Thief of Olympus (Greek Myth Series Book 3) (18 page)

He nodded slightly, and she knew he’d meant to let her go. Their time together would be but a memory only in her mind from now on. After she left him at the bank, she knew their lives together were over. The hope of someday being together as a family diminished on the breeze. He was letting her go, and she in return would release him. It was for the best, she tried to convince herself.

He held all the power now, all the control she’d fought so hard to maintain since the night she’d met him at her coming-of-age. He held the winning piece to this game. He had the golden chalice of Dionysus which would make him the victor of this personal war. She had failed as an Amazon and let her sisters down, but somehow she felt in her heart that she still won.

She’d listened to her heart, just like Zarek suggested. Once done, she realized emotions truly were more powerful than the rules and ways of the Amazon nation where she lived without ever questioning, accepted without ever wondering, and acted without ever reacting. She didn’t regret her decision, because she knew now she was doing the right thing. But she would miss Zarek. After today, she would never see him again. Because this was goodbye between them. Forever.

He reached out and slapped her horse on the rear and sent her away through the forest.

With no where else to go, Lysandra headed back to Amazon lands. The tears flooded her eyes from her sorrow, but the warmth of Zarek’s body still clinging to his cloak wrapped around her, gave her the strength to continue. If only he had stopped her from going. If only she had told him how she really felt, mayhap he would have. She failed again. She should have told him that she loved him, a trait she wasn’t even sure an Amazon could truly possess.

She knew she had to tell her mother she had lost the challenge. She had to tell the Amazons they would feel the wrath of Artemis upon them. But she didn’t need to tell them of her feelings for Zarek. Nay, she wouldn’t tell them she had done something forbidden by any Amazon woman. She had not only defied her learned hatred for men, but she had fallen in love with the father of her child. To an Amazon, this was the worse of all crimes.

It was near midnight when she rode into Amazon camps. The warriors ran to greet her, and her mother poked her head out of the flap from inside her tent. The rain had stopped and the earth was warm, making a steam rise through the air around them. She huddled inside Zarek’s cloak for security more than for warmth and slipped off the horse. The warriors guided her to the fire where her mother now waited.

“So what happened?” asked one of the girls.

“We heard you lost yesterday’s challenge,” said another.

“I am very upset with you, Lysandra,” came her mother’s cold, stark voice over them all.

“I apologize for losing yesterday’s challenge,” she said. “I know I should have come here to tell you. I am not sure why I didn’t.”

“Some say you’ve turned from Amazon ways and are siding with a male. With the king of Thrace.” Her mother’s words were accusing, and she felt the tension building between them.

“No, Mother,” she said, coming to her side. “It’s not true. We were against each other, fighting, every minute. The challenge between us was real.”

“Really?” she asked with a raised brow. “And is that why you ride into Amazon territory wearing his robe?”

She clutched the robe with her hand, not wanting to let go of her last remembrance of Zarek. By keeping his garment, she had somehow felt there was still a thread of hope of them joining together again some day. It was a ridiculous thought, but it was all she had left.

Her mother reached out and grabbed her hand, and Lysandra’s arm stiffened as the queen brought Lysandra’s hand high for the whole camp to see.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice your ring is gone. If I’m not mistaken I saw it on that bastard’s finger last time we tried to invade Thrace.”

“He stole it, Mother. I didn’t give it to him. Honestly, I am telling you the truth.”

“Then why didn’t you take back what was rightfully yours? It seems to me you let him keep it.”

While Lysandra respected her mother, she could hold back her feelings no longer. She no longer wanted to live in denial. So she looked into her heart and spoke the hidden emotions that would bring trouble to the Amazon camp.

“I was trying to take back what was rightfully mine when this all started,” she cried. “I wanted my son back, and you wanted to kill him. I can’t allow the Amazons’ wretched traditions of killing male babies to go on any longer. It is needless and heartless. I do not want to be a part of such a horrible act.”

“You have no choice,” the queen snapped. “Amazon traditions are strong, and we live only to serve Artemis. While I am queen, I will uphold those rules. And no one except for Artemis herself will change my mind.”

“When I am queen, I promise you I will change all that.”

Silence deadened the air, and all eyes were on Lysandra. That was a direct attack upon their queen, and by right her mother should challenge her to a fight to the death. Lysandra’s insides quivered, as she knew she would never want to hurt her mother. And if her mother should want to call forth a challenge, she would decline and either be killed or exiled from the tribe.

“Before I respond to that, my daughter, I would like to know who won today’s challenge.”

Lysandra quaked beneath her robe. She may be a trained Amazon warrior, but this was the most frightening thing she’d ever had to do. She straightened her shoulders and raised her chin, and answered her mother’s question.

“I lost,” she said, and a gasp went up amongst the crowd. Her mother’s face darkened, and her jaw jutted out.

“What do you mean, you lost? You are an Amazon warrior. How hard could it be to get the golden chalice of Dionysus?”

“Harder than you think,” she said, remembering only too well her own hesitance to pull away from Zarek after their exciting night together.

“Well, the thief seemed to have no trouble.”

“He’s not ‘the thief’,” she said in Zarek’s defense. “He is the king of Thrace and also the father of my child. I wanted him to win the challenge. I told him to save his own people. I let him have the chalice, though I could have taken it from him. And because of this, I am happy. He will be the one raising our child now, because he is the best father my baby could have ever had.”

Confused talking broke out among the warriors and her mother’s rage showed only too well upon her face.

“You will not be the next queen of the Amazons, and as of this night, you are no longer my daughter. I am ashamed of you, Lysandra. You are a disgrace to the entire Amazon nation.”

“Kill her,” shouted one of the warriors. “Kill her for bringing the wrath of Artemis upon our heads.” Her warrior sisters cheered the idea onward, turning against their princess.

Lysandra stood her ground, waiting for her mother’s answer. As queen of the tribe, she had the power to make the decision on her own. Her word was final, and once her decision was made, nothing could stop the course of action.

“She will be exiled,” said her mother, and Lysandra exhaled a breath of relief. “We will never associate with her again, and if she is in danger, not a one of you are to help her. Now leave Lysandra, before I change my mind.”

She met her mother’s eyes with tears in her own. She wanted so much to hug her one last time, but it wasn’t a warrior’s way. She had never received the love from her mother she had needed as a child. She had never even known which man was her father. The Amazons were her only family, and now she was being cast out. She would truly be alone now. Forever.

“Wait!” shouted her mother, causing Lysandra to turn around. Had she reconsidered? Had she changed her mind about casting her out? “Burn the robe,” she instructed her warriors. “We will leave her with nothing of the male who made her turn against us.”

“No!” shouted Lysandra, clutching the cloak around her. She didn’t want them taking her last memory of the man she loved.

The Amazons tugged at it and Lysandra gripped it tightly. Then with one more jerk, the cloak ripped down the middle. Something shiny fell out and rolled over the ground, stopping at her mother’s feet.

“Stop!” commanded the queen, and the warriors let go. Her mother bent to the ground and picked up the object holding it up to glitter in the fire. “By the gods,” she said. “It is the goblet of Dionysus!”

“By the gods,” Lysandra repeated under her breath. So she had won the challenge after all

Seventeen

Zarek rode slowly through the gates of Castle Thrace, his head low, and his spirits solemn. He had purposely given the goblet of Dionysus to Lysandra, and with it he gave up his rights to his son, and also the lives of his people. What had he done? His feelings for Lysandra had caused him to lose his mind, therefore taking such drastic measures.

Daedalus greeted him at the gate, a smile on his face until he saw no look of victory upon Zarek’s brow.

“My king,” he said quietly, taking the reins of his horse as Zarek dismounted. “Do not tell me you lost the challenge?”

“Aye,” he said, walking through the courtyard without really looking at anyone or anything. His mind was focused on the princess of the Amazons. The woman who meant so much to him, he would willingly give up everything he owned.

“How did she manage to do it?” he asked in astonishment. “What was it that caused you to lose to that woman?”

“My conscience,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “I gave her the goblet, Daedalus. I couldn’t bear to see her lose her son or her tribe. She has nothing else in this world except for them.”

“Are you mad?” Daedalus followed him into the great hall, waving his hands wildly as he spoke. “That baby is your son, too. How could you give him up so easily after the pains we went through to bring him to your side? And how in the name of the gods could you even care what happens to those bloodthirsty Amazons?”

Zarek climbed the steps to the dais and plopped down atop his wooden throne. He hung one leg over the arm of the chair and rested his chin in his hand.

“I love her,” came his simple answer.

“Love her?” Daedalus asked in surprise. “What happened to hating each other and all the arguments you had every time you two were together?”

“I don’t know how, nor why. All I know is that I feel an emptiness inside my chest when she is away. I could not live with knowing she would never see her son again.”

“She hates men!” cried Daedalus. “Are you forgetting this fact? What could it possibly matter if she ever saw the baby again? It is the wine talking, not you.”

“She tried to save the baby, Daedalus. She went up against everything her people stood for to find a way to bring that child to safety. She wants to be a mother to Sander. She loves him. I can see it when I look in her eyes.”

Daedalus took a seat next to him and shook his head. “Are you sure, Zarek?”

“Aye, I’m sure.”

“And does she love you as much as she loves her son?”

Zarek accepted the tankard of ale Tessa handed him and took his leg from over the side of the chair, sitting up straight. “I don’t think so, old man. I believe she lusts for me, but I do not believe she feels for me the way I do for her.”

“Let her go, Zarek. You’re better off without her. And though the boy is your son, you can always have another. This time find a lady to bear your heir, not a warrior princess.”

“That’s the answer,” said Zarek, slamming the tankard atop the trestle table. The ale spilled over the rim and down the sides making a puddle beneath it.

“What’s the answer?” he asked, totally bewildered.

“You have just said the words that have brought me an answer to my problem. I have an heir, Daedalus, I don’t need another one. And though I gave away the goblet so Lysandra could save her tribe and keep the baby, I am not convinced I did the right thing.”

“No?” asked the old man, not understanding any of it.

“I want my son back, Daedalus. And if I have to share the baby with Lysandra, then so be it.”

“Share? You can’t possibly mean what I think you mean. That would be preposterous.”

“I’m going to ask Lysandra to leave the Amazons. She can bring Sander here and they can live here with me at the castle.”

“Oh.” Daedalus nodded slowly. “For some reason I thought you meant to take it a step further.”

“Come, old man, for we have to prepare our defenses against Artemis. If we’re going to somehow fight her off, we must be strong, we must be ready. If not, I may not have a castle for Lysandra and Sander to come home to.”

*  *  *

“The goblet,” said Lysandra, moving forward to take it from her mother. The queen held it away from her, her body stiffening in the process.

“You told me you didn’t win the challenge,” came her mother’s accusation.

“I didn’t,” said Lysandra. “Zarek must have forgotten it in his cloak when he placed it around me.”

“He’s a no good thief!” her mother snapped. “He doesn’t carelessly forget pilfered items. You had this all along, yet you kept it from us.”

“No. I tell you, I did not even know it was in the cloak.”

“Kill her for lying to us,” came the cry of the warriors.

“What? I am your princess,” she reminded them.

“Not any more,” came her mother’s answer. “As a banished Amazon warrior, you are nothing to us at all.”

“How can you say that, Mother?” she gasped. “Even though I am banished, I am still your daughter.”

“Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!” the warriors chanted together.

“No!” screamed Lysandra, not able to believe the entire tribe would turn against her. “I tell you, I am not lying. I didn’t know the chalice was there.”

“Well, what do you expect us to think?” asked her mother holding the goblet in front of Lysandra’s face. “That he willingly gave it up to you although he knew what was at stake?”

“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head, trying to think over the loud voices of the tribe. “Mayhap he did. But I don’t know why he would.”

“By Amazon law, she has turned against us in more ways than one,” reminded one of the warriors. “Queen Medora, you know the law states any warrior committing treason to the queen must be given up as a sacrifice to Artemis.”

“What?” said Lysandra, backing away. “Mother, tell me this isn’t true!”

“I’m afraid it is,” she said with downcast eyes. “I am sorry, Lysandra, but I cannot go against the word of the goddess, Artemis.” She turned to her warriors and nodded her head. “Prepare the pyre. There will be a sacrifice tonight.”

Lysandra fought against her own warriors, using the skills her mother had once personally taught her. She kicked out of their grip and knocked one of the warriors to the ground, grabbing the woman’s sword in the process. She managed to fight off half the tribe before her mother waved them away.

Lysandra stood motionless, watching her mother put down the goblet, pick up her sword, and face her daughter in a challenge.

“Mother, don’t do this,” begged Lysandra. “I am your child. Do not fight me, and do not sacrifice me to Artemis.”

“It pains me to have to fight you, daughter. But I cannot go against the rules of the tribe. Our rules and traditions are the strength that binds us together. They are the blood that runs through the veins of the tribe to make us unbeatable and undefeated. Artemis has trained us in our warrior ways, and to her we owe our lives.”

“What about the lives of all the male babies you’ve sacrificed?” she asked. “Did you owe them to her too, or did you only do it out of fear?”

Her mother shouted in fury at that remark and lunged forward with her sword. Lysandra matched her, parrying each of her blows. Her skills were strong, but her mother’s skills were stronger. She didn’t know how long she could keep this up before she was defeated.

“I sacrificed both my sons to Artemis, just like you should have done, and none of this would have happened.”

“No, mother,” she said diving to the ground and rolling, to miss her mother’s next attack. “I believe you did it because it was expected of you as queen. I don’t believe in your heart you really wanted to lose them. They were of your own womb.”

“Don’t try to second guess my actions!” She lunged forward and knocked Lysandra’s weapon from her hand. In one quick kick, Lysandra was flat on the ground, and her mother’s sword was at her throat. “You never did make a good warrior, Lysandra. You were too weak in the heart to survive.”

“Better to be weak of heart than heartless. If you can live with the guilt of killing your own daughter, then be done with it. Run the sword through me and go on with your life, never questioning your daily customs and traditions. Never feeling the love for anyone because of the fear of knowing you someday may lose them.”

Silence encompassed the camp, and the warriors waited for the queen’s final blow. Lysandra’s heart thumped wildly against her ribs, and she stared her mother directly in the eyes like a true warrior one last time before she left this earth.

Her mother’s hand wavered, and then with a scream, she raised the sword and instead of lowering it into Lysandra, she stabbed it into the ground.

“Get up, Lysandra,” she said through gritted teeth. “You have proved to me tonight that you are a warrior stronger than I will ever be.”

Lysandra pushed up to her feet and looked at her mother, bewildered.

“What do you mean?” she asked softly.

“Everything you said about me, daughter, is true. I lived in fear, never taking it upon myself to question the tribal traditions. I have lived with demons in my head ever since I sacrificed your brothers to Artemis. I knew it was wrong to kill them, though I’d been trained to hate all men. But I did it for Artemis. I did it for the Amazon nation to be strong and undefeated. But I am weak, daughter, and not the ruler this tribe needs. You will be queen as of this night. Because you, Lysandra, are the stronger of the two of us.”

“No, Mother, that’s not true.” She ran to her and reached out to hug her, but her mother backed away.

“I want you to hate me, Lysandra, just as you should.”

“I don’t hate you,” she answered. “You are my mother. I love you.”

“No! I don’t want you to love me. I don’t deserve it, do you understand? Get away from me,” she said pulling her dagger from her waist. “And always remember me as the cold, harsh woman I really was.”

Lysandra didn’t understand any of this. What did her mother mean, remember her? She sounded as if she meant to leave the tribe. The tribe was nothing without her. She was the strong backbone that kept them going. If she were to leave, the tribe would certainly fall apart.

“I cannot rule the Amazon nation,” Lysandra told her. “You are queen, and I have no desire to take your place.”

“It is tradition,” her mother said with a nod of her head. “You will make a better queen than I, Lysandra. Now rule wisely.”

“Mother I - ” Lysandra stood motionless as she watched her mother raise the blade to her own neck and slit her throat. Time passed before her as if in slow motion as she watched the dagger slip from her mother’s hand and hit the ground. Her mother’s body followed, crumpling to a heap on the soft earth. In a puddle of blood, lay the queen of the Amazons, having taken her own life.

“No!” screamed Lysandra, running to her mother and throwing her body atop hers. “You can’t do this!” she cried, her tears falling atop her mother’s lifeless body.

The warriors one by one, slowly came to her side. Not a sound passed between them as they stood over Lysandra and their dead queen.

“You are our leader now,” said one.

“Hail the new queen. Queen Lysandra,” shouted another raising her weapon to the sky. They all cheered out and shouted, “Queen Lysandra, Queen Lysandra,” over and over again until Lysandra thought she would go mad.

“Stop it!” she cried, getting to her feet. “Can you not see I do not wish to be your queen?” She pointed to her mother, dead on the ground, “There’s your queen,” she told them. “There’s what your stupid traditions and blindly following Artemis has gotten you. And that’s how each and every one of you will end up if you do not think this whole thing through.”

“How dare you!” Artemis appeared at the edge of the fire in a cloud of smoke. “You dare to tell the Amazons to betray me?” She threw a firebolt at Lysandra, and the power of it knocked her to the ground. Her tunic wrap caught fire and she rolled to put out the flames.

“Artemis, Queen Medora has killed herself,” one of the warrior’s pointed out.

“By the rite of passage, Lysandra is our new queen,” relayed another.

Artemis looked over to Medora, no expression crossing her face at the loss of her best warrior. Instead, she just shook her head.

“Lysandra will not be the next queen. I will kill her for trying to turn you all against me.”

She readied an arrow and pointed her bow toward Lysandra. Lysandra, hurt from the firebolt, knew she would never survive the arrow of Artemis.

“Get the chalice,” she whispered to the warrior at her side. And with the last of her strength, she pulled herself up to her feet. “My mother died because of your rules and traditions, Artemis, although she knew in her heart she was doing wrong.”

“There is no room for one’s own thought where my rules are concerned. Once they are made, not even I will break them.”

“Do you mean what you say?” she asked, taking the chalice from the warrior at her side.

“I am a goddess. Do not doubt my word.” She pulled back the bowstring again, but before she could shoot, Lysandra held the goblet high above her head.