
bridge to our home is gone.”

My brows furrowed.
What bridge?

“
The one the deities use to
pass between our world and yours. The Oracle has closed
it.”

The Oracle’s diverse powers were somewhat
familiar to me from knowledge passed on by my tutors. Many
thousands of years ago, the first Oracle of Delphi had been
powerful enough to build a bridge, thereby allowing the gods and
goddesses to move between our dimension and theirs. But I didn’t
recall my tutors discussing the ability for anyone to close the
sacred bridge.

“
This is godly vengeance?”
Lantos asked.

“
I do not know. I am only
here to collect souls,” Thanatos replied. He faced me, and I shrank
back a little when confronted by the empty eyes of
Tommy.