oath. Children complicate things. And if you aren’t a virgin goddess, you can bet that you’re going to have a load of the little brats running around. Just look at all the offspring Zeus has created, and how much work they cause for him. Just like we do for our parents.” Artemis looped an arm around her shoulders. “Hellions, the both of us.”
Kore could agree that Artemis was a handful. The huntress randomly raced off to make sure her deer or nymphs were still alive and well. She got into fights and regularly teamed up with her brother to cause havoc in the mortal realm.
Kore? She did nothing of the sort. She was a good little daughter who stayed pious and away from anyone who might corrupt her. The only times she’d been out from under her mother’s wing was with yet another goddess watching over her. How much trouble did they think she could get into?
When she didn’t reply, Artemis sighed. “Look, I know you were asking questions about Hades. And that’s the worst interest you could have. He’s not a good person, Kore.”
She didn’t want to hear any opinions of Artemis when the other goddess hadn’t even flinched during their meeting in Olympus. It had been fine that she was groped, grabbed, and laughed at by all those gods. But Hades? The only one who had shown her any kind of decency? He wasn’t the evil one.
Kore shook her head in denial. “I know how my mother feels about him. I just want to make an educated opinion of my own without someone else telling me how to feel.”
“Maybe that’s what you need. You’re just a child, Kore.”
“I’m not a child!” she shouted, yanking herself away from Artemis. “I’m nearly as old as you!”
“And you have experienced so much less.” Artemis held out her hands for Kore to take, which she didn’t. “Why aren’t you listening to us? This isn’t like you.”
“Maybe because I’m questioning everything right now. Who’s fault is it that I’ve seen so little of the world? Of other gods?” She crossed her arms tightly across her chest. “I could have done so much more with my life. I could have still been a virgin goddess while hunting like you. I could have explored the world and instead, I’m stuck here. Like a bird trapped in a cage.”
“You’re safe here.” Artemis frowned, shaking her head in clear denial of Kore’s words. “I don’t understand why you’d want to go out there. You saw what happened in Olympus. That’s what the mortal realm is like, but a hundred times worse.”
And there it was. The proof her mother really had brought her to Olympus just to prove a point.
Kore squeezed her ribs harder. “Did Mother ask you to put me in a situation where the gods would scare me?”
“You know I would never put you in danger—”
Kore interrupted Artemis’s response with a snarled, “Did my mother ask you to put me in a situation where I would be frightened by the gods?”
Someday she’d tell Artemis her blank expression gave her away long before she could think up a lie. Maybe the goddess wasn’t meant to be a liar, or maybe she was just bad at it. Either way, Kore always knew when Artemis wouldn’t tell her the truth.
“Your mother would never put you in danger,” Artemis finally replied. “I did nothing other than show you what the gods are like. Nothing more. Nothing less. There wasn’t some plot to frighten you off from your own family. Do you hear how crazy that sounds?”
“The only thing I hear is a liar trying to cover up her mistake.” Kore turned away from Artemis with her heart melting in her chest. It hurt to know the one goddess she thought was her friend had abandoned her so easily.
How was it fair that she couldn’t even have a friend without her mother tainting the relationship? She just wanted to be alone and knew that Artemis would never allow that. Neither would her mother.
“Artemis,” she sighed. “I just want to go out on my own. I want to find out who I am without my mother’s voice whispering in my ear. Surely you can understand that desire?”
She never got her answer from the huntress, who suddenly stiffened at her side. Kore glanced at the gleaming white temple awaiting them and gasped in horror. Blood stained the marble floors. The bodies of deer and bears laid out with their throats slit and empty