Chapter 5

5

SELENE

L ess than three months later, I was on the boat to the Isle of Aiaia. Orpheus had remained by my side, day and night, preparing me for the fortnight I’d spend with the Olympians. And now, as the bow cut through the rocky waters, he instructed me to feed on the human who had volunteered to come. For Troy, he would sacrifice his life. But even though it was his choice, I wished there was another way.

Sighing, I sank my teeth into his neck, hating that I enjoyed it. There was no greater delicacy in this brutal world than blood. I drank it deeply, the sweetness coating my tongue. The monstrous urge for more, more, more clenched my stomach, but the cool, salt-soaked air stung my face, keeping me grounded. Calling upon every ounce of self-control, I relinquished my tight grip on the human, my hands trembling from the effort.

My advisor, Orpheus, led the man away. The mortal’s limp feet scraped across the boat’s deck, and droplets of blood trailed after him, staining the wood. Sweat glossed his pale cheeks, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. But he’d be fine. I never took more than my fair share, even when hunger urged me to rip into their necks.

I wiped a droplet from my chin and shifted my gaze toward the looming fortress ahead. Its dull gray stones matched the color of the winter sky. Legend spoke of a time when this part of the world had baked beneath a dry southern sun, but it was nothing like that now. An eerie chill swept across the sea, and bulbous gray clouds misted everything.

“Your Majesty, you forgot your hat.” Orpheus bustled over with a black wide-brimmed hat clutched in his delicately pale hands. He himself was fully cloaked, hiding from the pale sunlight filtering through the dense clouds.

“I’m fine, Orpheus,” I said.

I said that a lot.

He pressed his red lips together, then said, “Your Majesty, you will only antagonize the Olympians by showing off your resistance to the sun. These clouds do protect them, but only for a brief time, and—”

“Bah.” I waved him away, rustling the crimson velvet gown that covered every inch of my body, save for my face. “The sun is setting, and it will be dark soon. Besides, we’re still far from shore. They can’t see me.”

“Selene,” Orpheus said, dropping my title. The skin between his brow pinched into three distinct lines. “I must insist. This trip is your chance to demonstrate your loyalty to the Thirteen Crowns and smooth things over after…what happened. Troy cannot afford to lose you. You’ve only just taken the throne and have yet to have an heir.”

“All right. You have made your point.” Sighing, I took the hat and perched it on my head, careful not to muss my tamed ginger hair. This would be the first time I’d meet most of the monarchs, and I must look my best. The only way I could fix things for Troy was if they took me seriously. Olympian vampires scented weakness in their rivals as surely as they scented fresh blood.

Orpheus smiled triumphantly and bustled back into the desk’s small cabin, where the crew and the human sacrifice waited. Orpheus had expected me to spend the entirety of the journey cramped inside those quarters, too.

But I would never turn down an opportunity to gaze upon the southern seas. Even beneath a gray sky, the water was so intensely blue that it almost hurt to look at it for too long. And the small island trapped in the middle of it all was a land of legend, a place I’d known about for as long as I could remember.

Of course, I hadn’t come here for sightseeing. I would not dip my toes in those waters, and I would not hike along the mountain paths of the distant mainland to find the grandest view. Instead, the boat steered onward toward Aiaia, the ominous island in the middle of the sea, a hideous vampiric scar in the midst of all that blue.

A treasonous thought, even as a ruling queen—I was still not an Olympian, like all the others. I was the only Titan left now. The others were either trapped in Tartarus or banished beyond Hellas’s borders to endure cruel punishments.

Poor Prometheus .

I returned to my seat and opened my journal to make a note of the water’s beauty, but I measured my words as though my enemies might one day read them. Because in my world, they likely would.

A n enormous wooden gate rose into the cliffside. Guards shouted from the walls, directing the boat into a wind-swept cove that was shaped like a crescent moon. I rose from my seat, clutching my hat to my head, and approached the bow. The vein in my neck pulsed, my heart pumping from my recent feed. Despite my careful composure, there was a flutter in my belly.

Eleven boats in varying shapes and sizes were already docked, all displaying their kingdom’s banners. That meant I was the twelfth to arrive. The steady, calming confidence that had been drilled into me since birth wavered. I would have to walk into a room full of strangers who collectively hated me.

At least I wouldn’t be the final monarch to arrive. Ares wasn’t here yet, judging by the banners. The symbol of a boar was nowhere to be seen.

Orpheus appeared by my side, his eyes locked on the boats. He looked as uneasy as I felt . Despite the treaty, the monarchs would not be a welcoming bunch. They might not attempt to murder me during the coming fortnight, but they would intimidate, threaten, and frighten me into bowing to their Olympian rule.

Swallowing, I adjusted the sleeve of my gown, a stuffy crimson thing, its edges trimmed in gold. The movement steadied me. It was a trick my mother had taught me years ago.

“ Whenever you face something that makes your heart pound, distract your mind by doing something small, something that will go unnoticed by those around you. Tug on your sleeve, then think of me. It will calm your pulse,” she said, braiding my hair.

As a young girl of thirteen who felt suffocated by my inability to step foot outside the city walls, I rolled my eyes. “That wouldn’t calm me, Mother.”

“Then think of whatever might bring you comfort, Selene,” she said with a sigh. “Your raven?”

Swallowing, I thought of my mother now, picturing her freckled face, her wide, oval eyes, and the kindness in her smile that defied logic. Genuine, honest, caring . Three words that had described High Queen Theia and no one else. There was Orpheus, of course, but his kindness toward me was rooted in duty—and a hatred for the Olympian vampires. By contrast, my mother had been kind to almost everyone without any expectation of getting something back.

I nodded toward the boats as we sailed further into the cove. “What do you think of Ares’s absence?”

“I think you should be wary. There’s no telling why he’s not here. It could be part of another half-baked plan to target you,” he replied.

That had been my thought as well. Ares wouldn’t have forgotten our meeting in the ruins. He’d wanted to kill me, and he’d failed. Now the only thing holding him back was my commitment to the peace treaty, but I didn’t doubt he’d try to find a way around it. And I couldn’t stop thinking about what the Fates had once told me about my death.

The boat bumped against the shore, water sloshing around the bow. The crew scrambled into place to lower the anchor. I squared my shoulders. After months of preparation, we’d finally arrived.

“Collect the sacrifice, Orpheus,” I said with a sigh. “It’s time for your queen to join the Olympians.”

After the crew docked the boat, a guard in gilded armor led me through the fortress walls and up winding stone stairs that were carved into the cliffside. The crew stayed down at the cove, where they’d spend the next fortnight in the servant barracks, while Orpheus followed five steps behind with the sacrifice.

I walked with my chin held high, my gloved hands clasped behind my back. The wind threatened to snatch my hat, but I made no sudden move to stop it. Despite seeing no one else on this twisting path, I felt certain I was being watched. I knew if it were me, I would have sent spies to watch for the neophyte’s arrival, determined to learn every possible detail about the newest enemy before ever coming face-to-face with her.

In fact, I had my mother’s drawings and descriptions tucked safely away in my head. Anything she’d known about the monarchs, I knew, too. We’d gone over everything in great detail in the weeks before her death, and then my lessons had continued with Orpheus after.

“Please let me go,” the sacrifice moaned from behind me.

Right on time.

I pretended to stiffen, my booted feet faltering on the final set of steps.

“Quiet,” Orpheus commanded.

I clenched my teeth, turned. I met the sacrifice’s eyes, a mortal man in his sixties with graying hair at his temples and scattered across his slim jaw. He still looked weak from my earlier feed, and at my direct eye contact, he flinched and looked down.

“Your Majesty, don’t speak to—”

“Quiet, Orpheus,” I ordered, conjuring a voice I’d only ever practiced in the privacy of my own rooms. It was the powerful tone of my father. My advisor immediately fell silent.

With a narrowed gaze, I moved down a few steps. I tucked a single finger beneath the man’s chin, then tilted it up, forcing him to look at me.

“No amount of pleading will free you from your fate.” Cocking my head, I frowned. “On the contrary, it will only make things worse. Say another word, and I will make certain you’ll sorely regret annoying me.”

I shoved my fingernail into his chin, hard enough to break skin. He flinched, but Orpheus held him in place. Blood spilled down my hand, warm and enticing. Without shifting my gaze, I lifted my finger to my mouth and tasted it. Heat bloomed in my gut. And without another word, I turned.

The steps curved overhead. I continued up them, tugging on the sleeve of my gown and keeping my face a mask of calm indifference. My mother would be so proud, even if she wouldn’t approve of my methods. High Queen Theia never would have threatened the sacrifice, not even if it was all for show.

I hoped the Olympians’s spies had seen everything they needed to see. I am one of you. The mortals do not matter to me. And perhaps if I repeated my threats enough times, I might be able to convince them of that.

Otherwise, Troy was doomed.