"This is great." Brody burped and reached for another roasted chicken leg. "The banquet food is really good."
Markos nodded, but he didn't answer. His mouth was full of olives.
The two of them had found a spot on one of the sofas.
They were lounging on some comfortable pillows and tasting every type of food the servants brought them.
"Brody, Markos!" a familiar voice called.
Glancing up from his food, Brody saw Heracles coming toward them with a big smile on his face.
Iphicles was right behind his brother, looking bored.
"Hi," Brody greeted them. He waved a hand at the sofa. "Want to hang out with us?"
"Hang out?" Heracles looked confused, but he sat down with Brody and Markos.
"It's nice to see some friendly faces here." He chuckled.
"Everyone else seems to view me as the enemy."
"I suppose that's mostly Zeus' fault," Iphicles said.
He shot a look at Zeus, who was halfway across the room talking with some other gods.
Just then Hera stepped to the center of the room and called for attention.
"I trust you're all having a good time," she said.
"Yeah!" Brody yelled out. Dionysus raised his goblet and whooped loudly.
A few of the other guests cheered.
"Good, good." Hera's sharp eyes swept the room. "I'd like to propose a toast.
My servants will bring out fresh drinks for everyone, but don't taste them yet. First, I wish to say a few words."
"A few?" Zeus called out. "I've never known you to be brief, wife."
Hera ignored him. "I merely wish to say I look forward to the coming contest.
It's a chance for our mortal champions to take part in a glorious tradition, displaying both their skills and their good sportsmanship . . ."
There was more after that, but Brody stopped paying attention.
Instead he focused on choosing the ripest grapes and figs from the tray a servant had left for him and his companions.
Most of the other party guests didn't seem to be listening either.
Markos was watching the servants distribute fresh goblets while Iphicles picked his teeth.
Artemis was sitting on the next section of the sofa, stroking her dogs and crooning to them.
Nearby, Dionysus was shoving bread and fruit into his mouth.
Zeus was lounging on a sofa across the room, his head resting on one hand.
Brody wondered if the king of the gods was taking a nap while his wife spoke.
However, Heracles seemed to be paying attention to what Hera was saying.
So did Athena, who nodded and smiled every time Hera mentioned sportsmanship or fair play.
"Your drink, sir." A servant pressed a cup into Brody's hand.
"Thanks, dude." Brody was thirsty after all that food.
He made a move to lift the cup to his lips, but the servant stopped him with a hand on the arm.
"Begging your pardon, sir," the servant murmured.
"The queen of the gods wishes for everyone to drink only when she gives the word."
"Oh, right." Brody had forgotten that Hera was making some kind of big toast.
The servant handed another cup to Heracles, who nodded his thanks.
"Do you have a beverage for me?" Markos asked.
"Uh . . ." The servant looked him over. "I do not, but perhaps that servant does."
He gestured to another man, who was also carrying a tray of drinks.
"That was kind of rude," Brody said after the first servant moved on.
"That guy had plenty of goblets left.
I wonder why he wouldn't give you one."
Markos shrugged. "Never mind. The other servant is coming this way."
Sure enough, the second servant soon arrived and handed drinks to Markos and Iphicles.
Meanwhile Brody sniffed his cup. "Wow, what is this stuff?" he asked. "It smells awesome!"
Markos sniffed his own cup. "I don't smell anything unusual," he muttered.
Brody licked his lips. "Well, mine smells great!"
He looked at Hera, who was still addressing the crowd.
He hoped she’d finish soon. If he had to wait much longer to taste his amazing-smelling drink, he'd go crazy!
At last Hera seemed to run out of things to say.
"All right, I suppose that's enough from me," she said.
"Hear, hear!" Zeus cheered.
Hera shot him a sour look. "Does everyone have a fresh drink?"
The crowd held up their goblets, and Hera's thin lips twisted into an odd smile.
"Excellent!" She snapped her fingers, and a servant hurried over and handed her a goblet.
Hera lifted it into the air to make a toast. "To the spirit of sportsmanship!"
"Hear, hear!" Athena exclaimed, sounding much more sincere than Zeus had.
"Drink up, my friends!" Hera said.
Brody lifted his cup, eager to do just that.
"Cheers, everybody." The cup was about to touch his lips—
"Stop!"
A boy Brody had never seen before dodged through the crowd and knocked the cup out of Brody's hand!
"Hey!" Brody exclaimed in annoyance.
The liquid inside the cup splashed all over the cushions and floor.
One of Artemis' hunting dogs trotted over and licked at the spilled drink.
The boy didn't stop moving. Leaping toward Heracles, the stranger knocked Heracles' cup away as well.
"What do you think you're doing?" Brody grabbed the boy's arm, spinning him closer.
To his amazement, he found himself staring into a pair of fierce, familiar eyes.
"It's me, you dummy!" Julia hissed, yanking her new, short hair lower over her forehead.
"But what—why . . .?" Brody stammered.
Just then there was a fresh shout of alarm.
"Aah!" Iphicles was staring at Artemis' dog, the one that had been lapping up Brody's spilled drink.
The creature was swaying unsteadily and whining with confusion.
Then it fell over and lay still.