Blossoming Love (a Frazel Fanfic)

Athena's Answer

    A week after the annual inspection, a letter arrived at the di Angelo household. "Open it!" Bianca said breathlessly as Hades slipped the cloth cover off.

    His eyes quickly scanned the clay tablet in his hands. "What does it say?" Hazel asked.

     "Could you please read it aloud?" Maria asked her husband.

    Nico shifted, noticeably quiet amidst all of the excitement. Hades looked up, his expression neutral. "To the di Angelo family from Athena Pallas," he read.

     Nico twisted his skull ring as Hades read the letter out loud. Bianca wrung her hands. Hazel watched her father raptly. Maria stood calmly, though her left foot tapped against the ground. "My daughter has informed me of your request," Hades continued. "After much deliberation, I have decided to not only allow your daughter to become a priestess, but to personally vouch for her piety. Young women these days are turning their backs on religion, favoring the pleasures of body over the soul. Adultery has increased, illegitimate children abound, and the family is broken. I am heartened to hear your daughter is not like this. We need young women like her if we will ever return to the glory days."

Hazel had to ram her knuckles against her lips to stop herself from giggling. Maria was not so subtle in her displeasure of Athena's words. She snorted. "Who does this woman think she is, giving us such airs?"

"Our master," Hades replied.

"It's alright, mother," Bianca said. "If Athena shall let me chase my dream, I can let her lectures slide."

"But her impunity!" Maria exclaimed.

"Mother is right," Nico said. "Athena's words are horse dung. Don't the gods themselves have mortals fall in love?"

He turned beseechingly towards Bianca. "It is not too late to change your mind."

Bianca shook her head. "I have made it up long ago and the goddess is on my side."

Nico bit his lip. "You would leave me?"

Bianca put a hand on his shoulder, but he wouldn't meet her gaze. "If I wed, I'f have to go to another household anyway."

"But you'd be closer!" Nico protested. "I'd get to see you more often."

"Nico," Bianca said, trying to comfort him.

"No!" Nico shouted, shrugging her hand off of his shoulder. "Leave me alone!"

He ran out of the house. Bianca turned her pained gaze towards her mother. "Should I follow him?"

Maria shook her head. "In time, he'll come to terms with it."

***

The di Angelo family left the next day to go to Mytilene. Since they had no horses, they would have to walk the entire way, bundled in traveling cloaks to beat the cold. Frank had agreed to watch over their sheep in their absence and Hazel wasn't sure if she'd miss him or her flock more.

     They had said a quick goodbye, out of sight and earshot from their families. Hazel had wrapped her arms around his torso and he had laid his chin on her soft bed of curls. That hug expressed more than words ever could, but they still said their goodbyes, the words hard to speak.

Hazel thought of Frank as they walked to Mytilene. They arrived at dusk and paid to stay in an inn. The food was bad and the beds worse, but Hades said they would stay somewhere else the next day. After a night of tossing and turning, Hazel woke up to see Bianca already awake, her foot tapping against the ground. She met Hazel's gaze with a warm smile. "Today is the day!"

"Yes," Hazel agreed. "I'm so happy for you."

The rest of the family began waking. The children had all slept in one bed, while Hades and Maria shared the other. Hades paid a messenger to inform Athena that they had arrived and the family ate a quick breakfast of packed bread and some watered-down wine.

The messenger returned, telling them to meet Athena at her home. It was a brisk walk from the inn to the house and Hazel's jaw dropped as she saw it. It was gorgeous with a columned entrance and a colorful garden. A slave brought them into the home, which was even more beautiful from the inside. The walls were painted with frescos depicting scenes of The Odyssey and The Iliad. The rooms were large and spacious and filled with tall niches. Marble statues of gods and heroes painted to look life-like adorned each niche.

The slave bade them to sit down on a long couch. Hazel looked down at the couch, carved from ivory, and padded with feather-stuffed cushions. It was beautiful and it probably cost more than the land her family worked on.

The slave left and Athena arrived a few minutes later. She was a stern-looking woman with grey eyes and plaited brown hair. The di Angelos dipped their head in acknowledgement of her. She ordered the slave to fetch some refreshments and sat on the couch opposite of them. Her shrewd eyes appraised Bianca. "You wish to be a priestess?"

Bianca nodded. "It has been my wish for several years."

Athene nodded as the slave returned with goblets filled with honeyed wine. "A worthy choice," she said.

She raised her goblet. "To Bianca's future."

Everyone raised their goblets to their lips. Only Nico looked somber, his eyes downcast and his shoulders hunched. "As it happens," Athena said. "I have friends all across the Aegean and one of them informed me they are looking for a new priestess. It would be a life-long commitment, but you would be serving Artemis."

Bianca blinked rapidly. "Oh thank you! She is my favorite goddess."

Athena set down her goblet and raised one palm. "But you must know two things," she said. "To take the post, you must swear you will be chaste and it is not in Lesbos, but at the Artemisium in Ephesus."

Hazel's jaws dropped. The Artemisium was one of the most beautiful temples in the world. Bianca looked similarly stunned. "I would be willing to serve any temple," she said, "but that . . . that would be beyond my wildest dreams."

Athena turned to Hades. "Is this alright with you?"

He looked at his daughter, his expression between grief and pride before nodding.

"It is done, then," Athens said. "I shall pay for her voyage to Ephesus and send you a letter when she is accepted."

The family lavished her with praise and she accepted their words with many smiles. Only as they left did Hazel realize how much things would change once her sister left.