The Tyrant's Tomb

Up ahead, I heard Meg romping through the brush. Occasionally she
would say, “Hey, how’s it going?” in a conversational tone, as if passing an
acquaintance on the street. I supposed she was talking to the local dryads.
Either that or the theoretical guards we were looking out for were very bad at
their jobs.
“You see…” I fumbled for words. “Back when I was a god, Venus gave
me a warning. About you.”
Aurum and Argentum burst through the bushes to check on Mom, their
toothy smiles gleaming like freshly polished bear traps. Oh, good. I had an
audience.
Reyna patted Aurum absently on the head. “Go on, Lester.”
“Um…” The marching band in my bloodstream was now doing doubletime
maneuvers. “Well, I walked into the throne room one day, and Venus
was studying this hologram of you, and I asked—just completely casually,
mind you—‘Who’s that?’ And she told me your…your fate, I guess. The
thing about healing your heart. Then she just…tore into me. She forbade me
to approach you. She said if I ever tried to woo you, she would curse me
forever. It was totally unnecessary. And also embarrassing.”
Reyna’s expression remained as smooth and hard as marble. “Woo? Is
that even a thing anymore? Do people still woo?”
“I—I don’t know. But I stayed away from you. You’ll notice I stayed
away. Not that I would’ve done otherwise without the warning. I didn’t even
know who you were.”
She stepped over a fallen log and offered me a hand, which I declined. I
didn’t like the way her greyhounds were grinning at me.
“So, in other words,” she said, “what? You’re worried Venus will strike
you dead because you’re invading my personal space? I really wouldn’t
worry about that, Lester. You’re not a god anymore. You’re obviously not
trying to woo me. We’re comrades on a quest.”
She had to hit me where it hurt—right in the truth.
“Yes,” I said. “But I was thinking….”
Why was this so hard? I had spoken of love to women before. And men.
And gods. And nymphs. And the occasional attractive statue before I
realized it was a statue. Why, then, were the veins in my neck threatening to
explode?
“I thought if—if it would help,” I continued, “perhaps it was destiny
that…Well, you see, I’m not a god anymore, as you said. And Venus was