Alithea

Chapter III: Leander

"Alithea, you cannot go. Not by yourself. It's dangerous!" her father railed. Alithea shook her head.

"Father, the gods have asked me," she insisted. "Lord Hermes took me to the hall of the gods and they said I was to help them. I have already booked passage to Delphi tomorrow."

"No, Alithea," he argued, raising his arms up in frustration. "You cannot! The world is dangerous for a woman like you."

At this, she was angered. "A woman like what?" she demanded. "An unmarried woman? Unaccompanied? Father, I have calloused hands. I have great knowledge of the tides. I am a strong swimmer, and—" she pulled up her dress to reveal the gnarly scar covering the majority of her left calf and shin, leftover from a misunderstanding with a shark— "have fought off stronger adversaries than I."

"Daughter," he pleaded, clasping her arms. "You will face the worst adversary of all: your fellow man. They will be suspicious of a person like you."

"I don't understand what you could mean," she said. "I am unremarkable!"

Alithea's father sighed and shook his head. "You are beyond remarkable. There is divinity in you."

At this, she froze. The Olympians had mentioned something like that, but she had no idea what it could mean. "That's what Queen Hera said," she breathed.

Father looked at her with very tired eyes and took her hand, silently leading her out of the house. "Come, Alithea," he said. He led them outside their home, where the setting sun was reflecting on the silver waves.

They began down the path from their home to the beach, her father's hands clasped behind his back and his head bent down, pensive. "My child," he said, "as you know, there are stories about the gods that are true and some that are untrue."

"Yes, Father."

He looked at her with a glitter in his rheumy eye. "And there are some gods whom we know almost nothing about. There is this story and there is that. They seem to be difficult to pin down."

Once their feet hit the sand, she removed her sandals, tied them, and slung them over her shoulder. The sand was warm under her soles after a day of hot sun, and she took a moment to squeeze her toes in the grains.

"How is there divinity in me, Father?" she demanded. "How have I gone over two decades without feeling it?"

Father was quiet for a moment, letting the waves fill the silence. "I have protected you from them. Here on Delos, I have kept you away from any sort of god or divine intervention. As you know, it was a safe haven for Leto to birth the holy twins."

"Why? You know we depend on them for our livelihood."

He shook his head. "My daughter, the gods are cruel. It is why I have not told you about your mother."

Alithea was about to ask him what he could possibly mean, but suddenly she noticed that down the distance, someone was running toward them.

"Father, I—" she held her arm out across his chest before she realized that the person approaching was Alexandros.

"Alithea!" he called.

She turned to her father. "Go home, Father. I will meet you there and we can continue this conversation. But please, have faith." she had little faith herself, but she did not want her father to fret.

Her father nodded and turned back as Alex approached, the setting sun marking golden highlights in his hair. He looked red, as if he had been running for a while.