No one wanted to be caught alone with a god who could take the one thing from them that they controlled.
But she’d been alone with Hades three times now. Three times and he hadn’t touched her inappropriately at all. He hadn’t even tried.
She had stood in a room full of gods, and Poseidon had groped her body without permission. They’d all laughed like nothing had happened at all, nothing important at least. So Artemis could shove all that self righteousness right up her ass and get out of her room.
Emboldened by her own thoughts, Kore opened her mouth to order the huntress away.
The scent of wheatgrass and goldenrod interrupted her before she could make the foolish mistake.
Demeter breezed into the room without a care in the world. Her golden hair was piled atop her head in loose curls, a rather informal hairstyle for her mother who always appeared ready to hold court. Although, her eyes were also heavy lidded and red.
Was she hungover?
Kore tilted her head to the side and watched her mother with a sly smile on her face. “Have a long night, mother?”
Demeter waved a hand. “I don’t have time for your scolding, child. You wouldn’t understand.”
Of course not, because the maiden goddess couldn’t understand that her mother was a heavy drinker at the best of times, and if the festival was still going on with a few party goers, then she had likely returned to the mortals.
For a goddess with a daughter who was expected to remain a maiden, Demeter found herself enjoying mortal men a lot more than she should.
“How’s your head?” Kore asked, quieter this time and laced with false concern. “Would you like me to make you tea?”
Tea was reserved only for the worst of hangovers that Demeter would continue to call a simple illness that goddesses got when they had children. Again, Kore could never understand what she was going through.
“Maybe later, my darling. I only came to tell you both Pallas is visiting.”
Artemis perked up. “Pallas?”
Why in the world would Pallas be coming to visit them? The oceanid was famous, yes, but she was Athena’s favorite. She had no reason to visit any of them unless her mother had something up her sleeve. Yet again.
“Why?” The word slipped off Kore’s tongue before she could catch it.
Demeter frowned. “Because we host many oceanids here, and her father has asked us to watch her for a while. I will not deny Poseidon in this, and you will make her feel welcome. Do I make myself understood?”
Painfully so. But that didn’t clear up her suspicions that her mother was playing yet another game. Oceanids weren’t celibate, so Pallas wouldn’t be helpful in convincing Kore to remain a virgin along with Artemis.
“I wonder if she’ll teach me Athena’s tricks,” Artemis murmured. “Do you think she’ll wrestle me? I’ve never been able to best Athena, but Pallas trained at her side. Athena adopted her as a sister. Did you hear?”
Kore had. The story was more interesting the first time.
Her mother pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a little moan. “I am seeking my bed, daughter. Greet Pallas when she gets here for me, will you?”
Right, because now she was supposed to greet everyone who came to visit her mother as well. She was becoming more of a servant rather than a daughter or a goddess.
Demeter staggered from the room and Artemis could hardly contain her excitement. “Did you hear?” she asked again. “Pallas!”
“Yes, I heard.” Although she still didn’t understand the excitement. “Did mother say when she was supposed to get here?”
A nymph sprinted into the room, breathing hard. “Lady Kore! There’s a visitor and your mother said you were to attend to her?”
Apparently the answer was now. Sighing, Kore rolled off her bed and stood. She had felt so good waking up this morning, and now she was dreading the day. Oceanids, nymphs, and naiads. Why was her life filled with the cast off daughters of gods?
Artemis raced out the door and she shifted to follow her friend. If her mother wanted her to look after Pallas, then she supposed she had to.
--
They ended up with the oceanids, because that’s where Pallas was comfortable. Artemis had told her about the tide pool and how Kore always snuck off with the oceanids. There wasn’t a choice after that.
Kore reclined on her usual rock that had been softened by years of waves. The stone was almost like a seat, cushioning her lower back and keeping