101
" What are you saying, Argus?” Jason came out of the darkness like a murdered man’s ghost. “I heard you mention my name.”
“Only telling Atalanta here about your own exploits as a hunter,” Argus said as naturally as if it were true. “You ought to show her that leopard-skin trophy of yours. It’s a beauty.”
“There’ll be time enough to show her that later.” Jason tried to look annoyed, but I could tell that Argus’s smooth talk had flattered him. “When I choose to do it, not when you try to send me off on an errand. I still lead this venture, not you.”
I hated his arrogant attitude toward Argus, to whom he owed so much, but there was little I could do about it. The best I could manage was a ruse to divert him. “A leopard skin?” I put the proper note of awe into my voice. “You should wear it when Lord Aetes summons us to his hall. One look at such a prize and he’ll know who our leader is without asking!”
“You think that will be necessary?” Jason growled, giving Argus a hard, resentful stare.
I pretended I hadn’t heard that. “A leopard! Not even Herakles could boast such a kill. He wore a lion’s pelt, but brute strength’s all you need to slay one of those beasts. You need strength and brains to overcome a leopard.”
“Would you really like to see the pelt?” Jason asked eagerly. I nodded. “For you, then, honored huntress,” he said in a low, honeyed voice. He leaped back aboard the Argo with so much vigor that Argus had to bite his lips to hold back the laughter.
“I’ll never call you ‘girl’ again,” Argus said to me. “A woman twice your age would envy your cunning!”
“If I were still ‘Glaucus,’ you’d say I was smart or clever, not cunning,” I chided him.
“Pfff! What does one little word matter?”
“So you won’t mind if I call the Argo a ferryboat?” I replied sweetly. "
― Esther M. Friesner , Nobody's Prize (Nobody's Princess, #2)
106
" I nearly didn’t recognize Milo. I saw a tall, strong-limbed young man with long, gleaming curls and a neatly trimmed beard. His bright blue and green tunic was banded with rich red and gold, a far cry from the cast-off garments he’d been forced to dress in before. He was hard at work, spreading out all manner of glittering wares at Father’s feet, when he looked up at me, and all at once I knew him again. I couldn’t help uttering a cry of delight. If he hadn’t been holding an especially fine vase in his hands just then, I think I would have rushed into his arms.
“Well, well,” Father remarked fondly. “I think our daughter has seen something she likes. "
― Esther M. Friesner , Nobody's Prize (Nobody's Princess, #2)
107
" My battle joy was short-lived. Iolaus seized the back of my tunic and yanked me back, stepping between me and the other fighter. He’d found his footing and his strength. The fortunes of the skirmish changed and ended with a single stab of Iolaus’s borrowed sword. My enemy made a hideous sound and crumpled.
Iolaus turned to me, his face monstrous. “In the name of all the gods, Helen, what are you doing here?” He was so enraged he called me by my true name, but it was lost in the chaos of battle. “Get back to the ship now, or I swear by Zeus himself, I’ll drag you there by the hair!”
I gave him a sour look. “You’ll need both hands free for that. Better give me that sword back first.” I nodded at the blade I’d brought him, the one that had saved his life.
Iolaus wasn’t in the mood for inconvenient reminders. “I’ll thank you later, if you’re alive to hear it. Now get back to the ship before something else hap--”
A fresh war cry from one of the remaining riders tore the air, loud and imperious enough to draw everyone’s attention. "
― Esther M. Friesner , Nobody's Prize (Nobody's Princess, #2)
108
" My beloved grandson, I thank the gods for the joy of seeing your face again before I die. I wish with all my heart that you’d come back to us sooner.”
Argus smiled, but made no move to approach his grandfather. “You’ll have to forgive me for staying away so long, Lord Aetes. As dearly as I love you, the idea of being put to death on my return to Aea kept me away. It’s a trivial thing, the fear of losing one’s life, but it means a lot to me.”
Lord Aetes scowled. “Your father, Phrixus, was wrong to exile you, but every man has the right to rule his own family. I thought Phrixus was unjust, but I couldn’t intercede. I had a good reason.” He didn’t elaborate.
“A very good one, no doubt,” Argus drawled. “Is it going to be good enough to justify executing me now that I’m back?”
The king shook his head. “Your father and stepmother are both dead. Any quarrel you had with them is over. Your innocence and honor are not to be questioned by any man who owes me allegiance. All of your rights as a royal prince of Colchis are hereby restored.”
“All of my rights?” Argus echoed. “You mean my stepbrother, Karos, is dead, too?” Lord Aetes didn’t answer. Argus stroked his beard. “I see. Well, won’t he be thrilled to learn that he’s going to have to share his inheritance.”
“There will be peace between my grandsons,” Lord Aetes stated, gritting his teeth. “I will not have it otherwise. Did you come here to vex me, or to rejoin your family?”
Argus’s laughter danced with the smoke and sparks rising from the fire pit. He strode around the hearth and embraced the king. “My apologies, Grandfather, but can you blame me for snapping? Look at the two of us. My years of exile have aged me so that we could pass for brothers!”
Lord Aetes smiled and returned Argus’s hug. “That’s over now. We’ll soon have you looking your proper age. "
― Esther M. Friesner , Nobody's Prize (Nobody's Princess, #2)
109
" Glaucus, put on your shoes,” Milo said. I ignored him. Men scurried here and there on a hundred unknown errands, or grunted under the burden of massive clay amphorae and wooden chests. Some sat mending nets, others untangling lengths of rope. The reeks of fresh pine pitch, salt, and sweat fought each other, no one winning.
“Glaucus…” Milo’s hand fell on my shoulder and gave me a little shake.
“Oh! Sorry. Were you talking to me?”
“Were you listening?” he countered. “If you won’t answer to ‘Glaucus,’ why insist I call you by that name? "
― Esther M. Friesner , Nobody's Prize (Nobody's Princess, #2)
113
" Now, my honored guests, tell me all about yourselves. I have heard that your ship carries no cargo, so I know you’re not traders. Surely you didn’t undertake a voyage solely to restore my grandson to his family?”
It was Jason’s moment to shine, and he seized it. He introduced each of us, somehow making it sound as if we owed some part of our fame to him. When he presented me as “Atalanta, the heroine of the Calydonian boar hunt,” he took pride in describing my initial masquerade as a weapons bearer. “That was all my idea. I wanted the great huntress to share in this adventure, but she was afraid of what would happen if the crew knew she was a woman.” If the real Atalanta had been there to hear it, she would have taught him a hard lesson at the point of a boar spear.
“Is that so?” Lord Aetes studied me where I stood. “She doesn’t look like the fearful type.”
“I’m not,” I said firmly. “But you know how it is with sailors, Lord Aetes: The truth never gets in the way of a good story.” I ignored Jason’s dark scowl.
The Colchian king laughed out loud. “You look very young to be so bold. Medea! Take Atalanta to your own quarters and see to her comfort.”
Lord Aetes’ daughter looked stricken. “Now?” Her glance darted from her father, to me, to Jason, where I was surprised to see it linger.
The king glowered at her. “What’s wrong with you? You heard me!”
“I--I only wanted to hear more of our honored guests, Father. They haven’t told you why they’ve come to Colchis yet.” Her voice sounded strained, as if she weren’t used to putting up the mildest argument.
“If that turns out to be any business of yours, you’ll be told. Now go, before you shame yourself in front of our guests any further. "
― Esther M. Friesner , Nobody's Prize (Nobody's Princess, #2)
114
" Later on, Orpheus stood beside the hearth fire in the center of the hall and sang about the day’s adventure. On his lips, the northern raiders were transformed from swift, deadly riders to winged and taloned monsters, part hawk, part woman. Because they could fly so high that spears and arrows couldn’t reach them, only men with the blood of the gods in their veins could end the havoc they caused. Luckily, a ship of heroes came ashore to rid the land of the hideous creatures. Zetes and Kalais, the sons of Boreas, had inherited the North Wind’s ability to fly and soon defeated the Harpies. They would trouble good Lord Phineas no more.
Orpheus finished his song, and the men cheered and banged their fists on the tables so loudly that it seemed like they’d bring the roof down in pieces. As for me, I kept my mouth shut and my arms folded. Orpheus noticed my frosty look when he sat back down. “You didn’t like it,” he murmured.
“They deserved better,” I replied stiffly. “They were brave fighters.”
“I thought I made that clear. Just look at Zetes over there, grinning ear to ear in spite of a nasty arrow wound that probably still burns like Hephaestus’s own forge-fires. It might leave him half lame for life, but he won’t mind, because in my song, he owns the sky.”
“You didn’t see the way he fought today,” I shot back. “He’s not worthy to own a mud puddle. They fought well, those women. They were as skilled and courageous as any man, so you turned them into monsters!”
Orpheus was silent for a little while. Then he took a sip of wine and said, “They attacked without warning, they destroyed good ships for the sake of destruction, they violated the sanctity of a sacrifice to the gods, and they would have cut down a blind old man, king or not, if we hadn’t come ashore when we did. I won’t argue with you about their valor or their mastery of weapons and horses, but see them for what they are, lad. You say I’ve made them monsters, yet you’d make them gods. They’re women, human women, as praiseworthy and as flawed as any fighting men I’ve ever known, but plain truth makes a poor song. "
― Esther M. Friesner , Nobody's Prize (Nobody's Princess, #2)
115
" You come from his lands. You know what women there do to attract a man. You will teach me.”
I didn’t like the way our conversation was going. Even though she kept her voice soft and coaxing, she wasn’t asking for my help, she was demanding it. “Lady Medea, I don’t know about such things.”
“You wouldn’t need to, would you?” Now her expression was hard and bitter. Her moods shifted at a frightening rate, and my apprehension grew with each change. “You don’t need to do anything but breathe and the men flock to you, ready to die for your sake.”
“That’s not true. You heard how I came here. No one questioned my disguise for an instant.” Except Argus, I reminded myself. And perhaps Orpheus too, though he never came out and said anything about it directly. But she doesn’t need to hear that. "
― Esther M. Friesner , Nobody's Prize (Nobody's Princess, #2)
118
" Orpheus literally had his hands full, holding on to her while she struggled to break away from him and plunge into the water, time after time. How the other Argonauts laughed!
Jason was exasperated. He needed Orpheus to keep the rowers working together and he was short by three men since the battle. He couldn’t spare anyone else from the crew to keep the girl from killing herself. When he ordered Herakles to grab her and tie her to the mast, our “dove” showed us that she spoke our language well enough to spew blistering curses and threats.
“Listen to that!” Herakles exclaimed with an exaggerated shudder. “She’s a witch’s daughter, sure enough. She’ll put a spell on me if I offend her.”
“Stop that nonsense and control the brat,” Jason snapped.
“Alas, beloved prince, I can’t.” Herakles sighed and hung his head with such a pathetic air that Milo, Hylas, and I stuffed our knuckles into our mouths to stifle snickers. “I made a vow to Hera not to touch a woman until we come to Colchis.”
That was too much for Hylas. He burst into hoots of laughter, and Milo and I joined in, until we had to clutch one another to keep from falling over.
I was still trying to catch my breath when Jason’s foot shot out and dealt me an undeniable kick in the behind. “You think this is funny? You watch her!” he barked at me. “If anything happens to the scrawny little bitch, we’ll stick you in a dress, hand you over to her flea-bitten relatives, and be halfway to Colchis before they figure out they’ve been duped. If you’re lucky, they’ll kill you quickly. If not, they might decide to use their knives to turn you into the daughter they lost. See if you can laugh your way out of that, boy!” He showed his teeth in a satisfied smirk and didn’t understand why I kept on laughing at his threat, even while I walked off to assume my new job as the girl’s keeper. "
― Esther M. Friesner , Nobody's Prize (Nobody's Princess, #2)
120
" But there is no Golden Fleece. Only the Ram, bound for gold trade. You said so.”
“No one Golden Fleece,” he responded, shaking a finger at me. “Colchis is rich in gold. It washes down in flakes out of the mountains. Men drop woolly sheepskins into the streams, and when they pull ’em out again, the fleeces glitter like little suns!”
“What about the unsleeping dragon?” I asked.
Before he could reply, we both heard the crunch of approaching footsteps and my brothers lurched into the circle of firelight. I prepared to bolt, but Polydeuces uttered a ground-shaking belch, tripped on nothing, and sprawled forward on top of me. He reeked of unwatered wine.
Castor giggled. “Now look wha’ you did,” he declared, sweeping his arms wide apart. “We heard Argus tellin’ story ’bout the Fleece, all we want’s to come listen, an’ you crush poor ol’--ol’--whoever that is. I tol’ you, you drink too--too--too mush Herakles’ wine. Here, I help you up, boy.” He took three steps and fell over Polydeuces just when I’d gotten hold of his shoulders and was shoving him away. Both of my brothers flattened me in a human landslide. Argus howled with laughter. "
― Esther M. Friesner , Nobody's Prize (Nobody's Princess, #2)
