heart hammered in her rib cage. She watched Demeter carry Demophoon back to her guest room, and the queen tried to convince herself everything was fine. The old lady was harmless. She would not turn her newborn son into a ’roid-raging monster overnight.
But the queen couldn’t sleep.
She worried that she was going to miss her baby’s entire childhood. She would wake up in the morning and see this big bulky three-year-old with facial hair running toward her, shouting in a deep voice, “Hey, Mom! What up?”
Finally Metaneira couldn’t stand it anymore. She crept down the hall to Demeter’s room to check on the baby.
The bedroom door was open just a crack. Firelight glowed at the sill. Metaneira heard the old woman singing a lullaby inside, but the baby wasn’t making a sound. Hopefully that was good. He was sleeping peacefully. But what if he was in danger?
Without knocking, she opened the door…then screamed at the top of her lungs. The old lady was sitting calmly in a rocking chair, watching baby Demophoon burn in the fire!
Metaneira charged to the fireplace. She snatched the baby out of the flames, heedless of how much it burned her hands and arms. The baby started wailing, unhappy about waking up from a nice warm nap.
Metaneira wheeled on Demeter, ready to chew her face off, but the old lady yelled at her first.
“What are you THINKING?” Demeter shouted, rising from her chair with her fists clenched. “Why did you do that? You’ve ruined everything!”
Metaneira was stunned speechless. Meanwhile, Prince Triptolemus and several guards stumbled into the room to investigate the screaming.
“What’s wrong?” Triptolemus demanded.
“Arrest this woman!” Metaneira shrieked, clutching her baby in her blistered arms. “She tried to kill Demophoon! He was burning in the fireplace!”
The guards surged forward, but Triptolemus yelled, “WAIT!”
The guards hesitated.
Triptolemus frowned at his mother, then at the old woman. He was smart enough to realize something wasn’t right here. The baby was crying, but otherwise he seemed fine. He didn’t look burned. The blanket wasn’t even singed. The old woman looked more exasperated than guilty or scared.
“What is the meaning of this?” he asked their guest.
“The meaning,” growled Demeter, “is that your mother just ruined things for the baby.”
The old woman began to glow. Her disguise burned away and she stood before them as a golden-haired goddess, her robes shimmering with green light, her scythe sword glinting at her side.
The guards dropped their weapons and retreated. Maybe they’d heard the story of Eric.
The queen gasped. As a pious woman, she knew how to spot her gods. “Demeter!”
“Yes,” said the goddess. “I was trying to do you a favor, you silly woman. A few more hours in the fire, and your baby boy would have been immortal! He would’ve grown into a fine young god and brought you eternal honor. Now you’ve ruined the magic. He will simply be human—a great hero, yes, strong and tall, but doomed to a mortal life. He will only be Demophoon, when he could have been Fully Phoon! Phoon the Great!”
Metaneira gulped. She wasn’t sure if she should apologize, or thank the goddess, or what. She was so relieved to have her baby back safely, unburned and without hairy pits, that she didn’t really care whether he was immortal. A great hero sounded good enough for her. Still, she didn’t think she should say that to the goddess.
“I—I should have trusted you,” Metaneira murmured. “Please, great Demeter, punish me for my lack of faith, but do not harm my family.”
Demeter waved her comment aside. “Don’t be silly. I won’t punish you. I’m just annoyed. You’ve been helpful in my search, and—”
“Oh!” Triptolemus raised his hand like he had a burning question.
“Yes?” Demeter asked.
“That reminds me,” Triptolemus said. “One of my riders just returned with news.”
“About my daughter?” Demeter completely forgot her annoyance and grabbed the prince’s shoulders. “Have you found her?”
Triptolemus wasn’t used to being shaken by an immortal goddess, but he tried to keep his cool. “Uh, not exactly, my lady. However, the rider says he met someone who met someone who met a guy in a tavern far to the east. This guy claimed he was the Titan of the sun, Helios. He was trying to impress the women with his stories, apparently.”
Demeter narrowed her eyes. “Flirting with random women in a tavern? That sounds like Helios. Well, it sounds like most of the gods, actually. What did he say?”
“Apparently he was telling a story about your daughter Persephone. He claimed that he