Goddess Games

by A Lonergan

  Their presence took over every area we entered, and I soon got frustrated that we weren’t where I needed to be. I understood that Crawley had been away for a while and had a family, but

  I was under the impression that the only reason we were here was my grandmother. I frowned at my thoughts; I couldn’t believe how selfish I was being. It didn’t have to always be about me. I shook my head, ready to abandon the mission at hand.

  Then I saw her.

  She was small but the strength in her eyes made you overlook her size. She was exactly how I remembered. Her silver hair was pulled up in a high ponytail and her skin was barely wrinkled. She had always been so beautiful. She took several steps toward me and scooped me up in the best hug I had ever had. I took in a deep breath, enjoying her earthy scent mixed with lavender. She had always used lavender to calm her nerves or help soothe her knees when they gave her trouble. I took another deep breath and was pulled away from reality.

  "Grandma, I'm tired; please let me rest." She threw another punch at me but I easily dodged it. I had learned my lesson with the last three punches – they had hurt badly enough. She never took it easy on me. No one else would.

  "You can rest when you’re dead; you have training you must go through. One day I won't be here to teach you." Her words made no sense but I didn't care. I would be able to see Mother soon. As long as I did what the schedule said, she wouldn't be late. She was never late. I almost rolled my eyes but my grandmother advanced on me again. All the thoughts that had been pestering me disappeared.

  "Again!" This time I wasn't as fast and the sparring stick hit my temple. She liked to surprise me with new weapons and unexpected techniques, but this time I was down and couldn't see straight. My vision swam.

  I coughed and covered my mouth. My throat felt raw and I needed water, but there was no such thing as a water break in combat. I looked down at my hand and saw little spots of blood.

  Not again.

  I wiped at my nose and was about to stand up when I heard my mother’s voice. “That’s enough, Mom. She’s only seven.” My mother’s face swayed in and out of focus. “I don’t have time to make sure she lives through these sessions; you’re going to have to be a tad easier on her.”

  "What is it, Jess?" My grandmother was the only one that called me that.

  I blinked my eyes a few times before I narrowed them at her and flicked her temple. I heard a gasp come from a little girl watching nearby. Grandma's laugh came deep from her chest.

  "Aww, my Jessa finally remembers." Her small hands cupped my face. "The goddess has blessed you with so much and yet here you are, so beautiful; even more beautiful than I could have imagined." I could feel my cheeks turning red. Grandma looked up and saw Crawley behind me. Her lips pinched together. "You brought her back to me. Where is that stubborn mother of hers? Hmm?" Her small fist planted itself on her cocked hip.

  Well, there was no denying that I got my attitude from her.

  "Crawley found me after I left the house. Mother is gone." I held no pain or sympathy for the woman I knew barely anything about. My voice sounded distant and indifferent.

  "Leila," Grandma said her name reverently, like a prayer. I was hit again with emotions I didn't understand and memories that were rocking my world more than the last few days had. I tried to fight it off, but I was taken away from the present once again.

  "Leila, dammit, you can't be here early and you know it! You risk them finding you, and you know that Jessa isn't ready to fight in the Games. She will die and so will you. They’ll kill you first and try to break her soul! Don't you understand? We are nothing to Apollo! Nothing! He will take one look at Jessa, see his sister, and go mad."

  I slid my body down the stairs some more. I needed to hear what they were saying about me.

  "She’s different and you know it. You saw the way her body healed earlier and the way her eyes turned gold. She is touched by Artemis and it's not just because she is a demi-god. This is more, so much more than we can understand. This is the closest she can be to the valley without the sickness affecting her... just a few more years..."

  My grandmother's voice became muffled as she moved into the sitting room. "...Jessa will die... Not prepared... You have to leave... It's just too late..."

  "Jessa is strong. She will do what she must... She is like her father... Chose him for a reason..."

  "No, you chose him because you couldn't keep your hands off of him!" Grandma’s voice rang through the house. I had never heard her raise her voice like that before. She was hardly ever angry.

  "I knew my duties long before you told me them. Why do you think we ran? Why do you think he died? I knew I had to keep her safe, but I didn't think they would get him..." My mother’s voice cracked. "You have trained her well.... She will be great, but I pray she won’t have to be." I heard sniffling. "I thought I could escape my bloodline, my fate. I thought we were... But we weren't... I will be for her... I won't lose her too..."

  The words being spoken about me were different. I had never heard this serious of a conversation or one so crazy.

  A demigod? I looked down at my hands then ran them down my face. I didn’t feel different. What did that even mean?

  I tried to sneak closer to the sitting room and my foot slipped. Down I went, just 10 steps, and landed on my back. My head cracked loudly on the hardwood floor. The room started spinning and my head was pounding. Mother and Grandma rushed into the room and stared at me.

  "What do you think she heard?" Mother looked my body over for the marks that would be gone in minutes. They never stayed long. She helped me sit up and lifted the hair above my neck. I heard a gasp and was yanked up.

  "It doesn't matter; I must take it from her if you’re going to leave again – everything. She can't have this knowledge and try to live a normal life. It's the only way. This is what you wanted. Eight years of memory is a lot to take, but it’s necessary."

  My mother grabbed the top of my arm and pulled me into the room closest to the back door. They sat me in a chair and grandma began to chant quickly. I wanted a normal life with normal friends and no more stupid sparring. I had always wanted friends and sleepovers – the stuff I saw on TV when Grandma was asleep. Maybe this was a good thing and I would be able to be normal. I could actually go to school!

  Plus, if Grandma kept it up I would be dead. I hated sparring with her.

  "What about her skills?" Mother bit down on her bottom lip. I had never seen her so scared. I almost wanted to reach out and hold her hand. That’s what she usually did when I was scared and we went to new places.

  "Her body will know what to do if the time comes." Glass broke in the sitting room across the hall. "We need to leave now! I'll have to finish in the car! Go!"

  I blinked and found myself in Crawley's arms.

  "Did you remember something useful?" He asked.

  I glared at him until he put me down. Man, he was huge. I swayed and he grabbed my shoulders to keep me upright. "Ya know... your eyes were gold again."

  ‘Maybe they’ll change and never go back. I know you just love to touch me, but this is a bit much, don’t you think?” I smirked when his mouth dropped open, but the smirk was a lie. I didn’t feel clever or like I had outdone him. I felt nauseated and sad. I didn’t want to win against him, he wasn’t the enemy here.

  I didn't know why I was feeling so emotional about that memory. I don't know why it even mattered that my mother had cared about me at one point. I blinked back the moisture gathering in my eyes and tried to hide my face from Crawley's curious gaze. My grandma came out of the nearest house with another woman holding a glass of water.

  The woman was gorgeous; her hair was long and red, and her eyes were dark. Her skin was so fair it almost looked like porcelain. She belonged in a magazine. I didn’t know how it was possible for someone to be so beautiful, but everyone here seemed to be. I was surprised people weren’t gawking at me. I was probably so normal to all of them.

  "Mom, you look
beautiful; as beautiful as ever." Crawley stood awestruck next to his mother and I could see him getting teary when he wrapped her into his arms. He towered over her like a giant. I wondered how long it had been since he had seen her. Keenan was cleaning the stag by the side of the house but soon abandoned it to be a part of the reunion. "Momma, I'd like you to meet Jessa," Crawley said.

  "It's been seventeen years since I've seen you. I can't believe I'm looking at the same face." Her voice was soft and musical. She let out a soft laugh and it sounded magical. She enchanted me and it seemed like many others were also under her spell. She pulled me into a warm embrace. "You are beautiful. You should probably stay away from Crawley." She winked at me.

  Duly noted. Not that I was concerned about him. I knew Ana was lurking nearby. I tried to hide my disgust and jealousy.

  Grandma pulled us inside her house and I was engulfed by her scent. I took a deep breath, hoping for another memory. I was sorely disappointed. Crawley found his way to the small sofa in the living room and immediately made himself at home by propping his feet up on the dark wood coffee table. He grabbed my hand to pull me down next to him but my grandma was quicker.

  She sat down next to him and raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at the gaping man. I couldn't help but giggle. There was no way they were going to let Crawley get close to me. I was absolutely all right with that. The man unnerved me and was way too attractive for his own good. Staying away from him would be doing myself a huge favor. I didn’t need to mix his stupid ass into my crazy life. Not to mention that he was starting to get to me and was wearing me down...

  Chapter 8

  Crawley

  A ping of annoyance rang through my body as Shaskia plopped down next to me, but I knew I deserved it because of the way I had neglected Jessa around Ana.

  I felt awful about it. I should have prepared myself, knowing Ana was a descendant of Aphrodite. It was never a good idea to be alone with her or to give her too much attention. She had her own agenda that I didn't want to be a part of, even if my body and hormones acted differently.

  Shaskia was back on her feet in a few minutes and pulled Jessa into another room that I knew was spelled against eavesdropping. I had been caught doing it many times when I was younger and the Elders talked about Jessa. I had always been curious about her and it hadn't helped that everyone had spoken of her since I was a child. I dreamed of meeting her every night, hoping one day she would be brought to the valley. Thoughts of her consumed me but I had never been sure why.

  When I finally did meet her, I hadn't known what to say. She took my breath away when she turned to scowl at my tinted windows. I had prayed that my southern charm would help in some way and I was pretty sure it had by the dazed look I’d seen on her face. I didn’t want to be like anyone else. I had always wanted to sweep her off her feet, but now I was failing miserably to keep her attention.

  I looked at my mother sitting across from me and wondered how much I had missed and how much she had missed me. Keenan had taken my place with ease, which wasn’t a surprise. He had always been a leader and never had trouble taking charge as a child.

  I was born in the valley but was sent to live with my father, who trained me, as soon as I was old enough. I was about eleven when the thought of Jessa started to fade from my memory since I wasn’t around anyone that spoke of her. When I turned seventeen, I was sent home to spend a few more years with my mother before I would leave again.

  That was when Jessa came back to the forefront of my thoughts. I left again two years later, but this time it was to search for the girl I couldn’t stop thinking about. My body was restless knowing she was out there and needed to come home, knowing I needed to protect her in any way possible.

  For all I knew, she was defenseless, helpless, and knew nothing about her destiny. Though, I also knew very little about it.

  My mother had always talked about my higher purpose. She knew I was supposed to do big things with my life. She sometimes had more faith in me than I did, but that was just how mothers were.

  I knew the moment I laid eyes on Jessa that she was that big thing. I knew I was supposed to stand by her side until I died, whether it was to protect her or love her. I wasn’t sure which yet, but all the mushy feelings I was getting were really throwing me off and screwing up my judgment. I shook my head when my mother gave me a questioning look. I could tell she was worried about me but knew not to pry.

  There was nothing I could say to her to make either of us feel better about this situation. She probably knew more about Jessa than I would ever begin to understand. There was something about Jessa that she didn’t trust and I didn’t blame her; I was in the same boat. But I also knew my mother was torn between wanting me to protect Jessa and wanting to me stay.

  I pushed myself off of the couch and ignored my mother’s curious glance. I didn’t have time to explain my thoughts, nor did I want to. I pushed through the front door and rounded the side of the house. I didn’t know where I was headed, but my thoughts were starting to get on my nerves. I needed to let out some frustration. I paused in front of Keenan and watched him intently.

  He had started to gut the deer behind the house again. Little boys sat on the ground around him, observing quietly. Keenan could debone and gut an animal faster than anyone I had ever known. He was done in about ten minutes with all the fat trimmed, and that was good for a 200- pound or more deer. He had always been an amazing hunter and provider for the people of the valley. He had taken the position with gratitude and humility. I had never been prouder.

  I leaned up against the house. Most of the cottages were at least two bedrooms, though ours was bigger. Women in the valley usually only had one child, but they sometimes left for a long periods of time to come back with more. Some would be demi-gods and some would be human.

  It didn't matter, though because the valley had been formed as a safe haven thousands of years ago. At least that's what we were told as children. I always wondered if Elder’s just told us that to keep us here, but after seeing demis killed in the outside world every day, I knew it was true. This was the safest place for us. People always eliminated things they didn’t understand, and the problem with demis was that only a few are born with their parents’ powers or attributes. The others never figure it out or they just don’t care.

  Jessa

  I was done beating around the bush. I was done playing dumb and letting the answers and truth come to me through visions or memories. I was done just sitting by. I had too many questions that needed to be answered. I followed my grandmother to the window seat at the back of the room.

  There were quilts and tapestries everywhere. A small glass device in the corner was putting off a kind of mist that smelled heavenly. My grandmother sat and patted the spot next to her. I chose to stay standing, knowing that I was about to be out of my comfort zone and that sitting wouldn’t make it any easier.

  “What are the Games?” I asked.

  “You were always straight to the point.” My grandmother sighed and looked out the window. Her eyes turned glassy. “No one is really sure what they are. It’s changed every generation.”

  “Who is over it? Apollo?” I examined one of the quilts hanging on the wall. It had an embroidered deer grazing in a field next to a sunset.

  “Who else?” My grandmother shook her head. “I assume Crawley has filled you in on some it. Apollo was in love with Artemis long ago, but she didn’t return his feelings. She fled to earth to hide amongst the mortals, hoping to be free from his advances and that one day he would forget her. The years passed and Artemis tried her hardest to keep her distance from the mortals. Watching the people she loved die was difficult, but one day, while she was trading a pelt, she met the man that changed everything. They fell in love, which was unheard of because she was the virgin goddess, but even virgins can fall in love.”

  I nodded, full engaged in the tale she was spinning.

  “Eventually, they got married but Apollo had found her b
y that point. It had been many years, but he didn’t care. His vengeance and anger had fueled him all the decades she had been away.

  “When Apollo found them, he cut her husband’s head off with his sword, too angry to listen to reason. He forced her to go back to Olympus with him, and she was too heartbroken to refuse.

  “She continued to ignore his advances, but he became more persistent and she knew she couldn’t hold him off forever. A few weeks later, she discovered she was pregnant with her late husband’s child.” My grandmother paused and I could see tears shining in her eyes. She cleared her throat and rung her hands. “She fled to earth, but this time she knew she had to be prepared. She created the valley and put protection wards around it with Hecate’s help.”

  “Should I know who Hecate is?” My head was spinning with all this new knowledge. I hadn’t expected this much information when she brought me back here. I hadn’t expected much, really, but I had hoped she was going to tell me that Crawley was nuts. I had no such luck.

  My grandmother shook her head at me in disapproval. “You’re going to have to read up on this stuff. I’ll send you to the Elders tomorrow; they have a great library that I’m sure they’ll let you use. Knowing these things will help you.” She clucked her tongue a few times. “No more interruptions. Hecate is the goddess of witchcraft and magic. Anyway, Hecate helped Artemis, but Apollo still found her. He had his own ways of getting into the valley without actually being present here. By this time, Artemis had given birth to a little girl. She was two years old when Apollo came. He hated the child immediately and cursed the valley. None of Artemis’ descendants would be able to live here until they were old enough to participate in the games that he created on his own terms.”