“And Athene will go back to Olympos?” We started walking, following the crowd.

“I expect so. But she’ll probably be around from time to time as well. I can ask her if you like.”

“And Jathery?” Sokrates asked.

“Jathery is going to spend time in service to Hermes and to Father. I’ll definitely stay around as long as Jathery does, or if gla comes back. I’ll keep a close eye on everything gla does here,” I said. “I’d have protected Hilfa last night if he’d said something to me instead of hiding in the bathroom. I’m fairly sure Athene would have taken his side too.”

Sokrates ran his fingers through his hair, which already looked like a lamb that had pushed through a thorn hedge. “What do I do if Jathery causes a problem we can’t deal with and you aren’t there?”

“Pray to me,” I said. “I’ll hear a prayer from you and come to that instant. But I don’t think Jathery will be a problem. Gla knows that I know about gla now, and this is my planet. I think with freeing the Saeli and setting up the pod, gla probably has what gla wants.”

“This pod will be very interesting, all these young people. An entirely new experience. Zeus should be happy!”

I laughed. I loved Sokrates so much. He could always surprise me. “I’m glad you’re pleased.”

“I liked the way Marsilia dealt with the problem. She’s really smart, and decisive, but also very down-to-earth and political. She doesn’t have Simmea’s talent for thinking things through.”

“No,” I agreed. “Thetis has some of Simmea’s social abilities. She’s wonderful at setting people at ease. But she also gets easily upset, you saw her wailing the other night.”

“Yes,” he said. I caught sight of Thetis, Jason and Hilfa, who were standing together, all holding hands, pressed against the glass of the big lounge where you can watch the shuttles land. “Crocus told me Simmea was killed in an art raid.”

“I have missed her every day since,” I said. Marsilia and Diotima, with Arete and Crocus, were getting ready to go out and greet the space humans. “She wouldn’t let me save her. I was going to kill myself so I could come back in my proper form and heal her, but she told me not to be an idiot and pulled the arrow out.”

“She must have wanted you to learn about grief while you could,” he said.

“I wish you’d been here, because it took me months and Ficino’s death in battle to figure that out.”

“Ficino died in battle?” Sokrates looked surprised. “I didn’t know he could fight! How old was he?”

“He was ninety-nine, and he couldn’t fight, as it happens. But he put himself between Arete and a blade. So I started asking what Simmea would value that much.”