Vol.5 Ch.34.1 – Foreshadowing I

Chapter 34: Foreshadowing

“Do we have to go back to Olympus today?” Meli asked.

We had relocated from the bedroom to the bathroom to get the various juices off ourselves and were all resting in the tub together. The bedsheets had just barely been salvageable but they would need to get cleaned before anyone laid down on them again.

“We did kind of promise to be there today, didn't we?” Anna asked.

“We promised each other we'd go there,” Selene corrected. “We didn't really tell any of the gods about it.”

“Hephaestus told me he'd need a day to repair Helios Edge,” I said, “but that doesn't mean we need to be back within that day. I'm sure he'd appreciate having a bit of alone time with Aphrodite.”

“If we aren't going back to Olympus today then I would like to go brief mother about what happened yesterday,” Anna said.

“Probably for the best,” I said. “If you don't, Prince Marcus might spin a story about you assaulting him or something.”

“Unlikely,” she said. “He's far too vain to admit that I struck him, least of all to mother. But it's still best that I inform her in person.”

I looked over at Athena. “Are you fine with us not returning today?”

“I don't see a problem with it,” she said. “In fact, I think it's better if we wait until tomorrow. Maybe father will be available again by then.”

I nodded. “Then I guess it's decided. So, Anna needs to go brief the queen. What are we going to do?”

“Restock our larder,” Alisha said. “We used up a lot before heading to Olympus so it would help to go on a shopping trip.”

“Considering what you are planning to ask of Zeus, I think I have something to do today as well,” Selene said.

“Do you need help setting things up?” I asked.

“I want to try on my own but if it doesn't work...”

“We'll help,” I finished, then addressed everyone: “I'll help Alisha with shopping. Who wants to come with?”

Yume agreed immediately but Athena and Melinoe declined. I understood perfectly. Athena, at least, would instantly be recognized the moment she stepped onto one of the main streets. Melinoe's reasoning I wasn't quite sure about but I had a feeling her and Athena would need to have a talk while we were gone. It had to be weird for them that I was dating both of them.

The Olympians evidently didn't have a problem, uh... keeping it in the family, but despite that Athena and Melinoe had avoided any and all physical contact earlier. Technically it wasn't even an issue. They weren't directly related. Athena's father was Melinoe's grandfather. Even if they weren't Olympians this would be frowned upon at worst. But it was still weird for them. Because however much I thought Athena had changed, the change was far more drastic for most of the Olympians, who for centuries had known her as a withdrawn ice queen, one I had never even met.

But that was their business to figure out. I cared about both of them and both of them cared about me. It would be up to them to work things out. I had to go shopping with Alisha and Yume.

I hadn't been surprised for Yume to offer to come along. She rarely ventured out of the house without me. And while the reason for that was heartbreaking, the way she clung to me on those trips was still quite cute, so different from her usual reserved behavior.

As for why I had offered to come along with Alisha, part of it was that with me along there would be a lot more she could buy and carry home. While bags of holding meant that she didn't really have to carry anything heavy, having someone else along was still convenient, not to mention the fact that with me along pickpockets were a non-issue. You didn't live in the capital for nearly a decade without getting very, very good at catching those. I would even go as far as to say that catching pickpockets in the capital had trained me to be more observant on quests.

But no, the real reason I was coming along with Alisha was to demonstrate to her that I wasn't mad anymore. I had underestimated just how much it would eat at her to know I was upset with her. She seemed like such a strong person most of the time that it was easy to forget how young she truly was, how horribly her parents had treated her growing up and how little life experience she had.

**

And so we went out. By the time we'd been done with the morning's activities and the bath afterwards morning had turned to noon and so the streets were bustling. Yume clung to me, her eyes darting to everyone who looked remotely interested in her and I could feel her heartbeat thrumming against my arm.

A couple of times, when the throngs of people grew too dense, I even pulled us into alleyways so she could calm down a little. Thankfully it was hot outside and so I was able to pass that off as needing to cool down. I had no intention of embarrassing Yume by pointing out why I was actually doing it.

She was the strongest person I knew and I hated what those bastard slavers had done to her, hated it even more now that I knew it had all been orchestrated by Ares in an effort to... What had he actually been trying to accomplish with that anyway?

He'd said he'd done it to try and spark conflict with the southern realms but that didn't make much sense. Why would they care if some slavers stole someone like Yume? Kitsune like her were considered lesser by the humans of her realm so some slavers stealing one wouldn't upset them. It didn't make any sense. I really wanted to ask her about it, to get to the bottom of this, but I also didn't want to dredge up bad memories by reminding her of her torment. But if this could get us closer to catching Ares, could I afford to worry about upsetting her?

Yes, I could. I had a plan to deal with Ares and it wouldn't require asking Yume painful questions. If she ever opened up about her time in captivity I would ask her but I wouldn't be bringing it up myself.

I shook myself out of it to realize I'd been holding Yume close to me chest, swaying gently while her heartbeat calmed down.

“I'm alright now,” she said softly, looking up at me with love in her eyes.

I reached down to stroke her cheek and then looked over to see Alisha standing there, watching us with a gentle smile on her face. I opened the hug and she joined us, practically melting into our arms. Gods I loved the way she seemed to soak up the warmth and love around her, drawing more nourishment from it than from the food she served us.

**

Eventually we left the alley and continued our shopping. We never really kept our larder too terribly stocked anymore, given how much time we spent traveling, but this time Alisha did buy enough perishable goods to last us a week and enough lost-lasting provisions to last us through the end of the year. I thought she was overdoing it a bit until I realized that buying all of that barely put a dent into our savings. Gods above. If it weren't for the Black Goat we could already retire.

Finally we returned home and Alisha immediately busied herself in the kitchen while I checked up on Selene. The door to her room was closed and I could hear a loud but one-sided conversation through the door. Evidently everything had worked out fine.

Next I checked up on Melinoe and Athena. I was a little worried when I didn't find them in any of the bedrooms until I found them in the backyard, both of them sitting in the shade of the dragon berry tree. They were leaning against the tree, their shoulders touching, both of them asleep. I looked down to see their fingertips touching on the grass. Apparently they had found an accord.

I let them both sleep and then checked the laboratory, hoping to find Anna inside. She was. She was busy with some of the mystic fruits, so engrossed in her research that I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

“How did things go with your mom?” I asked.

She startled just the littlest bit. “Oh hey,” she said. “When did you get back?”

“Not long ago. So?”

“Mother was... She seemed annoyed that Marcus would so blatantly go against her wishes but she seemed happy that we stood up to him, that I stood up to him.”

“She doesn't want him to take the throne,” I said. I didn't quite make it a question.

“She doesn't,” she confirmed. “She can't say it openly but she's making it known.”

“It's not really my place to say but I don't think that's the best solution.”

“Why do you think so?”

“The more she openly disapproves the weaker his standing becomes,” I said, “forcing him to take more and more drastic measures to become heir apparent. If she doesn't step in Marcus might eventually decide it's easier to simply kill Mariabella.”

Anna winced. She really didn't like to think about her siblings killing each other but, then again, Marcus had tried to have her killed before as well. But then she surprised me: “Who says he hasn't tried that before?”

My lips thinned. “You have a point. It would be stupid of him to try and kill his younger siblings but not the one who is actually in his way to become the heir.”

“It really would all be so much easier if mother just declared Maria the heir,” Anna said. “She could even step down now and let Maria take over before Marcus could try anything.”

“Maybe she doesn't want Mariabella to become queen either...” I said.

“Then who would...” Anna began but then noticed how I was looking at her. “No. No, you can't be serious.”

“Seems to me like she's grooming you to be a diplomat,” I said, keeping my voice just a little too casual. “Remind me, who got the honor of making first contact with the delegation from Albion again?”

“You're joking,” she said. “She knows I hate politics. She knows I'll never have an heir. And also there's four people in line for the throne before me.”

“The heir thing isn't really an issue anymore if the queen consort has multiple lovers,” I mused. “A child between Selene and me would very likely have a similar hair and eye color to you or your siblings...”

Anna's mouth fell open as she stared at me. She didn't seem appalled by the suggestion. She had evidently just never thought about it. Finally she got herself under control and asked: “Would you even want that life?”

“Gods no,” I laughed. She immediately relaxed until I added: “But you know Alisha's people have a saying about kingship, right?”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Only she who refuses the burden of kingship is worthy of it.”

She buried her face in her hands, no doubt smudging her spectacles. “Do you really think she wants me to inherit the throne or are you just teasing me?” she asked, her voice muffled.

“I don't know your mother well enough yet,” I said honestly. “But her actions could be interpreted in such a way. How many diplomatic missions has she sent Mariabella on since we met?”

Anna considered for a moment, then let out a theatrical groan.