soldiers.'
'Yet even as we speak, your other men could be plotting to conduct the very raid which you deny.'
'I have no other men,' said Jason. 'You see before you all who have journeyed here with me.'
'Good move, kid,' Steiger mumbled. 'Give our strength away, why don't you?'
'Our strength?' Delaney whispered. 'Let me get this straight. Are we going to try to help him or were we thinking we might have to kill him?'
Steiger glanced at him with surprise. 'Hell of a thing, isn't it?' he whispered back. 'I'm starting to get caught up in this.'
'Well, make up your mind, Colonel.' Steiger grinned in spite of himself. 'Have you made up yours?'
Delaney grimaced. 'I'm working at it real hard.' Aietes smiled as he stroked his beard. 'You claim the golden fleece rightfully belongs in your kingdom,' he said to Jason, 'yet it was Phrixus who brought it here, your own kinsman on whom you base your claim. With his own hands, he gave me the golden fleece to commemorate his marriage to my daughter, Chalciope, who stands there with her sister, Medea.' He swept his arm out in an exaggerated gesture, indictating two women standing together among the courtiers on his right. 'Will you tell the widow of your kinsman that you would take away a sacred relic with which the gods had blessed their union? Would you take from her this one remaining token of her departed husband?'
They all looked at the two women who stood close together, the eldest clutching her younger sister's arm. Chalciope had brown hair streaked with gray and a full, soft, pretty face that she must have inherited from her mother, for it had none of the harsh angles and sharp planes of her father's features. Yet Medea had her father's coloring, hair that was raven black and fell in long, curly tresses down her back. The darkness of her hair made her face look paler than her sister's, but it was not the pallor of ill health. Her lips were red and full and her features sharp, like her father's, but on her the effect was one of striking beauty. She had not inherited her father's beaklike nose, but she had his black eyes and penetrating gaze, which she now directed pointedly at Jason, staring at him with curious intensity.
Jason swallowed hard and floundered for a moment, whether from the question Aietes asked or from Medea's gaze it was impossible to tell, but he finally found words for a suitable reply and, for once, his tone of voice lacked its usual arrogance.
'I would tell my kinsman's widow that I come not to cause her any sorrow, but to bring her husband's spirit rest, for it has been told how the shade of Phrixus appeared in dreams to many of my people, pleading with them to bring the golden fleece back to his native land. Though he married here and lived well for the remainder of his days, Colchis was not the country of his birth. In life, he was denied his birthright and in death, he was denied rest in his native soil. The spirit of Phrixus is bound up in the golden fleece. If we bring it back to Iolchos with us, he may at last find peace.'
'A very pretty speech,' Aietes said, 'yet what proof do you offer us that it is true? We have but your word and you are unknown to us. You are not the first to come seeking the golden fleece. Its fame has spread throughout the world and the fortune of our kingdom is bound up in it. It is our most holy treasure and it makes our country fruitful. Since the time I placed it in the Sacred Grove of Ares, our harvests have become more bountiful and the earth had yielded up its wealth to us. It is well known that there is much gold to be found in Colchis and many have come before you, seeking both that gold and the sacred relic whose power draws it forth out of the earth for us to find. The golden fleece is the greatest treasure of our kingdom, yet you expect me to give it to you for the asking? It is clear to me what you have planned. You hope to play upon our sympathies and upon my daughter's grief so that you may trick us into giving up the fleece. Failing this, you have brought warriors with you so that you could seize the golden fleece by force.'
Aietes rose from his throne and pointed a finger at Jason, moving and speaking like an orator whose every nuance and gesture was calculated to achieve maximum effect.
'Yet you have miscalculated, Jason of Iolchos. We are not fools to be taken in by tales such as yours! If the gods wish for the golden fleece to be removed from Colchis, why have they not revealed their designs to us? If the spirit of my eldest daughter's husband is tormented, why has it not appeared to us in dreams? If the gods meant for strangers to arrive upon our shores and bear the fleece back with them, why have they not warned us of your coming, so that we would not treat you as invaders, but welcome you and do their bidding?
'No!' Aietes shouted. 'We are not fools in Colchis! Nor are we a passive, docile people to be ill-used by pirates coming to our shores! The golden fleece has brought us prosperity and we maintain a mighty army to defend it and a fleet of swift ships to pursue all those who would come to plunder us! We have dealt severely with such men before and we shall do so again with any who attempt to steal from us! It is clear to me that you have not reckoned with our strength, else you never would have dared to march here in force so brazenly. As you can see, Jason of Iolchos, we are not easily frightened.'
Aietes lowered his voice to a more conversational tone and made a gesture to encompass everyone around him. 'Yet we are not a barbarous people. Though you may have come here bearing arms and making arrogant demands upon us, you have not committed any hostile acts. You say your voyage has been long and arduous. We are prepared to extend our hospitality to you so that you may rest briefly before starting on your journey home. Quarters shall be set aside for your men in our soldiers' barracks. As a foreign king, you shall be made welcome in the palace and you may select a number of your people to attend you, not to exceed five. When you return, you may tell others that we make strangers welcome here and treat them with the courtesy to which their rank entitles them, but if they come to us bearing the sword, then they shall die by the sword. This audience is ended. You may go.'
While Aietes spoke, Jason had turned several different shades of purple and when the king summarily dismissed him, he would surely have exploded but for the presence of mind displayed by Idmon, who came running up to Jason's side and took his arm in a firm grasp.
'We are most grateful for your hospitality, King Aietes,' Idmon said quickly and loudly, so that Jason could not interrupt. 'With your leave, we will go now and rest from our long journey.'
He practically dragged Jason away, a feat which would have been more difficult if Jason weren't so furious that he could do no more than sputter with inarticulate outrage. The moment they had rejoined the main body of the Argonauts, the soldiers turned about smartly and almost frog-marched the Argonauts out of the palace. They crossed the city square and stopped at the soldiers' barracks, a long, fortresslike stone building with a low wall surrounding it. Not looking to provoke a confrontation, Kovalos told Idmon, rather than Jason, that he would return 'with a proper escort for the king' when rooms had been made ready for him in the palace. In the meantime, he showed them the area designated for their temporary use-stressing the word temporary-and promised that slaves would shortly bring food and fresh water to them.
'Never has my patience been so sorely tried,' said Jason, as soon as they were left alone. 'I thank you, Idmon, for your timely intervention. If not for you, I would surely have lost my temper with Aietes. I came to him honorably and spoke plainly of my intent, yet was forced to stand there in mute rage while he accused me of the basest motives!'
'We did come to take the golden fleece,' said Theseus, 'so for myself, I am little surprised at his response. Yet I am not displeased at this turn of events. It would have posed no challenge if Aietes had given up the golden fleece without a fight.'
'Without a fight?' said Argus. 'Has it escaped your notice that Aietes has at least five men for every one of us?'
'If the odds intimidate you, Argus,' Theseus said nonchalantly, 'I would be pleased to take on your five as well as mine.'
'It would be difficult for us to take on anyone at this point,' Idmon said, stepping between them. 'These quarters are built like a prison and you may be sure that we are watched. We would not take two steps beyond these walls before their archers dropped us in our tracks. Unless the situation changes, there is not much we can do at present except to plan a way out of this predicament. It was not for the sake of being gracious that Aietes 'invited' Jason to stay at the palace. He means to have him as a hostage for our good behavior until we can be safely sent back on our way. You may be sure that he will have soldiers searching for the Argo in the meantime. It was fortunate indeed that we concealed the ship and that no one saw us land.'
'So what would you have us do, soothsayer?' Theseus asked. 'What portents do you see to guide us in our actions?'
'I have seen no portents,' Idmon said, 'but I have a feeling that we shall receive help from an unexpected
