LYSSANDRA

  The Great King was making us follow him inside his room with Macardios and Tirgan accompanying us from behind. I wondered if they knew that I could listen to their doubts.

  ‘’This can’t be it, I know that she-’’ Tirgan tried to defend me, it seems, but Macardios replied.

  ‘’Are you forgetting your place?’’

  ‘’Your followers looked like they enjoyed the celebration’’ Perseus’ voice echoed.

  I nodded. After a few hard times, I could just thank him for the warm hospitality. I could still think of the piles of meat and the pouring wine while Alexious tried to give pomegranate seeds to Myrto as she kept drinking and laughing with her lips now stained red. But the strange thing was…I could not remember the music of that place. I could not remember the instruments, the musicians, I could not…was there even music?

  ‘’We had a few struggles, my king,’’ I said with honesty.

  ‘’All of them are so young’’There was almost pity.

  ‘’We found each other in deep darkness, and kept talking.

  ‘’They must trust you.’’ He stopped and took a look at me. ‘’For them to follow you all this way.’’

  I blinked and tried to think straight. I might have known them for years, but the last months felt like they were all strangers to me. As if I didn’t know who these people were. However, I knew that they were the only people I could trust. The only mortals that I knew wouldn’t leave me.

  ‘’I trust them,more’’I whispered with a smile upon my lips as I kept following him.

  The entire trip from the celebration to the room felt like a trip that even the sun was about to rest. But now, I could see a line of statues that were not of any god. Few of them were on their knees, others were trying to hold their faces, and a few of them were looking as if they were shedding tears.

  His bedroom was filled with trophies and weapons. I could see in each corner crowns and spears, which were collecting dust. Maps down to the bronze floor were shown of each and any part of the world, with a few kingdoms marked in red paint. I could see if he won another two or five wars, one of the masses would turn pitch red.

  And my interest now moved to one of the boxes that were close to the walls, right in front of a weaving image of the king’s symbol.

  ‘’Close the door, ‘’Perseus commanded the guards, and as they did, he followed me to the box.

  The engravings were in copper and gold, while the metal looked dark like the night. My curiosity grew, and I was about to open it.

  ‘’May I oracle?’’His voice echoed like a hungry creature, preying on a rabbit.

  I turned back to see his eyes glaring at me with interest again as his hand moved on the box, and when he opened it, I tried to restrain my fear.

  The head of the creature had no flesh, with gold dressing the inside of the box.

  ‘’It’s ichor,’’ Perseus explained to me. ‘’The god’s blood.’’

  ‘’It’s’’I mumbled and took a look at the fabric that was covering the eyes. A skull. It was just a skull.

  ‘’Is this Medusa?’’My lips trembled just by saying that name.

  He nodded. ‘’Her snakes decayed years ago, but her power still works.’’

  The myth of a gorgon. One look and you are a beautiful statue.

  ‘’It is a nice punishment for my enemies. ‘’A smile formed, and the memory of the statues from outside was clear enough. Every enemy, every victory could be shown as a beautiful decoration. This man, whom I thought was kind and just, was a monster to his enemies.

  I could show how terrified I was, but instead, I let out a laugh and walked closer to him.

  ‘’Am I your enemy, my King?’’I asked and he blinked, closing the box with a strange expression that was now dressing his eyes.

  ‘’When I was born, ‘’He began to speak.

  ‘’I could hear my mother crying, her loud heartbeat as she bore me inside her chest. I could listen to the seagulls, guiding us to a strange land while the salt was rubbing up my nose. Then, when we found out, we both thought we could have a peaceful life. However, the fates had other plans for me. My mother, after pain and suffering, was now forced to marry a beast. A sly man who gave me an impossible mission.

  On this journey, I had rage for the man my mother called father, abandoning her because of a prophecy. I could think of the man who bred my mother, who didn’t even appear all those years. I could think of how angry I was. With all my anger, I met two strange people. One was a woman, tall as a statue with a feathered cape, while the other one was shorter with a pair of snakes following him. The woman told me the truth about my heritage, who my father was, and then…’’

  He took one good look at me. ‘’The hatred grew and grew, he knew where I was, he knew my existence’’

  My hand touched right at my chest, feeling the familiar pain that he had.

  Abandonment. Rage for the gods….

  ‘’So the winged woman told me to move on, forget the truth, but the snake man offered me gifts, as much guidance from him at any time of need. And when I found the beast that I had to slaughter, I thought that it would bring my father to notice me. If I rescue a troubled princess, he might notice me even more. And after the conquest and the kingdom I made, I almost forgot why I was doing all of this. All the rage that I had, and yet I was making sure that he would see me. I wanted him gone, and yet I wanted to be right next to him. And then’’He moved closer to me and grabbed me by the hand. His eyes filled with regret and pain.

  ‘’Twenty-four years ago.’’

  My sleep was haunted by nightmares. That my throne began to be demolished in front of me, snakes getting out onto the ground and taking the ripe fruits of my garden. I, aging all so fast to be forgotten by everyone. But my father will still stand tall and great, and even he will forget about me. Every night, I have the same dream. So, I asked the oracle that I once had about them. And she told me that it was not me. That it will never be me. From my rage and my confusion, I had her executed. Thinking that the dreams would stop, but years passed by, and the nightmare became clearer. And then, someone offered me an explanation. A voice in my ear told me the truth. That I will be forgotten, I will die, and none will remember me. Every victory, every conquest I gained was all pointless. As I was driven to despair, facing my reflection in a mirror, I could see my hair turning finally silver. And then, the voice told me. Who and how can all this be prevented? About a girl in a village pretending to be an oracle. ‘’

  I blinked and felt terror screaming in my body.

  ‘’Go to see her, find information about her, try to trust her and then…’’He moved closer to me and whispered to me.’’Make her trust you before you kill her’’

  Everything fell like a piece of clay to the floor. His arrival, his challenge, everything. I almost died because of a trap. I took a look at the man who gave me one second of thought. That he was a decent king, someone who looked at me that I was worthy…It was all for his gain.

  The only chance of my survival would lead to my death.

  Stupid woman.

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  ‘’My Great King’’I moved my hands up in terror and tried to remain calm.’’There must be a misunderstanding’’

  ‘’You told me that you were from up north, the people in the village say from an island’’He began walking circles around me. ‘’But you are actually from Thessaly,’’ He paused.’’Well, you were born there and raised in the first years, but then you became a slave in Macedonia’’

  ‘’Most of my life was there’’I lied and a strange smile formed on his face.’’Fascinating’’His eyes winced.’’You are still lying even in danger.’’

  ‘’My King, I am an oracle, you have-’’

  ‘’I heard about you traveling to the Minoans, forcing the king to destroy temples because you saw the vision that Poseidon’s followers poisoned him.’’

  Wait…I shook my head and moved closer to him.’’No, that was the truth, I know that it was.’’

  ‘’How about poisoning that girl’s family? The one that she follows you.’’ A sort of laugh came from his mouth. ‘’She looks at you like you are her only salvation, does she know what you did?’’

  My teeth gritted, and I felt my breathing ability to get all so weak.

  ‘’What about the place you were a slave at?’’Perseus touched a few locks of my hair.’’All dead and gone, or a few moons ago?’’ He leaned back to my ear, his hand on my shoulder. ‘’You are letting a little girl follow you like a pet while you slaughtered her father.’’

  The one that started this problem.

  ‘’You sacrificed him to an altar, didn’t you? And not just someone, to the temple of Zeus while you offered it to Apollo…’’Two of his fingers were now caressing his beard. How did he know all of those things? Where could he find information like…

  Both of my eyes snapped.

  ‘’Her father was cruel’’I barked at him and kept with a lie.’’I warned him about his cruelty, and he did not listen.’’My shoulders rose up.’’I am seeing prophecies and they do not follow the warnings, I am not the one to blame.’’

  And then, with his darting eyes, Perseus’ voice broke a laugh. A laughter so hard that he almost fell to his knees.

  ‘’Such a prideful liar you are.’’ He spoke as his interest grew even more. Ho

  ‘’I did everything you asked, I almost died for you.’’

  His brow arched.’’Do you know how many traitors of my kingdom said the same?’’

  But I was not a part of his kingdom, his world, or even his beliefs. I…

  I touched my lips, and my cheeks flared. I broke every rule to be seen by him. I wanted power, and as it was near, the now-just king swallowed it whole.

  ‘’My King, I swear I am telling you the truth.’’I tried to remain calm, to give him an explanation, to lie once again. I was a liar, a thief, and a deceiver.

  His eyes were now open even wider with shock, and he jerked his head to the door.

  ‘’Bring her in,’’ He commanded, and the door opened right in a second with Tirgan and Macardios dragging Thais inside. Her face was all bruised up, spitting blood, and her hair was ruined while she kept fighting them.

  Her eyes were all filled with anger at me.

  ‘’I wrote to you’’Her voice broke.’’I wrote’’Her mouth spat as she tried to walk near me.

  ‘’I wrote you.’’ Her scream echoed through the room.

  She wrote to me. And I was foolish not to…

  He knows. The letter could say.

  ‘’We found her in the forest alone, without her brother in sight, so we tried to follow her until she ended up in a brothel…’’ Perseus explained.’’She is strong, though she never broke.’’

  My heart kept racing as I could see her condition. I tried to run to her side, but Perseus grabbed me by the neck.

  ‘’You can go to a fair trial’’He moved me closer to him. A trial? Against the word of a king? I now know the imbalance. I could see the men laughing and mocking me while that man smiled in victory.

  ‘’ It will take a month of preparations and your friend over there’’He forced me by the chin to look at Thais. ‘’I do not believe she will last.’’

  I could not listen to my heart anymore. I could see the life flashing in front of me, but it was just them. Only them. I could see Adamantious and Thais waving at me, telling me that everything will be alright. Myrto was crying in her wedding dress while Alexious and Leon were both crying babies.

  ‘’Well, your other followers might be stronger-’’

  ‘’Please’’I begged him. His hand relaxed around my skin. ‘’Please, old king’’I could not breathe. ‘’Let them go,’’

  ‘’Lyssandra, what are you-’’ Her voice trembled.

  Perseus looked at me, all confused.’’Let my followers go’’ I screamed, staring at his eyes.

  Was this what was left from my pride? I knew what I wanted, but I also knew my place. I could not trick him this time. I could not..

  ‘’Then, confess to your king’’ His voice was all dry now. I could feel myself dying just from being close to him. ‘’And I will let them go free.’’

  And I wanted to die.

  ‘’I confess’’I said, standing tall.’’I am a fake priestess, I am a fake prophet, and I-’’My voice trembled. My end would be execution. ‘’I am a killer, a liar, and I sacrificed a man to the temple of Zeus.’’

  This king was kind and just. But for his enemies…he would trick them, play with them, and then make sure their bones would decorate his walls. This man was no mortal.

  Perseus simply looked at me before taking a deep breath. ‘’Tirgan, guide the criminal to her cage.’’And then, with a straight posture, he announced.’’ At sunrise, she will be executed.’’

  Executed?

  ‘’Wait’’Thais screamed and faced me.’’Lyssandra, you foolish woman.’’

  Tirgan now moved toward me and grabbed me by the shoulder. I did not resist

  ‘’Macardios, guide the others to the rooms except for the girl.’’Pursues explained.

  ‘’What?’’ My voice stuttered.

  ‘’I will set them free, after your execution.’’

  ‘’No stop.’’Thais screamed and pushed Macardios away from her body, grabbing him by his belt with a bright bronze sword.

  ‘’Eay woman’’He tried to laugh at the fact that Thais were now with a weapon. So, she replied by attacking him, scratching his face. Even with her hands tied, she had a perfect grip on the sword. I have seen her fight before, trying to escape, but this time, it felt like she was a true warrior with the remaining sunlight bathing her hair in gold.. Her movements were harsh and yet elegant, fast as she now found an opening to kick Macardios on his chest, making him fall.

  Tirgan suddenly let me go and rushed to his friend, while Thais now found me, her hands trying to touch me. And then, she began to drag me outside the hall.

  ‘’Macardios,’’ Perseus now sounded irritated like a spoiled kid with no food at the table.’’I do not need more mess.’’

  What was she trying to do? I tried to pull myself away from her, but her hands were so tight on my wrist.

  ‘’We will find the others and…’’ Thais muttered.’’My brother told me where he hides the money, we will go.’’’

  ‘’Thais stop’’I screamed at her, and she turned back to look at me, confused. Why was…why was she staying? She was bruised because of me, she was hurt because I didn’t read the letter. She learnt to write and I could-

  And Thais took a deep breath.’’We do not have time for this, I swore to protect you too, Lyssa’’Her eyes looked to the thing that was right behind me, and her gaze was all in fear as she jumped right to my back and pushed me away, making me fall to the ground.

  And the next thing I saw was Thais’ stomach bathed in blood while Macardios was piercing her with a long spear. My eyes darted left and right. Thais kept gasping, gushing blood out of her mouth, while Perseus was still standing as if he was waiting for the facade to be over.

  ‘’I-’’Thais coughed and faced me.’’Love you, my or-’’Her lips stained in red and her eyes wet.

  And then, Macardios dropped her to the floor like a ragged doll while Tirgan finally appeared and grabbed me tightly.

  He probably tried to tell me that I wouldn’t go anywhere. But that was pointless now as I could see Thais cold body on the floor, eyes looking up to the rising moon.

  I love you, my oracle.

  I could not listen, I could feel my throat aching while my ears were ringing. My lips were mumbling her name over and over again. No, I was not mumbling her name. I was screaming. Screaming so loud that my ears were about to bleed and my throat to swallow.

  I lifted my eyes to the king, who was approaching me, and my face was burning from all of it.

  ‘’I will kill you’’I yelled. And Perseus’ lips curved into a satisfied smile.

  ’’Finally’’He laughed.’’You show your true intentions.’’ His cold hand cupped my face and pulled me closer to his. I could not escape. I could not do…

  Where is your god now?

  Nothing ever changed/

  ‘’Macardios, get rid of the body and you’’He narrowed to Tirgan.’’Make sure she behaves until the sunrise.’’