Get yourself together, Hecate.Hecate’s thoughts were sharp, almost cruel.A man has never affected you like this before, and this is not the time for firsts.Her reaction to Aeëtes had angered her, made her feel weak. She was already concerned about the peril that she had put him in. If it came down to it, she could defend herself against Hera, but that didn’t mean that Aeëtes wouldn’t get in the way.
As she approached Pelias, the ship began slowing down, causing it to lurch and nearly toss Hecate into the sailor. He caught her and righted her quickly, laughing in a way that was not unkind, while all of the random compasses and bottles he held on his person jangled.
“Careful now, Goddess, sea legs are a bitch to come by. Once you’ve got them, do your best not to let them go.” He spoke like any old man of the sea, constantly full of idioms that didn’t always make sense.
“Thank you.” Hecate’s smile was genuine, and she stood straighter. “Can we go ashore in Byzantium?” She was desperate to get to Colchis, but she needed a few moments to herself on land. The tight quarters on the ship with Aeëtes was getting to her brain.
“Err,” Pelias looked ashore, realizing that the waves were carrying them in towards the docks regardless. “I don’t really have anything against it. We are rather ahead of schedule.” He laughed at his own joke, slapping his belly as he did so.
“Thank you.” Hecate breathed a sigh of relief, grabbing hold of Pelias’s hands. “Thank you!” Pelias looked at her with a slightly bemused expression, and Hecate realized that her relief was questionable. She let go of his hands and smiled, a flush covering her cheeks that she couldn’t quite get rid of.
“It seems that Poseidon wills it, so who am I to defy him? Or you, for that matter.”
Hecate gave him a wink. “It’s me that you should be more scared of.”
Pelias bowed low. “Of course, Goddess.”
Hecate only laughed in response, a genuine, trilling sound that made Aeëtes turn and search for her from across the ship. The great ship came to a slower pace, the waves ebbing and flowing beneath it, as if guided by Poseidon’s hand itself. The sails fluttered in the strong winds, pushing them towards the ever-busy port of Byzantium.
If the docks of Heraklion were busy, then this was something otherworldly. There were more ships behind them yet, all piling in and fighting for a spot amongst one another. Flags flew from all over the known world, and even a few that some of the men hadn’t seen, all of them proclaiming different allegiances.
The air smelled of salt and spices, drifting off the bows of other merchant ships, while the cries of sailors and passengers alike mixed with one another like notes of a song. Stone and wood buildings were piled on top of one another, domes reaching up the highest of all, like soldiers in a row making up the skyline. Every different creed and religion with a boat eventually landed in Byzantium, where they all pledged allegiance to one god—coin. All skirmishes, political, interpersonal, and of the religious nature had to be put aside to not affect commerce—it was the one thing that everyone could agree on.
Hecate had not been to Byzantium since it had been given its new name, the first one lost to time, and even to her. She leaned up against the railing and took in a deep breath, closing her eyes as the mist from the waves came up and covered her face and hair. She was looking forward to slipping away and finding her temple; realigning herself with her acolytes would get her head on straight again. The ship approached an empty spot on one of the docks, coming up to it with a soft thud. Hecate moved to the side to accommodate the sailors preparing the gangplank, her mind beginning to spin.
If you really don’t care about him, pick up a lover.Her thoughts returned, cruel as ever, goading her from within the walls of her wounds. Hecate prepared to argue withherselfwhen a piercing shout broke her concentration.
“Hecate!” Aeëtes’s voice thundered over the deck, getting her attention. She turned to look at him, her brow furrowing in confusion as she saw him racing towards her from the other end of the ship. He waved his hands in the air, shaking his head furiously. “Get down!”
Everything else seemed to happen in slow motion. She felt the threat before she saw it, her magic glowing to life as the snakes flickered across her arms. Hecate did the opposite that Aeëtes demanded, spinning around to look at the docks. The gangplank was half descended, where there was now an angry mob of men waiting for them. She didn’t know how quickly they had gotten there, or how it had happened without any of them noticing, but she noticed the dull gleam in their eyes.
They were bewitched…entirely under Hera’s control, the same as the wild hogs on Aeaea.
“Getdown!”Aeëtes’s voice was closer now, nearly halfway to her. She whipped back around to him, and even from a distance, she could tell that his eyes were wild. He looked like he was also possessed, racing towards her and nearly barreling into the sailors who couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. He pulled a sword off one of the men as he ran, raising it as if he was prepared to strike.
“Aeëtes!” Hecate screamed, her magic flowing off her and moving over the deck towards him like water. “What are you doing?”
“Get! Down!” he huffed out the words again, yelling as he jumped over a railing and skidded past barrels to get to her. “Now!” There was an urgency in his voice that she couldn’t ignore, and she would later regret remembering how the command in his tone did things to her insides. Hecate listened, for arguably the first time, and dropped down to the deck of the ship.
No sooner had she done that than a flaming arrow went hurtling through the sky above her—right where she had been standing. Aeëtes must have seen the archer hidden in the Hera-controlled mob before she did. A mortal arrow wouldn’t kill her, but it would’ve hurt and taken her and her magic out of commission.
“Aeëtes!” Hecate yelled, realizing that he wasn’t slowing down. He was running at full speed, his hair now fallen out of its cord, and he looked utterly deranged. His entire body was poised like a weapon, his teeth gritted together and his form wound tight. Hecate felt her heart rate skyrocket as he came running towards her, looking not like a sailor or even a prince, but agod.Sun beams seemed to be pouring out from his hair and his eyes, and Hecate couldn’t determine whether it was a trick of the light, her own imagination, or the powers of a son of Helios.
“Stay down!” he commanded, hardly stopping as he ran past her. “Pelias!” he barked right as he paused at the gangplank. “Get out to sea!”
Pelias shouted something in confirmation, but Hecate didn’t hear it, her jaw dropping to the ground as Aeëtes turned and disappeared off the ship.
“Stop! What are you—” Hecate screamed, her voice full of terror as she realized that Aeëtes didn’t know what he was up against. If those men were bewitched by Hera, it would take more than mortal strength to kill them—it would require magic.
She pulled herself up off the deck, feeling power beginning to surge through her, almost against her will. All she could see was Aeëtes. He tuned and managed to wink once at Hecate before taking off at a full run. Aeëtes launched himself off the gangplank, and time itself seemed to stop.
He seemed to fly through the air, his sword raised high above his head as he let out an earth-shattering cry that rivaled Aries. When he landed on the dock, the whole ground seemed to shake, causing several of the men around him to fall to their knees. Aeëtes kept shouting, waving his sword and cutting through the first line of men with devastating skill. Hecate was almost frozen as she watched him, Pelias quickly coming up behind her.
“He’ll be fine,” Pelias’s voice was soothing as he gently gripped her arm. “Don’t use your magic. We don’t want to call more attention to ourselves.”
“But those men! If Hera already knows we’re here—”
“Does she, though? Or do you think she might have just enchanted men at every port from here to Colchis?”
