Aeëtes knew that Hecate was being genuine, which somehow made it hurt even more. The gods’ families and their family trees got messy, and quickly, so immortals weren’t in the habit of commenting on them. There was a beat of silence between them, and Hecate could sense that a wall had gone back up around Aeëtes’s thoughts. She waited patiently, resting against the railing as she heard the boats being prepared, the ship coming to a gentle stop off the shore.
“She knows of me, though?”
“She’s much older than you, so, yes.”
“Why…wouldn’t she want to help me?”There was something in Aeëtes’s voice, even in her mind, that sounded small. She knew that there was a part of Aeëtes that was asking why his family didn’t seem to wanthim,and it ripped away a part of the barricade around her heart. Hecate was overwhelmed with the urgency to put that goofy smile back on his face, to see that ridiculous, never-ending cheer come spilling out of him.
“It’s not you that she has a problem. It’s Helios. If she doesn’t want to help, it’ll be because she doesn’t want to do anything to benefit him. Don’t worry. I’ll talk to her.”
Aeëtes didn’t respond at first, but when he did, it was with his normal vigor.“Well, I can’t have a bad day when my fate rests in your hands, can I, Goddess?”
“Aeëtes…” Hecate groaned, fighting the urge to roll her eyes as her sympathy for him vanished as quickly as his cockiness reappeared. She was continually dumbfounded by his ability to rebound from virtually any scenario and remain unfazed.
“But I’d be happy if I could get any part of me in your hands, sweetness.”
“It’s truly shocking to me that another god hasn’t killed you for the shit that comes out of your mouth.” Hecate heard the call for the boats and walked off, Aeëtes trailing behind her.
“I can do much more wicked things with it, I promise.”
“Pelias!” Hecate yelled out to the captain as she pointed at Aeëtes. “You come get Aeëtes, or I will cast a spell to castrate him before we even reach Aeaea.”
? ? ?
In the end,only Pelias, Hecate, and Aeëtes went ashore. Hecate was true to her word about not wanting to take anyone who might be disrespectful, and to their credit, the crew was honest about their hesitancies. As much as she didn’t like it, she appreciated that they were forthcoming enough to admit their prejudices.
“It does seem a bit silly to be so bent out of shape over, what? A woman and her witchcraft?”Aeëtes pondered their skeleton crew as Pelias rowed them ashore.
“You’d be surprised,”Hecate answered in a way that almost made Aeëtes angry, with a tone that said she had experienced too much of it firsthand. When their small boat finally moored on the shore, Aeëtes hopped out, and Hecate helped Pelias drag it further inland to avoid being swept out by the tide. They were on a small beach, only a stone’s throw from a small hill that obscured their view of the rest of the island. It was dotted with Cyprus and lemon trees, and there was something different in the air.
Everything on the island seemed to be…alive. Aeëtes could almost smell it, from the sand to the trees, it was as if everything on the island was breathing in sync.
“The island is imbued with Circe’s magic,” Hecate explained, knowing that it was a bit of a shock the first time that someone visited Aeaea. “It breathes as she does. It responds to her.”
“It’s a little bit uncanny,” Pelias’s eyes hadn’t stopped moving around, as if he was searching for a threat.
“You’ll get used to it.” Hecate refused to give into any more fear mongering around her Circe. She went a few more steps inland until she found a large piece of driftwood, promptly sitting down on it. Aeëtes watched as she rearranged her skirts, tightened her braid, and leaned back as if she was sunning herself.
“Are we going to…you know… find Circe?”Aeëtes trotted over to where Hecate was sitting, lying down at her feet. Pelias joined them, sitting on the other side of the log, giving Hecate ample room.
“You don’t find Circe; she finds you.” Hecate shrugged simply. “She knows that we’re here. She’ll show herself when she pleases.” Hecate could easily locate Circe on the island, but the last thing that she wanted to do was cross her boundaries. Circe had gone through enough in her life as it was, and Hecate knew that she always liked to greet guests on her own terms. The trio said nothing and settled in for the wait.
They didn’t have to wait long.
Aeëtes found himself drifting off. As soon as his eyelids began to droop, he sensed a fresh wave of magic go through the topsoil. He could tell immediately that it wasn’t Hecate’s magic, which he’d recognize anywhere, as if his system was primed for it. This was similar, but different. While Hecate’s magic was like rosemary and cinnamon, death and rebirth, this was…different. There was a sharpness to it that was unlike the duality of Hecate’s balancing act. This magic, while maybe not as strong as Hecate, was equally potent.
It reminded him of citrus and vinegar, strong and astringent, utterly unapologetic. It wasn’t unkind, but he immediately jumped to his feet and began looking for the source of it. Pelias must have noticed the same thing, too, because his hand was at the sword on his belt. Only Hecate stood slowly, a smile crossing her face as she breathed in deeply, welcoming in the scent and feel of Circe’s pulsing magic.
There was a glimmer through the trees, and rather suddenly, out stepped Circe.
She was strikingly tall, not taller than Aeëtes, but standing taller than Hecate and Pelias. Her face was wide, with a sharp chin and sharper cheekbones, with equally piercing eyes. While she might not have ever been described as pretty, she was an undoubtedly striking and handsome woman. She had hair that went down to her waist, a curtain of thick brown hair that had a few pieces tied in braids throughout. She wore a white chiton, but she tied it only at one shoulder and wore it without a belt; leaving both of her sides and one breast exposed. As she walked towards them, her chiton began stitching itself together; her hair braided itself, and sandals appeared on her feet.
There was a wildness to her, something that Aeëtes had sensed before in Hecate. Circe had not spent the millennia learning to control it, like Hecate had…and Aeëtes’s only thought was to wonder what it looked like when Hecatereallylost control. He was so lost in his own fantasies that he had completely forgotten Circe as she approached them—only until he was nearly face-to-face with the lioness at her side.
“Hecate!”Aeëtes yelled, coming out as a sharp bleating sound, which made both of the women laugh as they pulled away from hugging one another. They were already engaged in conversation, and he had been too distracted to hear it. Pelias looked on with wide eyes, wise enough to keep his mouth closed as he tried to absorb everything happening around him. Circe had tampered some of her own wildness, effectively putting a glamour over herself to not frighten them, now dressed like any other woman.
“Aeëtes,” Hecate chided, looking down at him and then towards Circe. “She already told you that no harm would come to you.”
“Aeëtes?” Circe’s head snapped back to Hecate. “You mean…?” Hecate held her ground, nodding her head once, before reaching out and gently grabbing hold of Circe’s wrist in a loving gesture.
