Pippa was dazed. As the lightning storm stopped as quickly as it had started, a new storm – a storm of feelings – swirled inside her. Zeph – her Zeph – had won! He had proved them all wrong. He had flown the fastest!
But she had lost.
She circled Kerauno down and landed on the outcrop where Bellerophon was standing. The great groom’s eyes were wide with disbelief.
Bas was already there with Zeph, his mask off, a look of horror upon his face.
‘We won?’ Bas sounded incredulous.
‘You won?’ snorted Sophia, joining them with Ajax.
‘Zeph!’ shouted Pippa. She slid off Kerauno’s back and ran to the little horse, kissing his nose and sputtering in the same breath. ‘I knew you could do it! But, oh, what have you done?’
Zeph didn’t seem to care, only wanting to nuzzle Pippa.
Pippa cradled his head and stroked his nose as the other riders landed behind her. ‘I should have trusted you.’
Bellerophon strode over, his cane pounding the ground with each step. ‘There are a hundred rules and a hundred ways to break them. But this? I’ve never seen this!’
‘I-I thought it was the only way,’ stammered Pippa. ‘The Fates—’
‘I told you not to listen to them!’ Bellerophon cursed. ‘You’ll be punished, you have to be. The race needs rules! You think you can choose a horse better than the gods? Why, you might as well have flown to their palace and seated yourself on a throne!’
‘Isn’t that what you tried to—’ started Pippa. Bellerophon pounded the ground again with his cane but said nothing.
‘And there was lots of rule breaking,’ continued Pippa. ‘Everyone was—’
‘Everyone was not switching horses,’ stormed Bellerophon, finding his tongue.
‘Ares will be furious,’ cried Bas, in a panic. ‘If Kerauno had won, even with you on his back, Pippa, that would have meant Ares had won. He wouldn’t have cared that it wasn’t me riding. But now …’
Bas was right.
‘Foul! Foul!’ Ares had left the stands and was now on the ledge, shaking his spear in the air. His face was red, his hair wet from the storm. ‘That’s my rider, but that’s not my horse.’
‘And that’s my horse, but not my rider,’ called out a woman’s voice. Behind Ares strode a goddess.
She was wearing a long chiton that was neither dyed nor decorated, and her hair fell down her back in wet tangles. No black kohl emphasized her eyes or exaggerated her eyebrows. No beetroot flushed her cheeks or lips. She was not wearing rings or mulberry clusters in her ears. Her mask had made her out to be prettier. She was surprisingly plain. If it wasn’t for the rose decorating her fan, and the fact she stood taller than any mortal, Pippa might not have known it was her, the goddess of love.
‘This is not what I expected,’ said Aphrodite. Her face was twisted with emotion, and Pippa could not tell if the goddess was about to cry or laugh.
Ares pointed his spear at the great groom. ‘Bellerophon, were you not overseeing our riders? How did you let such a thing occur?!’
Bellerophon pulled at his hair. He looked unsure of what to say, afraid of the god’s wrath.
‘If these children have bent the rules, don’t blame him,’ said Aphrodite.
‘Then I shall blame you!’ cried Ares. He swung his arm and flung his spear. From it burst more spears that shot through the air towards the goddess.
With a grand sweep of her fan, Aphrodite conjured a wall of roses that climbed from earth to air, blocking the spears. They fell to the ground with a clatter.
‘SILENCE!’ ordered Zeus. He leapt from the platform down to the ledge, landing so hard it seemed like the rocky outcrop might crumble away.
‘Why are you two fighting again? What in mortal’s mayhem is going on?!’
Despite the rain, his beard was still as big as a treetop. His eyes sparked like lightning.
Fear coursed through Pippa as she gazed up at the mighty god.
She should have listened to Sophia. What was going to happen now? Zeus was angry – furious – at Ares and Aphrodite most of all, it seemed, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t exact his wrath on them, the mortals. There were plenty of examples of that. Zeus could do anything. Make them endlessly roll a stone up a mountain – or even turn them to stone!
Riders and horses, gods and goddesses, nymphs and dryads alike grew silent and still. Even the mountain itself was quiet.
‘Tell us what happened here,’ Zeus demanded, shaking the golden crown. Pippa could see now that it was made of three interwoven golden feathers. ‘Who is to blame? Who must be punished?’
Ares opened his mouth, but Zeus hushed him. ‘Not you – I’ve heard enough from you. The mortals! What have you to say for yourselves?’
Pippa could see Bas was near tears.
‘It’s my fault!’ she burst out.
‘Really?’ said Zeus, his eyebrows rising.
‘Let me explain …’ she started, but her voice stuck in her throat. She looked up at Zeus. His eyebrows were relaxed now and the flash of lightning in his eye seemed more like a twinkle. She saw him glance up at the sky then touch a feather pinned to his robes. It was a winged-horse feather, but bright as a star. Was it from Pegasus, his first horse? Zeus must have been going to visit Pegasus when she saw him flying the other night. Maybe the feather was a way to remember the steed when Zeus had to tend to business on Mount Olympus. He must really love Pegasus, just like she loved Zeph.
And that gave Pippa hope and courage. Maybe Zeus, all-powerful as he was, would understand.
‘Let … let me explain,’ Pippa started again. ‘We switched horses. Bas didn’t want to win. He wants to go home. I love Zeph – Zephyr. I want to stay here with him. So I thought that if we switched horses, I would win on Kerauno and he would lose on Zeph.’
‘But how then did Zephyr win?’ asked Zeus.
They all looked at Zeph, who was nuzzling Pippa’s hand. She shook her head. ‘I don’t know. Maybe it was the lightning …’
‘It was love,’ said Aphrodite emphatically. ‘Don’t you see? Zephyr saw Pippa and flew to be by her side. Love should be rewarded. Besides, it is my horse that won, is it not? The right thing to do is for Zephyr to win and to allow Hippolyta to stay with him here.’
Ares stomped his foot. ‘But that mortal didn’t win! You can’t reward her. Or that pathetic creature!’
‘Zeus won’t choose war over love,’ snapped Aphrodite.
A look of frustration passed over Zeus’s face. ‘Can’t? Won’t? How dare you presume! I choose what I wish.’
Zeph snorted. His ears were turned back. Pippa could tell he didn’t like the arguing. ‘Shhh,’ she murmured, her own breath tight.
Zeus stared piercingly at both of them. ‘Love, hmm …’ he muttered, stroking his beard.
Pippa’s hand went in her chiton, reaching for her coin. Please, she thought. Please …
‘I choose –’ the king of the gods paused dramatically – ‘neither! Send the two mortals back to Earth – at once!’
‘So we both lose?’ cried Ares.
‘Hush, Ares—’ started Aphrodite.
‘This is all your fault!’ The two began, once again, to argue.
Bas looked elated, but Pippa felt as if Zeus had actually turned her to stone. But this was worse. She would never see Zeph again. She threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his mane. She couldn’t leave him. Not after everything. She looked over defiantly at Zeus, whose attention was on the arguing pair.
‘No!’ she said.
‘No?’ Zeus boomed. He looked away from Ares and Aphrodite and glared at Pippa. His eyes flashed red.
What have I done? Pippa clutched Zeph’s neck.
‘You dare challenge me? For a horse?’
‘Yes,’ said Pippa, barely believing the words coming out of her mouth. ‘For a horse. For Zeph.’
Zeus looked like he was about to say something, but instead he touched his feather again, and his expression softened. He gave Aphrodite a nod. ‘Now that is love. You may be a mortal, but you have a mighty heart. Bah,’ he sighed, ‘take the horses with you. I’ve had enough of troublemakers for more than a mortal’s lifetime!’
Ares groaned with displeasure, but Pippa’s heart swelled.
Had Zeus really just banished Zeph with her? As he waved his hand to enforce his decree, Kerauno reared up.
With a sharp screeching whinny, like the sound of a thousand dying crows, the black horse lurched into the air and sped off into the sky.
Zeus sighed again and rubbed his temples. ‘So be it! Let that one banish himself. Come, riders, it is time to feast. Not you,’ he said to Bas and Pippa. He glanced at Aphrodite. ‘Take them away.’
‘But someone needs to win!’ roared Ares.
Zeus paused. ‘I do need a new horse to carry my lightning bolts,’ he said. ‘Very well. The first two places are disqualified. The winner of the race is Athena’s horse, Ajax. Zeus has spoken!’
Ares cried out in rage and stormed off.
Pippa looked over at Sophia, still astride Ajax, who stood so proudly he almost glowed. Was Sophia proud too? It had not been a clear victory, but Sophia’s grin told Pippa how happy she was. After all, she had chosen not to cheat. She and Ajax had won fairly.
Pippa smiled.
‘Goodbye, Sophia,’ she whispered.
Sophia smiled back. ‘Farewell,’ she mouthed.
Aphrodite took Zeph’s reins and gestured for Pippa and Bas to follow. ‘Come. Come with me. Quickly, before he changes his mind.’
Pippa would miss the feast and the grand celebration, when Nikomedes flew into the sky and became a constellation near Pegasus. She’d miss Ajax taking his place by Zeus’s side. Most of all though, she’d miss Sophia. But no one deserved to win more than she and Ajax, both honourable and wise, and her friends besides.