Athena's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

The council chamber fills before Zeus arrives. Athena takes her seat and watches the others settle into place. Today he will speak the idea she planted three days ago as if it were his own. She shaped it carefully, made it small enough to pass unnoticed through his pride. Zeus enters and climbs to the golden stage at the chamber's center. The divine council stands at their benches, waiting. He raises his hand. "We will redirect the western flank through the mountain pass," he announces. "This wisdom came to me in the night." Around the room, heads nod. Ares leans forward with interest. The strategy is sound. It will save mortal lives. And every god here believes Zeus thought of it himself. Then Zeus turns to her. "Athena. You have studied warfare. Does this plan hold merit?" The chamber goes quiet. She was not supposed to speak. She holds the golden aegis shield across her arm, its weight familiar and steadying. This is the trap she did not see coming. If she affirms too quickly, she looks like a follower. If she questions it, she reveals the idea as hers and he will reject it out of spite. She stands and meets his eyes. "The plan is sound," she says. "But it requires supply lines established two days before the strike. Without preparation, the flank will be exposed." Zeus's expression shifts. She has just made his revelation incomplete, dependent on work he did not think through. Ares frowns. Hera watches with sharp attention. Zeus cannot reject the addition without looking careless, but now the idea is no longer purely his. "See to the supply lines," he tells her. She bows her head. The council moves on. She has won something today, though it cost her the invisibility she relies on. They are watching her now.