Chapter 8

As the blood-red sun dipped down into the sea, Pallas led the goddess back to the temple. They caused a stir when the two were spotted walking together. At the dining hall, Pallas sat at her own table as usual, but when she caught Athena's steel eyes, there was no longer hostility in them.

Athena watched her. Pallas felt something shifted in the air. She had never expected such direct attention from the goddess. Suddenly, the mischevious nymph was aware of every movement she made, every expression on her face. Her hands felt awkward when she moved them. It was as if the role had been reversed. The meal was specially prepared that night. The smell of herbs, fresh cheese, and wine-filled the hall.

King Triton joined them a moment later.

When the servants cleared the plates, Athena looked up to the river god.

"Triton." She did not fear to call her cousin by the name like the others. The mermaids quieted, watching with great interest. Athena did not usually address their father by name like that.

"Yes?" the god replied with a raised brow.

"For a while now, you have urged companions on me, now I am ready to choose," Athena said.

The hall was so quiet, one could hear a bubble burst. Athena could feel eyes burning at her with curiosity.

"All right, may I know who it is?"

"Pallas."

Across the hall, Pallas looked up. She was so shocked, her mouth would have fallen onto the table. Her pulse started beating thickly in her veins, wondering what the goddess was thinking. Pallas could feel the thoughts of the staring nymphs crowding on her. What has she done to the wayward goddess?

"Pallas?" Triton's eyes narrowed, but the faintest bloom of amusement lingered at the corner of his lips. Of all his daughters, Athena chose the most unlikely one. Pallas was wild and untamed while Athena was always calm and regal. As far as he remembered, his daughter and Zeus's didn't seem to get along too well.

"Yes." Athena explained no further, though everyone hoped she would. To be a companion to Zeus's warrior child was a place of the highest esteem. Anyone would kill to be chosen.

Triton leaned back on his seat and motioned for Pallas. The nymph got up and came to stand before them.

"Daughter, what say you?"

Pallas glanced at the goddess, whose eyes also gazed back her, not proudly or boastfully, merely waiting. Pallas got down to her knees and bowed her head to the two deities.

"I am honored to be given this title," she said.

"Very well then." Triton stood and held his trident. "Hereby I pronounce you, Pallas, a life companion of Lady Athena, a sister-in-arms sworn to the goddess by a sacred oath, loyalty, and love."

When Pallas raised her head again, she saw Athena rose from her seat and already turned to go.

~*~

Two days later, Pallas searched for the goddess. Athena did not show up at the practice or the dining hall. She took her meals privately and made no effort to contact her companion.

Earlier, Pallas would have been truly thrilled to be chosen. Now strangely, she felt stung. With the moonlight piercing through the crystal domes of their underwater kingdom, the nymph then found Athena walking through one of their emerald gardens. She was dressed in battle armor with her helmet and long spear.

"Where are you going?" Pallas called out to her across the wall of rose-colored corals. Athena stopped and turned.

"Drills."

"Drills?" Pallas echoed. "At night?"

"Yes. Why?"

Pallas didn't know how to respond. Words that came from Athena always felt like a dead end, and the goddess was quite famous for using them.

"Why?" Pallas stepped towards the goddess. "Why do I not know of your nightly outings? Or am I not your companion?"

Athena might be a grandiose fireball, but Pallas was an ember, an ever-lasting flame when she was angry.

Athena looked at the girl for a long moment as if weighing something in her mind.

"I couldn't sleep, and I don't know how to ask you to come with me."

Pallas was stunned. Her face changed and her tight muscles loosened back. She had no idea how Athena could be so bold and yet so timid at the same time. The nymph let out a ghost of a smile as she stared at her.

"You are Athena," she said, at last. "Just say the word, and I shall follow you wherever you go."

The tall maiden stood for another moment. Then ever slowly, she nodded.

"Well, see if you can keep up with me," she said.

Then the goddess turned and looked back at the waterfall below the high garden. With a short sprint of her swift feet, Athena leaped and plunged herself like a willow bird diving into the water. Down the hill, past the palace's terraces, heading straight into the underground river, she went.

It took a moment for Pallas to catch on. Then she, too, leaped from the great height, following Athena. Her heart pounded a happy rhythm as the water loomed closer before her. She saw a ring of white splash where Athena dropped. Ordinary mortals would die on the impact. The goddess promptly sped through the element like a fish. In fact, as soon as, Pallas's body pierced through the water, she realized that Athena had already turned into a great white shark and swam off. The nymph had no clue where she learned that, but shape-shifting must run in the family.

They swam out of the palace compound and up towards the open sea. They raced each other through the winding river. Even as a water nymph, Pallas still had difficulty keeping up with her divine companion.

Athena came out of the water with a burst. She changed back into her own form and sprinted into the silver wood, gliding more than running as the soil gave way beneath her golden feet, leaving off a shower of pebbles. She heard Pallas somewhere far behind her, struggling to follow, and something delightful burst from her eternal lungs. Athena surprised even herself with a gleeful laugh. The sound rang through the forest. It almost made Pallas trip with an expected blow of bliss when she heard it.

They were on the open ground now, low rolling hills pocked with boulders and scrub clinging to rough planes of granite. Athena felt the nymph's steady footsteps and apparently admired Pallas for the determination. She decided to slow down a little since no one would ever match her godspeed. Then Pallas was running beside her, matching her step for step under the glow of the moon. There they were, two young maidens, running wild in the wood with their hair flashed brightly in the dark.

For once, Athena enjoyed the thrill of her adventure next to her chosen nymph. She let herself loose and just felt the wind on her face.

They leaped over the rocky gully of a stream and began to climb the peak of a steep slope, skipping over thorny undergrowth and bouncing off the fragrant pine trees.

At last, they both reached the shore where they had come before. When they finally came to a halt, Pallas wiped off her silvery sweat before turning to Athena.

"Well, I guess you made a wise choice," Pallas said between heaves. "I could definitely keep up with you."

Athena gave her a patronizing nod. "You kept up fine."

"Oh, did I?" Pallas asked, tilting her face in suspicion. Moonlight gilded the lines of her features as she stood beside Athena. The goddess's gaze held hers a while longer. Pallas was a gorgeous ember in the face of all the flames, and she did make a wise choice. The goddess smiled. Pallas was almost knocked over. The smile that probably no other person in the whole world had the privilege to see was for her alone, without asking. Truly, Athena had her father's charming smile. It warmed every nook and cranny of her being with an outlandish joy.

"Yes, you did."