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81 " The gods would take what they wanted, whenever they wanted it. "
― Jennifer Saint , Ariadne
82 " Every woman alive knows that the journey through birth is a voyage between life and death, for her and the infant alike. "
83 " I flare into life as Helios leads his chariot down below the horizon, the glimmering jewel in the centre of the crown. "
84 " kissed me then. "
85 " in Athens? Where did he plan to be? He moved closer to me and caught a strand of my hair between his thumb and finger. I couldn’t find enough air to breathe; Theseus filled all the space in front of me. “You will be glad,” he continued, “to have your sister dance at our wedding.” He kissed me then. "
86 " Minos had always spoken of the marriage I would make one day, a glorious union that would heap honor upon Crete. He should not have boasted. The creeping realization chilled my bones. How could I defend myself against his wrongdoing? If the gods were offended by him and struck down his wife, then why not his daughter? "
87 " What I did not know was that I had hit upon a truth of womanhood: however blameless a life we led, the passions and the greed of men could bring us to ruin, and there was nothing we could do. "
88 " And what possible use could my father, King Minos of Crete, ever have for a treacherous daughter? "
89 " What the gods liked was ferocity, savagery, the snarl and the bite and the fear. Always, always the fear, the naked edge of it behind the smoke rising from the altars, the high note of it in the muttered prayers and praise we sent heavenward, the deep, primal taste of it when we raised the knife above the sacrificial offering. Our fear. That was how the gods grew great. "
90 " I slept that night with a sense of calm in my heart, and the next morning I decided that I would walk down to the beach. The ocean had always been a friend to me, back on Crete. The sight of it would always soothe my soul. "
91 " I couldn’t find enough air to breathe; "
92 " More than anything, I knew that I did not want to be drawn into that circle, that I did not want to take my place amongst them and forget who I was. "
93 " Why did I, Phaedra of Knossos and Athens, put my faith in a man? "
94 " He pushed me against the wall, and I didn’t care that the harsh stone scraped my skin. His kisses were urgent, not soft like they had been by the rocks. I felt like he was branding me. "
95 " I don’t know how long we had spent out by the rocks. Too brief a time, "
96 " A storm of sobs rose up in my throat, and I wanted to cling to him like barnacles to a rock. “You "
97 " I held Medusa's image in my head, calming my deep ragged breaths. Her snakes hissed and spat and contorted about her head, striking fear into the hearts of so-called heroes as they cringed away. I could be the same. My rage would be my shield. "
98 " His words were not planned or deliberated over. He did not seek to impress me with embroidered and embellished tales. They were quite enough on their own. "
99 " I had seen the depravity of simple thieves and bandits, I had never imagined the scale of a king's cruelty when he has endless wealth and unchecked power to indulge his most crazed and filthy fantasies of revenge and torture. "
100 " A hero would not shrink from his destiny, he would not sneak from his dungeon and flee the fight. His name wouldn't ring through the ages for that. "