got to get those heads down from the walls. Instead, I finish up with, “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“There’s so much to be done,” Cora agrees. “I’ll have to get some help.”
“Alright,” I say.
“And what shall we do with her?” Hailey asks, nodding her chin to the side.
I follow the line of her gaze.
It’s Aphrodite. She’s obediently following Elias as he prods her toward me, brandishing her own poison-tipped dagger as a motivator.
Still, she’s defiant when she comes to stop a few feet away. “You think you’ve won,” she says, her chin trembling.
“Um, actually, Aphrodite, I have,” I tell her, folding my arms. “This land will no longer listen to Clay, you, or anyone else but me. So that means, any weapon that Clay had forged is now back where it belongs: dust.”
“Clay’s more than just weapons,” she hisses defiantly. “When he returns, he’ll—”
“He’ll never win, and I’m not going to get into a battle of words with you.” I cut her short. I always hated movies where the hero and the villain engage in long, drawn out verbal vomit. “You’re going to pay for your crimes,” I say, driving immediately to the point. “And at the hands of the people you’ve been treating so cruelly.”
Alarm flashes across her face. “Please, you can’t kill me.”
“That’s a Clay kind of solution,” I tell her. “No, I have a better idea. You should learn true humility. Learn how to make your inside worth something, Aphrodite, instead of relying on, and manipulating, your beauty to get what you want. You need to learn how to gain real respect from others.” I glance over at Cora. “You need help scrubbing? Here you go.”
“You’re joking.” Aphrodite puckers her mouth like she’s just bitten a sour lemon.
“No, I’m not. This is true justice for you. Living as one of the people you don’t even spare a second glance for. You’ll work for Cora until she’s satisfied you’ve scrubbed enough pots in the kitchen to make up for your crimes.” And Cora’s many centuries of descendants, probably. Because I guesstimate it’s going to take at least a thousand years before Aphrodite manages to garner even one pixel of respect from the locals.
“Scrub pots?” she squeaks.
She’s horrified, but she lets Elias and Cora lead her away.
“I’ll have to dream up something that will prevent her from using her god powers to escape,” Hailey says, drumming her fingers on her elbows. “A necklace of restraint, perhaps.”
“That’s only fair,” I agree. “I’m not too keen on threatening her with a poisonous dagger all the time. Now, let’s get going to the palace. We’ve got things to do and issues to discuss.”
I ride Cerberus back to the palace with Nefeli flying in front of us, and everyone follows. By the time we reach the gates at the top of the cliff, Clay’s soldiers have already lined up outside of the walls on their knees. I guess losing their shiny new weapons must have taken them by surprise. I know there are guilty men there, men who beheaded my people.
I watch, my throat closing, as Elias and several others climb the palace walls to reverently take down the heads. Other folks receive them with tears running down their cheeks and solemnly begin to carry them down the hill for proper burials.
When the last head has been borne away, I leave Cerberus and Nefeli under Hailey’s watchful care and somberly turn my steps to my palace.
Everything has changed in just the few days since I was last here. The rooms are filled with an excess of luxurious trappings, all the decadence the various gods brought with them that Clay apparently commandeered as his own. Gold. Velvets. Valuable jewel-encrusted furniture. So many precious trinkets I quit looking. Interestingly, every statue of Zeus is smashed with their pieces left in their spots in some kind of silent statement.
“Clay’s doing,” Alfio’s voice sounds behind me.
I turn and give him a hug. “I’m so glad this is over. Thank you for everything you’ve done. We saved the kingdom and my men.”
“My men?” Ladron’s baritone rumbles from behind me.
I turn to see all three of them standing behind me, each expressing some form of dry amusement.
“Yes,” I say, tweaking a brow. “My harem.” Although, technically, Zeus isn’t here to enforce it anymore. Not like that’s going to stop me.
“I see,” Ladron murmurs, stepping closer.
I lower my lashes and just enjoy the fact he’s there. Someday, soon, I’ll have him in my bed, I just know