“Ah, Lady Helen, look at you today, dressed the way you should be. It suits you. A far cry from the rags you wore when you were that insolent boy Pirithous and I met during the hunt, eh? I knew it was you. I figured it out not long after you ran away from us, waving that silly little splinter you called a sword. Where’d you get that toy, anyway? Filched it, I’ll bet. No man in his right mind would give something that dangerous to a girl.
“You’ve got spirit, and that’s all right. I like a woman with spirit, in moderation. But what were you thinking, tagging along on a boar hunt? You could’ve been killed or, worse, the boar could’ve ruined that pretty face of yours. You’ll be a beauty someday, Lady Helen, even if you are still a wild little thing. Well, a few more years and a good husband will make you settle down.”
That did it. I didn’t know which was worse, his lies about my looks or his gall about dictating what my future had to be. I stopped dead, digging in my heels the same as when I’d helped Atalanta spear the boar. Theseus tried to push me forward, but I held firm, lifted my chin, and said, “I don’t know why you’re blabbering silly flattery about how pretty I am, but you can stop now, before you make an even bigger fool of yourself. I didn’t ask for your company and I don’t want it. Go away and leave me alone.”
He smirked and nodded at the priestess figurine cupped in my hands. “Is that any way to talk to me after I gave you such an expensive gift?”
“You bought this, not me,” I said. “Take it.” I thrust it at him, and if I just happened to drive my fist into his belly while I did it—
That was stupid. No matter how well I could handle a sword or a spear, I was still just a fourteen-year-old girl, and a blow from my fist against a grown man’s well-muscled gut hurt him about as much as the flick of a hound’s tail. He grabbed my wrist and twisted it until I dropped the figurine into the dirt. I cried out in pain.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have to wait a few more years for a husband,” he said. “Someone needs to teach you how a good woman behaves.”
I screamed and thrashed and kicked, but he wouldn’t let go of my wrist, and no one in the street made any move to help me. Who’d dare interfere with a man who was so obviously rich and strong, especially when the victim was just a girl, even if she was well dressed herself? How I wished I had my Spartan sheepdogs with me now!
“What are you doing to her? Stop at once!” The words cut through the air like the crack of a whip. Theseus’s grip went slack, though he still held me. I saw the astonishment in his eyes: The voice that had just commanded him to let me go was the voice of a young woman.
14
VISIONS FROM THE GODS
The young woman was standing in the street before us, flanked by two frail, white-haired men. One held a blue-fringed red sunshade over her head, the other waved an oxtail whisk to shoo away flies. She was half a head taller than I, with waist-length curls of hair so black it gleamed with blue highlights. She had the whitest skin I’d ever seen, as if it never saw the sun. Her almond-shaped face was as carefully painted as any of the old potter’s images, lips and cheeks reddened with dots of carmine, emerald-green eyes outlined with a heavy black border of kohl. The flounced layers of her skirt were so elaborately decorated with gold, silver, pearls, and precious stones that walking must have been like wading through muddy water. The laurel wreath on her head was made of gold.
When Theseus didn’t obey, she strode forward, eyes blazing. I know it was impossible, but I could have sworn that they grew larger, changing from green to midnight black laced with a sudden flash of crimson fire. “Son of Aegeas,” she intoned. “Your father is dead, the princess who loved you is gone. How many more will you lose? Son of Poseidon, free the daughter of Zeus or lose more! Friend, mother, son, city—”
“Hear the voice of Apollo!” one of the old men cried out in his shaky voice. “Hear the Pythia!”
But Theseus didn’t stay to hear any more. He dropped my wrist, held up his hands as he babbled an apology, then wheeled around and ran. The young priestess solemnly watched him go and stooped to pick up the clay figurine he’d forced out of my hand. “Oh, good, it’s not broken,” she said as she handed it back to me. “It’s very pretty.” Then she burst into giggles.
The priest who carried the fly whisk approached us. “You are the lady Helen of Sparta, yes?” he asked me politely while his companion hastened to shadow the Pythia with the fringed sunshade.
“Yes, I am,” I replied. “How did you know? I’m afraid I don’t remember meeting you.”
He had a kind smile. “You didn’t. I saw you and your brothers arrive at Apollo’s shrine yesterday, that’s all. I don’t pretend to have her blessed powers.” He nodded at the young woman who’d rescued me.
I drew the priest a little aside and murmured for his ears alone, “Is that really the Pythia?” He nodded, still smiling indulgently. “But why is she here, walking through the streets just like anyone else?”
“Because she has already spoken this morning to those who sought Apollo’s words, including your brothers, Lady Helen. After she has prophesied, she always enjoys breathing fresh air.”
I remembered what I’d heard about the Pythia’s vapor-filled lair; I couldn’t blame her for wanting to escape it. “I’m just surprised that she walks,” I said. “She’s the Pythia; shouldn’t she be carried wherever she wants to go?”
“You can’t see anything when you’re being carried along in a litter,” the Pythia said, coming up behind me. “I like walking, Lady Helen, and now I’d like to walk with you.”
I couldn’t have asked for a safer escort back to the temple precinct. When the Pythia went by, people drew back, raised their hands to their foreheads in prayer, fell silent, or spoke in whispers. I kept silent too.
“Lady Helen, what’s the matter? Why won’t you talk to me? Have I offended you?” The Pythia linked her arm through mine as if we were sisters.
“I—I didn’t know if I should,” I answered. “You’re the god’s voice.” I hadn’t believed it that morning, but after seeing firsthand evidence of her abilities, I was ready to change my mind.