Lexi's Promise (Book 3 of A Goddess Unraveled)

~40~

Lexi stood in front of the scrying mirror waiting for Odessa to appear. Tara had answered Lexi's call and voiced her enthusiasm for becoming involved in the new council, which Lexi had mixed feelings about. Tara's age was one factor, having been born two hundred and nineteen years ago, when Lexi and Odessa had capped the age limit at two hundred. On the other hand, Lexi recognized Tara's fiery spirit as an asset, something that could be helpful during negotiations, as long as she kept her fists out of the conversation.

"Good evening, Lexi." Odessa greeted Lexi with a friendly smile, which Lexi was growing fond of. "Did you receive my message? I sent it by courier two days ago. I was starting to worry."

"I have been with my family in Boston for the past three days, but the nymphs delivered your message as soon as I returned this afternoon and I read it right away."

"Oh, good. What did you think? I have readied a formal outline of our agenda to be presented to the council."

Lexi had already decided to give Odessa the green light on the agenda, but she wanted to voice her thoughts first. Correction, voice Hades' thoughts first. "I believe it's a good starting point, but Hades thinks we should call ourselves The Legacy Council rather than The Legacy Court. He thinks 'court' sounds too autocratic. I have to agree with him. I don't want our title to be the first thing the council finds fault with. We have enough on our agenda they can criticize."

Odessa nodded. "Excellent point. I will change it and make sure they know the name is not engraved in stone. Is there anything else Hades has an opinion on? I know you value his input, as I value yours."

"Thanks, Odessa. I feel the same about you. Hades did have an extreme reaction to our last objective about reinterpreting the bylaws. He spewed wine all over the hearth."

Odessa laughed, which took the form of a throaty warble. "I can picture him doing that. Actually, I can't really picture him since I have only seen a portrait of Hades, but your descriptions of him help. Do you think that last objective will be disputed? The bylaws are a touchy subject for the gods."

Lexi took in a sharp breath, forcing it into her cheeks on the exhale. This was an important issue for her, and she was determined to hound the council about it until she broke them or vice versa. "I would really like to leave it and see what their response is. If that is the only thing they fight us on we will remove it from the agenda and I will tackle it personally."

"Okay." Odessa stared at Lexi for a moment, her expression wary. "Why do you feel so strongly about changing the bylaws, Lexi? They don't keep the gods from living fulfilling lives, and most of them don't affect you in the underworld."

"To be perfectly honest," Lexi said, attempting to justify her inflexibility on the subject. "I am especially interested in one particular bylaw. The one that prohibits Hades from entering Olympus. I still believe there are other bylaws that need serious revision, but if you don't think they will impede our ultimate goal, we can skip that objective altogether."

"I share your views on that bylaw, Lexi, and as we discussed before, the antiquated verbiage of the bylaws could be promoting complacency in the gods. I definitely think we can find one or two that will prove this point, and I see no problem leaving it. In the meantime, I'll do some digging at the palace of the titans to come up with a rebuttal should we need one."

Lexi wanted to reach through the mirror and hug Odessa around the neck. The more she got to know the goddess, the more she felt they had the right stuff to do great things together. "Brilliant. I'll be in Olympus the day after tomorrow. Let's plan to have lunch at The Argonauts Table at mid-day."

A twinkle lit up Odessa's eyes as she beamed excitedly. "I would love that. I have been wanting to talk to you about something else..." She paused to glance over her shoulder before finishing in a whisper. "...about Poseidon."