The Valkyrie by Charlotte Vassell Read Free Book Online

understood what all the fuss was about)
and in her right hand she held the offending vase. After some time
she stopped and sat on some steps. A familiar presence was at her
side seconds later. There was no one else who she would rather see
at that moment than her father Prometheus. He stood over her
looking as distinguished, composed and collected as you would
expect from a titan. He wore an impeccably tailored three piece
suit that had a double breasted jacket with leather buttons. It was
made out of tweed that could have almost been heather. Prometheus’s
tie and pocket square had been selected perfectly, as had the
cufflinks in his crisp white shirt. He was pulled together. His
dark eyes and furrowed brow were those of a godly titan who had
seen too much and had felt the need to overthink it too. Prometheus
thought and saw three steps ahead of nearly everyone else.
Prometheus’s wife and Liberty’s mother, Asia was a river nymph.
There wasn’t a particularly large amount of love between the pair,
they had little in common. They had met many years ago when
Prometheus had been chained to a rock by Zeus to have his liver
pecked out daily by his giant pet eagle for “challenging his rule”,
or light sarcasm to everyone else. Asia used to go and chat to
Prometheus at least once a day. She had a captive audience after
all, and over time he grew affection for her or rather he was worn
down by a not so ill looking nymph.
    “Child, stop
and breathe.” Prometheus said.
    Liberty looked
around her and recognised the place she had wandered to. It was the
Hawksmoor in Spitalfields Market. She couldn’t remember which
bloody saint it was supposed to be dedicated to. Liberty rose from
her seat and followed her father into the church before they sat
side by side in a pew facing the altar.
    “Forgive me
father for I have sinned.” Liberty said.
    “When haven’t
you? I’m never going to tire of that joke.”
    “How are you
old man?” Liberty was still very much distracted.
    “Not too shabby
child of mine. I have just been here waiting for you. Oh your
mother says hello.”
    “Oh right,
hello back to her. Dad, my sight is messed up; I’ve developed a
blind spot where I’ve never had one before. I can no longer see
Valour.”
    “Now that you
mention it I cannot either. She’s the fae girl in your unit right,
one of Oberon’s kids?” Prometheus said as he tried to use his
vision again “This should be impossible. Someone must have entered
into the equation that has always been a blind spot but never a
factor before, blocking your friend from a clear view. That’s an
impressive amount of power to shield her from both of us like that.
This is not good, not good at all. Metis used to be able to pull a
trick like that but she is long gone.”
    “I think the
world just started to end. You can feel it in the air right?
Yesterday was the start of another era.”
    “I can, but I
don’t think anyone else can feel it. Nothing unusual came out of
Olympus today. We need to tread carefully until we can predict the
outcome safely.” Prometheus looked around at the church’s interior
for a moment “Oh, Apollo asked whether he could marry you again. I
said it wasn’t my business to be so involved in your affairs.
Please don’t do it, although I’m not sure how you’re going to get
out of it in one piece. He has wonderful taste in jewellery, if
that is any consolation. That’s a very topical vase.”
    “Yes, I found
it in Save The Children.”
    “Really? How
odd. I’ve heard you can get bargains at those sorts of places but
an Andokides original never out of the box. Be careful child.”
    “I cannot
conceive whether it is a friendly warning or not.” Liberty said to
which Prometheus furrowed his brow and pursed his lips but gave no
judgement.
    “It would seem
that there is something afoot in Olympus.”
    “Why do we
always meet in churches?”
    “Because the
irony is too delicious.”
    “I like
Hawksmoor. Does it