Pirithous blanched. “I don’t— Wait. What?”
“Ask your friend Laverna,” Hazel said. “She knows these two.”
“Laverna is here?” The brother cackled, his voice now more malicious than melodic. “Where are you, girl? Get over here!”
Laverna trudged over, her expression sour. With her sack over her shoulder and leaning on a new iron pole, she looked like Santa’s evil sister after a hard night’s work abducting naughty children.
Meanwhile, Kelli and her giants had finally succeeded in uncovering the wagon. When Pirithous saw this, he seemed to relax, his face regaining some of its old smugness.
“Laverna,” he said, “by the oath that binds you, I command you to tell me who these two…guests are.”
Hazel got the feeling he wanted to use a less polite word thanguests. She didn’t know what oath Pirithous was talking about, but his command seemed to cause the goddess physical pain.
“The sister is Apate,” she said. “Spirit of deception. The brother is her counterpart: Dolus, god of trickery and guile.”
Apate leered at her. “Awww, and we were having such fun! You used to be a better sport, Laverna. What are you doing working with this puffed-up pretender, anyway?”
Pirithous’s face was a mottled red. “Youliedabout being gods of truth?”
Dolus grinned. “That’s kind of what we do.”
“They look exactly like Truth and Honesty,” Laverna muttered. “The only way you can tell the difference”—she gestured at their spindly floating legs—“is that this pair can’t stand on their own two feet.”
“We save atonon shoes, though,” Apate said, winking at Pirithous. “Now, Mister Chief Justice Person, perhaps you could explain why you threw this little party, because it sure wasn’t to wake us up from our long slumber. Welikethe Mist. It tricks people. We tend to notice when someonebreaksit.”
Mary Tudor and Tantalus were now trying to hide behind each other, like they were playing some weird game of tag. Kelli stood by her cart, apparently waiting for a command. The rest of the crowd remained motionless, entranced by the two beautiful liars who appeared on the verge of doing something violent and possibly entertaining.
“It’s a trap,” Hazel blurted out. “You should leave right now.”
The twins regarded her.
“But weliketraps,” said Dolus.
“Adore them,” Apate agreed. “Especially since they don’t work on us. But I tell you what, child, since you seem to be the only one here with a functioning brain: once Pirithous answers our questions and fails to trap us, I’ll let you decide how we cook him—Cajun spice or extra crispy, hmm?”
“Yum!” said Dolus. “Now hush and let the adults talk.”
They returned their attention to Pirithous, who seemed to be having trouble swallowing.
“I—I was not lying,” Pirithous stammered. “My plan is exactly what I said.”
“It was all Pirithous’s idea!” Queen Mary shrieked.
“He forced us!” Tantalus added.
Apate smiled amiably at the two judges. “Well, good. Then we don’t need you.” She snapped her fingers, and Mary and Tantalus turned to dust.
Maybe this should have pleased Hazel, but all the hair rose on her arms. She reached for Asterion’s hand. She could hear the rustle of Quinoa’s leafy wings as he trembled in Arielle’s arms.
Hazel wondered if she and her friends could find a way to leave now, and let Pirithous face the ramifications of his actions alone. But she didn’t want to draw any attention. Also, she couldn’t abandon the other imprisoned mythics, or put mortals in even worse danger. She had a feeling these twins were not particular about who they turned extra crispy.
“Whoops!” Apate regarded the piles of judge dust she’d made and giggled like a child at a birthday party. “Laverna, my old friend, perhaps you could tell us the nature of Pirithous’s trap, and why you are serving such an inferior being.”
“Laverna,” Pirithous countered, “you will say nothing.”
The goddess of thieves looked so torn Hazel thought her head might come off again. Laverna opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
“Well then,” Dolus sighed. “I guess we don’t need you, either.”
