She moved silently through the trees. Her bare feet left no footprints, no marks on the soft earth. She did leave a mark on the trees though. She reached out to touch the trunk of the next tree, feeling the rough bark. Liquid gold spread from her hand, running over the tree trunk between the flaking bark. As the gold reached the leaves closest to the trunk, they turned gold. The gold spread through the leaves until the whole tree was golden.
The cool breeze tugged at her flowing gold dress as she moved to the next tree. The air smelt crisp and fresh, like it always did in early autumn. As she reached the tree a wild rabbit hopped into her path. Smiling, she bent down and scratched its chin. The rabbit extended its head and closed its eyes at her gentle touch.
She knew the creatures of the Mt Pelion forest well. She passed through this forest at the same time each year, following her sister Theros, the Goddess of Summer. For she was Krysos, Goddess of Autumn.
As she continued through the forest, turning the trees gold, she came to a clearing. She paused at the edge, studying the castle. It was a sturdy looking structure with thick walls made of a creamy stone. There were two towers either side of the huge drawbridge which was raised. A river ran in front of the castle, creating a natural moat.
As she watched, she noticed small figures making their way back and forth along the front wall. Three sentries also stood at each tower. All the sentries were armed with crossbows which they rested at attention on their shoulders. But they posed little risk to her.
She stepped out into the clearing. After a few steps there was a shout from the battlements.
“Hey! Stop where you are! Put your hands in the air and state your business,” the figure at the centre of the wall shouted.
There was a clatter as the rest of the crossbows whipped around to find her. She stopped but didn’t put her hands up.
“I said put your hands in the air and state your business!”
“I don’t take orders from mortals,” she called back.
The man closest to the left tower ran to the man in the middle. They had a brief discussion, and he ran back to the left-hand tower, disappearing through a door.
“If you do not comply, we will start shooting,” the man in the centre shouted.
She just tossed her hair and laughed, starting forward again.
“HALT!”
She ignored him. Her eyes darted left as the tower door banged open and a tall armour-clad figure strode onto the wall. At the same moment she heard a ping as the sentry squeezed the trigger and the crossbow bolt sped toward her.
She raised her hand and casually flicked her wrist. A powerful gust of autumn wind picked up a swirl of leaves and blasted past the bolt. It was blown off course, landing with a dull thud in the soft ground a metre to her right.
***
“For fuck’s sake,” the tall man muttered to himself. “Stand down!” he shouted to his men. There was a clatter as they moved their crossbows back to rest on their shoulders.
He peered down through the battlements. The woman had come to a stop at his shout. She was tall and elegant. Her long dress fluttered in the wind and, curiously, she was barefoot. A tiara glittered in her long gold hair.
“Ma’am, may I ask your name?” the man called.
Her chin came up. “What is your name?”
The man cursed again. “My name is Calix, commander of Mt Pelion Castle.”
She stared at him for a moment, a frown creasing her face. “My name is Krysos, the Goddess of Autumn.”
His men gasped, but Calix scowled. Mt Pelion Castle had a legend. The legend of the Autumn Goddess who visited the castle every hundred years or so. The last visit had been 152 years ago, so there was no one alive to confirm the story. There were only the great grandchildren of those who had seen her all those years ago. There were paintings. Breathtakingly beautiful paintings of a tall woman with long golden hair and sparkling golden eyes. And poetry describing an elegant, powerful woman.
“Why are you at my castle?” He hoped she interpreted the bluntness as uninviting.
“I bring autumn to Mt Pelion Forest. I always come this time of year.”
“Then why have we not seen you before?” he asked, wishing she remembered she had somewhere else to go. Kipos Garden wasn’t far away, but he knew not all the gods knew about it. Surely she’d go there if she knew about it.
“I take a different route through the forest every autumn. I believe I was last here 152 years ago. Commander Pelius was very hospitable.”
Shit. She wasn’t getting the message. He supposed he should invite her in, but he really didn’t want to. He wanted to keep as far away from the gods and goddesses as possible. Glancing at his garrison he saw most were staring at her in shock. He’d never hear the end of it if he turned away the Goddess of Autumn.
Sighing, he turned back to Krysos. “Could I offer you a space in our castle for a while?” he asked, using as polite a voice as he could muster.
“That would be agreeable,” she called back.
Resigning himself, Calix signalled the soldier at the drawbridge winch. The soldier heaved on the leaver letting the chain go with a loud clatter.
***
She didn’t flinch as the draw bridge came crashing down in front of her. There was a clicking noise, and as the dust cleared she saw the portcullis going up. As she entered the courtyard, she saw people curiously peering over the battlements, out windows, and around doors at her.
A door banged open at the western side of the courtyard. Calix was striding toward her. It amused her to see he was barely suppressing a scowl, contrasting with the awe-struck faces of the men marching behind him. As he approached his dark eyes looked furious, which amused her even more.
"I'll take the south-western suit," she said, piercing Calix with her gaze.
"No, you can have the south-eastern suit," he said, raising his eyebrows.
"Whoever's in there can move out. I'm sure they won't mind," she replied, placing her hands on her hips.
"They would mind," he bit back.
"You haven't even asked them!" He was becoming less amusing by the minute. Actually, he was getting on her nerves which was unheard of for a mortal. They never argued with her, instead grovelling to meet her every demand.
Raising his eyes to the sky he asked, "Calix, do you mind giving up your suit?" He raised his hand to his chin, scratching his beard in an over exaggerating gesture, before looking at her with hard eyes and saying, "I do mind."
She scowled at him, before quickly rearranging her face and waving her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Fine, it does not matter. You can take me to the south-eastern suite.”
He let out a short bark of laughter. “I don’t think so, Ida will take you,” he said, gesturing to a middle-aged woman peering around the door of the keep.
Ida gave a start of surprise and tentatively came toward Krysos, never taking her wide eyes from her. Without another word, Calix turned on his heels and strode back to the south-western tower. Krysos opened her mouth to berate him for his rudeness, but changed her mind, she didn’t call after mortals. Instead she gestured for Ida to show her to her rooms.
They crossed the courtyard to the south-eastern tower. Ida wrenched open the heavy metal-studded wooden door and they climbed the twisting stairs. At the top of the stairs another heavy door opened onto a high-ceilinged presence chamber which was scattered with comfortable chairs and a fireplace to one side. A set of double doors beyond lead to a huge bed chamber. The bed was draped in silky white fabric, a beautifully intricate tapestry on the wall depicting sun rise, and large windows and doors that opened onto a balcony which overlooked the now golden forest.
“Would you like me to fetch you a bath?” Ida asked from the stairwell door.
Being a goddess Krysos didn’t get dirty, however she had found a fondness for the mortal bathing.
“Yes, with Crocus flower water.”
Ida bowed and backed out of the room, closing the doors softly behind her.
***
Calix was shovelling rabbit stew into his mouth at the head table in the large stone dining hall. Nicholas, his second in command, was giving him a run down on the afternoons training in between mouthfuls of bread.
“And the Seventh Division has polished up their archery. Theo’s been working them hard this past month.”
Calix glanced at him to nod but seeing Nicholas had sprayed bread crumbs all over the table he scowled instead and turned his focus back to the stew.
“I was thinking we could do a…”
The hall hushed. Calix raised his eyes to the hall door. She stood in the centre of the opening, her golden eyes roving the hall. She looked straight at him and he felt his stomach clench.
“Waoh…she’s beautiful,” Nicholas breathed.
Calix just snorted and returned his gaze to the stew, but he could feel her moving toward him. She swept through the middle of the hall, heads turning to follow her. He could smell the sweet honey-like scent of Crocus flowers as she approached the table.
“I will be taking your seat,” she demanded.
He raised his eyes to protest, but found her looking at Nicholas, who’d gone pink.
“O-o-of course,” Nicholas stammered, grabbing his plate a moving into the empty chair next to him. Calix rolled his eyes and returned to his stew.
She strode around the table and took her seat. Scowling at the breadcrumbs Nicolas had sprayed over the table, she flicked her wrist and a warm breeze blew the crumbs away. A server appeared, placing a spiced vegetable soup in front of her. She took a sniff, and liking what she smelled, grabbed a spoon and started eating in silence.
Eventually the babble in the hall returned. Only then did she turn to him.
“I need a horse,” she demanded.
His eyebrows came together as he looked at her. “Why do you need a horse?” he shot back.
She raised her eyebrow at him. “I don’t need to explain myself to mortals.”
“You do if you’re going to use one of my horses,” he said through gritted teeth.
She flipped her hair at him. “I’m going for a twilight ride.”
“No, you’re not.”
She stared at him. He could feel her golden eyes burning through the side of his head, but he ignored her and shovelled another spoonful of stew in his mouth. Her chair scrapped against the stone floor, and she stormed back down the hall, a ripple of thunderous air following her.
At least she was finally learning who ran this castle he thought with a smug smile. But before he’d finished his next mouthful, he heard the rattle of hooves on the cobblestoned courtyard. He jumped over the table, knocking the last of his stew on the floor, and took off down the hall.
He bolted into the courtyard just in time to see the sentries scatter as she forced open the small guards entrance with another flick of her wrist. She thundered toward the opening, hair streaming behind her. She glanced back at Calix with a mischievous grin before a gust of wind took her and the horse in an impossible jump over the river and she was gone.
***
Read The Gods Part Two - Kipos Gardens now!