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needed my parents, and the only way to find them was with the teams. They were the strongest, and most powerful amongst the descendants. Their sight, intuition, and strengths were keen.
    “I understand,” I nodded. “I will dispatch the teams and every elder will be safeguarded.”
    “How? Our children are the only members who can sense when we are in distress?” Lucien’s words spilled out in a shocked tempo. I looked over at Evan. He nodded, adding some reassurance.
    “I guarantee your safety. All of you,” Evan promised the elders. He would stay behind to guard them.
    “For how long?” Lucien asked, looking away from Evan and glaring at me. The look of anxiety on the elder’s faces proved that they didn’t trust me.
    “I can’t answer that,” I said, solemnly. However, my mind was made up.
    “Lord Evander, forgive me if I offend you in anyway, as it is not my intention. I speak for all my fellow elders when I say that we do trust that your objective is to keep us safe. We have no doubts. However, we feel that your response may not be as swift as our children’s.” Lucien stared at me. “Suppose your parents aren’t found?” He asked, as his voice trembled slightly.
    “They will be found,” I declared. The high pitch of my voice rang in my ears. I felt Evan’s eyes piercing through my profile. I didn’t want to appear angered by the member’s lack of support in locating their former leaders my parents or the fact that they didn’t trust me. Their objections were out of fear. “My father was your Emperor. He deserves the most thorough search. The warriors will be dispatched at sunrise.”
    “Empress, you must reconsider. Now is not the time for a search considering the Apolluon’s increase in presence in the past few weeks,” Lucien bellowed. His thoughts were desperate.
    “I’ll put my faith in the warriors, you’re children. I would expect you to do the same. I know that they will be expeditious and successful.”
    “Empress –”
    “There’s no need to worry. You will all be safe.” I cut Lucien off, and fingered my medallion. The coolness of my medallion calmed me down a bit but I wasn’t budging. Not an inch.
    Where was their allegiance to my father, my mother, and to me? I read all sixteen of the elder’s thoughts. I was growing madder by the second with every notion that popped up in their heads.
    “I’ve already considered all that there is. My decision is final and in effect immediately. This meeting is over,” I said in a high-pitched voice, losing the battle to keep my anger concealed, proving his insult of me behaving hostile.
    “You don’t see the entire picture, Empress.” Christos, an elder and a descendant of Apollo, who had been quiet up until now, had made up his mind on me. I was too young and clueless.
    “The entire picture? Please paint it for me.” I demanded, staring at each elder with contempt.
     
    “She is not ready. She is not prepared for this great responsibility,” Delilah added. She was another elder and descendant of Hera – the matriarch Olympian goddess and Zeus’ sister and wife. Her face reddened as the violet shade of her eyes darkened to a smoldering gray. Unfortunately, at her age – fifty-five in Ischero years and over three hundred years old in mortal years, that was the extent of her power. Since Ischeros aged a year older by the decade, her skin was still fairly smooth and delicate, where you would expect to see decay. The color of her eyes shifted back to violet, and then to a brilliant turquoise – all the exotic colors a of a peacock’s tail. She was a true daughter of Hera.
    “Indeed she is not,” Lucien said, glaring at me. Now, the heat was building and spiraling within me, which was not for the best. I couldn’t allow them to get to me. I wouldn’t allow anything to deter the mission.
    “Empress Cordelia, your behavior is purely hostile. We feel that the delay in your anointment by Zeus may be hindering your