doubt many people heard Meg say, “Master, not comrade,” which was fine with me.
As we stood to accept the legion’s thanks, I felt strangely uncomfortable. Now that I finally had a friendly crowd cheering for me, I just wanted to sit down and cover my head with a toga. I had done so little compared to Hazel or Reyna or Frank, not to mention all those who had died: Jason, Dakota, Don, Jacob, the Sibyl, Harpocrates…dozens more.
Frank raised his hand for quiet. “Now, I know you two have another long, hard quest ahead of you. There’s still one emperor who needs his podex kicked.”
As the crowd chuckled, I wished our next task would be as easy as Frank made it sound. Nero’s podex, yes…but there was also the small matter of Python, my old immortal enemy, presently squatting in my old holy place of Delphi.
“And I understand,” Frank continued, “that you two have decided to leave in the morning.”
“We have?” My voice cracked. I’d been imagining a week or two relaxing in New Rome, enjoying the thermal baths, maybe seeing a chariot race.
“Shh,” Meg told me. “Yes, we’ve decided.”
That didn’t make me feel any better.
“Also,” Hazel chimed in, “I know you two are planning to visit Ella and Tyson at dawn to receive prophetic help for the next stage of your quest.”
“We are?” I yelped. All I could think of was Aristophanes licking his nether regions.
“But tonight,” Frank said, “we want to honor what you two have done for this camp. Without your help, Camp Jupiter might not still be here. So we would like to present you with these gifts.”
From the back of the room, Senator Larry came down the aisle carrying a big equipment bag. I wondered if the legion had bought us a ski vacation at Lake Tahoe. Larry reached the rostrum and set down the duffel. He rummaged out the first gift and handed it to me with a grin. “It’s a new bow!”
Larry had missed his calling as a game-show announcer.
My first thought: Oh, cool. I need a new bow.
Then I looked more carefully at the weapon in my hands, and I squealed in disbelief. “This is mine!”
Meg snorted. “Of course it is. They just gave it to you.”
“No, I mean it’s mine mine! Originally mine, from when I was a god!”
I held up the bow for all to ooh and ahh at: a masterpiece of golden oak, carved with gilded vines that flashed in the light as if on fire. Its taut curve hummed with power. If I remembered correctly, the bowstring was woven from Celestial bronze and threads from the looms of the Fates (which…gosh, where did those come from? I certainly didn’t steal them). The bow weighed almost nothing.
“That has been in the principia treasure room for centuries,” Frank said. “No one can wield it. It’s too heavy to draw. Believe me, I would have if I could have. Since it was originally a gift from you to the legion, it seemed only right we give it back. With your godly strength returning, we figured you could put it to good use.”
I didn’t know what to say. Usually I was against re-gifting, but in this case, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I couldn’t remember when or why I’d given the legion this bow—for centuries, I’d passed them out like party favors—but I was certainly glad to have it back. I drew the string with no trouble at all. Either my strength was godlier than I realized, or the bow recognized me as its rightful owner. Oh, yes. I could do some damage with this beauty.
“Thank you,” I said.
Frank smiled. “I’m just sorry we didn’t have any replacement combat ukuleles in storage.”
From the bleachers, Lavinia grumbled, “After I went and fixed it for him, too.”
“But,” Hazel said, carefully ignoring her new centurion, “we do have a gift for Meg.”
Larry rummaged through his Santa bag again. He pulled out a black silk pouch about the size of a deck of playing cards. I resisted the urge to shout, HA! My gift is bigger!
Meg peeked in the pouch and gasped. “Seeds!”
That would not have been my reaction, but she seemed genuinely delighted.
Leila, daughter of Ceres, called out from the stands, “Meg, those are very ancient. We all got together, the camp’s gardeners, and collected them for you from our greenhouse storage bins. Honestly, I’m not even sure what they’ll all grow into, but you should have fun finding out! I hope you can use them