The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy



“And one of the children of the God of Darkness," I murmur, frowning, likewise staring into space. "Ole Darkie."

Jackson laughs at the Goddess's nickname for her ex. "And he's got enough of those to choose from," he murmurs. "So we'll maybe never know." "Wait, what?" I say, sitting up a bit to peer down at him. "How many children does he have?"

"Like, a lot, Ariel," Jackson replies, frowning up at me. "Famously."

"What!?"

Jackson laughs lightly, pulling me down against him. "You need to study your religious texts, Clark," he murmurs, brushing his lips again over my hair. "This is your nation's religion too."

"I don't study religion," I say, shaking my hair haughtily back, making my voice hoity-toity and smug. "I am religion - I am a demigoddess, after all." He laughs at me, his eyes crinkling, because even if I am kidding and making bold excuses for my ignorance, it's...kind of true.

"Come on, Jacks," I say with a happy sigh, settling back down against him. "Explain. I am ignorant and wanting of knowledge of what is, apparently, my own family tree. Enlighten me."

"Okay,” my mate says, pulling me tight. "But listen up, because I'm not explaining it twice -"

“You'll explain it as many times as I demand, supplicant,” I growl, trying to do my best to embody bossy goddess energy. But Jackson's soft laughter just lets me know how deeply I've failed. "Okay, I'll listen," I say with a grin, snuggling against him. "But talk fast, because I'm sleepy."

"Yes, highness," he murmurs. "So, the God of Darkness, as we all know, is...obsessed with your Grandmother. In some tellings of the mythology they're mates, in others they're just like...mas, both drawn to each other or opposed inevitably according to whichever pole of the ma they've got turned towards each other at the time."

I nod, weirdly understanding this and considering that for the past few hundred years or so - if not thousands - those poles have been stridently opposed.

“But when the Goddess pulls away, the stories say, he gets incredibly jealous. And he takes out that jealousy by...having a lot of affairs. Trying to make her jealous in turn."

"Scandalous," I whisper, a little delighted at the cosmic drama of it all.

“Mmhmm,” Jacks murmurs, continuing. “And a lot of those affairs have resulted in kids. Some of them are just...normal kids – humans, wolves. Some of them are demigods, like you," I wiggle my shoulders back, preening, pleased to be included, "and some are...very nearly full-on Gods, thought never on his or the Goddess's level."

"How does that happen?" I murmur, frowning. "Like...I can see how you'd make a demigod, but who are these near-Gods' mothers?"

"I don't really know," Jackson says with a shrug. "It all gets very...out of our realm of understanding. We exist in a completely different plane than they do."

I sigh, attempting to make peace with my lack of knowledge and failing a bit.

"Some of the near-Gods are morenoveldrama

famous and powerful than others," Jackson says, a bit absent, getting lost in his thoughts. "Especially the older ones. His two eldest children and the ones that I think the e Goddess your grandmother is most bitter about – are twins. They're frequently referred to religiously as the God of Death and the Goddess of Life."

"What?" I breathe, fascinated and confused.

"Yeah," Jackson says, turning his face to me. "They were born together, meant to be two sides of the same coin. Neither good or bad just..." he shrugs. "Different. And the God of Death resides in the Underworld, which is another realm within the Land of Darkness where...I think you went today. And the Goddess of Life lives here, amongst us, though she...rarely takes form. They work together, passing souls in and out of our reality as they're born and die."

"Ugh, this is all really weird," I

whisper, reaching up and pressing the heels of my palms tight against my eyes, attempting to stop my

mind from spinning around allomet

these strange new facts. "So, do you think that's who my grandmother was talking about when she said the provenance of your gifts? The God of Darkness's oldest children?"