Chapter 23

Athena's POV

Locros gave me a cup of lotus tea and said, "Here." I picked up the cup and looked at the hot brown liquid that was steaming in it. As my hands shook, small ripples came to the surface of the liquid. Locros put his hand under the cup to steady it, then took the cup and put it to my lips. I only took a very small sip. Even though the hot tea burned my tongue, I didn't do anything about it.

Locros did notice it, though. He still had that strange look on his face as he puzzledly looked at me and blew on my tea to cool it down a bit. During that time, his eyes never left me. We were in my wing's small kitchen at the time. After calming me down and wiping away my tears, he carried me here. Even though I looked calm on the outside, I was still bleeding inside from the wound Lucian had given me.

I would sometimes let out a small sob, and tears would run down my face. Locros would worry even more, and he would always reach out to wipe away my tears. He tried hard to make me feel