Thrice Bound

by Roberta Gellis

  Actually, it wasn't the pretense that Hekate had a dog to sell that annoyed Artemis; it was because Hekate had brought a male who wasn't part of Artemis' family into Artemis' presence without invitation that they were nearly skewered with arrows. But not immediately. At first all had gone well. They had had no trouble following the woman's directions and finding Artemis' house, as all they had to do was continue to the end of the market, turn right on the lane there, and enter the first paved path to the left. There was a gate with a finely wrought bell, which Hekate rang.

  The servant who came down the wide portico steps to answer was an older woman, gray-haired and with thin-drawn lips. She glanced at Hekate, began to shake her head, then looked down at Kabeiros, smiled, and opened the gate. As they entered, a cacaphony of howls and barks could be heard coming from somewhere behind the house.

  "You have a dog to sell," the servant said—not a question but a statement, as if this was a common occurrence.

  "Only to show Lady Artemis," Hekate said, ignoring Kabeiros' urging that she agree. She found she could not even pretend such an idea.

  "You can wait in there."

  The servant pointed to a chamber that opened through a wide arch from the entry hall. Obediently Hekate walked in, drew breath, and stopped dead. Straight ahead a tiny stream ran, falling out of the back wall of the place, which seemed to be of rough stone with plants growing from crevices. Across the stream, a doe and two fawns bent to drink. Behind them, a little distance away, a stag with magnificent antlers stood with raised head.

  From a dense thicket of bushes, which masked the wall to Hekate's right, eyes gleamed. After a moment's study, she made out rough brown fur and a hulking shape . . . a bear. Nearer, just at the edge of the thicket, a fox crouched. On the far left was a grove of young birches, which stretched to shadowy distance, among which were more deer; that, however, was only a painting.

  *It isn't real,* Kabeiros said, his nose twitching.

  *Perhaps not, but it is magnificent workmanship. I wonder who made it?*

  *You can ask. It's a harmless enough question.*

  Before Hekate could answer, footsteps sounded in the entryway and a tall, broad-shouldered but very beautiful woman came through the arch. Her hair was a golden-brown, elaborately dressed in braids and curls but caught up on top and close to the sides of her head so it would not get in the way. Her eyes were almost the color of her hair, large and almond-shaped with thick, straight lashes. The nose was perfect, straight, with delicate nostrils. If there was any fault, it was in the mouth, which was well-formed but held too tightly.

  She wore a gown of thick, gleaming, white fabric. Silk, Hekate thought, like the cloth that came to Colchis from far to the east. The gown was pinned on the left shoulder to leave the right arm bare, like that of the woman who gave them directions in the market, but the skirt was kilted up well above the knees for ease in running. On her feet were tall huntsman's boots, much like those Hekate had discarded. A quiver of arrows hung from the golden belt at her waist, and a short, dangerous looking horn bow drooped from one hand.

  She looked first at Kabeiros, a quick glance, then at Hekate, to whom she said, "What do you want for him?"

  "I . . ."

  "Oh, out with it! Whom do you want killed and why?"

  "Killed!" Hekate echoed, eyes wide with shock. "I don't want anyone killed. What a horrible thought. Are you the executioner of the gods?"

  Artemis stared at her, then suddenly laughed. "I suppose I am, in a way. All of us can kill, but I'm the one who's asked to do it." The smile that remained after the laugh ended was very bitter. Then she shrugged. "I don't mind killing, and the death I deal is always quick and painless." She smiled again. "Some of them don't like that."

  Hekate shook her head. "I beg your pardon, Lady Artemis, we seem to be here, Kabeiros and I, under false pretenses. I don't want anyone killed, and I haven't the right to sell Kabeiros."

  "Kabeiros, is it?" Artemis now gave her full attention to the hound. In a moment, her eyes widened. "That is no dog!" she exclaimed. "It is a man. In my house!"

  The bow lifted, an arrow, extracted from the quiver so quickly it seemed almost magical, was notched and aimed at Kabeiros, the bow drawn.

  "Teleia stigme!" Hekate spat, and pointed.

  Artemis froze into position.

  *What now?* Kabeiros asked, rising to his feet. *Does this mean that shape-shifting is forbidden in Olympus?*

  *I wouldn't jump to that conclusion,* Hekate said, walking over to Artemis. She touched the fingers bent around the bow and arrow and murmured, "Entautha monos thialuo teleia stigme," and removed the bow and arrow from Artemis' hands. *I would say this is one nasty lady who just doesn't like men.*

  *But she can't go around killing every man on sight,* Kabeiros protested.

  *No, no. I suspect it's only males that invade her territory that she kills. This is her house, after all. What's more important is that she saw at once what you were.*

  *Are you sure that isn't why she tried to kill me?*

  *Sure? No, I'm not. If that's true, we must leave—*

  *For where?* The hound stared up at her. The face showed little expression, but an angry despair emanated from his posture, the raised hackles, the lifted lip. *This was our last hope.*

  *No.* Hekate's mind voice was flat and ashamed. *We can go back to the caves of the dead. When you are a man, you are open to my magic. I didn't want to go back.* Her mind withdrew and she looked into the imaging of a forest scene. "I am afraid of Perses," she said aloud.

  *I don't want to go back to the caves of the dead,* Kabeiros said. *Perhaps it's true she hates men. If not, perhaps she is one who hates shape-shifting and not all feel as she does. What can we do to pacify her? Shall I go away? No, then she might exercise all her spite on you . . .*

  *How? I don't think she's accustomed to casting spells. It was her bow she reached for to inflict punishment. And she had no shields against my magic. That last might be an accident. It's possible Olympians don't bother with shields in their own homes, but I think they really don't use magic much.*

  Kabeiros came closer and smelled the arrow. His nose wrinkled. *The arrowheads are bespelled illusions.*

  *Bespelled how? What kind of illusion?*

  He sniffed again. *I don't know. It's not like a made spell. It's like . . . like something scented with a person's body.*

  *An essence of her Gift made into a spell? Could it be that these people don't know how to create spells? If so, I could barter for almost anything. What do you think she would trade for that freezing spell?*

  *Provided you could get her to listen instead of trying to kill you, almost anything she has.*

  Hekate sighed, then slowly dropped to her knees. She put the bow and arrows close beside her where Artemis could not easily grab them, then released the spell.

  Artemis immediately made the gesture of loosing the arrow from her bow and simultaneously shouted, "Opis!"

  "Please, Lady Artemis, forgive me," Hekate had time to say before another woman, garbed much like Artemis and with the same broad shoulders, burst through the arch, bow in hand. Hekate froze her and turned back to Artemis, who was staring with wide eyes and open mouth. "Please listen, Lady Artemis," Hekate pleaded. "I mean no harm. I didn't know it was forbidden to bring a man into your house, but even if I did know I would have had to bring Kabeiros. You see, that's why we sought you out, for your knowledge of dogs. The problem is that Kabeiros cannot be a man. He is bound to the form of the dog."

  "What did you do to my woman?" Artemis cried, ignoring what Hekate had said. "How did you get my bow?"

  "I took your bow from your hands while you were frozen as is your woman now. The spell does no harm. It is purely a defense. I beg you to forgive me for using it against you, but I couldn't let you kill Kabeiros. He is bound to the form of a dog, I tell you. No man has violated your house."

  "Bound to the form of a dog?" Artemis' glance flicked from her frozen woman to Kabeiros and
back to Opis. "Loose my woman," she said.

  "I have no desire to be shot," Hekate pointed out. "The arrow will fly before you can bid her not to shoot . . . if you bid her not to shoot. I'm afraid I must take her bow, as I took yours. Kabeiros, come sit on Lady Artemis' bow."

  "Don't touch the arrowheads. They are death," Artemis warned Kabeiros, then bit her lip and shook her head. "I forgot he's a man. I meant to save the dog."

  Kabeiros lolled out his tongue and sat down on the bow without touching the arrows at all. Hekate was pleased with his response. He was immune to magical spells—at least, she had not yet found one that affected him—but magic that was actually part of a Gift might be different.

  With Kabeiros watching Artemis, Hekate approached Opis and removed her bow as she had with Artemis. The "goddess" watched her with bright eyes, clearly fascinated.

  "You said words," she said, and then her eyes widened. "Are you a Titan?"

  "Thialuo," Hekate said, releasing Opis, and then to Artemis, "A Titan? What's that?"

  Opis had also completed the gesture of releasing her arrow and then stared open-mouthed at her empty hands. "It's all right," Artemis said to her with unexpected wry humor, "My `guest' is collecting bows."

  "She wants too much for the dog, does she?" Opis snarled, flexing her hands. "Shall I take him?"

  "It isn't a dog," Artemis said. "I don't want him." She contemplated Hekate for a moment, then added, "You can go, Opis." And, as she saw the worried doubt in her woman's eyes, smiled. "She wants me to turn her dog into a man. She won't try to harm me."

  She followed the woman to the archway, whispering in her ear, then came back and seated herself on a padded bench that pretended to be a fallen log. She gestured Hekate to another, which faced the painted wall. Hekate took the bows with her and set them on the bench together with the quivers. The arrowheads in Opis' quiver were ordinary bronze. Hekate thought about breaking the death-illusions of the arrowheads and then decided not to annoy or frighten Artemis with any further display of her ability.

  "You asked what a Titan was," Artemis said. "They were an ancient enemy of my people, vanquished and cast out of Olympus in the time of Kronos, Zeus' father. They did magic as you do, with words and gestures . . . created spells."

  "I am certainly no Titan if they lived in the time of Zeus' father. That was long before I was born."

  "Oh, there are still some Titans about, just not here in Olympus. Not very long ago, several attacked the outlying farms." She sneered. "Imagine attacking the helpless native slaves. I killed one of them right at the edge of the city." She hesitated, stared at Hekate calculatingly, and added, "His spells took much longer to cast than yours. He began one, but my arrow was quicker. The fool wasn't afraid of me. He said, `Little girl, go away,' and then that his name was Gration and he was about to reclaim the treasure from his grandfather's house. I wonder if there is a treasure there?"

  Hekate raised her brows. "Has no one looked?"

  "There's no way to get in. Oh, I suppose Zeus could blast the house . . . but perhaps his lightning would only destroy the house and not break the spell that binds it."

  "Is that the house near the shrine of the Mother?"

  Artemis' face stiffened. "Whose mother?"

  "An old shrine, abandoned," Hekate said, unwilling to start any argument. "After we passed it, we came to an overgrown path. The house was behind a hedge."

  "And you entered it?"

  "No, of course not. I don't go into houses uninvited, even those clearly long abandoned. I didn't know to whom it belonged and it wasn't my right to enter, but I admired it. It's a handsome house."

  "Very plain." Artemis wrinkled her nose. "Can you break the spell on it?"

  Hekate shrugged. "I might be able to. I don't know. I didn't examine the spell. That wouldn't have been right."

  "It's my right," Artemis said. "I killed Gration. His property is now mine."

  "If you give your permission, I would certainly be willing to examine the spell and see if I could undo it. If I can remove the wards, would you permit me to stay in the house after you had taken from it anything you wanted?"

  "Why should you want to stay in the house?"

  "I thought there might not be any inns in Olympus and Kabeiros and I might be here for ten-days or even moons. We would need a place to live while we looked for a solution to Kabeiros' problem. He wishes to be able to be a man sometimes."

  "He's better off as a dog."

  "Perhaps, but it's his body and he has a right to use it as he likes. We have come a long way to Olympus to discover if any of the gods can cure his affliction. You saw at once that he wasn't a dog. If you could cure him, Lady Artemis, I . . . I would give you anything, anything I have."

  "The freezing spell?" Artemis asked eagerly. "How could you give me a spell?"

  "Just as you can create from your Gift the illusion of an arrowhead that carries death, so I can form my spell in such a way that you can take it within yourself. When you wish to use it, you need only think of drawing it forth and say the key words to invoke it."

  "So I will have used it once, and then it will be gone. That's a small price to pay even for the use of Gration's house, not to mention anything else."

  "Well, I did intend to pay you a rental, but I can bind to the freezing spell another that will root it to your power. Then, when you use it, it will simply put forth another bud of itself. However, I warn you that it will draw from your power, and if you use it often, that might weaken you."

  "I will take the renewing spell instead of rental. If you have another spell that I think useful, perhaps I will sell the house to you."

  "Cure Kabeiros, Lady Artemis, and I will build spells to your order, any spell you desire!"

  There was a silence, after which Artemis shook her head.

  "Can't you forget he's a man and just think of him as a sick dog? I would—"

  *Don't annoy her, Hekate,* Kabeiros' mental voice was sharp and urgent. "It's not that she won't. It's that she can't. I can smell her fear and her confusion. And she can't admit she can't because she's supposed to be a goddess who can do anything.*

  "Forgive me, Lady Artemis," Hekate said, bowing her head. "You have your oaths and your bindings, of which I know nothing. Perhaps they forbid you to act in Kabeiros' case. I must bow to that. If, however, I can undo the spell on Gration's house and then transfer to you the freezing spell, would you be willing to introduce me to others who might be willing to help poor Kabeiros?"

  "If and if." Artemis' voice was sharp, but Hekate thought she was more defensive than angry. "There is some proving to be done before we consider rewards."

  "That is fair, Lady," Hekate replied calmly, but thought once she had undone the wards, she could slap them right back on, if Artemis planned to cheat her. "But it will take me some time to examine the spell and find a way—if I can find a way—to undo it. I don't think you would wish to stand and watch me while I work. Nor would you wish to leave me completely on my own at Gration's house. Perhaps it would suit you to send a servant, or more than one, with me to watch me. Then if I manage to unlock the wards, one servant could run to fetch you while the others made sure I didn't enter the house and take anything you might want."

  "You are a most sensible woman," Artemis said. "When will you be ready to begin?"

  "When I have eaten and rested, Lady Artemis. Kabeiros and I have walked a long way today."

  Artemis' eyes narrowed for a moment. "You can eat and rest here," she said, and then called again for Opis and told her to see to Hekate's refreshment. "And when she is ready, Opis, accompany her to Gration's house and see if she can break the spell that seals us out."

  CHAPTER 20

  The shield protecting Gration's house was a good one, but no better than Hekate could do on her own. It held one phrase that was of value because that phrase allowed the spell-caster to define the area to be shielded. However, Hekate thought Gration's spell could only be used in Olympus itself because it drew a
huge amount of power. That didn't matter where the blood of the earth welled in never-ending fountains and flowed into veritable lakes of power. Elsewhere such a spell could dry up its source of power very quickly.

  While she worked on Gration's spell, Hekate remained the guest of Artemis, Opis accompanying her to Gration's house and then back to Artemis'. She and Kabeiros were lodged in a comfortable room at the back of a long corridor that ran along the side of the woodland reception chamber. Hekate wasn't sure whether the hospitality was extended because Artemis suspected she would get into Gration's house alone and steal or because Artemis feared she would find another "god" who could cure Kabeiros and give that "god" her freezing spell. She asked no questions. She was safe and comfortable and well fed, as was Kabeiros.

  Artemis' behavior implied to Hekate that the Olympians did not trust one another nor anyone else. This would have made Hekate vastly uneasy, except that Artemis' house was open and unguarded. Plainly, while she suspected she might be cheated, Artemis didn't fear any attempt would be made to hurt her. Whether that forebearance would be extended to those who were not native Olympians, Hekate couldn't guess.

  On the evening of the second day, Hekate removed the shield around Gration's house. She called to Opis, and together they crossed the line where the overgrowth had stopped. Then she called Opis back and reinvoked the spell (actually it was somewhat altered for the better). Opis bellowed in protest but it was too late, and Hekate said blandly she would leave the house unguarded only in Artemis' presence. Her face was expressionless, but Kabeiros' tongue was lolling out with laughter. Hekate intended to show herself just as wary as the "goddess."

  The sun was near setting when Artemis, bringing half a dozen maidservants, came to the house. Hekate dismissed the stasis with a single word and gesture, intending to impress Artemis even more without alarming her. Whether or not she was successful remained in doubt. The "goddess" only rushed into the house, calling for torches to be lit, and began a hunt for the Titan's strong room. For all Hekate knew, she may have hunted far into the night; Hekate found a comfortable bed and went to sleep.