Antheia Botanis's Arc

Chapter 15 of 15

Antheia washed the dirt from her arms at the greenhouse basin. Coro slept against the orchid nymph's shoulder inside the dome. She was pulling the moved roots into fresh beds when the light changed. A white column dropped through the glass roof without breaking it. Zeus stood in the aisle between the seedling rows, his small wings folded flat under his cloak. He had come without warning. "You made a mess of the balance," he said. "Two seats, one blight, one child on the wrong side. I gave you the office. I did not give you a war with your own twin." "I did not start it," Antheia said. She set down the trowel. "Verdis broke our bargain when the girl was ready." Verdis stepped in behind him. The cactus dragon was not with them this time. The child called Raven walked at their hip in the black shift, bare feet on the tile. Raven kept her eyes on the seedlings, not on Antheia. Zeus raised one hand and both goddesses went quiet. "I will hear it once," he said. "Then I decide." Verdis spoke first, flat as always. "The seat is shared. She built a temple. I tore it down. The girl chose me." Antheia lifted the hem of Coro's blanket where he lay and showed the green vine mark curling down his back. "Both children carry the mark," she said. "Not one. The heir is not settled. Verdis has been pulling power from other seats to hold Raven. Check the ledger." Zeus looked at Verdis a long moment. He drew a small bulb from inside his cloak, dark metal with stars cut through it, and set it on the potting bench. Light spilled from the star-shapes and settled on Verdis's hands. The glow ran up their wrists and stopped at the elbows in bright rings. "Siphoned," Zeus said. "Three seats. Maybe four." Verdis said nothing. Raven's mouth opened once and closed. "Here is the ruling," Zeus said. "Antheia keeps the flower seat clean. Verdis keeps the burnt garden and nothing more until the ledger balances. The girl is not fit to choose while the mark is still moving. I take her to the heavens for training. Real training. She comes back when she is her own." Raven's chin came up. "I do not want to go," she said. Zeus looked down at her. "I did not ask." He put one hand on the child's shoulder. The column of light rose again through the glass. Raven went with it. Verdis stood in the aisle with the bright rings still on their arms. "You won a round," they said, and walked out. Antheia sat down on the bench. Coro breathed against the nymph's shoulder. One daughter gone up, one season left, and the beds around her waiting to be filled.