Chapter 18

After the Titans had gone Artemis beckoned Athena over to her tent. "What do you think?" she said, holding out a plain brown collar. "Do we need to decorate it? It looks a bit plain for a gift from a goddess. I'm just a bit worried that anything I do might interfere with the transmitter."

Athena took the collar from her and examined it closely. It appeared to be perfectly smooth. There was no obvious place for the transmitter to be. "Where is it?"

"Oh, it's integral. To tell you the truth, I'm not exactly sure how it works, but they're wonderful. With one of these I can track an animal for over a hundred miles."

"I don't know." Athena turned the collar over in her hand. It was very plain. On the other hand, adding decoration might make it uncomfortable to wear. "Could we paint it?"

"No, that would almost certainly bugger up the transmitter."

Athena put her head on one side and considered the collar. "A pendant? We could hang something from it and that wouldn't get in the way."

Artemis grinned. "Athena, you're a genius."

She bent over a pile of personal possessions thrown in the corner of the tent and began to rummage.

"How about this?" she said, triumphantly holding aloft a small ruby pendant on a gold chain. The jewel flashed as she swung it from one hand to the other.

"Perfect. Flashy and tasteless and not so big as to get in the way."

"Hey, steady with the flashy and tasteless, that's my favourite necklace. My aunt left it to me. It's a family heirloom. Worth a bloody fortune."

"Sorry," said Athena, but she was grinning. "Maybe we could find something else."

Mentally, she went over her own things. She didn't go in much for that sort of thing. She seemed to remember she had a charm bracelet once, but had no idea whether it had been brought from the ship with her other possessions.

"Just joking." Artemis gave her a friendly nudge. "It's a paste one I got from a gypsy market years ago."

She held it up to the light. "It'll do the job, though, won't it?" she said, with a smug smile.

Athena watched as Artemis took the jewel off its chain and attached it to the fastener on the collar. It transformed it into something worthy of a favoured prince.

"Wow, that's fantastic! Who would have thought it would have made such a difference?"

She rocked back on her heels. "Now what about Pandora?"

Pandora would have to have a gift. She was the queen of the tribe. You couldn't give Prometheus a present and not give one to her. It would be a deadly insult.

Once again Artemis rummaged amongst her things. She pulled something out and waved it aloft. "Ta-da!"

It was a party dress. Full length and multi-coloured.

Athena cracked out laughing. It was completely over the top. Pandora would love it.

"Right then." Artemis packed the dress and the collar in her rucksack and scrambled out of the tent. Athena followed.

"Suited up?"

Athena nodded.

"Then off we go!"

And the two girls walked nonchalantly as far as the spring, then picked up speed and ran to catch up with the Titans.

The Titans must have moved fast because they had already reached the cave when the girls got there. They were already hoisting sacks onto their backs.

"Wait!" Artemis shouted. The primitives turned as one and then dropped to their knees.

"Can't you stop them doing that?" Artemis hissed.

Athena shrugged. "They think I'm a goddess. We want them to go on thinking that, don't we? If the collar is going to work?"

"I suppose so."

Pandora, who alone was still upright, came forward. She was just being Pandora, not the Mother.

"What is it?"

Athena stepped up to her. "We bring you gifts."

She turned to Artemis, who had taken off her rucksack and was now pulling out the rainbow dress. Pandora's eyes widened and Athena glimpsed the look of greed which passed over her face before her expression closed down and the Mother took over. She held out her arms in an imperious gesture and Athena took the dress from Artemis and passed it to Pandora. As she placed it in Pandora's outstretched arms, she felt a strange sensation, a thrumming, passing through the dress and invading her whole body. She tried to snatch her fingers away but they were locked onto the dress, which began to pulse with a raw, strident light. Pandora, the Mother, was staring at her with a dark intensity.

Athena felt rather than heard the collective gasp of the primitives as multi-coloured light flashed from the dress and lit up the cave, bouncing off the walls in a carnival display.

"Aaaaahhh!"

Athena felt her legs tremble and for a moment thought they might give way. Something was passing from her to Pandora no, not Pandora the Mother. She could feel the incredible power of the ancient creature as it seemed to look into her very soul. A low moan escaped her lips. But the feeling passed and the creature looked away from her and at the gown it held in its arms. She held the gown up above her head, where it continued to flash in a multitude of colours.

"Thank you. The gift is most acceptable."

Athena fought the almost overwhelming urge to kneel before the creature. Power seemed to radiate from her as she stood triumphantly holding the robe above her head.

What have we done? she wondered. Have we given her more than just a dress? I felt as if she were draining me. I feel as if she knows all about me and I know nothing about her.

"Athena!" Artemis was tugging her arm. She looked round. The collar - of course. The whole point of this was the collar. She took it from Artemis and held it out to Prometheus, who was still on his knees, looking up in awe at the myriad colours dancing around the cave walls.

"Rise, Prometheus, Bearer of Fire."

Prometheus shook his head as if he were shaking water from his hair and then slowly stood up. Athena felt his confusion and fear and she understood perfectly. She was feeling pretty confused and afraid herself.

Standing, Prometheus was several inches taller than she was and she had to stretch up to put the collar round his neck.

"I give you this torque to show that you are under my protection." As she closed the fastener such a bolt of power shot out of the collar that she pulled her fingers back to escape the fire. Multi-coloured lights ran flashing round the collar, pulsing and thrumming. Prometheus' eyes widened with surprise, but he did not drop to the ground, nor did it appear to be causing him any pain. The other primitives were still kneeling and making a thin, keening noise. Athena glanced sideways at Artemis who was looking as overawed as the rest of them.

The moment seemed to last forever, hanging in space and time, then, as suddenly as it had started, the lights died down and the thrumming noise stopped. Athena looked at the gown in Pandora's hands. It had reverted to its original rainbow colours. But the torque ? the collar she had given Prometheus ? was a rich, glowing gold.

Athena and Artemis exchanged glances. Will it still work? Artemis caught the thought easily and shrugged. Who knows?

And underlying their thoughts. What in the name of heaven was that?

Neither of them knew.