Theta (46 page)

“
But perhaps it is not
misplaced,” he added quietly out loud.

I lifted my chin a notch, unimpressed with
his tricks, despite his incredible looks. He wasn’t a god. They
rarely took human form for any period of time. But normal humans
weren’t able to speak to me through my mind, which left a hybrid –
a demigod – who was classified as neither human nor god, and
therefore, treated with general aversion by the rest of the
world.

“
You remain as smart as
always,” he said.

Who are you?
I demanded.

“
A concerned subject,” he
replied and bowed his head in an elegant display of deference. “One
who bears a message for you.”

I waited.

“
May I
approach?”

I knew without looking my personal guard was
always present. Four soldiers followed me wherever I went, outside
of my personal quarters. They were as discreet as shadows and moved
like lightning when required. No demigod was a threat when they
were around.

With a single nod of my head, I granted the
stranger’s request.

He drew nearer and knelt in a deep bow near
the top of my feet. His frame was lean, his cologne pleasant
without being overwhelming. When he met my gaze once more, I was
almost too mesmerized to ask him what he wanted. At fourteen, I had
a life very unlike that of normal teenagers, but it didn’t mean I
wasn’t aware of handsome men and didn’t often wonder what it would
be like to have a boyfriend.

It didn’t seem likely, given who I was, that
I ever would. My mother’s marriage was a match arranged by the
clergy for the sole purpose of producing an heir to carry on the
Bloodline. There was no room in my future for love or pursuing
handsome men, according to the priestesses who tutored me. I was
born with a humbling, important purpose, and I’d been raised to
view fulfilling my duty as the ultimate, and only, achievement that
mattered.

But the beauty, and charismatic smile, of
this stranger made me wish I was normal, if only for half a day, so
I could be like every other teenage girl or better yet, like the
princesses who fell in love with their princes in the fairy tale
movies I watched.

I didn’t like that feeling. I was one of the
wealthiest people on the planet, enjoyed the favor of gods and
mortals, and had been blessed by Zeus himself; there was no room
for the sense of longing, of envy, I experienced as I gazed at the
demigod kneeling before me and knew I would never be a princess
from a movie who found her perfect prince.

And yet, I couldn’t suppress the emotion
tumbling inside me.

What is it you wish to tell
me?
I asked him, eager to leave him and the
strange feelings he caused behind.

“
Do you have time to speak
in private with an old friend?” he asked.

I studied him. Something
was vaguely familiar about his eyes, but I didn’t fully recognize
him.
I’m afraid I don’t know you. However,
if you wish to petition me for an audience, you can inform one of
my priestesses.

“
What’re you doing here?”
Theodocia’s voice was level and tight. She approached from the
direction of the door, bowed her head to me, then pinned the
stranger with a glare.

“
Docia,” he said and smiled
at her. “I thought you’d be happier to see me.”

“
You have no business with
Her Majesty, Lantos.”

I blinked. Lantos?

My
Lantos?

It was the second major surprise today.

Theodocia started towards the guards.

Wait,
I told her.

She stopped and faced me.

You’re Lantos?
I asked the man, scrutinizing him.

“
The same Lantos who used
to sit beside you and watch cartoons. The same Lantos who saved
your life when your priestess tried to smuggle you out of your
quarters. And the same Lantos who brought you Theodocia,” he
said.

The same Lantos who left me
without warning and never returned,
I said,
frowning.

“
Yes. That, too,” he said,
smile fading.

“
What is it you want?”
Theodocia asked.

“
To warn and help
you.”

“
Out of the goodness of
your heart?”

Lantos ducked his head but was smiling.

“
I didn’t think so,”
Theodocia said.

I almost asked her how they knew each other
so well, and why she never told me Lantos brought her into my life
to begin with. Aware we weren’t in private, where we might speak
freely, I resisted the urge. Day one of my reign was by far the
most bizarre day of my life.

“
We are defined by our
positions, are we not, Queen Phoibe?” Lantos addressed me. “We must
be diplomats first, people who understand the need to give and take
and to negotiate.”

I found myself nodding. More questions
hammered my brain, such as, where he had been for the past seven
years and why he never came back to see me again. As a child, I
hadn’t questioned who or what he was. He was a shadow that spoke to
me and befriended me when no one else did. I didn’t know he had a
form, or at least, I hadn’t known that before he mentioned the man
who rescued me from the sidewalk after I tried to flee the High
Priestess who treated me as a captive rather than a child.

That was seven years ago, before Theodocia,
when my life was a nightmare, and Lantos had been the only good
part of it. And then he did what everyone else before Theodocia did
and inexplicably abandoned me.

You’re really
Lantos?
I spoke to him but looked at
Theodocia.

“
Yes,” she said
reluctantly.

“
I am,” he said.

I rose.
We will speak in private.
Without
waiting for anyone to object, I strode past him, through a crowd
that made a path for me, and into the hallway. It, too, was
crowded, so I continued walking until I found the courtyard where
the priests grew herbs at the center of the temple.

The full moon hung overhead, visible through
a thin layer of yellowish smog. It was quiet and dark, and the
garden was lit by a few lamps ensconced on the outside walls of the
building. I stopped at the center of the walkway and turned to wait
for them.

“
I appreciate your
attention, Your Majesty,” Lantos said, stopping a little too close
for my comfort.

I gazed up at him, uncertain what exactly I
felt, aside from a sudden flush of anger.

I slapped him.
You abandoned me.

“
I understand,” he said and
touched his cheek. “I deserved that. Trust me, Phoibe, it took my
world almost ending to keep me from returning.” The somber
expression on his handsome face was sincere.

It sapped the strength of my anger away. I
felt myself starting to fall into his green eyes again.

“
I sent you Theodocia,
didn’t I?” he added.

“
You didn’t
send
me. Artemis did. If I
remember correctly, she forced you to bring me to Phoibe when you
didn’t want to by threatening to expose your secret,” Theodocia
said calmly.

I raised my eyebrows.

“
Technically,” Lantos
said.

With a shake of my head, I moved around him
to join the person I trusted most in this world.

“
I’ve always looked out for
you. Even your guardian can’t refute that,” Lantos said. “I’m here
for you, Phoibe. To warn you.”

“
Against what exactly?”
Theodocia demanded. “This place is locked down by the royal guard,
the military and SISA.”

“
It won’t be
enough.”

Theodocia stared at him.

Enough for what?
I asked.

“
The end of the world. Sort
of.”

I studied him. I didn’t remember my Lantos
being a madman but I never thought he’d abandon me either. I did
recall how well he loved games, from board games to hide and seek
to playing tricks on my caretakers. Was this a game to him?

“
By midnight, everyone in
this building will be dead and the city will be under siege.”
Lantos spoke to Theodocia this time.

“
From what?” Theodocia
pressed. “What could possibly defeat our security?”

“
Nothing human, for
certain,” he replied. “But this attack isn’t from
humans.”

I was starting to become concerned. First
Death as my patron and now Lantos with an ominous message.

“
I had a conversation with
the Oracle of Delphi,” Lantos said when neither of us
spoke.

“
And you rated her
attention how?” Theodocia challenged.

“
It wasn’t an authorized
visit,” he admitted. “But I can move through shadows, as you both
well know. I spoke to her on a matter of a different nature, and in
the course of our conversation, she gave me a warning for you and
for Artemis. She’s the Oracle. She knew of my connection to both of
you and asked me to come here and save the life of the Queen
touched by Death.”

My throat grew almost too
tight to swallow at his mention of Thanatos.
Why would she send someone like you to warn the Queen of
Greece?
I demanded.

“
Because she thought you
might trust me more than a complete stranger. Who else would be
here in this garden talking to you?”

“
Lantos, do you really want
us to believe the
gods
are going to attack this place, after the Queen just received
a blessing from Zeus?” Theodocia asked.

“
I do not know what the
danger is exactly,” he replied. “The Oracle was reluctant to tell
me. She said it would not be of a humanly nature. This, to me,
indicates an otherworldly type of threat. I don’t have all the
answers, Theodocia, but I do have a way out of the
City.”

I had never heard of any situation this
unusual. I was the Queen. But I didn’t know what the right thing to
do was. Studying Theodocia, I waited to hear her thoughts on
Lantos’ claim.

“
If there is a threat,” she
started slowly, “We’re going to leave through our means, not yours.
With the queen’s approval, you will either be arrested and forced
to accompany us, or you will leave this place
immediately.”

Lantos smiled and held out his hands.
“Arrest me. I don’t mind handcuffs.” He winked at me.

I didn’t understand what he was inferring
and glanced at Theodocia, confused as to why someone would want to
be arrested.

She rolled her eyes. “Gladly.” Waving to the
guards lurking in the shadows, she glanced at me. “With your
permission?”

I nodded.

“
Arrest this man and
prepare for an immediate departure of Her Majesty,” she
directed.

“
By air,” Lantos
added.

Theodocia studied him. “Very well. By
air.”

One guard cuffed Lantos while another darted
away to inform our cadre of personal assistants.

“
He goes with us.”
Theodocia told the guard before she turned to me. “I need to grab
Tommy. Would you like to come or remain here?”

I will stay,
I said. I didn’t want to slow her down. The crown
and scepter were causing my muscles to start to ache, and I
couldn’t move fast or well in this dress.

“
Quickly,” Lantos
urged.

“
Stay between them,”
Theodocia said to the guard. She strode away, back into the temple,
leaving me with Lantos and the guard.

I found myself studying Lantos once more,
recalling how good of a friend he had been to me when I was
younger. Theodocia once told me that it was almost impossible to
understand the depths of anyone’s heart, even when we cared for
someone and believed we knew them. I had loved Lantos for loving me
when I had no one else. How had I not known he would abandon
me?

Why did you leave
me?
I asked him.

He glanced at me, away, then back. “I had
little choice.”

You could have told me farewell.

“
You were a child, Phoibe.”
His expression held genuine warmth. “How could you have understood
if I said I had to leave and never come back?”

I thought about Tommy and what it would be
like to try to explain to him if I decided to leave him forever. We
lived an extremely isolated life. He had no real friends, aside
from me, and rarely left my apartments. He wouldn’t understand – at
least, not at the age he was.

I would have understood
later in life,
I told Lantos
defensively.

“
I believe you,” he
replied. “Maybe this is as much about me as it is about you. Maybe
I felt like I was doing you a favor by leaving you in such a way
you wouldn’t want anything to do with me ever again.”

His words bothered me. I didn’t fully grasp
his meaning – but I sensed there was more to what he said.
Theodocia, who had more life experience, would no doubt understand,
and I made a mental note to ask her.

“
I’ve been asking myself
why here and now,” he said and looked around, as if waiting for a
monster to leap at him from the shadows. “Then it hit me. This is
the one event every generation where the Sacred Triumvirate, and
every other person of influence and power, is located in one place.
Every twenty to thirty years, there’s only a three to four hour
window when world leaders, every deity of consequence and the
richest people in the world gather … right. Here.”