Thief of Olympus (Greek Myth Series Book 3) (6 page)

“Endre,” he called to his steward. “What is the status on the Amazons?”

“They’re getting closer,” he shouted. “The queen has led her warriors past the barbican already.”

“Then raise the drawbridge at once.”

“’Tis too late, my king. They are already upon it.”

“Then lower the portcullis!” he shouted, rushing up the steps to the battlements toward the bastion, the tower where the guards kept watch. Lysandra followed quickly behind him, the baby still in her arms. She panted for breath and clutched her stomach with one hand.

“I thought I told you to go back to the bedchamber,” he growled.

“I will not abide by your commands,” she rallied. “I am a warrior and will be treated as one. Now return my weapons so I can fight.” She doubled over for a second then stood upright, all the while holding the baby in the crook of her arm.

He had no doubts ’twould be him she’d be fighting if he dared do such a thing as put a blade in her hands.

“Nay,” he answered, making his way across the allure, toward the last set of steps up to the guard tower. “To put a weapon in your hand would be like slitting my own throat. Now get, so I can survey the situation and see where I need lay my defenses.”

Amazons scaled the outer walls, while the others tried to break through the iron-clad gate which had been lowered just in time to bar them out. Zarek ordered his men to shoot arrows from the battlements and drop boiling oil from the machicolations, the small holes above the gate.

“Nay!” cried Lysandra. “Do not harm them. They are my people.”

“Your people,” he pointed out, “are trying to kill my people in case you haven’t noticed.”

With a swipe of his sword, he severed a rope being used by the Amazons to climb the walls. A scream was heard as an Amazon fell into the moat.

A Harpy flew by close overhead, and Zarek pulled Lysandra and the baby into an alcove for protection. Lysandra stumbled and almost dropped the baby. Startled, the child started crying again.

“What’s the matter with you?” he asked. “You almost dropped my son. You look ill.”

Her face looked pale and if he wasn’t mistaken, her body trembled.

“I - I don’t know. I feel rather dizzy.”

“You never should have climbed the battlements,” he told her. “You should have stayed in the bedchamber like I instructed.”

The Amazons pounded at the gate below, trying to break their way through. The queen could be heard crying out, “Return my daughter or we will be forced to kill every one of you.”

“What should we do?” asked an archer, shooting arrows fruitlessly at a Harpy in flight. The arrows did naught to slow down the wretched beast. “We cannot hold off the Amazons and the Harpies both.”

Zarek looked down to the bailey, seeing the Amazons had already managed to raise the portcullis slightly by their own means. The half-bird, half-woman Harpies swarmed in a circle above him. They were horrid-looking creatures with the head and chest of a woman, and large scaled wings instead of arms. A huge tail and sharp talons made up the rest of their bodies. Lysandra leaned against the stone wall, her eyes closed, the baby still crying.

“Defend yourselves,” he answered to his men. “Even if it means killing Amazons in the process.”

“Nay,” came Lysandra’s soft reply. “’Tis me they want. Once they have me they will leave you alone.” She handed the baby over to Zarek, and he cradled it to his chest in one arm, his sword clutched in the other. Then she wobbled a little and holding on to the wall for guidance, headed down the stairs. Zarek’s attention was brought downward, and he saw drops of blood leaving a trail where Lysandra had been.

He rushed after her, protecting his son against his chest. Several of his men kept intercepting him along the way, and by the time he made it to the courtyard, she was already gone.

“Where is she?” he cried. Soldiers ran rampant through the courtyard, and a mother rushed after a stray child. The Amazons tired to pry a battering ram under the gate, with no results. A Harpy let out a shriek from above and dove toward him. He sheltered the baby and dove for cover, dropping his sword in the process. He came up under a cart of hay, only to find Daedalus already there.

“King Zarek. Where is Lysandra?” Daedalus asked.

Zarek scanned the courtyard, his eyes falling upon the bloody trail leading to the front gate. Lysandra had just rolled under the heavy portcullis which her Amazon sisters were holding up. She got to her feet and they dropped the bars, sending the iron gate banging to the ground.

“Lysandra,” he said her name softly to himself, watching the Amazons helping her to stand. “I’ve got to go to her,” said Zarek, only to be reminded by another wail that his son was still in his arms. If the Amazons got hold of the baby, they’d kill him. He could not take the chance.

He pushed the baby into Daedalus’s arms and helped the man to his feet. “Get my son to safety, now. I’m going after Lysandra.”

Retrieving his sword, Zarek ran through the courtyard, swiping at a Harpy along the way. Coming to the gate, his men joined him, weapons raised. Amazons on one side of the iron-clad gate, Zarek and his men on the other, the two sides met.

“Lysandra,” he called. “Come back.”

She looked at him through half-closed eyes, her body leaning on her warrior sisters. Her hair was still wet from their bath together, her clothes still dirty and torn. Blood trickled down her leg and he knew she was still weak and needed healing after birthing the baby. He reached out through the bars and touched her arm, but an Amazon swiped at him with her sword. He moved his hand fast enough not to be nicked and pulled it back inside the gate.

“Do not touch my daughter,” came the queen’s threat. She pushed her way to the front, her bow raised and arrow readied. Zarek’s archers raised their weapons in defense, but he motioned with his hand to hold their fire.

“What is it you want?” he asked.

“Hand over the baby,” commanded the queen. Her Amazons raised their swords and bows in a threatening nature to match his own men’s. The queen was shorter than Lysandra, but had many of the same features. Her eyes had the same blue-green glow of the sea as Lysandra’s, and she had the same flaming red hair, though hers was short and straight. And the most unnerving similar feature was her boldness and need to be in control.

“My son will be staying with me,” Zarek announced.

“That baby is our sacrifice to the goddess, Artemis. You will return him at once or we will be forced to take him from you.”

“Mother,” said Lysandra weakly. “I . . . ” Her eyes rolled back in her head and her body slumped to the ground.

“Lysandra!” Zarek rushed forward, gripping the bars of the gate with one hand.

“She’s not well, my queen,” said one of the warriors. Two of the others lifted Lysandra by the shoulders and tried to make her walk.

“Lysandra!” he called again.

Her eyes fluttered open briefly and she looked right at him. She looked so pale, so weak, so frail. Not at all the brash warrior princess he’d fought with just hours ago. Her legs wobbled beneath her and her eyes drifted open and shut.

“Take care of our son,” she said softly to him.

“Get her back to camp!” directed the queen, commanding her Amazons to lower their weapons. A cart of a peddler lay tipped on its side just outside the gate, the horse still attached. The queen ordered her warriors to right the cart and they laid Lysandra inside. She looked back to the gate, her angry eyes penetrating through Zarek. “We’ll be back for the baby,” she warned and headed away. A lone Harpy swept through the sky, disappearing as well.

Zarek’s eyes fell to the cobbled stone just outside the portcullis. Blood. Lysandra’s blood stained his walkway, sending a feeling of remorse coursing through him. She’d warned him she needed to rest after having birthed the baby. He should have treated her gently. He should have guided her back to the bedchamber himself instead of allowing her to climb the battlements.

“Shall we follow and attack?” came Endre’s question as the guards turned the winch and the gate raised with a tired squeak.

“Nay,” he said with a shake of the head. “Leave them be. But be on the lookout for any more trouble. My son is within these walls and we must protect him well.”

The wailing of a baby - his baby - resounded out the window and through the courtyard. He hurried toward the bedchamber, already missing Lysandra.

Six

Zarek entered the chamber to find Daedalus standing on his head, a ball in between his feet. The baby lie on the bed crying. Daedalus sang to the baby, moving his legs up and down as he bellowed out his nonsensical tune.

“My good friend, what are you doing?” Zarek lay his sword down and rushed over to pick up his son. The baby snuggled its head against his chest, its little mouth sucking, trying to feed.

“Ah, well. It always used to work for Icarus.”

Daedalus got up, brushed off his clothes and wandered over to pick up a contraption off the side table. He brought over a small device which chimed with a flick of the finger. The baby stilled for a second, then continued to cry once again.

“He is hungry,” stated Zarek, holding the child to his chest and brushing his lips across its downy head. “He needs his mother.”

“What say you?” Daedalus raised an eyebrow. “I thought you had no use for that Amazon woman. It almost sounds as if you truly want her back at your side. Are you forgetting that she almost sacrificed your son?”

Zarek paced the room, wanting to think - trying to think - but not being able to hear his own thoughts above the din of the infant in his arms. How could one small baby make so much noise? He was so much like his mother already.

The door opened a crack and his steward, Endre poked his head into the room.

“What is this, Endre? You dare to enter before you’ve knocked?” Zarek’s patience thinning, he redirected his anger toward the man.

“I apologize, my lord.” Endre bowed. “But I did knock. Several times. Perhaps you did not hear it above the crying?”

Zarek jostled his son to one arm and then to the other, but it didn’t change a thing.

“God’s eyes, what am I doing wrong? I do not know how to stop this child from crying.”

“Mayhap I can help.”

Zarek recognized the matronly wet nurse as she stepped around Endre and entered the room.

“I have returned immediately upon hearing word that my services were needed. May I?” She held her hands out for the baby.

“Oh. Yes. Of course.” Zarek handed the child over to her, and she headed over to the bed. When she removed her gown from her shoulder, Zarek turned away.

“What is your name?” he asked, without looking in her direction.

“I am Pasha, my lord. I will be at your service till the baby is weaned.”

At the sound of silence, he turned back to see the baby’s head resting against her breast. A sudden tinge of regret ripped through him. This wasn’t right. The baby should not be feeding from any woman except that of his mother. He had felt aroused watching Lysandra feed his child. Now he felt saddened that a stranger should have the opportunity.

“I will acquire your services for a while, but the baby’s mother will be returning to take over the responsibility.”

“She will?” asked Endre from the door.

“When?” asked Daedalus in surprise. “And why? You do not need her now that Pasha has returned.”

“Mayhap you are right,” said Zarek rubbing her amethyst ring on his finger. Mayhap the baby didn’t need Lysandra, but he did.

*  *  *

Lysandra opened one sleepy eye, almost blinded by the sunlight streaming in through the entrance of the tent. Her dream of coupling with Zarek had come to a crashing halt the minute she saw her mother’s angry face leaning over the sleeping pallet.

“Mother,” she said, trying to force a smile. “What happened?”

“You have disgraced the Amazon nation, that’s what happened.”

Lysandra rubbed her eyes and pushed up, feeling the aches in her body as she did so. It was all coming back to her now. The attack on the castle, and the way she’d willingly returned with the Amazons, leaving her baby behind.

“I weakened and of that I am ashamed,” she apologized. “But I feel much better now and am sure I’ll be strong enough to continue soon. I just need to rest.”

“Aye,” she agreed, “you are a weak warrior. But an Amazon never has need of rest. Even after something as trivial as birthing a baby.”

“Baby.” Just hearing the word made her breasts ache. She needed to get back to little Lysander. She needed to feel him again in her arms. “I need to let him feed. How long has it been?”

“You are no longer able to do that, daughter. You have slept for more than a week and your supply is now gone. Besides, Amazon mother’s milk is not to be wasted on a male child!”

“He is my child,” she spat, pushing up to a full sitting position. “I can do as I please.”

Her mother brought her face down to meet Lysandra’s, their noses nearly touching. Anger flashed in her eyes and challenge in her words.

“You were to sacrifice the male baby to Artemis. You have already done as you pleased, and it has brought strife to the tribe.”

“How?” she asked. “How can it bring strife because my baby lives? Nothing can be changed because of a sacrifice of a child.”

“Artemis is not happy with you, Lysandra. She has threatened revenge for your betrayal. We will worship at her temple in one week’s time when the moon is full. And when we do, we will have that baby, and you will personally offer it up to her.”

“No!” Lysandra screamed, jumping to her feet. Her body was bare and she could see the size of her breasts had already decreased. Her stomach had returned to its normal size, but she still felt dizzy and tired. She clutched her mother’s arm, but the woman would do naught to help her.

“You are a warrior, Lysandra. And you are my only daughter, and also the princess who will rule in my place when I am gone. Do not disappoint me again.”

“I do not belong here, Mother. I am not like the others.” She took a coverlet from the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders. “I know I should hate men, but - ” The look in her mother’s eyes kept her from continuing.

“King Zarek was a bad choice as your mate. I, myself, am to blame. I knew he would sire a strong child, but I did not expect him to make a fool of the entire warrior nation. He used you, Lysandra, to get what he wanted, and you should hate him for it. He is never again to be trusted.”

“What?” Lysandra could barely believe what she heard. She clutched the coverlet in her fists and shook her head. “I used him as much as he used me. How does that make me any different?”

“We are Amazons. It is our tradition. We serve Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. She has protected us well because of our loyalty to her. But now, you have jeopardized everything by wanting to keep that inferior male baby.”

“I will not let you take baby Ly…baby Zarek from me, Mother. And I will never let him be sacrificed.”

She saw the disdain on her mother’s face at her new decision of her baby’s name. She wasn’t sure if she did it to spite her mother, or to please Zarek, but it no longer mattered.

“You have named it after its father?” She stormed to the door of the tent. “You are to be punished for this, Lysandra. Artemis will not let your disloyalty go unnoticed.”

She left Lysandra sitting there by herself. The sound of the Amazons pulled her to the door. Clutching the coverlet tightly around her, she watched as her mother practiced fighting, single-handedly against four Amazons at once without a weapon.

Lysandra had once been proud of who and what she was. She had longed for the day when she became the Amazon queen, best of the warrior nation. Now she no longer cared. Her beliefs had been challenged when she birthed a male baby. And her hatred for men had diminished when she met King Zarek of Thrace.

She headed back to the sleeping pallet, already tiring. She had to regain her strength before another week passed. As soon as she was able, she would sneak from the Amazon camp and go to Thrace to warn Zarek their son’s life was in danger.