His words were comforting, but I still felt unsure. “I don’t know what to do,” I confessed. “I want to see Androgeus but … ” I trailed off. I’d heard that Minos was also aboard one of those ships. I didn’t know why Minos had come to Athens. It was unusual. Normally, Minos never accompanied the athletes to the games. I could not see Androgeus without coming in contact with Minos. I dreaded that encounter.
“Fear not,” said Theseus. “You are under my protection and that of my father. You are an honored guest of Athens. Even Minos cannot move against you here. You will see your brother again. In fact, I look forward to seeing your brother too. I have heard much about him.”
“You’re still going to enter, then?”
Theseus smiled. “Yes, of course. Not the marathon but certainly the wrestling. I think I have an excellent chance. Most of the others I’ve heard about couldn’t wrestle their way out of a wine skin.”
I wasn’t so sure. Theseus was an excellent wrestler, but he was no match for Androgeus. Androgeus had defeated me on several occasions, just like I had beaten Theseus. Theseus might be strong, agile, and fast, but Androgeus was more so.
The thought had obviously occurred to Theseus. “Why don’t you enter? With your great strength, you would have just as much chance as I.”
Which was exactly why Theseus didn’t want me to enter and risk stealing the glory from him. He knew I had already made my decision. He was just going through the motions in an effort to appear the bigger man.
I shook my head. “Now that you know my past, you know why I can’t enter. It would only serve to antagonize Minos. I’d rather not draw his attention any more than I need to.”
Theseus didn’t push it further. He seemed satisfied by my response. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him smiling.
Ω
Early that evening, Theseus and I had arranged for a message to be passed to Androgeus.
Theseus sat, calmly polishing the breastplate of his new armor while I paced impatiently about his spacious and richly appointed chamber.
“What’s taking him so long?” I grumbled.
“He’s probably training,” said Theseus without looking up from his work. “It’s what I should be doing.”
I heard resentment in his voice, but I suspected that it was contrived. Theseus was as keen to see Androgeus as I, more to assess his opponent than anything else.
I heard the door open. I turned swiftly, excitement fluttering in my breast. A familiar figure I had longed to see for the last few months stood there. My brother, Androgeus.
His handsome face lit up. We rushed into each other’s arms and embraced warmly.
Eventually, after much patting of backs, we separated.
“It’s good to see you, my brother,” said Androgeus. “You are looking well. Stronger than ever. I see you’ve gained a few scars. They’ve improved your looks.”
We both laughed. It was true that my battles during the last few months had left their mark.
“Androgeus,” I said at last. “This is Theseus.”
The two men clasped hands in a warrior’s grip. Looking at them, it was hard to tell them apart. They were roughly the same size, both with slim, athletic builds. Both incredibly handsome. Androgeus was perhaps built a little more strongly, with thicker arms and legs. I felt a sudden surge of jealousy. Androgeus and Theseus could almost pass as brothers. I was the odd one out here.
With an effort of will, I buried the emotion and forced a smile.
I could see that the two men were sizing each other up. Androgeus was four years older but Theseus, thanks to his recent adventures, was a more experienced fighter. Their battle would be closer than I expected.
Androgeus was the reigning champion, having won both the wrestling and the marathon at the previous Panathenaic games. As such, he would not have to enter the competition until much later, unlike Theseus, who would have to battle his way up to earn his place in the finals.
I was eager to catch up on news of my home. The three of us sat down, and Androgeus regaled us with stories of our family and other events from the palace. I discovered that both Androgeus and Phaedra had been punished for their hand in my escape.
Androgeus had been sent away to another island for a couple of months while Minos’s anger cooled. Despite being the favored son, Androgeus had risked much by aiding me. Minos got him out of his sight before he did something he regretted.
As for Phaedra, she was also sent away to one of the small fishing villages on Crete, to work and live in poverty, to learn humility and respect for her father. Catreus and Deucalion, both clever and charming, had managed to avoid punishment.
“What of Daedalus and Icarus?” I feared the answer, but I had to know.
“My father may be a little rash at times,” answered Androgeus diplomatically. “But he was not so foolish as to kill the two best craftsmen in the known world.” I knew Androgeus would’ve been a little more scathing if it was between the two of us, but there was a rival prince present. One that Androgeus didn’t know. He was not about to dishonor his own father in front of a stranger.
“So what did he do to them?” I asked.
“Put them both to work on a major building project underneath the palace. As punishment, they are forced to work night and day. I never see either of them anymore. We’ve even got a new tutor now.”
“What are they building?” I asked. It was a strange thing for Minos to do. The palace was already immense. Why did he need extra room?
“I don’t know,” confessed Androgeus. “It’s very secret though. And large. The amount of rocks and dirt they have already excavated could fill the palace several times over.”
Very odd. But the madness of my father did not concern me unduly. I was more interested in my family. And one person in particular.
“How is Phaedra?” I asked. I silently prayed to Poseidon that she hadn’t been married off yet.
Androgeus raised his eyebrows at me, trying not to grin. “Wondered when you were going to get to her. Why don’t you ask her yourself? You know the whole family is here, don’t you?” he asked.
I didn’t. Even sitting, I suddenly felt a little unsteady. “You mean Phaedra is here?” I asked, breathlessly.
Androgeus smiled. “She certainly is. She wants to see you.”
And I wanted to see her. Desperately.
“How? When?” I asked, my face alive with excitement.
“Easy brother. Don’t injure yourself,” said Androgeus, laughing easily. “You’ll get your chance.”
“There’s a feast planned for tonight,” said Theseus. “To welcome our new guests. King Minos and all his family have been invited, of course.”
“I don’t think it would be wise for me to attend,” I said doubtfully.
“Why not?” asked Theseus. “I told you before. You are under my protection and that of my father. King Minos will not risk offending either of us by pursuing his revenge here. You will be safe.”
“Besides,” said Androgeus. “Your other brothers and sisters will want to see you too.” He reflected for a moment. “Perhaps not Ariadne and Glaucus but Catreus and Deucalion certainly.” He laughed again.
“Good,” said Theseus, clapping his hands. “It’s agreed. We will see you tonight, Androgeus. At the feast.”
If I thought the anticipation of seeing Androgeus was almost unbearable, it was nothing to what I felt at that moment. Phaedra. My Phaedra. Very soon, we would be reunited. I had thought about this moment almost constantly, wishing that we would soon be in each other’s arms again.
My stomach churned with a mixture of nervousness and longing, each vying for supremacy, their conflict only serving to make me nauseous. When the time came, I prayed to the gods that I would not embarrass myself in front of her.
Ω
The feast was an elaborate affair as befitted the arrival of King Minos. Hundreds of boar, deer, fish, and birds were roasted, boiled, fried
, and baked. The palace kitchens churned out bread and cakes in such quantities to make even the sturdiest table sag under their prodigious weight. Wine flowed, enough to put a small river to shame.
King Minos sat in the place of honor next to King Aegeus. Theseus sat next to his father, and I, being Theseus’s closest companion, sat only one seat away from my friend, even though I was not part of the Athenian royal family. I only found out later that Theseus had to use his considerable powers of persuasion to convince his father to allow me to sit at the table. Aegeus, by now, knew who I was and daren’t risk offending Minos with my presence. Theseus made him think otherwise. In hindsight, it was a foolish and rash move, but Theseus very rarely listened to the advice of others, including his royal father.
Minos, being the most powerful monarch in the world those days, was not someone you wished to antagonize. I suspect that Theseus did it deliberately. He was not someone who avoided confrontation, and I think that he really did want to embarrass Minos for what he had done to me.
To my disgust, it was Ariadne who got to sit between Theseus and me. It was not exactly a happy family reunion. Ariadne basically ignored me the whole evening, and I had no interest in speaking to her. Just looking at her made me think of Kyon. Even if she had wanted to talk to me, she probably wouldn’t have, given that her attention was riveted on Theseus. I have never seen someone so smitten before.
Aegeus and Minos were clearly trying to join their great cities by a marriage between Theseus and Ariadne. Her position at the table was obviously premeditated.
If I was disgusted by Ariadne’s close proximity, I felt almost sick due to the lack of another. Phaedra was seated on the far side of Minos, next to my other brothers, so distant I couldn’t talk to her unless I actually stood and walked to her side. Or shouted. But that would’ve been embarrassing. I couldn’t move as it meant I would have to pass Minos. Minos was determined to keep her as far from me as possible.
If Minos was offended by my presence, he didn’t show it. He didn’t even look at me. It was almost like I didn’t exist. I spent the evening staring at Phaedra. We exchanged several glances, and she smiled at me so warmly I kept expecting my heart to melt.
I managed to pass a note to one of the servants, asking her to meet me in my room later that evening. I saw her read it and glance up at me. She nodded but the expression on her beautiful face confused me. She looked uncertain.
I couldn’t even talk to Androgeus, who was seated next to Minos. My mother wasn’t there either. Androgeus told me that she had stayed behind in Crete, claiming that her health was poor. Everyone knew that was an excuse. There was probably nothing wrong with her other than having a desire to stay away from Minos, but her absence pained me. My mother had no idea that I was in Athens. No matter. I would’ve loved to have seen her again, but I comforted myself with the knowledge that I would soon.
What was important was that Androgeus and Phaedra were here. The two people I most wanted to see in the world.
The evening passed quickly, hastened onward by a great deal of drinking and toasts. Theseus told stories, which entertained and thrilled his audience. Especially Ariadne. She never took her shining eyes off him. I don’t think Theseus favored her with any special attention. I think that given he only had his father and her to talk to, he was often forced to make conversation with her by default. He didn’t seem particularly enamored with her, despite the fact that she was very beautiful. Theseus had met many beautiful girls in his time. He often slept with them too, discarding them quickly after he became bored. Ariadne was simply another potential bedmate, regardless of the fact that she was the daughter of a King.
Theseus was charming and polite. He was a prince and a hero. How could Ariadne not fall instantly in love with him? Many women did—to their eternal regret and humiliation.
I drank sparingly, only sipping from my goblet during toasts, my mind on Phaedra. I toyed with my food, looking for the first opportunity to slip away.
When it came later that night, I bolted with as much dignity as I could muster and hastened to my room.
My room in the palace was much less grand than that of Theseus’s, as you can probably imagine. It was well appointed enough and comfortable. I waited impatiently for about an hour before Phaedra finally made an appearance.
We stood looking at each other for a long moment, which seemed to stretch out for longer than I could bear. She was so beautiful. I wanted desperately to take her into my arms, but I was scared to move, wracked with doubt. I was just an ugly brute of a man. What did she possibly see in me? Perhaps her feelings for me had changed?
I needn’t have worried. She suddenly rushed at me, and I gathered her into an embrace. She felt tiny and fragile against me, and I was conscious of not hurting her with my great strength. We kissed and caressed for a long time. If we spoke, I can’t remember what we said.
Finally, she broke away from me. She looked sad, and tears rolled down her cheeks.
“What’s wrong, my love?” I asked. I tried to wipe her tears away, but she pushed my hand away impatiently.
“Nothing … Everything,” she said.
She sat down on a stool, and I picked up another one and sat down facing her.
“I have missed you, Asterion. More than you know.”
“I’ve missed you too, Phaedra. Why the tears then?”
“Because,” she cried, gulping back another bout of sobs, “I have to marry another.”
“No you don’t,” I said firmly. “We can run away together. I have wealth now. Enough for a lifetime. We’ll be happy. We’ll find a place where your father can never find us.”
“It isn’t that simple,” she said miserably, drying her eyes on the sleeve of her dress. “Minos has my mother guarded by many men. He said that unless I marry, he’ll kill her. I can’t run away with you.”
“Then I will kill Minos,” I declared angrily, raising my bulk from the stool. “Tonight. I will go to his room and crush him with my club.” I would do it. Although burning with rage, I felt a strange calm settling over me. I could kill him. It didn’t matter how many guards he had; I would see him dead. For Phaedra.
She placed her delicate hand on my arm. “Sit, Asterion. Let’s talk about this. I don’t want you doing something hasty.”
Reluctantly, I slowly settled back into my seat.
“Minos has some loyal followers,” said Phaedra. “He has already told me that if something happens to him, one of those followers will return to Crete immediately and have my mother killed. You can’t kill him. If you do, you also kill my mother.”
“Then,” I said, thinking quickly, “I will kill your husband to be. Without a prospective husband, Minos cannot protest. Besides, this would-be suitor probably deserves death if he is prepared to align himself with Minos.”
Phaedra looked slightly stunned by the remark. “You have changed, Asterion. You never used to talk so lightly of killing and death. Everything you have suggested so far has involved killing.”
“Sometimes, a man is forced to do what he has to do. To do what is right.” The words of Theseus came to me unbidden. “I am a hero now. And heroes find their own path in life. We do not always do what others tell us to do.”
“You sound arrogant, Asterion,” said Phaedra. “Those are not the words of the man I love. Those are the words of someone else.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, angry now. “I will kill this suitor, and then you and I will be free to pursue our love. Free from Minos forever. When the time is right, we’ll return to Crete and rescue your mother. Now, tell me who this suitor is.”
“It is Theseus,” she said, and the words were like a sword in my heart.
Chapter 12
I’d be the first to admit that I wasn’t good company in the days that followed. I thought long and hard about Phaedra and the position she was in.
I couldn’t figure it out at first. Why Theseus? Minos had placed Ariadne next to
him at the feast, a clear indication that she would be the one to marry him. Not Phaedra.
I puzzled it out eventually. It wasn’t too difficult. Minos’s hatred for me went far deeper than I would’ve thought possible. He knew that Phaedra and I were in love. He knew that I wanted to marry her. He was marrying her off to Theseus to spite me, particularly now that he knew Theseus and I were friends. If he couldn’t kill me then he would harm me in other ways. As long as he had his alliance, Minos couldn’t care less who married Theseus.
Minos was a truly despicable man.
What to do? I couldn’t, no, wouldn’t kill Theseus. Not even for Phaedra. In fact, if I killed any suitor of Phaedra’s, I would probably lose her forever. I could go to Theseus and ask him not to marry Phaedra. He’d probably been pressured by his own father but, knowing Theseus, he would easily be able to convince Aegeus that it would be better to marry Ariadne. What did Theseus care? For him, one beautiful woman was no different than another.
Other doubts resurfaced of course. Theseus was much more handsome than I. He was a prince—the rightful heir to one of the greatest cities in the world. I owned only a few sets of clothing and my weapons. He was charming. He was famous. I was none of those things. Not only that, but my horns made me a deformed freak. Why would any woman want to marry such a creature? Perhaps Phaedra really did want to marry Theseus? No one would blame her. He was a much more attractive proposition than I. Maybe Phaedra was just pretending, her reluctance to marry another just a sham?
And then I realized that frustration and my feelings for Phaedra were starting to make me a little insane. The Phaedra I knew wouldn’t do that. She was simply not that sort of person. I on the other hand was a mess, riddled with jealously and petty insecurities. A sixteen-year-old boy in other words.
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