iii. the gods accept burnt grapes as payment

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iii

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iii. THE GODS ACCEPT BURNT GRAPES AS PAYMENT
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Luke pressed a bag into her hands. "Here. It's all for you."

Still half-awake, Gwen opened the bag and stared blindly at its contents. A toothbrush, toothpaste, pads, other toiletries... And he'd said they were all hers.

She frowned at him. "You didn't have to buy these for me."

"Who said I bought them?" He grinned. "Now c'mon. You're gonna make us late."

Now fully awake, Gwen realized that most of the cabin had already gotten dressed in the orange camp shirts and made their beds. Flustered, she scrambled to grab her bag of stolen toiletries and get out the door.

"Gwen!"

She turned and caught a piece of bright orange fabric to the face. Some of the kids around her giggled. When she pulled the camp shirt away, Luke gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry," he said. "Don't worry. We'll get your godly reflexes up to speed."

Gwen got herself ready as fast as humanly possible. Still dripping wet from her shower, she darted back to the Hermes cabin just as a horn blew in the distance and kids began filing out of the cabins.

Apparently, each cabin lined up in order of seniority, because she got stuck at the end of the line.

Luke marched them up to the mess hall pavilion, where they somehow squeezed themselves into the single table reserved for cabin eleven. Gwen found herself elbow-to-elbow with a pretty girl who she immediately recognized as the girl that had talked to her the night before.

"I'm Cleo," the girl said. "Did you sleep alright?"

Gwen gave her a look. "No."

Cleo just laughed and told her that she'd get used to it eventually. Well, Gwen wanted to say, maybe I don't want to get used to sleeping on the ground.

The mess hall had been filled with chatter, but the campers fell silent when Chiron pounded his hoof on the pavilion floor.

"To the gods!" He said, and raised a glass.

tolerate it ― pjoWhere stories live. Discover now