Sure, he had recognized that Minnie wasn’t a monster.He proved that he didn’t hold the prejudices of some of the other Court rulers.
But he hadn’t realized that her presence there was a part of the test.Of course Hippolyta wouldn’t lock up one of her own in the labyrinth.He would have realized that, if he had stopped to think it through.Instead, he’d been so angry at the sight of Minnie chained deep in the labyrinth—a cell even worse than the dungeon where he once again found himself—that he hadn’t paused to think.In that, he had failed.
What would have happened if he’d actually attacked Minnie?The goblin woman was strong.But would her bare hands have been enough to stop his sword?
Maybe.Still, that seemed like quite the risk, especially considering the chain around her ankle would hamper her maneuverability.She wouldn’t have time to pause and free herself if he attacked.
He squeezed his eyes shut, once again seeing Ariadne drawing her sword, her golden hair gleaming in the torchlight.
Ariadne had been in on it the whole time.She hadn’t been there to help him, despite her golden string.She was there to protect Minnie, should Theseus prove to be the kind to attack her.Her drawn sword had been for Theseus, not the so-called monster.
And like a fool, he had given her his undefended back.She could have run him through whenever she wished.Was it a good sign for his chances that she hadn’t?
It confirmed his suspicions that Ariadne was no mere serving woman.She must be a swordmaiden herself, someone that Queen Hippolyta trusted implicitly for a mission like that.
As expected, the light patter of her footsteps sounded on the stairs a few moments before she came into view, carrying his supper tray as always.
Theseus leaned his head against the stone wall behind him.“You don’t have to pretend anymore.”
Ariadne froze, one hand balancing his tray of food, the other reaching for the ring of keys at her belt.A blank expression slammed across her face.“I don’t?”
“I know you’re a swordmaiden.Clearly a high-ranking swordmaiden, trusted by Queen Hippolyta.”Theseus searched Ariadne’s face for her reaction.
The blank expression cleared, something almost like relief slumping her shoulders for a moment before she straightened.Her gaze focused on her hand rather than on him as she twisted the key in the lock.“I wondered how long it would take you to put the pieces together.”
Something in her reaction seemed off, though he couldn’t name what it was.He filed it away to ponder once he was alone in the dungeon cell again.
“It took far longer than it should have.”Theseus kept his tone light as she sat on the floor across from him.
She grinned, the light back in her clear blue eyes.“A pitiful performance for the king of the Court of Knowledge.Aren’t you supposed to be intelligent?”
He pulled himself into a kneeling position and took the plate she offered him, holding it level with his nose.“Knowledgeable, yes.Intelligent, maybe.Wise, not necessarily.”
She snorted a laugh.Not a tinkling, pretty laugh.But a snorting, loud laugh that sounded like she would choke on her own spit at any moment.“True.If you were wise, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Perhaps.But I’m desperate.”He shrugged and swung the plate of food in front of his face.With his hands chained as they were, he swiveled his hands at the end of the chain to shovel the food from the plate directly into his mouth.It wasn’t elegant, but it worked.
Funny how Queen Hippolyta claimed she would never chain Minnie, but she had no problem keeping Theseus in chains.Perhaps it was all a part of his test, but it still rankled.
He finished the plate of greens and fruit and held out the empty plate to Ariadne.“So, the golden string.Did we actually need it?Or would you have been able to navigate the labyrinth without it?”
“We needed it.”Ariadne shrugged, then swapped out the plate for a slice of bread.“The labyrinth is tricky.It is very easy to find your way deep inside it, but very difficult to find your way out.The labyrinth would have taken us to Minnie eventually, but it would have made it very difficult to leave without the golden yarn.”
Ah.The labyrinth was one ofthosekinds of enchanted mazes.It was a good thing he’d had Ariadne with him.It would have been far more difficult if he’d been by himself.
“Well, for all your trickery, I am thankful you showed up with that magic yarn.”Theseus spoke between bites of his bread before he gestured to her with the crust.“Getting lost in a labyrinth would not have helped my Court any.If your queen wants some real monsters for her labyrinth, I can send a few her way on Midsummer Night.I have a feeling my Court will have more than enough to spare.”
“She might be willing to take you up on that, you know.”Ariadne’s gaze searched his face, as if her words were yet another test.“We swordmaidens always appreciate a good fight.”
Was she trying to tell him that he didn’t need to win Hippolyta’s hand in order to secure the help of the swordmaidens?That Queen Hippolyta would be willing to bargain with him for their help without a marriage involved?
Perhaps.Maybe that had been what she had been getting at when she’d asked him what the Court of Knowledge had to offer the Court of Swordmaidens.She had wanted a bargain, not a marriage.
But as her reaction to his answer had shown, he didn’t have anything to offer the Court of Swordmaidens.Nothing that they seemed to want and nothing that he was willing to give.He could not risk giving the Court of Swordmaidens too much power over the Court of Knowledge, if he made a bargain that was less than balanced.
He couldn’t bargain.Marriage it would have to be.
Ariadne’s smile faded, and she set the tray with plates aside.She pulled out a folded piece of paper from where it had been tucked underneath her belt.“A note came from your steward.”
