curiously. "Here, you!" She flagged down a passing soldier. "Take the Princess Phaedra and Prince Molus to their nursemaid."
The soldier and the two children regarded each other in dismay.
"Yes, my lady," said the soldier, presenting his weapon and saluting her. Molus burst into tears.
"Ariadne, I really thinkâ"
"Come with me now, Xenodice!" Ariadne said through gritted teeth. "I mean it. You are the only one in the world who can help me."
She dragged me up the staircase to the third floor and into a deserted state bedroom. Drawing me as far from the doorway as possible, she clasped me about the wrists with cold hands. I winced with pain and attempted to withdraw my injured hand.
"My wristâit pains me," I said.
She shifted her grasp to my elbows and fixed me with a long stare.
"You must help me. I will die if you do not." She shook me in her vehemence.
"Help you to do what?" I asked uneasily.
"Set Theseus free, of course. Don't be an absolute idiot, Xenodice!"
"I'll not do any such thing!" I said.
"What do you mean?" she said, taken aback. "Of course you will. I'm telling you, you must!"
"How could you ask me to do such a thing? And why should you want it?"
"Because I love him," she said.
"Because youâ! No, I don't believe it!"
"And why not?" she demanded.
"Oh, Ariadne," I cried before I could stop myself, "he is so ugly!"
"He is not!" She released my arm and snatched up a lock of my hair. "Do not say so! He is not ugly."
"He is!" I shrieked recklessly. "And most likely he smells, too!
Aii! Aii!
Let go!"
To my surprise, she did. "Stupid girl!" she said. "Just because he doesn't look like your precious Icarus! Icarus looks like a girl."
Outraged, I opened my mouth to protest, but she rushed on.
"But that doesn't matter. What matters is that I bear Theseus's child."
"What! What do you mean? You couldn't possiblyâ"
"I do! I know I do! I can feel it, here." She sank down onto the bed and caressed the region of her stomach.
"Butâ" I might not have known everything there was to know on this subject, but I was quite certain that a baby didn't simply appear in a woman's womb because she wished it. "You've barely even spoken to the man!"
She looked away. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
"Oh, I have done more than that," she said.
"Ariadne! You haven't! You found him then?"
"Yes. Icarus was right. Theseus was under the Bull Court. I followed the servant to his very cell. It was so dark and drear, Xenodice! I was frightened. I could feel the ancient dead pressing up against me, whispering in my ear." She shuddered. "But then I found him. How glad he was to see me!"
"Well, yes, he would be," I said. Fighting a sense of dread at the pit of my stomach, I asked, "Is he then at liberty?"
"No," she said. "I told you he wasn't!"
"Then howâ?"
"Oh, I got into his cell easily enough. It wasn't even guarded. But one of his arms is manacled to the wall and I have no means to free him. Daedalus holds the only key. Xenodice, you must help me! Our mother will kill him as soon as Acalle returns, and that is at any moment!"
"Acalle! Returning? What do you mean?"
"What I said, of course."
"She is not dead then? OrâI thought perhaps she was under an enchantment. Was that why she did not come home for so long?"
"Oh, you are so stupid, Xenodice! Of course she wasn't! She was only pregnant by the King of Libya. She went away to have the baby, and now that it is born, and thankfully not a girl, she is coming home again."
"Pregnant! Butâwait! Why should she not have a girl child? I would like to have a little niece."
"I could shake you, Xenodice, really I could," she said, and did so. "Listen! If the baby was a girl, she might someday try to claim the throne, even though she was illegitimate and the product of an inferior alliance. As Acalle's firstborn she could cause problems for Acalle's first
legitimate
daughter. You see? So a girl baby would have to be exposed on the
The soldier and the two children regarded each other in dismay.
"Yes, my lady," said the soldier, presenting his weapon and saluting her. Molus burst into tears.
"Ariadne, I really thinkâ"
"Come with me now, Xenodice!" Ariadne said through gritted teeth. "I mean it. You are the only one in the world who can help me."
She dragged me up the staircase to the third floor and into a deserted state bedroom. Drawing me as far from the doorway as possible, she clasped me about the wrists with cold hands. I winced with pain and attempted to withdraw my injured hand.
"My wristâit pains me," I said.
She shifted her grasp to my elbows and fixed me with a long stare.
"You must help me. I will die if you do not." She shook me in her vehemence.
"Help you to do what?" I asked uneasily.
"Set Theseus free, of course. Don't be an absolute idiot, Xenodice!"
"I'll not do any such thing!" I said.
"What do you mean?" she said, taken aback. "Of course you will. I'm telling you, you must!"
"How could you ask me to do such a thing? And why should you want it?"
"Because I love him," she said.
"Because youâ! No, I don't believe it!"
"And why not?" she demanded.
"Oh, Ariadne," I cried before I could stop myself, "he is so ugly!"
"He is not!" She released my arm and snatched up a lock of my hair. "Do not say so! He is not ugly."
"He is!" I shrieked recklessly. "And most likely he smells, too!
Aii! Aii!
Let go!"
To my surprise, she did. "Stupid girl!" she said. "Just because he doesn't look like your precious Icarus! Icarus looks like a girl."
Outraged, I opened my mouth to protest, but she rushed on.
"But that doesn't matter. What matters is that I bear Theseus's child."
"What! What do you mean? You couldn't possiblyâ"
"I do! I know I do! I can feel it, here." She sank down onto the bed and caressed the region of her stomach.
"Butâ" I might not have known everything there was to know on this subject, but I was quite certain that a baby didn't simply appear in a woman's womb because she wished it. "You've barely even spoken to the man!"
She looked away. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
"Oh, I have done more than that," she said.
"Ariadne! You haven't! You found him then?"
"Yes. Icarus was right. Theseus was under the Bull Court. I followed the servant to his very cell. It was so dark and drear, Xenodice! I was frightened. I could feel the ancient dead pressing up against me, whispering in my ear." She shuddered. "But then I found him. How glad he was to see me!"
"Well, yes, he would be," I said. Fighting a sense of dread at the pit of my stomach, I asked, "Is he then at liberty?"
"No," she said. "I told you he wasn't!"
"Then howâ?"
"Oh, I got into his cell easily enough. It wasn't even guarded. But one of his arms is manacled to the wall and I have no means to free him. Daedalus holds the only key. Xenodice, you must help me! Our mother will kill him as soon as Acalle returns, and that is at any moment!"
"Acalle! Returning? What do you mean?"
"What I said, of course."
"She is not dead then? OrâI thought perhaps she was under an enchantment. Was that why she did not come home for so long?"
"Oh, you are so stupid, Xenodice! Of course she wasn't! She was only pregnant by the King of Libya. She went away to have the baby, and now that it is born, and thankfully not a girl, she is coming home again."
"Pregnant! Butâwait! Why should she not have a girl child? I would like to have a little niece."
"I could shake you, Xenodice, really I could," she said, and did so. "Listen! If the baby was a girl, she might someday try to claim the throne, even though she was illegitimate and the product of an inferior alliance. As Acalle's firstborn she could cause problems for Acalle's first
legitimate
daughter. You see? So a girl baby would have to be exposed on the
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