Achilles and Ares had joined us and at the sight of the bow in Hephaistos’ hands they both gasped. Achilles asked, “How long has it been since you made a bow this way?”
Hephaistos smiled. “Too long, but I believe Princess Artemis is the best recipient for such an item.”
I cleared my throat and they all turned to me. “May I see the bow to understand why you are all so excited?”
Hephaistos laughed and held out the bow. “My apologies.”
The bow was much lighter than I expected and as soon as it touched my skin I understood the excitement. My back arched in a mixture of pain and pleasure as the bow determined if I were suitable to hold it or not. After a moment the power of the bow receded and it vibrated slightly in my hand. “How did you harness starlight to keep the form of the bow?” I asked in shock.
“We are Children of the Stars and a mother is always willing to help her children,” Hephaistos answered softly. “I am glad that you are able to wield it. I had not thought about the possibility of you being unable to.”
I laughed and pulled on the string which was also made from starlight to test its resistance. “Do you have an arrow I can try?”
Hephaistos unwrapped another bundle and I gasped. “Starlight arrows?”
He smiled. “Starlight shafts with steel tips which have been dipped in sunlight.”
Several of the crowd which had gathered gasped and started talking loudly.
I picked up one of the arrows and knocked it. I looked across the field and saw a target, which was about two miles away. I aimed and released. The arrow sped across the field faster than any normal silver or wood arrow could and flew through the target and into the tree behind it.
“I never knew you were an archer,” Ares said teasingly.
I shrugged. “It appears so.”
I ran to the tree and pulled the arrow from the trunk. The tip of the arrow was no longer dipped in sunlight. I jogged back to the group, slung my bow over my shoulder and formed a ball of sunlight in my palm. I dipped the tip of the arrowhead in the sunlight and turned it slowly so that the sunlight coated it. “How does it stick?” I asked Hephaistos as I coated the arrow head.
“The iron is enchanted and the starlight can understand your desire and assists as best as it can,” he said in an awed whisper.
I put the arrow back into the sheath and looked up at all of the eyes focused on me. “What?” I asked as I blushed.
“I was not aware that you could control sunlight,” said Erebos from beside me.
I smiled at him. “Yes I can.”
“Ares!” Koda called. “We have a problem.”
I followed Ares over to where Koda was standing with an unfamiliar Sidhe on the other side of the grass. The Sidhe left and Koda kept looking at me in a weird way, almost as if he was uncomfortable with me being there. “What’s wrong?” asked Ares.
Koda looked at me a moment then sighed. “You’ll find out anyways so I might as well just tell him in front of you. Ares, they’re fighting a werewolf in the Games.”
Ares folded his arms across his chest and it took me a moment to stop staring at his biceps. “Why is that a problem?” Ares asked. “They’ve used a wolf before to fight one of the humans.”
“It’s a problem because the wolf isn’t fighting a human. The wolf is fighting an elf,” Koda said slowly as though trying to clue Ares into the secret without letting me figure it out. I really wished I could read his mind. Where was Victor when you needed him?
Ares asked, “What did the wolf do? Which wolf is it?”
“The wolf killed a vampire to protect a human that did not have his brand.” Koda stopped talking, looking at me for a long moment before saying, “It’s Bret.”
“My Bret?” I asked in shock. Ares growled and I rolled my eyes at him. “You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
Koda smiled at me. “Yes, your Bret.”
Ares sighed. “Crap.”
“What are the Games?” I asked.
“They’re like the old Roman gladiator fights to the death, but usually the humans are pitted against ogres or some other preternatural. It’s rare that a preternatural has to fight another preternatural, but in some instances they do it. Usually the fight serves as a public execution.”
“And Bret is going to have to fight in it?!” I asked in shock. I turned to Ares. “We have to save him. We can’t just let him die, especially if he was protecting a human.”
Ares closed his eyes and rubbed his temples with his fingers, as though trying to get rid of a headache. “I knew you were going to say that,” he whispered.
“That’s why I didn’t want to tell you in front of her,” said Koda.
“Where’re the Games at? How long will it take to get there? When is he fighting?” I asked frantically.
Ares threaded his fingers through mine, giving me reassurance and calming me. “Koda and I will take care of it. You stay here with Achilles.”
“No way!” I yelled, pulling my hand from his. “You’re not leaving me behind.”
“Artemis, the stands are going to be full of vampires and Maurice will be there, sitting in the pulpit, watching over everything. Do you really think it’s a good idea for you to go?”
You’re not leaving me behind. I’ll teleport myself to the Games if you try to leave me.” I was not giving up on this. No matter what he said I was going.
“She’d probably teleport herself right into the center of the ring,” said Koda more to himself than anyone else.
Ares growled. “I am not taking you there! What if Maurice catches you?”
“I’ll teleport out,” I answered quickly.
“She has a point,” said Koda.
Achilles walked towards us, a deep frown on his face. “What’s going on?” He must have sensed my anger and come looking for me.
“Artemis’ former friend is being fought in the Games. She wants to go with us and threatened to teleport herself if we leave her behind,” summarized Koda.
Achilles stared at me in shock. “You can’t go to the Games. It’s not really even safe for Ares to go to the Games. What if you get captured?”
“I’ll teleport out,” I said calmly.
“It’s not that simple,” Achilles said angrily, “They could kill you before you had a chance to teleport. And we all know that you wouldn’t leave us behind just to save yourself. You are not going, Artemis.”
My mouth dropped open. Achilles had never spoken to me that way before. I expected it from Ares, but not Achilles. “You don’t make the decisions for me,” I said quietly trying to summon my anger, but in my shock I was unable.
“I am your mate, whether we’ve mated or not and therefore I do have a say in what you do, especially if it puts your life, and consequently mine, at risk. Plus you’re the Princess of the Sidhe and it’s every Sidhe’s job to protect you. Do you really want to fight off the entire Sidhe race just to go rescue Bret?”
Never in my life would I have expected Achilles to speak to me like this. “You’re trying to push me into a corner.”
He smiled. “No, sweetheart, I shoved you into the corner and shackled you there. Ares, Koda and I will go to the Games and save your friend. You will stay here, guarded by Sidhe guards whom I know you won’t hurt and you will wait for us to return. Are we clear?”
I turned to Ares. “He can’t really do this, can he?”
Ares smiled sympathetically. “He just did.”
Erebos, Heracles and Theseus walked towards us from the training ring where they’d been sparing. Without a word, Erebos grabbed hold of my left arm and Theseus grabbed my right and together they held me in place.
“Let me go!” I yelled as I struggled against them.
Ares said, “Maybe we should get Hades?”
Achilles smiled. “That’s a much better plan. Hades!”
“What are you going to do, have him kill me?” I asked angrily.
Ares, Achilles and Koda all rolled their eyes at me at
the same time. Ares stepped forward and kissed my forehead softly. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
Koda kissed my cheek and then Achilles stepped in front of me. “I don’t like doing this to you, Artemis, but your safety is my top concern. I can’t lose you again.” There was such pain in his voice that it made my heart ache and made me wish to touch him and console him. Unfortunately I was being held against my will so I found the strength to refrain.
“Achilles, please let me come with you. I can help you. I don’t want to be sitting here on my hands fretting and wondering if you’re okay or not.”
He smiled and kissed my lips softly, sending a pleasant shock through my body. “You won’t have to.”
Hades stepped forward and smiled at me. “Hello, Princess. This won’t hurt, but you’re going to feel a little woozy.”
“Ares! Achilles!” I called to them as they walked away from me. Neither man turned back around towards me. I felt my heart hammering against my chest as they walked away and my hands started shaking. I didn’t want to be away from them. I didn’t want separation. Hades pressed his hand to my forehead and chanted a few words in a strange language. I struggled against Theseus and Erebos, but my limbs were growing heavy and my eyelids were becoming increasingly hard to keep open. “This. Is. Cheating,” I panted out just before Hades’ spell slipped me into sleep.
~~~
ACHILLES
Chapter Nineteen
The look on her face tore at my heart. I hated forcing her to stay behind, but I could not bear to see her get hurt. Her indignant feelings would mend when we returned, but her death would ruin us all. Especially since if she died, I would. If we died I wouldn’t even be able to grieve for her, which would eat at my soul for eternity.
“You did the right thing, Achilles. I’m actually very surprised and proud of you,” said Ares as we headed towards the main building and my mother’s quarters.
“I know I did the right thing. I just can’t stand the look she gave me. She feels as though I’ve betrayed her.” Part of me was still angry at Ares for what I’d learned from the healer, but I didn’t want to tell him yet. I’d tell him soon, but not yet. And for now I dismissed the anger and focused on the task at hand.
“She’s only worried for your safety. She’ll be asleep so she won’t even have time to fret,” said Koda. “Besides, she knows you only did it to keep her safe. She’ll forgive you.”
I wasn’t so sure. She may forgive me, but that didn’t mean she’d trust me again or look at me the same. I already missed the smell of her skin, the touch of her hand.
“You think Hera will be in a good mood?” Ares asked as we entered the building and headed down the left corridor towards her room. The paintings on the wall became progressively darker with scenes shifting from peaceful meadows to a stormy sea to a bloody war. They were the visual progression of my mother’s moods when she was displeased, or at least that’s what I thought.
“I doubt it, but she owes us much for the past one hundred years,” I answered quietly as I knocked on the door.
“Enter,” exclaimed my mother in her most regal voice.
I pushed open her door and stared in shock at my mother, the Queen of the Sidhe, in a fluffy pink bathrobe sitting in a chair with maids painting her fingernails and toenails. “Achilles!” she said happily. “To what do I owe this visit?”
“We need your help,” I said still in shock. “We need to rescue someone from the Games and bring them back.”
She stood up and all of her maids backed away. “A Sidhe is in the Games?” she asked angrily.
I shook my head. “No, it’s a werewolf, one who used to be a friend of Artemis’.”
“Where is our favorite halfbreed?” she asked as she examined her fingernails, no longer worried now that she knew it wasn’t a Sidhe in the Games.
“Hades put her to sleep because she was refusing to stay behind and threatening to teleport if we left without her,” Koda explained.
Hera smiled. “She’s very feisty.”
Ares scoffed. “That’s an understatement.”
“What is it that you need from me?” she asked as she sat back down in her chair and let the maids resume pampering her.
“We need you to teleport us to and from the Games,” I said as I plucked a grape from a dish on the table beside me and popped it into my mouth. The grape was perfectly ripe and extremely juicy. Of course, the Queen of the Sidhe demanded the best.
Hera sighed. “I was afraid you were going to say that. Very well, let me get changed and I’ll teleport you all.”
Ares, Koda and I walked out of her room and leaned against the wall in the hallway. “What’s your plan for when we arrive?” I asked Ares.
He shrugged. “Find where they have him, take him.”
“That’s not a very well thought out plan,” I said incredulously.
He smiled. “I’ll figure something out. I always do.”
“Like the time we stole Dad’s Pegasus to race him against the elves and started a war?”
Ares smiled. “You’re the one who called the elf names and started it all. I only gave you a way to end it. It’s not my fault that my spear accidentally fell while we were racing and tripped their steed.”
I shook my head and laughed. “Right. And it wasn’t your fault that the elves’ shields all disintegrated during the war either.”
“I can neither confirm nor deny if that acid was from my personal stores or not,” Ares said in a monotonous tone.
I laughed and then sighed. “That battle lasted five years. Father was furious with us.”
“But, who won? We did, because elves are awful at battle strategizing.”
“And because you pull crazy schemes out of your butt and they actually work,” Koda said as he shifted against the wall.
Ares smiled. “You’re both just jealous because I’m the God of War.”
“Conceited,” I whispered.
“Vain,” Koda whispered at the same time.
Hera stepped out of her room and frowned at me. “I hope you aren’t talking about me.”
I smiled. “Of course not! I would never speak of my lovely mother in such a manner.”
She didn’t seem convinced, but she left it alone. “Ready?”
We all reached a hand out and touched her shoulders. “Try not to land us in the center of the arena, please,” Ares said.
She sighed. “So little faith. I will transport us in the back area where they keep those to be fought.”
She closed her eyes and sent us whirling through the vortex of teleportation. I hated the feeling more than anything else, preferring even to have a sword cut me than to spin around and around.
“You can open your eyes now,” she whispered.
I opened my eyes and found us in an underground room with stone walls, dirt floors, and a metal gate. “You teleported us to a prisoner’s cell? How did you know to come here? When were you in a prisoner’s cell?” I asked.
“There are many things that you don’t know about me and many more things that I will never tell you. Just be happy that I had knowledge of this place and could get us here. Otherwise, we would be trying to walk through the front door.” She pushed open the cell door and marched down the aisles of cells as though she owned the place. Ares and Koda searched each prisoner’s face as we wound our way through the holding area, but they did not find who they were looking for.
The crowd roared above us and dirt sifted from the ceiling down onto us. “Perhaps he is already fighting,” I suggested.
Ares sighed loudly. “I did not want to go out into the arena.”
Hera grabbed a guard who had been watching the fight through an iron fence. “Who fights right now?” she asked him as she pressed him up against the fence.
“A werewolf and elf.”
She smiled and grabbed his keys from his belt. “Thank you.”
She opened the gate and turned to Ares. “We run out, grab him and teleport, got it?”
Ares smiled. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
We stepped out into the arena and my eyes widened in shock. Bret wasn’t just fighting one elf, he was fighting six. His sides were smeared with blood and his chest was heaving up and down quickly as he gasped for breath. The six elves stood around him in a loose circle holding spears.
The crowd was cheering loudly, but then all eyes turned to us and they silenced. Maurice stood from his seat in the pulpit, smiling down at us. “I’ve been waiting for you.” He turned to the crowd and said, “It seems we have additional fighters.” He looked at our group a moment and then frowned. He was probably annoyed that Artemis wasn’t with us. For once we did not let her endanger herself and her hurt feelings no longer bothered me.
The crowd took a moment to understand the shift in the situation, but then they cheered loudly in anticipation of bloodshed. I looked around the stands and was surprised to see beings from every race, including Sidhe, attending the Games.
Ares turned and smiled at me. “I’d always dreamed of fighting in the Arena, but father wouldn’t allow me to in the Roman days. That’s why I owned that group of gladiators and trained them instead of fighting. Oh, Spartacus, that was one hell of a gladiator. I do wish he had let me turn him.” He stopped his reminiscing and looked at the elves. “You think the elves remember me?” He ripped his shirt off and took a half shift, growling loudly at the crowd, sounding more like a lion than a wolf.
The elves turned and fixed their gazes on him. Yep, they remembered him. Ares charged forward, slicing one of the elves’ heads almost completely off at the neck with his claws. Bret limped towards Ares, clutching his side and a wound which was dripping blood onto the sand.
The cool night air caressed my skin as I took a step forward. Small glass balls enchanted with a light spell sat in little holders around the arena and throughout the stands so the attendees could see everything even though it was night time. The smell and feel of the sand at my feet and the roar of the crowd brought back many memories of my younger days in Rome. Of course back then I’d been revered as a god, sitting in the pulpit, watching, and determining the fates of the gladiators, not participating. Like Ares I had always wanted to participate, but father had forbidden us from fighting. I looked around at the eons old architecture and wished Artemis was here, knowing she would have enjoyed seeing the coliseum. Although it was not nearly as spectacular now as it was compared to its original days. I did have to admit that it was nice to be able to look in the stands without finding couples fornicating though. Romans were such vile creatures.
Healed by Fire Artemis Lupine 3 Page 15