Something Wicked This Way Comes, Volume 2

“Shut your mouth!” Catullus stopped rowing just long enough to focus a look of utter loathing on Larisa. “It didn’t have to be this way. I want you to know, it was your vicious tongue that condemned you to the labyrinth. If not for your steady stream of poisonous words, I might not have been forced to dispose of you. Had you respected my new station in life, instead of railed against it, we might have peacefully lived together.”

Larisa scowled. “I’d rather die than share your bed.”

“Your death is coming soon enough. You can be certain of that.” Catullus dipped the oars back into the water and rowed. His black gaze became beady. “Before I hand you over to the Minotaur, maybe I’ll help myself to what Alecto never had the chance to claim on his wedding night.”

“Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of a virgin sacrifice?”

“Would a grunting, bull-headed beast even know the difference as it rips its jagged teeth into your flesh?” Catullus paused for effect. “I think not.”

“A grunting beast? Are you referring to yourself?”

The boat scraped against a partially submerged rock as it drifted into a narrow inlet. A gravel beach and steep cliffs came into view as the lapping surf ran the boat aground with a jolt. Larisa realized the ocean current, if not Catullus’ lackluster rowing, had carried them to an island.

She looked upward as the fog lifted—and saw a dazzling palace, with ornately painted columns and frescoed walls that shimmered in vibrant shades of earthy red, golden ochre, turquoise and green. The entire palace was ablaze with colors and patterns unlike anything she’d ever seen. The elegant palace crowned the cliffs in majestic silence.

“It’s so beautiful.” She stared in awe, noticing there was not a living thing in sight. “And so lonely.”

“Where is everyone?” Catullus grumbled. “Do they not have an official to greet visiting dignitaries from the mainland?”

“You’re not a dignitary,” Larisa sniffed. “Perhaps they don’t welcome uninvited guests, and at this very moment have a row of hidden archers poised on those cliffs with their razor-tipped arrows aimed at your heart.”

Catullus gasped in horror and dropped to the floor of the boat to cower.

Larisa laughed at his antics as Catullus curled into a ball. “I’m sorry there’s no hollow log on this beach for you to hide inside.”

“You weren’t there,” Catullus snarled. “You have no idea. The Aetolians are bloodthirsty brutes.”

“Yet my father, Alecto and other brave men stood their ground and fought back. That’s the only reason Kreios didn’t fall to the Aetolians. Ares told me he watched the men charge the enemy with swords slashing before he ran off to search for you.”

The eerie lowing of a bull echoed against the cliffs.

The tiny hairs on the back of Larisa’s neck bristled, and she looked up.

A towering figure with the head of a bull appeared at the top of the cliff. Dressed in a flowing black robe, the horned figure seemed to look down at them.

Catullus glanced upward with bulging eyes. “Is that the Minotaur?” His bottom lip quivered in terror as he scooted toward the back of the boat. “Is it possible the Minoans allow such a vicious creature to roam freely?”

The figure lifted a wing-like sleeve high into the air and appeared to beckon them toward a staircase carved into the side of the cliff.

“It’s not the Minotaur, you fool.” Larisa thrust her wrists forward to be untied. “It’s some sort of priest wearing a mask. He wants us to climb the stairs.”

Catullus froze. “Perhaps this was a mistake. Maybe we should leave…” His hands reached for the oars and rowed backward, but the paddles merely scraped beach pebbles and the boat didn’t budge.

The priest addressed them in a booming voice. “Is that young woman a bride for the labyrinth?”

“Yes.” Catullus’ head bobbed nervously. He turned toward Larisa and mumbled, “Bride? A sacrificial ritual isn’t a wedding. What an odd way to phrase something so brutal. These Minoans are very strange people…I’m not sure I want to meet them.”

The priest pulled a golden dagger from its sheath and pointed the blade toward Catullus. “Bring her into the palace. The Master shall judge you both.”

“Yes, my lord.” Catullus immediately unknotted the rope that tethered Larisa to the boat, his face filled with fear. “By all that’s dark in Hades, I don’t want to go up there! This place is so foreboding. I have a sickening feeling in the pit of my gut—this island is doomed. I want to leave.”

“This was your idea. You brought me here to die. What did you expect?”

Catullus spoke through tensed lips. “I was hoping for something less somber and intimidating, more along the lines of a festive royal court.”

Larisa rolled her eyes. “I’m not a bit surprised. This is exactly what I was expecting.”

“Don’t delay.” The priest’s deep voice rang over the cliffs. “The Master knows you’re here. Asterion waits.” He turned and walked away.

Catullus trembled as he stepped out of the shallow boat and offered Larisa his hand.

Larisa lifted her bound wrists expectantly. “Untie my wrists too.”

Catullus stared at the leather thong around Larisa’s wrists and shook his head. “I don’t dare. If you run away again, the way you did in the village, I’m certain these people will kill me.”

“What you’ve done to me is wrong. I’m proud I gave you a hard chase. It’s not my fault you can’t run uphill.” She ignored Catullus offered hand, which hung unclaimed in the air, and rose from the boat unassisted. “I’m thirsty. May I have water?”

Catullus frowned. “Why bother? Your life will be over soon.” He unstopped the clay amphora, held it to his lips and tipped his head back to swallow the last of the water.

A bull’s bellowing roar shook the earth from within and made the tiniest pebbles on the beach leap and shiver.

Catullus dropped the empty jar to the ground. “What was that? It sounded like it came from inside the island!”

“That sounds like doom to me.” Larisa’s lips curled with a slight smile. “The great difference between you and me is, I’m not afraid to die. When I cross the river Styx, I’ll see my mother, father and Alecto again. Who will you meet in Hades—other wretched souls? I’m certain you can expect to be seated beside the most miserable men in Hades’ cowards’ corner.”

“Shut your mouth and get moving.” Catullus took hold of the rope tether, still tied to Larisa’s bound wrists, and used it like a leash to drag her toward a twisting flight of steps carved into the cliffside.

“Slow down.” Larisa tugged against the tether as her sandaled feet crunched across the shifting rocks. Catullus pulled her forward as if leading a stubborn mule. With her wrists tied in front of her, it became more difficult to balance with each uncertain stride. The hem of her linen tunic swept against the wet, mossy rocks, and soon looked as damp and green as the many tidal puddles on the beach.

“Hurry up,” Catullus goaded. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Ah, you no longer sound so keen on taking up residence in the royal palace.” She stumbled forward a few more steps. “What changed your mind? Was it the island’s gloomy atmosphere? You should give it a chance,” she heckled. “Perhaps you’ll enjoy sharing sleeping quarters with that bull-masked priest and his razor-sharp dagger. Sweet dreams.”

Catullus gave the tether a swift yank. “I’m done talking to you.”

Larisa’s eyes scanned the shallow tide pools as she walked. At the edge of one pool was a golden rock the perfect shape of a star. She stopped abruptly and knelt beside the pool, forcing Catullus to stop as well. She leaned down to touch the odd stone with the tip of her finger but the moment she came into contact with it, the star curled away from her and slowly crept toward the center of the pool.

She gasped in surprise. “That rock is a live animal! It’s not what I thought it was at all.”

“Who cares?” Catullus hauled Larisa to her feet and pushed her toward the stairs that zigzagged up the cliff.

The steps were narrow and the climb precarious. Larisa looked only at her feet, refusing to glance at the jagged rocks below, but at last they reached the top of the cliff, where the full splendor of the palace was