Heiress of the Sea

Chapter 18

The sound of footsteps crunching outside in the stiff snow grew closer, the frigid wind howling in the distance.

As I braided my hair, I felt an icy breeze tickling my cheek as the tent's entrance flapped open, and in stepped Lazarus, Caspian and Zeus, their snow-covered boots scuffing against the floor of the tent.

I peered over to the other side of the tent, where Soren was packing up the things strewn around, ready to leave. He'd informed me that we were supposed to journey across the remainder of the area, to make sure Hades wasn't rallying up any other armies of peasants and trolls, before we would descend the mountainous region and return to the safety of the palace.

"When do we depart?" Soren asked the three other men, his voice raspy.

"Not today." Zeus responded. "It looks as if Lazarus's mother is having a bit of a fit. There's one hell of a blizzard headed our way. It's just at the other side of the mountain. We will wait it out here, rather than venture out into the snow."

"I thought a God's tolerance for cold was good enough that any of you could withstand being in a blizzard," I muttered from across the room.

Zeus shot me a look that reminded me of how Goridian had looked at me as a child.

"We could," he responded. "But you're here. And, I'm sorry if you forgot, but you're a mortal."

"You don't know that," I barked in response.

He laughed. "Actually, I do. You may not be twenty years of age, but I'm telling you in advance. And you should feel lucky. If you weren't mortal, then you would obviously not be the one meant to marry Soren. And, correct me if I'm mistaken, you do want to marry Soren."

I didn't reply, only continued tidying up my side of the tent, letting Zeus's words go ignored.

"We need to keep moving," Soren spoke roughly. "I can't be away from my court for this long."

Lazarus rolled his eyes. "You've been gone two days already. What's three?"

"I only have Juniper holding down fort. I thought the journey would be a day and a half, at the most. Something could happen in my absence," Soren growled. "You wouldn't understand, because you're not a king."

Lazarus threw up his hands. "You're right, your majesty. I shouldn't have questioned ye, mighty powerful God."

Soren snarled. "Better watch your tongue, Laz, or I swear"—

"Enough, my sons," Zeus roared.

Surprisingly, they both turned to face him.

"We will leave tomorrow," Zeus commanded. "For now, I want you both to keep an eye on the sea girl. She mustn't be harmed again, or she actually might die this time." He proceeded to leave, but not before turning and winking at me.

I waited until he was gone to roll my eyes.

"Well, this place is much nicer than any of our tents," Lazarus whined, stomping around the pristine white space. Soren reached over to the entrance of the tent and latched it up, to keep the cold draft from getting in.

Lazarus unbuckled his long coat and let it slump onto the ground. He then pulled out a small silver flask, sipping and then cringing, the burn of the alcohol evident.

I waved at him. "Hey, can I have some of that?"

"Sure thing," he responded, sauntering over to me. I took the flask and sipped, coughing as the burn of something stronger than I had tasted before slid down my throat.