The Tyrant's Tomb

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I—I saw it burn up. That’s what killed
Caligula. Frank’s sacrifice.”
“Then how…?” Hazel put her fist to her mouth to block a sob. She
hardly dared to ask the question. “Will he be okay?”
I had no answer for her. Years ago, Juno had decreed that Frank’s life
span was tied to that stick. I wasn’t there to hear her exact words—I try not
to be around Juno any more than I have to. But she’d said something about
Frank being powerful and bringing honor to his family, et cetera, though his
life would be short and bright. The Fates had decreed that when that piece of
tinder burned up, he was destined to die. Yet now the firewood was gone,
and Frank still lived. After so many years keeping that piece of wood safe,
he had intentionally burned it to…
“Maybe that’s it,” I muttered.
“What?” Hazel asked.
“He took control of his destiny,” I said. “The only other person I’ve ever
known to have this, er, firewood problem, back in the old days, was this
prince named Meleager. His mom got the same kind of prophecy when he
was a baby. But she never even told Meleager about the firewood. She just
hid it and let him live his life. He grew up to be kind of a privileged, arrogant
brat.”
Hazel held Frank’s hand with both of hers. “Frank could never be like
that.”
“I know,” I said. “Anyway, Meleager ended up killing a bunch of his
relatives. His mom was horrified. She went and found the piece of firewood
and threw it in the fire. Boom. End of story.”
Hazel shuddered. “That’s horrible.”
“The point is, Frank’s family was honest with him. His grandmother told
him the story of Juno’s visit. She let him carry his own lifeline. She didn’t
try to protect him from the hard truth. That shaped who he is.”
Hazel nodded slowly. “He knew what his fate would be. What his fate
was supposed to be, anyway. I still don’t understand how—”
“It’s just a guess,” I admitted. “Frank went into that tunnel knowing he
might die. He willingly sacrificed himself for a noble cause. In doing so, he
broke free of his fate. By burning his own tinder, he kind of…I don’t know,
started a new fire with it. He’s in charge of his own destiny now. Well, as
much as any of us are. The only other explanation I can think of is that Juno
somehow released him from the Fates’ decree.”