Son of Night and Daughter of Stars

Chapter 8: The Heartache

"He wants you to consider Aidan??" Katra squawked. Delilah nodded, sipping delicately from her glass. 

"He thinks we'd be an admirable match," She said, rolling her eyes. "But I can't even stand to be in the same room as the oaf!" 

"'Oaf' is kinder than he deserves," Artemis griped from where she sat on the arm of her sister's chair, her glass untouched in her hand. "'Bastard' or 'Slug' is better." 

Elsebeth laughed at that, smacking a hand on Jasper's knee. "Or maybe 'Maggot?'" 

Jasper, for some reason, found this so funny he spewed his drink onto the floor. The room erupted into laughter, except for Delilah, who'd been sitting on the floor across from Jasper, and now had his drink staining the hem of her dress. 

"Really, Jas?" She complained, pulling her feet back to cross them under her knees. "That's disgusting." 

"He has to be disgusting," Elsebeth said, her eyes twinkling. "He's one of the only boys in the group. We 'proper' females outnumber them-" She waved a dismissive hand in Jasper's face. "Five to two." 

"Four to two, with Azura stuck on library duty," Katra pointed out. 

"We still outnumber them." 

"Um, Artemis is more of a slob than Jasper and I put together," Nyx protested, sitting forward from his spot next to Delilah. Artemis raised her cup in a salute but still didn't take a drink. Delilah seemed to notice. 

"What's wrong with you, Artemis?" She asked. "You're quieter than usual." She pointedly ignored the jab that Nyx gave her in her thigh. Artemis looked down and glared at her cup. 

"Amandla ended things between us," She muttered, a hand absently tapping on the knife strapped to her leg. "Yesterday during training. She told me-" She abruptly stopped talking, her ears turning red. "Nevermind. It doesn't matter." 

"Yes, it does," Elsebeth said, setting her cup down and sitting forward. "Why did she-" 

"It's not a big deal," Artemis grumbled, the sound barely audible. Katra rolled her eyes and shoved her sister's back, pushing her off the chair. Artemis fell to the floor, her cup miraculously staying upright. 

"What the hell, Kat!?" She yelled, shooting to her feet and throwing the glass at her sister. Katra easily dodged the cup, and Nyx's hand shot out to catch it before it could shatter against the wall, though the drink spilled.

"You've been stewing over it for twenty-four hours now, Artemis," Katra said calmly, ignoring the fury in her sister's face. "It's better to face these things with family than by yourself, you know." 

Artemis's hands balled into fists, and for a split second, Nyx wondered if she was about to punch Katra. But then the moment passed, and Artemis's face crumpled. She slumped to the floor and covered her face with her hands. She was silent for a moment, and then a groan slipped from her mouth. Katra slid from her chair to sit next to her sister, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"She told me it wasn't real. She told me one of her friends dared her to be with me, the daughter of the Illyrian General and one of the Valkyrie Triumvirate." Artemis mumbled. "She said she didn't think I'd... she didn't think I'd fall for it." 

The room was silent. Then-

"That bitch," Delilah growled, her eyebrows knit together. "Are you serious?" 

"Obviously I'm serious!" Artemis snapped, throwing up her hands. Nyx was shocked to see she was crying, her eyes rimmed with a red tint. 

"You loved her, didn't you?" Elsebeth asked softly. Artemis's hands dropped to the floor, and after a moment, she nodded, her bottom lip trembling.