Chapter XVI New Recruit

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"Do you see her, the beautiful girl with long honey brown hair and moss green eyes?" I asked my brother Apollo as he and I hid behind the bushes when he asked to talk to me after his conversation with his demigod daughter, Parthenos.


"Yes," he replied with his silky voice. "What about her?"


"A warning for you dear brother of mine, she is my newest recruit. If you touch her, I swear I will make Poseidon drive you down from your daily chariot ride and crash into his white waters."


He looked deeply into my eyes, seeing if I am lying. I absolutely meant every word.  My twin brother Apollo, who in every way but one, was my opposite. But one thing that made us similar besides both of our parents and the place of our birth was that both of us love women.


The girl was no ordinary mortal. She was an Arcadian Princess and she did not know she bore nymphai blood. She became my young companion, committed to me and no one else. I have to gently remind her to eat her meals and not sacrifice it all to me at times.


"You are serious, are you not?" Apollo asked.


Placing an arm on my hip, I lifted an eyebrow at him, "Yes and if you violate her in any way, you will pay. Promise me you will make sure no one, other than me, touch her." 


I look into his golden eyes that he inherited from our father with desperation... wanting―no―needing... to know that he will stay true to this vow.  


It took him a while to respond. And when he did, he lowered his beautifully masculine hands onto my shoulders. His blue eyes met mine and said, "If she means that much that you will actually call upon our Uncle of the waters to take your vengeance, then, yes, Artemis. I promise to make sure that no man, woman, God, including myself, or Goddess will not touch her in the way I know you do not want her to be, over the River Styx and the life of myself."


I broke out into a teary grin and reached up to wrap my arms around him, his sincerity overwhelming me. My little brother could be a headache sometimes, but sometimes when we chance upon a conversation such as this, we can depend on each other.


"Thank you, dearest brother," I said into his shoulder. I could feel his arms tighten around me and, after a few moments, we pulled apart. "I must go. My girls are waiting for my arrival so we can hunt." 


"You came up here, and dragged me from my chariot, after talking to my kid with a serious threat of a death prophecy just to make me promise you that I would not touch a certain girl?" he asked in surprise humor.


I smile lopsidedly and nodded. His laughter broke the impending silence between us. I kissed his cheek and walked towards our camp.


"You are the crazy one, you know?" he said, calling out to me.


* * *


"You are my hero, Lady Artemis." She told me when I asked her why she called for me. It kept replaying in my memory like those annoying songs Apollo sung to me.

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