~ { Shadow and Beauty } ~

Hera's Gamble

   Piper made a strangled noise. "You mean—they're all demigods? Frozen demigods? They're alive?"

   "An interesting question," Boreas conceded, as if it had never occurred to him before. "They do not move unless they are obeying my orders. The rest of the time, they are merely frozen. Unless they were to melt, I suppose, which would be very messy."

   Khione stepped behind Jason and put her cold fingers on his neck. "My father gives me such lovely presents," she murmured in his ear. "Join our court. Perhaps I'll let your friends go."

   "What?" Zethes broke in. "If Khione gets this one, then I deserve the girls. Khione always gets more presents!"

   "Now, children," Boreas said sternly. "Our guests will think you are spoiled! Besides, you moved too fast. We have not even heard the demigod's story yet. Then we will decide what to do with them. Please, Jason Grace, entertain us."

   Khione purred and stroked his neck. Electricity sparked along his skin. There was loud pop, and Khione flew backward, skidding across the floor. Kiara didn't like the goddess all that much, but this was definitely not going to help them leave the palace unharmed.

   Zethes laughed. "That is good! I'm glad you did that, even though I have to kill you now."

   For a moment, Khione was too stunned to react. Then the air around her began to swirl with a micro-blizzard. "You dare—"

   "Stop," Jason ordered. His tone was confident, yet Kiara ws sure he didn't feel that way. "You're not going to kill us. And you're not going to keep us. We're on a quest for the queen of the gods herself, so unless you want Hera busting down your doors, you're going to let us go."

   He managed to get the Boreads attention. Khione's blizzard swirled to a stop. Zethes lowered his sword. They both looked uncertainly at their father.

   "Hmm," Boreas said. His eyes twinkled, but Kiara couldn't tell if it was with anger or amusement. "A son of Zeus, favored by Hera? This is definitely a first. Tell us your story."

   Jason faltered, but thankfully Piper saved him. "Your Majesty." She curtsied again with incredible poise, considering her life was on the line. She told Boreas the whole story, from the Grand Canyon to the prophecy, much better and faster than Jason could have.

   "All we ask for is guidance," Piper concluded. "These storm spirits attacked us, and they're working for some evil mistress. If we find them, maybe we can find Hera."

   The king stroked the icicles in his beard. Out the windows, night had fallen, and the only light came from the aurora borealis overhead, washing everything in red and blue.

   "I know of these storm spirits," Boreas said. "I know where they are kept, and of the prisoner they took."

   "You mean Coach Hedge?" Jason asked. "He's alive?"

   Boreas waved aside the question. "For now. But the one who controls these storm winds ... It would be madness to oppose her. You would be better staying here as frozen statues."

   "Hera's in trouble," Jason said. "In three days she's going to be—I don't know—consumed, destroyed, something. And a giant is going to rise."

   "Yes," Boreas agreed. Was it Kiara's imagination, or did he shoot Khione an angry look? "Many horrible things are waking. Even my children do not tell me all the news they should. The Great Stirring of monsters that began with Kronos—your father Zeus foolishly believed it would end when the Titans were defeated. But just as it was before, so it is now. The final battle is yet to come, and the one who will wake is more terrible than any Titan. Storm spirits—these are only beginning. The earth has many more horrors to yield up. When monsters no longer stay in Tartarus, and souls are no longer confined to Hades... Olympus has good reason to fear."

   Kiara didn't know what half the things the god had said meant, but she didn't like the sound of it. She especially didn't like the way Khione was smiling—like this was her definition of fun.

   "So you'll help us?" Jason asked the king.

   Boreas scowled. "I did not say that."

   "Please, Your Majesty," Piper said.

   Everyone's eyes turned toward her. She had to be scared out of her mind, but she looked beautiful and confident. Before they had left camp, she hadn't looked herself. Her hair had been long and lush and she had had makeup on—Kiara had assumed it was an Aphrodite thing since Piper had apparently been claimed after she had run out of the amphitheater—but she looked herself again, in day-old traveling clothes with choppy hair and no makeup. But she almost glowed with warmth in that cold throne room.

   "If you tell us where the storm spirits are, we can capture them and bring them to Aeolus. You'd look good in front of your boss," she said. "Aeolus might pardon us and the other demigods. We could even rescue Gleeson Hedge. Everyone wins."

   "She's pretty," Zethes mumbled, which Kiara agreed with. "I mean, she's right."

   "Father, don't listen to her," Khione said. "She's a child of Aphrodite. She dares to charmspeak a god? Freeze her now!"

   Boreas considered this. Kiara's hand moved to her ring that could turn into her sword. If things went wrong, she'd have to move fast. She saw Jason's hand slip into his pocket where he held his gold coin.

   Jason's movement caught Boreas's eye. "What is that on your forearm, demigod?"

   Reluctantly, Jason showed Boreas his marks. The god's eyes widened. Khione actually hissed and stepped away.

   Then Boreas did something unexpected. He laughed so loudly, an icicle cracked from the ceiling and crashed next to his throne. The god's form began to flicker. His beard disappeared. He grew taller and thinner, and his clothes changed into a Roman toga, lined with purple. His head was crowned with a frosty laurel wreath, and a gladius—a Roman sword like Jason's—hung at his side.

   "Aquilon," Kiara said. It felt more right to her when she saw the god in his Roman form.

   The god shot her a weird look. "You are Roman also?"

   Kiara nodded slowly. "Yes, Your Majesty." She showed him her arm where the tattoos were. Khione backed up even more.

   "You are Roman, yet you say you came from Camp Half-Blood, yes?" Aquilon asked.

   Jason shifted his feet. "Uh ... yes, Your Majesty."

   "And Hera sent you there..." The winter god's eyes were full of mirth. "I understand now. Oh, she plays a dangerous game. Bold, but dangerous! No wonder Olympus is closed. They must be trembling at the gamble she has taken."

   "Jason," Piper said nervously, "why did Boreas change shape? The toga, the wreath. What's going on?"

   "It's his Roman form," Jason said. "But what's going on—I don't know."

   The god laughed. "No, I'm sure you don't. This should be very interesting to watch."

   "Does that mean you'll let us go?" Piper asked.

   "My dear," Boreas said, "there is no reason for me to kill you. If Hera's plan fails, which I think it will, you will tear each other apart. Aeolus will never have to worry about demigods again."

   That sense of wrongness which had bothered Kiara since he got to Camp Half-Blood, and Chiron's comment about his arrival being disastrous—Boreas knew what they meant. "I don't suppose you could explain?" she asked.

   "Oh, perish the thought! It is not for me to interfere in Hera's plan. No wonder she took your memory." Boreas chuckled, apparently still having a great time imagining demigods tearing each other apart. "You know, I have a reputation as a helpful wind god. Unlike my brethren, I've been known to fall in love with mortals. Why, my sons Zethes and Calais started as demigods—"

   "Which explains why they are idiots," Khione growled.

   "Stop it!" Zethes snapped back. "Just because you were born a full goddess—"

   "Both of you, freeze," Boreas ordered. Apparently, that word carried a lot of weight in the household, because the two siblings went absolutely still.