The Flame in the Maze Read Free Page B

fine,” she said loudly, so that Hypatos and the bowman would hear her. “It was just the heat, making me weak. Your godmark, Father—it is a powerful thing. You know this.”
    No
, she thought,
oh, no indeed: I was listening to Theseus
.
Theseus, son of Aegeus, king of Athens, whom you blame for your own son’s murder. Theseus, who
will
get me off this island. Would you kill me, if you knew? Would you burn me to ash, then yourself?
    â€œYes,” Minos said, so gently that she felt like his child, again. “I know this. I have hurt you in so many ways, and do not deserve your forgiveness. When I am gone, you will no longer have to endure it. The gods will soon grant all of us peace.”
    I’ll be gone long before then,
she thought. “Yes,” she said. “I am sure they will.” She smiled at him, though he couldn’t see it, and she smiled at Hypatos, who did, and then she walked away.

Chapter Two
    Phaidra was asleep. Ariadne had known she would be: it was the middle of the night, after all, and Phaidra had always slept so soundly that Deucalion had declared this her true godmark, to everyone’s great amusement. Ariadne stared down at her now: long, moon-silvered limbs; hair, both silver and gold, that flowed over the edge of the bed.
    â€œPhaidra. Get up.”
    The girl murmured and rolled onto her back.
Fine little breasts
, Ariadne thought.
And a fine little belly. I would smother her, if I didn’t need her fine little godmark.
    â€œSister.
Get up
.” Ariadne tugged on a lock of Phaidra’s hair and she sat up, moaning and rubbing at her eyes.
    â€œAri?” Her voice was muffled and rough, but when her eyes opened they were clear. “What do you want?”
    Ariadne walked to the window, which overlooked the road and the ragged hills and the glint of sea beyond them. Phaidra had a better view than Ariadne did, at the summer palace.
Everyone
had a better view than Ariadne did.
    â€œI need you to open a lock for me.”
    Phaidra stood up.
When did she get so tall? She looks like one of Karpos’s statues: made of marble, but breathing and warm. Godsblood, I hate her.
    â€œYou’ve never come to me before,” Phaidra said. “You’ve never asked me for anything.”
    Ariadne smiled. She made sure that the moonlight was falling on her face, so that Phaidra would see it. “Get dressed.”
    â€œI’ll do nothing for you.” Phaidra crossed her arms over her ribs, which made her breasts higher and fuller. “I can’t imagine why you think I would.”
    â€œIndeed.” Ariadne walked slowly back and forth in front of the window, her skirts whispering on the stone floor. On her third circuit she stopped and laid her hand on a pillar, which was cool and polished, painted with ferns and thistles that almost prickled her skin (Daedalus’s work, no doubt, or perhaps Karpos’s). She turned her face to the moonlit sky. “And what if I told you this lock would lead you to Icarus?”
    She had expected a gasp, or a
thump
as Phaidra fell to the floor. Instead there was silence. Ariadne glanced at her sister and saw her standing straight and pale, her gaze steady.
    â€œIcarus.” Phaidra’s voice was also steady.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œIcarus is dead. He drowned more than four years ago when his ship was attacked by pirates. I was in the Throne Room when the messenger brought the news. Remember, Ari? I was there.” At last, a tremble. A tensing of the muscles in her arms.
    â€œI remember.” Ariadne crossed her own arms and took three steps toward Phaidra. Their elbows were almost touching. “But oh, Sister: there is so much you do not know.”
    She watched Phaidra swallow.
    â€œTell me, Ariadne. It’s what you came to do. So do it.”
    Ariadne turned and walked to the doorway. “No, Phaidra dear. I’d rather show you. Follow me.”
    After a long, long