Aphrodite's Daughter

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

            The next morning seemed dull. The sun didn’t shine, and it rained for the first time since I had been there. I desperately wanted to stay in bed all day, but Heph wouldn’t have it. He banged on the door until I answered then he demanded that I get dressed for breakfast.

            I didn’t decline out of politeness, but my mood stayed sour. This time, my impressive closet meant nothing. I threw on a pair of jeans and a dark green shirt. My only hope was that Andreas wasn’t at the table. If he was, I didn’t know if I could handle it.

            The walk from my bedroom to the dining room felt like a death march, as I prepared myself to face Andreas. I stopped right before stepping into the room, hiding behind the wall. With my back pressed against it, I listened carefully for any indications that he might already be in there. I was focusing so hard that I didn’t notice Octavian sneaking up behind me.

            “What are you doing?” He whispered, but my shriek gave us away. The others were staring at the dining room entrance as I came around the corner, with Octavian laughing quietly behind me. I cursed him silently, but was able to calm down slightly when I realized that Andreas was not there.

            Everyone chatted lightly while I pushed my food around my plate. Heph asked me a few questions about my plans for today, but I just shrugged and went back to making frown faces with my grapes.

            I was so absorbed in my own thoughts that I didn’t notice when everyone suddenly got quite. It wasn’t until Penelope, one of the assistant trainers and a friend of mine, elbowed my side causing me to look up. My breath caught in my throat, and I choked back tears.

            There he was with a big stupid smile on his face, and an arm around a tall, leggy, beautiful, blonde girl. I had seen her before. Her name was Amara, and she was in charge of training the horses in the stables. My body moved of its own accord and I ran out of the room.

           

            “What’s her problem?” I heard Amara ask as I left.

            “Don’t know. Come on baby, let’s eat.” It felt like daggers were plunging into my heart. He really was a cold, heartless bastard. I didn’t cry until I was in my room, but once I crawled into bed, the tears poured.

            I was facing the window and I felt the bed dip. My first reaction was fear, but when I rolled into Hephaestus, I just continued to cry. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and held me in his lap. It reminded me so much of when dad use to hold me that I just cried harder.

              “I’m sorry darling. Your mother told me about you and Andreas. My son always was very… complicated.” Great, everyone probably knew now. Anger seemed to replace sorrow. For years, I had been able to avoid men, but now I was following to pieces over one.

            He didn’t even seem to care what he was doing to me. Well, if he wasn’t going to care then neither was I. I dried my tears and crawled out of Heph’s lap. He looked confused at my sudden change in attitude.