Page 45 of The King of Spring

“Come, boy,” Kronos shouts. “Come face your end!”

“Athena,” Zeus begins, his tone one he’s heard a million times before. From men who lay at the door of death and begged Zeus to intervene—to give themmore time. He envies mortals their deaths. Zeus will exist between life and nothingness for all time, a prisoner of his sister when his kingdom falls.

He knows he will not win this war.

“Yes?” Athena asks, a rare note of fear creeping into that word.

“I’m sorry.” The words come out as a relieved force of air, a confession Zeus held for too long. “Metis deserved better than me.”

Zeus doesn’t give Athena time to respond; his wings carry him into the wind. Zeus Charges forward to meet his father for their second war—one where Kronos is in the right, and Zeus is in the wrong.

35

Kore

“You are nothing!” Demeter screams.

Kore stands before her, absorbing his mother’s wrath. Beyond the glassy prison of Demeter’s greenhouse, they watch as Kronos' massive form casts a dark shadow over Olympus.

“Tell Hades you won’t return to her,” Demeter demands.

Kore refuses. His chin juts forward in defiance. “No.”

“You ungrateful little cur,” Demeter mutters, stomping closer to him. She twists her long fingers in his shirt, wrinkling the fabric from the force of her grip. “You are nothing without me. You know that, don’t you?” Desperation bleeds out of Demeter’s pores, and he almost pities her. She’s dripping with distress.

Kore remembers his months in the Underworld. He should’ve withered in a world without the sun’s glow, but he was more himself in the shade than he’d ever been in Demeter’s light.

“I don’t need you,” Kore says, defying Demeter for the second time in his life. “I never did.”

“I will ruin you,” Demeter promises him, her grin maniacal. “Mortals will curse your name and the name of your beloved if you leave me.”

Kore doesn’t care if mortals disparage him. They can label him the sum of all regrets and he will gladly wear that crown. Hades, however, is someone Kore won’t sacrifice. He cannot stand by and watch her turn into more of a villain.

His hand shoots out, gripping Demeter by the tan column of her throat. Slim, breakable flesh burns beneath Kore’s palm.

“Do. Not. Threaten. Hades.” Kore bites each word with emphasis, tightening his grip with every pause.

Demeter’s eyes widen with a momentary display of alarm. Kore can see his face reflected in the glassy sheen of her dark pupils.

Demeter’s expression smoothes away as spite replaces terror. “You should’ve died with the others.”

“Yes,” Kore agrees with a raw laugh. “I should’ve.”

He doesn’t allow the sting of Demeter’s words to pierce the tender part of his heart. Kore knows he won’t live up to her expectations. No accolade can make up for him being born male.

“You won’t leave me again,” Demeter says as Kore releases her. He is disgusted with the hatred she brings out of him.

Kore watches his mother stomp away. Beneath her back, he spots the shift of her wings.

Go,Kore wills her away in silence.Go meet a god’s demise at my queen’s hand.

Demeter doesn’t leave Kore. She remains with him in the greenhouse and watches Zeus as he releases a lightning strike aimed at Kronos.Thunder follows Zeus’ movements. Her face twists with contempt; rage radiates off of Demeter as she witnesses Kronos deflect Zeus' offensive attack.

Kronos tears at Zeus' wing. Demeter flinches. Kore finds her terror is just as hideous as her wrath. . The King of the Gods plummets in a downward spiral, and Demeter’s wings spring free of her back. Her wings are a dark emerald, the color unyielding and deep like an evergreen.

“That bitch won’t take what’s mine,” Demeter murmurs to herself.

Kore’s eyes widen, watching as his mother shoots up through the top of the greenhouse. Fine bits of glass rain around him, glittering diamonds that sparkle in the fading light of day.

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