After flicking her gaze to the side, almost as if searching for someone else’s approval, Queen Hippolyta tipped her head toward him.“Very well, King Theseus.Your request has been granted.You will endure three trials as you attempt to prove your worthiness for the hand of the queen of this Court.My swordmaidens, please throw him in the dungeon to await his first trial.”
The dungeon?Theseus didn’t resist as the four swordmaidens shoved him backwards, all but dragging him bodily from the throne room as if he was a criminal instead of a king.
Perhaps dungeon was metaphorical.After all, the dungeon could merely refer to a strong tower.Maybe he would be brought to a nice, guarded tower room.He was the king of another Court.He was due some consideration, right?
* * *
Apparently when Queen HippolytasaidThrow him in the dungeon, she had meant the actual dungeon.Not the nice, guarded-but-opulent suite on an upper floor as Theseus had been expecting, given his rank.
No, he had been dragged to the literal dungeon, complete with faerie steel shackles clamped around his wrists and ankles.He could move no more than three feet from the wall, and the shackles on his wrists held his arms above his head when he sat on the floor.The floor, roof, and three sides were the same sandy stone as the rest of the swordmaidens’ palace while the last side was a wall of bars and a barred door that was just out of reach due to the shackles.
It was, admittedly, rather nice as dungeons went.It was situated beneath the sprawling, mostly open-air palace with a small, barred window set high in the wall just above his head, pouring in sunlight and salt-tinted ocean breezes.
He had just enough reach with the chains that he could grip the window ledge and pull himself up to peer out.As the palace had been built at the top of a cliff, he had a gorgeous view of sweeping cliffsides and rolling ocean waves, turquoise near the shore before deepening to cerulean, then richest indigo at the horizon.It was a kingly view, even if the rest of his accommodations weren’t.
Theseus leaned against the wall at his back as he sat on the floor, letting his arms dangle from the chains.
He had failed the first test.They had wanted what he could not agree to give.
Had they known that?Was that question purposefully designed to make him fail?Yet if that were the case, then why give him a chance to win her hand at all?
No matter.He would simply have to do better on the next trial, when it came his way.
Perhaps he was already experiencing it?Was being thrown in the dungeon another test?Maybe they were testing his patience or ability to think rationally in unexpected situations.Maybe even humility, if they thought he would complain.
No, he would have to be strategic about this time in the dungeon.He would figure out training he could do while confined and chained to keep his strength up.He would do his best to listen and learn and get the measure of his captors.He would have plenty of uninterrupted time to plan his next moves carefully.
Far more carefully than he had when concocting this desperate plot in the first place.
Out of his sight, footsteps scuffed on the stairs down to the dungeon.Theseus stayed where he was.Not that he could go anywhere, but he made sure he kept his muscles relaxed, his expression neutral, to appear nonchalant about his imprisonment.
A woman dressed in a plain white robe with a wide, leather belt came into view, carrying a tray of food.She wore her thick wavy blonde hair in a simple braid down her back, and she kept her eyes down.
Yet her arms were well-muscled, and her stride held a sure confidence that even her attempts to appear humble couldn’t hide.Here in the Court of Swordmaidens, even the servant women were well-trained and warrior-like.Theseus shouldn’t let his guard down, even around her.
She balanced the tray on one hand while she unhooked a set of keys and unlocked the barred door with the other.
If he had been in another situation, Theseus might have started plotting ways to get those keys away from her and escape.
But escape wasn’t his goal here.
He pushed to his feet as she stepped into the room, the chains rattling.
“Your supper.”She thrust the tray at him and finally lifted her gaze to his.Her eyes shone a sharp, light blue that bit into him.
Theseus took the tray, giving her a smile.“Thank you.”
He held the tray for a moment, considering his options.If he sat down, he wouldn’t be able to reach the tray if he set it in his lap.
That left eating while standing.He would have to hold the tray in one hand and eat with the other.It would make cutting the piece of mystery meat smothered under a blue sauce a little difficult, but he would manage.
The servant girl continued to stand there, just out of reach of his chains.Her gaze remained sharp and assessing.
Theseus picked up the spoon.Might was well start with the bowl of chopped fruit first before he tackled the meat.As he dug out his first bite, he glanced over the tray at her.“Are you going to watch me while I eat?”
“I am under orders to claim the tray as soon as you finish.”The servant crossed her arms, her gaze steady.“And I’m to check that you don’t try to palm the knife.”
The butter knife was so dull that he didn’t think it would do anything against the meat, much less work as a weapon.
