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Seriana
A sound like thunder rolled forth from
somewhere outside the village. As every head
turned towards it, a giant black war-stallion
charged into the compound. On it's back was a
young woman of slender build and medium height
who controlled the demonic horse with forceful
ease.
She had glistening auburn hair that was
braided and coiled around her head. It looked as
though it would be incredibly long if it were
loose. Her eyes were blue, sharp and fiery. From
throat to toes, she was covered in black leather
that blended perfectly with her mount. She was
unarmed, except for a long sheathed dagger at
her hip that had a small ruby set in it just
below the blade.
She swung off her mount and held her hands up
in surrender as everyone went for their weapons.
"Peace!" she cried. "I would
speak to the Queen," she spied a man
standing among the Amazons.
"Hercules!" she called in recognition.
The blonde demigod looked at her and smiled.
"Seri!" He moved forward and hugged
her with the ease of long familiarity.
"What are you doing out here in Themiscrya?
I thought you'd be with Jagurita and the
others."
"Things came up. But what are you doing
here?"
"That is a very long story."
"Excuse me," Haven cut in, "but
would you step away from our guest, restrain
your horse, and explain what you are doing
here?"
The girl tossed her head. "I am Seriana.
I would speak to Queen Celosia to offer my skill
in the defense of this tribe. I wish to join
Themiscrya."
Thalia
"Welcome, Seriana" A brown haired
Amazon stepped forward. "I am Thalia."
She held out her hand, which Seriana grasped in
greeting. "What has brought you to
us?"
Seriana
"I bring greetings from another tribe of
our sisters, far to the south," Seriana
explained. "But although I had been
training under their honorable Queen for many
months, a member of their council was discovered
to have been in the employ of Ares. She was
banished and I had to flee for my life."
"What causes Ares to be such a threat to
you?" Thalia inquired.
Seriana paused for a moment and looked to
Hercules for guidance. "You'd better tell
them, Seri," he advised. "It won't do
to start by keeping secrets."
"You are right," she admitted.
"Very well, then. I pray for the
forgiveness of Artemis and of her Amazons, but
the accursed truth is that I am the daughter of
Ares."
A murmur of surprise and anger went up from
the crowd.
"He wished me to serve as his
lieutenant," Seriana continued, "but
with the help of Hercules and a few others I was
able to escape him and have fled his presence
these three years. I feel quite sure that he
will never find me here. Before I fled my
village I took great pains to make it appear to
all that I had fallen into the sea and drowned.
No one knows that I still live, and so they will
not endanger this tribe by seeking me. You have
my word on it."
Medea
The newly returned Regent stared out the
window of her hut with her keen feline eyes.
Celosia had been asking her a lot of question
about those eyes . . . among other things.
The changes to her hair had been one of the
first questions to escape the young Queen's
mouth. Medea's answers had been brief and vague.
The platinum blonde would only say that she had
spent some time communing with a Goddess and had
now returned stronger.
Celosia didn't have to guess to know which
Goddess her younger sister had been keeping
company with. She shivered as she thought of
Velasca, and more prominently, what Velasca
might have done to change Medea so much.
Celosia appeared oblivious to Medea's
Goddess-hood though, and the Regent intended to
keep it this way.
The newly born Goddess grinned darkly and
flexed her claws, staring outside. "Looks
like we have company sis," she sneered. She
pulled the ebony razors back in before they
could be seen.
Fresh meat. Perhaps Ares' sacrifice need
not be a sister of importance to the tribe after
all.
Celosia looked uncertainly at her sister and
she, too, looked out the window. "Yes, it
does appear we have a new sister among us. She
looks to be from another tribe. Shall we have a
look?"
Medea looked at her with those chilly glacial
eyes and Celosia felt for a moment that she was
encased in thick ice without an escape. The
feeling left as suddenly as it had come.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world
sis," the Regent replied. "By the way,
have you seen Tern lingering about? I really
would love to share something with her."
Celosia chose not to answer and they exited
the hut, heading towards the group in the
square.
Seriana
The queen raised a hand in greeting as she and
Medea approached the newcomers. "Welcome to
Themiscrya." she said.
Seriana's black war stallion half-reared, but
she brought him down again. "Easy,
Deinus," she chided. "My greetings,
Majesty, and also those of Queen Ephiny of the
village of Joxopolis. I offer to your tribe my
services as a warrior."
"I accept them on behalf of the
tribe." Celosia answered. "May I
present my sister, Medea."
The two women shook hands. "A pleasure to
meet you," Medea purred.
Seriana pulled back the smallest fraction as
her subtle instinct felt something wrong in
Medea's clear, steady eyes. But the impression
was gone in a fraction of a second.
"Likewise," she responded.
"Well, Seriana," Celosia said,
"We'll see about finding you somewhere to
sleep and stabling for your horse."
Celosia nodded. "Very well.
Medea, will you see about helping our new
sister to settle in?"
Medea let the faintest smile flicker across
her face. "Actually, I need to go find
Tern. My apologies."
"Thalia, then. Show her where she can put
her horse and get something to eat."
Thalia bowed. "Yes, Majesty. If you'll
come with me, Seriana?"
Thalia
Thalia led Seriana away from the group and
towards the area where the horses were kept. The
rough outline of a stable could be seen and
several Amazons were busy maneuvering logs into
place for the walls. In fact, as they crossed
the square, Seriana noticed several buildings in
various stages of construction and Amazons
working hard to create a village from the
forest.
"You can put him over here," Thalia
showed her to a hitching post that would someday
be a stall. "We don't have a horse for
every Amazon, we usually travel by foot unless
it's an emergency, so this building isn’t high
on the list to be finished."
Seriana nodded and tied the lead of her raven
horse to the post. Several of the other horses
nickered a greeting to the newcomer, a good
sign. She gave her beast a loving touch on the
nose as he stomped and shook his head.
Seriana glanced about to see if anyone was
around and leaned over towards Thalia. "The
woman, Medea. Who is she?"
"She's the Queen's sister," Thalia
explained. "Why do you ask?"
"Well," Seriana shrugged. "I'm
not sure. There's something that's bothering me.
I mean, I love it here and I don't want to
offend anyone, but she just . . ." she
didn't know how to finish it.
Thalia gave her a reassuring pat on the
shoulder. "It's okay to feel uncomfortable.
You're new, but you'll like it here. As for
Medea," the scout sighed. "I really
don't know what's going on with her. She's
changed a lot and acts kind of weird sometimes.
Once in a while I see her chanting in her
tent."
"How do you find this out?"
Thalia smiled. "I have my ways of getting
around." She changed into a squirrel and
ran a circle around Seriana before changing
back.
Seriana gasped. "How did you do
that?"
"I'm a biomorph, a shape shifter."
Thalia brushed off her shirt. "I can change
into any type of animal, including other humans.
That's why I'm head scout. I can get around and
spy more easily."
"Did you ever see anything strange with
Medea? Sorry for prying."
"It's okay. I've mostly seen just
chanting and things. I've been a little wary of
spying on her ever since she got her hair cut,
but I might just check it out to make sure
everything is okay with her."
"All right," Seriana nodded.
"Shall we get back to the circle in a
little bit?" Thalia looked towards the
Queen.
"Sure, let's just feed the horses
first."
"All right." Thalia agreed.
Seriana
The two Amazons cut open a bale of hay and
gave it out to the horses. At length, Seriana
inquired, "Do other Themiscryans have
powers, like you do?"
"Some do," Thalia admitted.
"Many are guarded by various animals and
that sometimes can come into play. The Queen
displayed some interesting talents the other
day, as well. Then there’s Yakut, she’s the
Shamaness, she knows a thing or two about magic.
Do you?"
"Do I what?"
"Have powers."
The young woman ran a hand over her horse’s
neck. "Not powers, per say, but my
bloodline does give me heightened senses, quick
reflexes, and what you might call instinct.
Sometimes I can feel danger coming. But it’s
always very vague and only comes rarely, so I
don’t count on it much."
Thalia smiled. "Well, I guess being the
daughter of Ares isn’t all bad."
"I guess not. It gave me some prime
opportunities to steal useful stuff from him
when I escaped. Like Deinus, that’s my horse,
and my knife," she drew the long, narrow,
deadly-looking blade from it’s sheath and let
it reflect the light. "Created from the
metal of Hephaestus. Unbreakable."
"It’s a beautiful weapon," Thalia
said admiringly. "It suits you very well,
Seriana."
"Call me Seri," the other requested.
"It saves breath."
The two smiled at one another. They were
already friends.
Medea
Medea whispered airily to herself as she
trudged into the dense forest. "Tern, Tern,
Tern . . . where are you my dear witch?"
She'd searched the entire village and not found
the blond-haired woman. She really needed to
find her.
Of the entire village there wasn't a single
person who knew Medea as well as Tern did. They
seemed to share some unspoken bond. Medea had
always guessed it was because they were both
born on the full moon of Artemis.
Artemis. There was a thought. The young Regent
wondered what the Goddess of the Hunt thought of
her now. Accepting ambrosia from Velasca and
running errands for Ares.
The platinum bond's lips curled up in a
devious smile. I wonder what everyone
on Olympus thinks of my new . . . look.
The memory of Velasca screaming as her face
was literally chewed away flashed behind Medea's
glacial eyes. For a moment there was just a tiny
glint of emerald green in her eyes as she
remembered.
Medea wasn't proud of what she had done. In
fact, it kind of scared her.
"Perhaps all isn't lost then,"
Tern's steady voice spoke from behind her. Medea
whipped around to face the witch.
"Tern," she purred. "I've been
looking for you. I wanted to share something
with you but," she shrugged.
"Too late."
"Ah," the Goddess smiled. "I
should have known you'd figure it out on your
own. You always could read me." Medea began
to feel nervous. Just how much did Tern know? If
the witch knew of her plans with the War God all
was lost!
"Like a scroll. So you ripped up Velasca,
huh? Figured that would happen after a while.
She was just using you to do her dirty
work." Tern's gray eyes bored into Medea's
icy ones. She felt as if her mentor were trying
to pry open the very heavy mental door Medea had
put up. So far the witch was having no success.
"I know," Medea said, looking to the
ground. She felt Tern nudging at the barriers
she'd put up. This was a good sign. This meant
she didn't already know what was behind that
door, namely her contract with Ares. A freezing
sensation overtook the Regent and the barriers
held firm. Very firm.
Tern sighed and looked down at her friend.
"All right kid, let's see whatcha
got."
Grinning wolfishly, Medea extended her claws
and fangs and let her eyes take on their surreal
glow. A low growl escaped her lips.
Tern stared for a moment with a cocked
eyebrow. She knew she should be disapproving.
She was the older one here. She had to be
responsible. But somewhere inside, seeing
Medea's untamed self, she just couldn't.
Something wild lit in her eyes too, preventing
her from playing 'adult'.
"Fun, isn't it?" Medea asked in a
decidedly feline voice.
Tern laughed and leant against her staff.
"Yes, that it is."
Tern
Tern shook head gently watching her
protégée. "You know you're walking a
dangerous line," she said quietly.
The younger Amazon nodded and shrugged.
"Yeah, but come on. You know what this
means."
Tern sighed. Her sister Pelee, missing in
action for so long, suddenly came to mind. Tern
wished she were here. But she alone knew where
Pelee was and no one else could know.
"Tread carefully my darling cousin.
Charges of treason are not to be taken
lightly," Tern advised. She had found a
thin crack in Medea's wall.
Medea studied her mentor. Tern was changed as
well, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The
only minds she hadn’t ever been able to break
into were Tern’s and that of Tern’s twin
sister, Pelee. But Tern had taught her well in
shielding her own mind.
"Why has no one seen you for days?"
Medea demanded. Tern shrugged.
"I've been off on business," she
evaded the answer. Medea laughed.
"We both got secrets huh?"
"Yep."
"Step into the light." Medea said.
Tern did so. Gone were her golden tresses,
replaced by flowing dark ruby locks. She didn't
miss the change in her cousin’s eyes either.
They were no longer gray but a bright vivid blue
that bore fresh pain, to one who knew how to
read them.
Medea raised one eyebrow.
"Interesting."
Tern slung one arm around her apprentice and
cousin.
"C'mon. Let's go howl at the moon."
Ollaea
Off to the side, crouched under a hazelnut
tree, Ollaea sat with intent eyes staring at the
two mysterious sisters. She watched them speak
for some while longer, afraid they would notice
her. In her agitation, however, she fell to one
side, causing the bushes to whisper and shake.
Quickly, the two changed Amazons turned to
look behind themselves into the greenery. Seeing
nothing, they exchanged a look and moved toward
the sound. But when they cleared the leaves
enough to see, there was nothing there.
Ollaea was already running for the village.
Tern heard Ollaea’s footsteps first, then
Medea caught their cadence. They started after
the girl.
Ollaea lost ground fast. She could see the
pair gaining on her. They moved slightly apart
from one another, working to surround her on
both sides.
Worried, she spurred herself to greater speeds
and rammed into a broad male chest.
Both rolled end over end across the rough
ground, unconscious from the force of their
collision.
The two changed Amazons soon fell over their
bodies.
Thalia
"What was that?"
Thalia cocked her head. She could have sworn
she heard something. The sound seemed more
"feeling" than "sound",
however, and quickly faded. "I'm going to
check it out." She started for the woods.
Seriana stepped forward. "I'm going with
you."
Thalia shook her head. "No, it's too
dangerous. Stay here, I'll be back."
Seriana stood in front of Thalia. "I'm
not letting you go alone, you could get hurt.
I'm going with you."
Thalia smiled. That was the determination she
wanted in an Amazon sister. "All right, I'm
going to morph into a bird. I’ll check if it's
safe, keep me in sight, but stay behind,"
Thalia took the form on a brown hawk and took
off into the air. Seriana ran after her.
Thalia peered with the hawk's keen eyesight
and spotted figures on the forest floor. She
flew down behind some bushes and morphed back to
her usual form. Looking closer, she saw Ollaea,
unconscious, sprawled over another figure that
Thalia could not see clearly.
Was that Tern and Medea standing over them?
Thalia gasped. No, they were . . . what were
they? Were those really her Amazon sisters? What
had they done to Ollaea?
Thalia jumped out of the bush, between the
Amazons and Ollaea. "I want to know what's
going on here."
She held her ground, prepared if they should
attack. Not knowing who or what they were or
what they were capable of, Thalia remained
cautious. She could see that she might have
trouble if both of them decided to attack at
once.
Seriana, she sent telepathically.
Unfortunately, Thalia could only send messages,
not receive them. Seriana, go for help! Get
Celosia and the others! I don't know what we're
up against but we need help! Ollaea is down and
the attackers are still here. I'll try to hold
them off. Hurry!
As the two creatures stared at her and flexed
their claws, she hoped Seriana had gotten the
message.
Seriana
Seriana halted for a moment in surprise.
Seriana! Thalia's voice seemed to shout
inside her mind. Seriana, go for help! Get
Celosia and the others! I don't know what we're
up against but we need help! Ollaea is down, and
the attackers are still here. I'll try to hold
them off. Hurry!
She knew a telepathic message when she heard
one. She hadn't known that telepathy was among
Thalia's many talents, but it was certainly
Thalia's voice. There was no question.
She froze, not knowing what to do. She needed
to find her friend, but she'd been ordered to go
to the queen. Was there any time?
Seriana’s mental link sent more than just
the simple message. She saw Thalia standing over
her fallen sister, frightened but firm.
"Who are you?" she demanded of two
Amazons with icy eyes.
"Your worst nightmare," one replied.
She ran a deadly claw along Thalia's cheek.
Seriana flinched and tried to cover her cheek.
Her demigoddess' senses could feel the pain in
the touch; the vile evil, the massive power.
It was a touch she knew well, for her father
had often drawn his finger along her jawbone in
such a way. She knew the touch of a god. She
also knew the touch of someone who served Ares;
it burned.
There was no time to be indecisive. Seriana
crossed her fingers, squeezed her eyes shut, and
tried with her mind to reach through Thalia and
grab the power in that touch. Thalia shook her
head in pain: What was using her so?
Medea jumped as the slightest drop of power
drained from her, through Thalia, and into
Seriana.
As soon as she had it, she fired it straight
at the only person she knew who could possibly
hear. "HERCULES!"
Then she ran full-tilt after Thalia, making
sure that her deadly Ruby Dagger was loose in
its sheath.
Tern
With a snarl, Tern grabbed Medea and they
vanished. Thalia and Seriana jumped into a back
to back position in case of another attack.
"What in Hades just happened?"
Thalia whispered.
Seriana shook her head. "I don't know.
Nothing good."
"Are Tern and Medea demons now?"
Thalia asked.
"I hope not," Seriana grimaced.
"But I don’t see a lot of ways around it.
I know evil when I touch evil."
Thalia’s mind raced. Surely the cousins
weren't demons. Medea was young and
impressionable, but Tern?
Thalia had known the four cousins a long time.
Sure, Tern was a little crazy, but to betray her
tribe . . . surely not. And Medea followed Tern’s
lead in most everything.
But what other excuse was there for their
appearance? The strange claws, the wicked eyes,
the aura of evil power.
"What happened?" Celosia demanded as
she, Hercules, Iolaus and an army of Amazons
burst onto the scene.
"You're sweet baby sister and deranged
cousin are in league with something evil,"
Thalia replied with hostility.
The Amazons fell silent. To accuse the Queen's
Regent and sister of evil doing . . . well, it
could be punishable by death.
"Explain yourself." Celosia said
flatly, a cold chill running down her spine.
Seriana
"She speaks the truth," Seriana
said, her breathing short and fast, but her
voice calm. "Honored Queen, I plead
forgiveness, but I know what I saw and I know
what I felt. The pair were demons."
Thalia nodded. "They were no longer
human, Celosia. They were something else."
"Where are they, then?" the Queen
asked.
"Gone," the two said in one voice.
"They use great dark power," Seriana
explained. "They used it to flee."
"You two speak high treason,"
Celosia announced, her voice ringing with the
great power that only a queen can command.
"One thing is certain: Someone has betrayed
us. If you lie, then it is you and you must be
punished. If you are truthful, then there is
great danger among us. Here is my command: Bind
Thalia and Seriana and that man whom Ollaea is
on top of. Lock them up. Take Ollaea back to the
village and see what the healers can do for her.
Get everyone into the village. I don't want
anyone out alone. And send a party of no less
than six Amazons to look for Tern and
Medea."
A murmured chorus of 'Yes, Majesty' echoed
among the company as her orders were carried
out.
Hercules moved to intervene as Seriana's hands
were bound behind her and her dagger taken, but
she shook her head and he stayed where he was. A
cold breeze sailed across her face, and she
shuddered at the memory of the demon-woman's
cold, evil touch.
There was great danger and she could no longer
see it.
Kaili
Kaili watched the procession of prisoners
enter the compound. She stood quiet for a minute
and walked up to an Amazon following the group.
"What is this all about?" she asked.
The Amazon gave as much information as she had,
which was sketchy at best.
Kaili absorbed the information while watching
the Queen walk into her hut. "Thank
you," she told the Amazon. "That’ll
do." The Amazon shrugged and returned to
her duties, puzzled by Kaili’s reaction.
For her part, the Amazon only gripped a piece
of parchment tighter and shoved it down against
her side. She sighed. No other choice,
she thought to herself.
She went up the few stairs to the Queen’s
porch and raised a hand to knock on the door. A
masculine hand gripped her arm.
"What do you think your doing?"
Hercules asked.
Kaili gave a short reply saying,
"Business," and jerked her arm from
Hercules’ grasp. Knocking, she entered the
Queens hut. "Excuse me, I know this is a
terrible time to bring this up, but I need to
inform you of a...circumstance."
A look of panic crossed the Queen's face.
Celosia began to ask what that might be, but
Kaili interrupted her.
"There’s nothing wrong, but I have come
to ask your permission to leave."
"Why is that, Kaili?" the Queen
asked, studying the young warrior.
Kaili sighed and started to explain, "I
never told you, but I am a Queen also. I have
received word that my people need me. The letter
also brought news of my . . . husband. He's
dying and I must go to him. I may never return
to Themiscrya, but I wanted to thank you for the
training I received here. I also thank you for
unknowingly teaching me how to rule my
kingdom."
The Queen looked at the young woman for a
minute as if she was surprised. "Kaili, I
need to think on that."
Ollaea
Surprisingly, the Queen agreed to let Kaili
go.
A few moments later she had packed some things
and was mounting a horse to take on her travel.
An eerie feeling passed over her, leaving her
shivering as she bent down to pick up the saddle
for her horse. She tightened her muscles, then
loosened them once again to shake the feeling.
It worked. Within the next minute she was riding
into the woods toward Lyria, her kingdom.
"Home," she thought. "My
husband, my children, my people; I have missed
you all so."
Thalia
The two Amazons were tied to the prisoner
posts in the corner of the village where an eye
could be kept on them.
Seriana closed her eyes as the chill from the
evil ran through her.
"Are you okay?" Thalia's voice
interrupted Seriana's thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm okay, I just can't shake this
feeling I got back there. I can feel the evil.
Do you have any idea what happened?"
Thalia shook her head. "I don't know.
I've seen something going on with Medea. She's .
. . she's changed so much, I don't understand
all of it. I'm afraid that she might have come
in liaison with something evil. I'm afraid for
the Amazons and for her. I don't know about
Tern; that came as a shock to me. Despite what's
going on, I don't want anything to happen to
them."
Seriana nodded. It was quiet for a while as
they listened to the crickets while the sky
darkened. They could hear the crackle of the
bonfire as the Amazons sang and chanted around
it.
"So what other powers do you have?"
Seriana broke the silence. "I heard you
talking into my head."
"Oh, that." Thalia chuckled.
"Not much. I can morph, shape-shift into
animals, and I'm working with this one-way
telepathy thing that I found out I can do. I can
send messages to people, though they might not
receive it. I can only get messages back from
Desdion, though."
"Desdion?"
"Sort of my guardian wolf. He watches
over me sometimes."
"Oh," Seriana looked to the ground,
silent for the next few moments. After a little
while she looked back to Thalia. "What do
you think they'll do to us?"
Thalia shrugged a small shrug against her
bonds. "I'm not sure. I've been with this
tribe a long time. And I’ve been with Celosia
ever since she was a child."
"Why would she do this to you?"
"For the safety of the tribe. She can't
put one member above the others. She knows
there's evil out there and she can't take the
chance that it might be us. Medea is just as
close to her as I am."
"Can't you just morph and escape?"
Thalia shook her head. "I'd rather not
betray Celosia's trust. I know we're innocent,
we'll just have to wait it out and be
careful."
"Careful of what?"
"If those were really Medea and Tern,
they might be able to manipulate it to look like
we're the demons."
Seriana sucked in a breath. "Then
what?"
Thalia shook her head. "Let's hope we
won't find out."
Seriana closed her eyes as another chill went
through her. "I can . . . I can feel this
evil."
Thalia blinked. "You can feel it? Can you
find it?"
Seriana licked her lips. "I . . . I think
I might." She nodded her heads towards her
bonds. "These might present a
problem."
Thalia bit her lip. "We need to find Tern
and Medea before anything else happens, but if
they find us gone it will prove our guilt,"
she sighed. "Whatever is going on, we have
to stop them. Are you up for it?"
Seriana nodded. "Of course."
"The other Amazons will be after us, to
betray the tribe means certain death. I have to
risk it to save my sisters. Are you
willing?"
Seriana nodded again. "I'm with you all
the way."
"All right." Thalia closed her eyes
to morph. "Let's go."
Seriana
The escape was relatively simple. A small
brown squirrel slipped out of the ropes and grew
into Thalia again. She struggled with the knots
around Seriana's wrists, her fingers shaking
with nervousness. If they were caught now . . .
Seriana shook the loosened ropes off.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
"Do you have any weapons you can
use?"
"Yes: my bow and quiver are in my
hut."
"Go and get them. I'll saddle Deinus;
we'll be able to outrun anything on him. And for
goodness sake, watch your back."
They met by the horses a few minutes later.
Thalia had her bow and a quiver full of good
arrows, and held Seriana’s dagger. "Here.
I got it out of the weapon’s hut."
Seriana smiled gratefully and returned it to
its sheath. "Let’s go."
Even with the giant Deinus, Thalia’s skill
guided them out of the village without being
detected. Once they were out of sight, Seriana
swung up into the saddle and pulled Thalia up
after her.
"Can you still feel it?" Thalia
asked anxiously.
Seriana closed her eyes and reached out with
her mind. There it was . . . the powerful, evil
force of a dark goddess. "Yes," she
answered, shuddering. "This way. Hold
on."
They set off, trying to be as quiet as
possible, trying to swallow their fear. Both
were accustomed to having a tribe of Amazons
supporting them, but now they were alone,
fleeing from their sisters, heading into danger.
They both held their heads up, but they were
afraid.
Medea could smell it.
*****
Hercules made his way through the tents to
where he’d seen Seri and Thalia tied up, but
stopped when he found nothing more than a post.
Slowly, he smiled. The two were taking a huge
risk, but he knew and trusted his niece and was
assured that this escape did not incriminate
them. But the Amazons wouldn’t see it that way
. . .
He turned his back on the post and walked
slowly away, whistling to himself. Where had
Iolaus got to now?
*****
A few minutes later . . .
"What do you mean, they’re gone?"
Celosia demanded as she fingered the cords
hanging from the prisoner post. "Why didn’t
you post guards?"
The crowd of Amazons shuffled around
uncomfortably. "No one thought they would
escape," someone in the back pointed out.
"It’s Thalia, after all. We trusted
her."
"And Seriana? Did you trust her?"
the queen snapped. Then she sighed. "I
trusted her. I welcomed her into our sisterhood.
I should have known better than to trust a
daughter of Ares."
"Celosia, that’s not fair!"
Xanthea protested.
"She’s taken Tern and Medea!"
Celosia snarled, angry at herself. "She’s
taken Thalia, too. They are traitors. Ares is
always called the Lord of Battle, the Master of
Brutality, and Father of Treachery. Didn’t
anyone find it strange that Thalia was so quick
to befriend a stranger of such questionable
lineage?"
No one answered.
Celosia slammed her fist against the post,
wishing that the girl’s head were still there.
"All right." she said at last.
"Let’s hunt them down."
"Yes, my queen," said everyone more
or less in unison. The hunt was on.
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