The twin, Hector, who was the one guilty of foul play, smirked. "Of course, I know," He said, "But you know how easy it is to aggravate Theseus into an argument. I couldn't resist."
Theseus, the offended twin, socked his brother in the arm.
"Chloe! It's about time!" Hector said, ignoring his brother and giving her a warm smile. "We've been waiting ages to meet you. And woah, look at that red hair! It’s awesome!" He approached and shook her hand. Theseus followed suit. They were dressed in designer jeans and striped polo shirts––but not matching ones––and loafers. Even though Hector was kind of disheveled versus Theseus, who also wore a light blazer, the look fit them.
"Meet the Bowmen Brothers from New York," said Ace, "The other two Quad frats and my annoyin' lil' brothers."
"We're the same age, Ace! Seventeen!" Hector said.
"But I'm four months older."
"That's hardly anything to be proud of. Annoying little brothers. Pfft!"
"Wha'ever." Ace took a seat at the table next to Swindle and began to build a gigantic sandwich on a plate. Chloe's mouth watered at the sight of it.
"We have different mothers."
"Huh?" She refocused her attentions back on Hector, who had spoken. He had a cute little bean-shaped birthmark on his right ear, and she filed it away as her reference point for telling the twins apart.
"Us and Ace…and Strafford too," He said, "Their mother isn't ours. All of our siblings have different moms."
"Is…is that normal?" She asked carefully.
"Pretty much. Gods like variety."
"Um…ok…"
"We were the ones watching out for your family in Adel."
"You were? Thanks." Her tone softened. "I'm really sorry about Summer."
"Don't be," His smile was proud, "Dying in the gods' service is the only worthy way for a demigod to go. She was buried with honor."
"Still…"
"I know, Chloe. And thank you."
"Join us for a game of archery?" Theseus asked, holding out his bow and lightening the mood. "I don't even know why I play with Hector. He cheats every time."
"Yeah, come play," Hector insisted, ignoring his brother. "I'll take it easy on you and won't cheat…this time."
She really wanted one of those monster sandwiches that Ace and Swindle were devouring. There was an endless smorgasbord of sandwich stackers, like their own personal Subway, and she would try to get every single ingredient on one of those bakery fresh baguettes.
"You can go first," Hector offered, as if that was the reason she was hesitating.
She sighed and ignored her stomach's latest grumble. "No, you go first. That way you can show me how to do it."
Archery wasn't such a bad sport. In fact, she felt like one day she might even like it. It was a game of aim, precision, and a steady hand. She found she was not so good with that last part though. Her feet had always been the only thing she'd needed to rely on to have these qualities.
Hector gave her a crash course in the rules and the proper way to hold the bow. She watched him stance himself, sink an easy bullseye, then she gave it a try. Her first attempt was horrendous. The arrow sailed to the far right of the target and into the garden maze, never to be seen again.
"You have to keep your eye on the target," Theseus said, helping her to position herself again. The next three attempts were just as bad and she gave up and let Hector take back over the game.
"Where is…um…Strafford at?" She didn't bother to resist asking when it was her turn again.
"His royal highness never frolics with us peasants," Hector said in a sarcastic tone. "And hanging out in the courtyard with his little brothers? Pfft. Beneath him."
She smiled. "Why did you call him that? His royal highness?"
Hector paused to roll his eyes. "Oh brother, they didn't tell you." He took her turn and sunk an arrow right into the target.
"Didn't tell me what?"
"That Strafford's a chosen son. He's a Prince." He shrugged it off like it was no big deal.
"What?" But she thought of Mystic curtseying to Strafford and it made perfect sense. Now explain the forehead kiss…
"Sun children are royalty, Chloe," Theseus said, "They're only born once a century, maybe less, and because of that, they're regarded as special. If they're a girl, they're a Princess. A boy, a Prince."
"What are sun children?"
A groan came from Hector. "Honestly, Ace, thought you were supposed to be filling Chloe in. Too busy ogling over how pretty she is to do your job?"
She blushed like crazy at being called "pretty". The word still sounded weird being referenced to her.
"Shut your bloody mouth, Hector," Ace replied, while looking a bit sheepish. "I jus' hadn' gotten around to explainin' abou' Strafford yet."
"Obviously." Another arrow hit the bullseye. Christ, Hector was accurate. "Look here, Chloe. Our dad has a lot of kids. Because he is largely an Archer god, most of us are archers like Theseus and me, though none of them are as good no matter what they claim. The rest are healers like Ace. They're good with medicines and fixing up injuries and broken bones, which we end up with a lot. Then, every century or so, the Fates give our dad a sun child. They're so rare that they're considered to be royalty. Strafford is our Sun Prince. He's been declared since he was born. He's like a god among demigods, if that makes any sense."
Chloe nodded, in a daze. "I think it does…", though she wasn't quite sure what Hector meant by Strafford being declared.
"Cool. Now it's your turn." Hector moved aside and let her take his place. "Square your shoulders. Line up your feet. Bend that elbow a bit…"
She tried to follow his instructions but her mind was on Strafford. The Sun Prince. Just when she thought he couldn't get any more amazing...
But a Prince…No wonder Ace didn’t want to get into it. It had to be hard for him to live in the shadow of someone like his brother.
Thinking of Strafford, her next arrow missed the target by miles.
"Well, at least you got in the general direction of the target this time," Hector tried to be supportive.
She gave a small smile. "It's okay. I know I suck pretty bad." She retreated and let him demonstrate how a pro did it.
"Are there other Princes and Princesses?" she asked minutes later, her mind unable to stop pondering it, "Like children of other gods?"
"Yup," Theseus replied, "but not every god has one. Zeus does, and his brother, the Underworld Lord of Dominion, Hades does…"
"The witch," said Hector with a look of utter hatred. "Varney Bane, but witch is how I usually refer to her."
"Och, get over yourself, eh?" Ace said. "So she shot down your pathetic come-ons––multiple times, but so wha'? You should be used to it." Swindle laughed and Hector flicked his brother off, then turned and punished the center of the target with arrows.
"Ares has a Prince named Skirmish," Theseus continued as though he'd never stopped, "There's the Desire Princess and a couple of other minor gods have royal children, but they're low ranking in comparison with the Olympian royals. Like I said, royalty among us demigods is rare. This is the most Olympian royals there's ever been at one time. Their abilities are special and the Fates don't just dish that type of power out. It's really weird."
"I heard the Oracle was up and about!" A female's voice rang out across the terrace. All heads turned to see a lovely black woman with thick black hair that hung to her shoulders walking with a brisk stride towards them. She was wearing a white lab coat over a pretty mid-length yellow dress and Chloe was sure she was looking at Dr. Life.
The doctor made a beeline straight for her. "I'm Dr. Lucy Life," She said, shaking Chloe's hand, "Glad to see you're doing so much better. I wish our first meeting could have been more like this!" Her pretty smile tensed for a second, but it faded as fast as it came. "But look at you now!" She checked Chloe's temperature with the back of her hand, smiled, then fluffed her locks. "And your hair looks wonderful!"
"Uh, thank you,
" said Chloe, admiring the doctor's smooth cocoa-colored skin and high cheekbones.
"Happy to see you're engaging in a little physical activity," Dr. Life said, gesturing towards Chloe's bow, "It will definitely help speed up your full recovery."
"Oh, I wouldn't say there's much activity going on. I pretty much suck."
Dr. Life smiled. "I'm sure you're not as bad as all of that. Besides, not many can measure up against the Bowmen brothers. They're some of the best archers in the kingdom."
"We are the best archers in the kingdom," Hector corrected the doctor, "And we'll prove it at the Olympic Games this Summer's Solstice. The archery gold medal is ours." He high-fived his twin.
"Of course it is," Dr. Life said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I came out to collect some herbs for my medicines. I'm working on an advanced bone mending agent for you godlings and it's looking promising. So long!" With one last pretty smile at Chloe, the doctor disappeared into the gardens. A round of good-byes followed her.
"The Olympics?" Chloe questioned as soon as she could, "Like with swimming and gymnastics…and track and field?" Her heart stung just a bit. She missed running and competing so much.
"Exactly," said Swindle, as he and Bill joined them near the archer's circle. He brushed a few crumbs from his tee and Chloe had to stop herself from dropping to her knees so she could catch them in her mouth, she was so starved. "The ancient Greeks invented the Olympics and every Olympiad, or fourth Summer Solstice, a Games takes place in Olympus."
"And this year will be our first Games," Theseus said, "Same for Ace. He's only been declared for a couple of years now and we barely made the cut only a few months before you came. But Swindle's been, and of course, Strafford has."
"It's the best time you'll ever have," said Swindle, "You'll see."
"I don't doubt it, my friend," Hector replied, wiggling his eyebrows. "Nymphs, nymphs, and more nymphs."
"Nymphs?" Chloe raised an eyebrow.
"Pretty nature divinities," said Ace, "There's like, hundreds of 'em."
"Now his royal highness?" Hector said, handing his bow over to Swindle, "That's the guy to talk to about nymphs. He loves Oceanids."
"And they love him," replied Ace, "Our mother doesn' call him the Casanova of the Seas for nothin'." He rolled his eyes.
Distracted, Chloe almost shot herself in the foot.
"Uh, I think you've had enough practice for one day," Hector said, slipping the bow and all extra arrows out of her unsteady hands. "We'll pick it up some other time." She didn't fight him on it and relinquished the equipment into better hands.
Snip, Snip. Snip, Snip. Snip, Snip. Snip, Snip.
SNIP.
The abrasive sound of large pruning shears severing limbs and leaves made Chloe turn to see who was tidying up Apollo's beautiful gardens. The others followed suit. Swindle seemed indifferent towards them, but Ace and the twins appeared to be rather irritated by the intruders' presence.
There were three teenagers––a boy and two girls––dressed in dirtied jeans and t-shirts, grooming the hedges. The boy snipped, one girl collected the fallen foliage, and the other girl swept. They didn't even look up, but kept their heads and eyes turned away as they moved along the hedges, one behind the other.
"Who are they?" She whispered to Ace. The others had started another game of archery and were already ignoring them.
"Orphs," He replied, barely giving them a second glance.
"Orphs?"
"Yeah. Slang for orphans, or undeclared demigods."
"They're demigods, too?"
"Yeah, but they're undeclared, which means they're unimportant."
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
He sighed. "To have a place in our world, you have to be declared, which means your celestial parent has to officially say you’re worthy of hero status. It’s like sayin’, you’re their kid and everyone should acknowledge it. If they don’t, you're a nobody, an orph, jus' some unhinged kid of a god. And if you're not declared by your eighteenth birthday then…" He shrugged like he couldn't care less what happened at that point. He had already been declared. He turned his head to let her see the back of his neck. There was a small, glittering gold brand of a horseshoe there, an omega. She looked around and noticed they all had brands. "It''s the crest of the Olympians, and every declared has it branded on their neck. Tha's how you can tell heroes from orphs." He turned back. "PODA keeps track of the orphs and hires them out to other gods until their parents declare them heroes, or don't."
"PODA?"
"Yeah. The Parents of Demigods Alliance. It's operated by our human parents." Something flashed in Ace's eyes then. Something very unsettled, but he pushed it away and continued. "Sometimes the Alliance places orphs in the service of other gods who need them through H.E.R.O., Honor for Every Rejected Outcast. But PODA is every demigods' life support, even heroes. The Alliance builds our schools and built the University in Olympus and it constructed a hospital and housin' for demigods who've been forced to retire from demigod life due to permanent injuries. But most importantly, they're the main sponsors for the Olympics. Without PODA, demigods wouldn't even have a stake in this world of gods and immortals. And in tha' case, there'd probably be no heroes at all, jus' a bunch of bloody orphs."
The concept behind PODA sounded awesome, but Chloe couldn't wrap her mind around the orphan thing. "So basically, the gods exploit poor demigods whose loser parents deny their worth…and the pleasure of branding them like cattle?"
He barked out a laugh and twirled a piece of her hair around his finger. "I really do like you, Chloe."
"I'm serious, Ace. Why do some demigods have to be left in the cold because the gods don't think they're worthy enough?" She knew what it was like to be brushed aside by a parent––to be forgotten as if she never existed…to feel unworthy of being loved. She was taking all of this very personal.
"It's jus' the way things are," He replied. "We accept it, and you'll have to, too."
She crossed her arms. "Well, that would explain why you guys are all decked out in designer gear and they're wearing those ill-fitting clearance finds."
Ace nodded and dusted off his tattooed skate shoes. "Being declared pays well." He gestured at her. "Looks like being the Oracle isn' such a bad gig to have either."
She didn't bother to look down at her expensive rags. "I didn't ask for these clothes."
"You didn' have to," He replied, "You're chosen so they're yours by right. The world is yours now, Chloe. Jus' speak it and it's done."
"Take me home."
Ace laughed. "'Cept tha'. Besides, tha's Strafford's call. You can't go home until he says you can."
She snorted. "And you said I'm not a hostage."
"You're not. You're our guest." He winked.
"I have an escape plan in the works, you know."
He laughed again. "I think you'll find tha' to be much easier planned than accomplished. Besides, you already accepted the honor. And in this world, there are no take-backs…" He started backing away, heading towards the others whose game of archery had just gotten real as Bill zipped through the air carrying the target in his talons. "Stay a while, Chloe. I think you'll like it here with us." He turned away.
But there was just one more thing she needed to know. “Ace!” He stopped, looked back at her. “Am I really in the heavens?”
He grinned and nodded. Then, his competitive spirit took him away and he got lost in the game.
She sat down at the table and started building her dream monster sandwich. There was a delicious nectar juice sitting in a pitcher nearby and she poured herself a glass. While trying to keep it lady-like and not shove the entire sandwich down her throat, she contemplated everything Ace had just told her.
She was in the heavens somewhere. For real. Check.
There were a few downsides to being the child of a god.
Like a lack of sympathy and kindness for those less fortunate.
Check.
Did Ace really expect
her to think like him though, to just accept treating others like they were beneath them as cool, after she had been treated just that way almost her entire life? Pfft. He had to be kidding. There was no way she could ever treat another person, declared child of a god or not, like they were nothing. She just had a certain respect for people that they didn't seem to share. Fine. They could treat the orphs however they wanted, but she would be different. She would go out of her way to be as kind to the undeclared demigods as she could. Because truly, she could relate...
She clapped when Hector made a bullseye coming out of a handless cartwheel. It really was an amazing thing to see. Theseus backflipped off of the table and hit the target in midair. Swindle made contact with it as Bill zigged and zagged the target through the sky. Ace did it blindfolded.
They were spectacular in so many ways. These children of the Greek gods, these heroes with their sparkling branded necks. She sighed to herself, because another thing had become crystal clear.
Just like in her own world, she didn't belong here either.
*****
XI. Strafford
"Get up."
Strafford had made the effort to sound harsh more for his sake than for hers. If he hadn't said something––and hadn't said it with a definitive purpose––he might have watched Chloe Clever sleep for the rest of the morning. She would never know how hard he had contemplated doing just that. He hadn't seen her in a week, and this was the reason why. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Gods, she looked just like an angel sleeping there. A beautiful, red haired angel with pretty pink lips and crystal blue eyes. An angel designed to torture and test his iron-strong resolve to remember who he was to her.
Her guardian…and nothing more.
This was a hard thing for him to accept. See, he was the Sun Prince, and as such, he was used to getting what he wanted, and if what he wanted wasn't freely given, he simply helped himself to it. He had always been afforded that right as a Prince, even one as disgraced as he was, and no one could say much about it.
And he wanted her.
He must've been off his nut to return to the Chateau after all of these years away. But what could an infamous demigod Prince do when he was summoned to one of the greatest honors a child of Apollo––or anyone––could have? As guardian of the Oracle of Delphi? After all the tragedy and shame he'd suffered through, his honor meant everything to him now. The word "no" had not been in his vocab.
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