Ode to the Queen (5 page)

He certainly seemed like trouble and getting involved with him would only end in heartbreak.

But then, maybe he was a gentleman… I laughed out loud. Yeah right. If he is Zeus then he isn’t a gentleman, he’d be a womaniser. Plain as that, to credit him with anything else would be naïve.

I had probably been wandering the hallways for about a half hour when finally I spotted someone else. A door opened ahead of me and low and behold who walked out? Zeus: the man of my thoughts. It would be a good opportunity to ask his real name and maybe on the off chance have him unknowingly walk me to our penthouse apartments.

“Hey!” I called quietly, moving a bit faster to catch up to him. He paused in his movements and waited for me, a good sign.

“Hello again…” He said slowly, his drawl more pronounced this time. “Heading this way?” He nodded down the hallway to where I assumed our flats were so I nodded and smiled.

“Indeed. Mind if I join you?”

“Guess not.” He said simply, adjusting the tail of his shirt where it was half tucked I noticed before slipping his hands in his pockets.

“I’m Savannah.” I said, quickly holding out my hand before he was completely emerged in his pockets.

He stared at my hand before nodding, “Aidan, but we met already.”

A name. I smiled and dropped my hand, knowing he wasn’t going to take it. He seemed different now. Without everyone around him, without needing to put on airs I could see now that his role as Zeus was draining.

Maybe he wasn’t as arrogant and self-absorbed as he had seemed back in the throne room. Then again, he could also be putting this on as the act just to catch me off guard.

“I know, I just didn’t catch your name before… Hey, you okay?” I tried, wondering maybe if I pried that he’d open up about whatever it was on his mind.

“Do you believe all this?” He asked me, turning to look down at me, and my breath hitched in my throat as I found myself swimming in his beautiful bright blue eyes.

“Uh, believe what?”

“This whole thing – that we’re Gods?” His question took me off guard. I would have assumed that he, of all people, would’ve believed it. He seemed to wear the idea of being Zeus very well when he was in public. He acted like he was King of the world and everyone respected that. I would have never guessed that secretly he was a disbeliever like me.

“Not really. I mean I haven’t had any indication of which Goddess is mine, if I even have one. So I find it all a little hard to believe. Frankly I think something’s in the water to make everyone believe Atlas so readily when he sort of strikes me as a sex offender.”

Aidan laughed, it was an uncharacteristically warm laugh and I watched his head tilt back at the force of it. His eyes crinkled together with a sort of innocent amusement before the moment was lost and his serious set features returned. This time he was staring at me, scrutinising me.

His eyes bore into mine and sent a small shiver down my spine. I felt like he was probing my mind and dissecting my thoughts. It was an invasive kind of stare.

“So, you don’t know then?” A single eyebrow arched itself perfectly as he stared at me and I found myself frowning in confusion.

“Know what?”

“Who you are.” He said simply.

“Since I find this all so hard to believe I haven’t exactly gone out of my way to play along. I’m not typically one to be so cavalier about kidnapping and captivity. Are you?”

“No,” he said coolly, his expression waning between serious and amusement at my outburst. “I mean, you haven’t put any of the clues together to figure out who you are?”

“There
are
no clues because none of this is real.” I said growing increasingly frustrated with this conversation. A moment ago he had seemingly been agreeing with me about the ludicrousness of this situation and now, almost in a bid to annoy me, he was contradicting himself by asking stupid questions about my
Goddess
.

“Oh there are plenty of clues if you open your eyes to them.” Now he just sounded like Atlas, condescending and all knowing. I wanted to smack him, which was funny because an hour before I had wanted to do the same thing but in a very different context.

“No there aren’t.”

“Yes, there are.” He said, pulling one hand out to run his fingers through his disheveled hair. “Where you live for one. Who you live near is another…” I frowned; drawing the conclusion he was making but not wanting to believe it.

“What does me living next to you have anything to do with anything?”

“Well, Artemis and Apollo live on the same floor. Aphrodite and whom we assume is Ares live on the same floor. Hades and this girl who looks like jailbait live on the same floor… Maybe I’m the only one making this connection but it looks like Atlas laid it all out pretty simply for all of us.” He shrugged in a way that was supposed to suggest there was room for error in his hypothesis.

“Okay then, if that’s true who does Charlotte live with?” He laughed and looked at me, a devilish grin suddenly painting his features.

“Lucky for me, she lives on a floor with the muses.” It took me a moment to realise what he was saying and instantaneously the distaste was visible on my face.

“Oh don’t look so revolted Queenie, you only live once right?”

I opened my mouth to say something. I was somewhat disappointed he was now turning out to be exactly how I suspected he would be, before I paused, assessing the nickname he had bestowed on me.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Why not? It’s true isn’t it? You’re the Queen and I’m the King.” I stopped walking and looked up at him. ‘You’re the Queen’; no, that couldn’t be right. I scowled up at him, all pleasurable feelings I had once felt for him gone. Maybe it was due in part by the idea that if I really was Hera and he really was Zeus then we were supposed to be married and live in matrimony – maybe not monogamy but matrimony nonetheless.

I disliked believing anything that told me who I was supposed to marry, and what I was supposed to be. Resistance for this whole affair surged through me again, not only was it ridiculous that I play along with being kidnapped now I was supposed to accept that my fate was sealed to this arrogant man in front of me? No.

Something about that didn’t sit right with me. Maybe because I knew already that Aidan was a womaniser like his Godly counterpart or maybe it was because no matter how much the idea of falling in love, getting married and having a family one day appealed to me I didn’t like the idea of having it all picked for me in advance.

Wasn’t I supposed to be the one who got to pick who I spent forever with? Not some Titan who wasn’t even straightforward and honest…

“No. It’s not true. I can’t be Hera because we don’t have anything in common.” Aidan stared at me long and hard once more before he started walking away,

“You’re probably right. I’ve got it wrong.” I suspected that he didn’t really think he was incorrect but he didn’t want to argue with me. That certainly could be used as evidence in a case against us being Zeus and Hera; they were the infamous love/hate couple of mythology. No one liked to argue with other people as much as those two enjoyed arguing with each other.

Realising quickly I was going to be left behind if I didn’t suck up my pride and follow him, I wasted no time in catching up.

“Atlas is probably messing with you, trying to make you think I’m Hera. But trust me, I have nothing in common with her. I’ve never even had a monogamous relationship in my life and she’s supposed to be the Goddess of marriage.”

He laughed and shook his head simply saying: “whatever you say Queenie.” I frowned at his back but still followed him, the idea rolling around in my head.

Aidan and I didn’t talk much as we made our way down to the penthouse. I still didn’t have any idea how to get down there much less find my way anywhere else. I don’t know how anyone else figured out this maze because there wasn’t a map in a welcome program that Atlas had handed out. At least, I hadn’t gotten one, everyone else might’ve; that would figure.

I said goodnight to Aidan and retreated into my room. Much to my surprise when I looked at the clock it was far later than I had thought it was, almost close to four in the morning surprisingly. I wondered if time passed faster or something in Olympus but didn’t dwell on it much as I turned my attention to the kettle starting to prepare a cup of tea.

While the water boiled I turned to the TV just to see what sort of reception Olympus got. While I knew I probably shouldn’t have been, I was surprised to find myself subscribed to every channel in the world. Whatever it was that interested me I would be able to watch. Either Atlas was a really rich psychopath or I just had to start believing that maybe this was all very real.

I flipped through various late night programs until I settled on a re-run of a cheesy wedding show. I watched as one girl threw a fit at her florist who hadn’t been made aware of the last minute changes to the bouquet as I undid my dress and slipped it off. Laying it on the arm of the couch I made my way over to the whistling kettle and took it off the burner, pouring the hot contents out into my cup.

“Queenie, you got any sugar?” Aidan’s voice echoed through my apartment. The shock of his appearance jolted me into dropping the hot cup and letting it smash all over the ground.

“What the hell!” I spun around to see Aidan assessing my scantily clad form from around a door that I definitely hadn’t noticed until now. Or maybe I had, and had written it off as being an extra closet or something.

“How did you get in here?” I shouted at him, grabbing a tea towel from the bar of the oven to try and maintain some dignity. He smirked at me, that, now, annoyingly cocky smirk and wagged an empty cup measure at me. I scowled at him,

“Get out! You’re not really baking, you’re just being a pervert!” He laughed and stepped into the room, further infuriating me, and set the measuring cup down on the TV stand.

“I like that outfit a lot better than the one before.”

“Aidan. Get. Out.” I was trying to grasp at the last few strands of control I had, all the while a bright red hue crawled up my chest to my face. He seemed to enjoy placing me in such a vulnerable position because he moved forward toward me, making me back away like a cornered deer.

“You’re adorable when you blush, did you know that?” I realised he was making small talk to further his power trip but there must have been a reason why he had burst in so suddenly, unannounced, other than to be an ass.

“What do you want?” I snapped, moving sideways to where Atlas had decorated a reading chair with a chenille throw.

“I was in my room unwinding when I realised I might have been a bit… Well, I just wasn’t myself when you ran into me and I wanted to apologise. As King of the Gods I should be welcoming to any and all newcomers even if they are supposed to be my wife.”

“I’m not your wife.”

“Yet.” He grinned at me and I felt a chill down my spine, he was like a hunter before the hunt I realised. “Anyways, I was just a bit thrown off by your arrival because I had been hoping for some more time for me before you came but that was no reason to be unhostly.”

“That’s not a word.”

He waved a hand at me and continued, “So, I wanted to extend my deepest apologies and offer you a gift for my discourteous manner. You may, if you wish, sleep with me tonight.” My jaw dropped and I stared at him, no doubt like he had grown two heads. Did he really think that offering me sex, as if I couldn’t get some if I wanted it, would make him a good host? I huffed in indignation and threw aside the tea towel in order to just move to the blanket and cover myself completely.

“You have some nerve you pompous, self-obsessed ass! One, I am not your wife, nor will I ever be. And two, I would rather shoot myself in the face before sleeping with you.” Not exactly true but he certainly had lost some of his appeal with this ‘gracious gesture.’

“Oh but you are my wife.” He conceded with a sullen nod before smirking again, smirking so much I wanted to scratch it right off his face. “How else do you think I got into this apartment specifically charmed to only open to you and your consort?”

“I don’t know how you did it but it’s not because you’re my damn consort! Now if you don’t get out of here I’m going to make you leave!” I stalked over to him, hands on my blanket clad waist and stood as tall as I could to meet his eyes. “Get. Out.”

He chuckled; maybe to infuriate me more because it worked, he turned back to the entrance he’d come through.

“You believe what you want Queenie. But you’ll come around to the truth soon enough and when you do, you’ll wish you took me up on my offer.”

I seethed, “I said, don’t call me that!” Out of nowhere a gush of wind came up in the room and threw Aidan back toward the door. He slammed into the TV stand knocking everything over and collapsed in a pile on the ground. If he was hurt I couldn’t tell because he just continued to laugh as I stood there, staring at my hands and wondering if I had done that or if it had been a freak accident.

Aidan rose slowly, rubbing the back of his head and shaking it before reaching for the door, “Keep telling yourself you’re not Hera, Queenie. You can deny it all you want but you can’t deny her.” I didn’t need to tell him again because he opened the door and slipped through it closing it with a click. I inhaled once or twice more before I felt calmness begin to rush through my body as though someone had boxed up the anger once again. I sat shakily down on the nearest kitchen chair, staring down at my hands in shock.

Who did he think he was? Barging into my private space like that and propositioning me for sex as he had… Was he trying to piss me off? It had worked. I probably hated him now and all those earlier feelings that had risen up in me had been utterly smothered by his brazenness. He was right though, if this was the kind of guy he was then, how he had been on the way to the apartments certainly ‘wasn’t him.’ But if this was also how he really was, I wanted nothing to do with him – hot or not.

I resolved then, in that moment, to ignore Aidan to my utmost ability. Even if I was supposedly his Greek consort, I wanted nothing to do with him at all.

The next morning I woke to have mostly forgotten the night before. It wasn’t until I made my way out into the living room to see the disarray of my TV cabinet and the broken mug on the ground that I remembered everything. I scowled to myself and shook my head refusing to even consider dealing with it right away. Besides, I’d need help to right the TV cabinet; it was much too large for me. I’d have to get Atlas to come, him or maybe one of the other guys…

I certainly wasn’t going to lower myself and ask Aidan to come and help. For all I know he’d demand payment for services rendered and that would happen the day pigs flew. I frowned at my reflection in the mirror for a moment as I mulled over that. If Greek Gods exist did that mean things like pigs flying and hell freezing over were possibilities too?

I shook my head and spat out the toothpaste before rinsing. No, that was just ludicrous.

I had about an hour, I figured, until I needed to head out to wander around until I found where I was going. I decided that today, on top of finding an able man to help fix the knocked down TV stand, I needed to figure out a way of finding my way around this place and find out what else was around here if I was going to be forced to stay here.

I found it hard to believe that Atlas just wanted us to just hang in our apartments. Even though I had brought clothes with me what if I wanted to go shopping too? Were there stores? Charlotte mentioned a swimming pool, okay ‘Jacuzzi’ like hot spring, but was there a gym or a fitness studio of some kind to work out in?
There were a lot of questions I needed answered and no Atlas in sight. Maybe I had to amend my second goal into ‘find Atlas.’ At the very least, that guy owed me a few answers.

I was slicing up some strawberries to put on my cereal when there was a knock at the door. I turned in partial surprise to it and picked up a bit of strawberry before heading over. Licking my fingers I muttered a “just a sec” before grabbing the door and pulling it open. I didn’t recognise the girl in front of me but she seemed to know me some how.

“Savannah?” She asked brightly, her smile lighting up her entire face.

I nodded dumbly before smiling back, “uh, yup. And you are?”

“Dana.” She held out her hand allowing me to shake it before I stepped back and held the door open for her to come in.

“Oh no, it’s alright. Charlotte just sent me to get you, she figured you wouldn’t know how to get to the pool.”

I smiled and nodded in agreement, “Charlotte was right about that… I’m not even entirely sure how you guys know where everything is.” Dana laughed, a cute tinkle as she shook her head.
“It’s easy. Just concentrate on where you want to go and the mountain takes you there. After some walking of course.”

“Oh.” Now that she said it I felt stupid for not having thought of that myself. Everything else seemed to be done by thoughts and desires so of course, why wouldn’t the mountain work like that too?

“Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.” She said cutely and smiled at me. I couldn’t help but smile back before casting a longing glance at my cereal. “Did I catch you at a bad time?” She said a bit worriedly.

“Oh, no. I just wanted to eat something before heading out to the party.”

“Well, Charlotte has lots of food there.” I bet she did. She seemed like the type who needed to cover all her bases at social gatherings, leaving no stone unturned.

“I’m not even dressed.” I offered as a second argument to which Dana did a quick, not so subtle once over and nodded in agreement which only made me blush more. I doubted she had deliberately meant to make me feel bad but I still felt like a wreck compared to the other prim and proper girl in my entranceway.

“Well, just give me a minute to go put something on for the party. I only just got up I’m afraid. It was a long night.” Dana cast a sideways glance at the broken up TV stand and mumbled under her breath, “I bet.”

I shook my head slightly and just smiled at her before heading over to the counter to grab the bowl. I quickly swept in the strawberries I’d cut up on top of the granola and headed off to my room to change. I took a few massive bites on the way there, hoping to put some fuel in my system before heading out to go a round with the sharks.

I set the bowl down on top of the desk and moved over to the closet, trying to remember if I had brought a swimsuit with me. Opening the closet doors I drew open the top drawer and sifted through the various undergarments and bras inside before finding a one-piece white and gold cut out I didn’t recall even owning.

I frowned at it for a minute before turning to the long mirror on the wall. I quickly put it down to shed off my pyjamas and tugged the suit on to check myself out.

It certainly showed off more skin than my normal one piece would, practically bordering on being a bikini but it most certainly was swimsuit fit for the Queen of the Gods – not that I was she, of course.

It was haltered, each strap wrapped in chunky gold rings for decoration, with a plunging neckline. The back was drawn together with a simple mid-back strap and piece on the side that attached the typical bikini bottom. I had to say, despite how much skin it showed, I thought I looked good.

I’d have to wear something over it though, I couldn’t imagine being this naked in front of a bunch of perfect looking girls. Especially Charlotte and Nicola, Aphrodite, if she came.

So I returned to the closet looking for a sundress or something that could match and as I was standing there, before my eyes a golden weave sarong appeared. It was a perfect match for the bikini. Excitement bubbled up in me when I realised what the closet was doing – it was helping me look perfect.

Grinning to myself I tried it with the swimsuit and sure enough I was fit to be Queen. Turning to the jewellery box I dug through for some costume pieces to just accent the whole look. When I was finished accessorising I had to admit… I looked the part. I could definitely pull off being a Greek Goddess with the help of some magic.

Elated and delighted with how I was dressed I scooped a couple more mouthfuls of cereal into my mouth before rushing into the bathroom to quickly plait my hair. It was going to get wet anyways so there was no point in curling it. I tangled it into a loose messy braid over one shoulder and grabbed waterproof mascara to just open my eyes before hurrying out of my room and back to the waiting Dana.

She hadn’t appeared to move from her spot where I left her but she didn’t seem anxious about it at all.

She simply smiled broadly and exclaimed, “Oh, you look so good!” I flushed with pride, a foreign feeling to me and smiled bashfully.

“Thanks. Does your closet spew out clothes you need?”

“Oh yes, but I never get anything so nice as that.”

I blushed more and shook my head, mumbling a pitiful, “I think you look amazing” before following her out of the door and into the hallway. I turned in habit to lock the door but it clicked on it’s own.

We were about to head out when a voice interrupted us, “hey Queenie – looking good. Want to throw me up against the wall again?” My head snapped to the side to see Aidan coming out of his own apartment at the same time as us. He had that hungry predator look in his eyes again as he took in the sight of both of us in our bathing suits. I crossed my arms protectively and turned to Dana.

“C’mon. What an ass,” I muttered under my breath; unaware of just how bright red he’d made me, and how Dana had seen my reaction.

“Where are you two going?” From the sound of his voice I could tell he was getting closer as though he were following us and I released my arms long enough to grip Dana and steer her in the other direction, thinking hard about having a shortcut to the pool.