"She'll never forgive you if you so much as lay a finger on him."
Wise words, Hermes, wise words. He'd just managed to say exactly what I knew and didn't want to hear – not that Orion should not be touched, but that Artemis would kill me if he was.
"Then what am I to do?" I asked. Yes, I'll be quite honest: as time went on, I had become more and more worried about my sister until I decided I had to do something about Orion. To Orion.
The words 'let her get on with it' were on the tip of his wisecracking tongue, I could tell, but faded when I glared at him. "Er…" he suggested blankly.
"Fabulous help you are, Hermes." Later apologies would follow for my growling at him in that instant. "I don't like having to do this to my sister, but it's just necessary. For once in her cussed little life, somebody else needs to do something for her."
"She'll still never forgive you."
"I KNOW that, you half-witted little tit!"
Hermes looked hurt, turned, and left without saying another word to me. Maybe I shouldn't have shouted at him, but skipping like a broken record1 did not help my train of thought. The fact was that I was about to turn nasty on Orion – and my sister would never again talk to me if she find out even what I was planning.
o-o-o-O-O-O-o-o-o
"Apollo, really," came the voice from beyond the door, "I cannot come out for any sort of picnic today. I'm… busy."
"Come on, Artemis, I swear I won't lay a hand on any of your nymphs. You know I wouldn't dare anyway." I had my fingers crossed on both hands, praying silently under my breath for Zeus to be good to me for once. Who he prays to I have no idea. "I've got no problem with any of your followers." You lying little bastard, I said to myself.
There was a pause. "'Poll, honest, I can't come out with you today."
"Am I just going to have to stand here and hold the door closed until you give up?"
I grabbed hold of the door handle and leant back so all my weight was on it. She rattled the door in its frame but couldn't get it to open. "Very funny. When I get out of here, I am going to hit you. You realise that?"
"And that gives me a reason to let you out?" I leant harder away from the door, relieved that she was having a go at me again. "Or a reason to keep you in." There was no response. "Artemis? Arty?"
The nickname, if nothing else, should have made her snap. But the door stopped moving and it all went quiet from inside. Curiosity got the better of me. "Artemis?" I opened the door and looked inside – no Artemis, just an open window. "Have you climbed out the window, Artemis?" I hurried over and looked out.
"Gotcha." My sister stepped out from behind the door and disappeared out of my sight – but not before I could see that she'd dressed up again.
o-o-o-O-O-O-o-o-o
I accidentally kicked a tree stump and cursed under my breath, shaking my foot in the air and probably looking very silly. Carrying around a pack full of food didn't help either, and I was praying that I would see Artemis and – I suspected – Orion before they saw me.
An arrow shot past me at head height, just to my left, and I dropped to the ground just as another one went through the air where my head had been a moment before and disappeared into a hole in a tree.
"Good shot, 'Temi!"
Temi? I stood up and walked into the clearing, startling the two hunters there. Artemis had just released the second arrow, but jumped at the sight of me and sent it ricocheting off a tree. She glared at me even as I smiled broadly.
"Artemis! Fancy meeting up with you." I indicated the pack slung over one shoulder. "I couldn't let the food go to waste, so was going to eat by myself. But as you two are here, would you like to join me?"
I was fairly sure that my sister was going to tell me – in no uncertain terms – where I could put the picnic basket, when Orion interrupted. I never thought that I'd be grateful for him opening his great mouth, but I had to admit defeat for once.
"We'd love to, wouldn't we?" he said heartily, looking at my sister for support. With both of us looking politely at her, she couldn't exactly do anything but agree.
She nodded. "Come on, then. We can at least go down to the beach and sit on the sand, can't we?"
As I turned to lead, she probably thought that I didn't see Orion try and put his hand around her waist before she hit him on the arm. At least she's acting back to normal around me.
Even if it won't be for long…
A/n – 1 I don't think that the ancient Greeks had records (correct me if I'm wrong, by all means) but this was the best simile in my head at the time. I'm back to my old tricks of writing just before the deadline runs out!
Happy New Year to all!