Go Quest, Young Man by Ru Emerson

Author:Ru Emerson [Emerson, Ru]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781443445481
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2015-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

My legs are going to sleep, Xena thought gloomily. With Joxer out of here, maybe it was time for her to go as well. But there was Draco . . . I should find out what he’s doing here—if I can. And Gabrielle could handle Joxer just fine. Then again, Gabrielle had been in one of those moods ever since Joxer’d gone off on his own. Like the day I fried that rotten giant. I wish she’d quit giving me grief about her stupid frying pan. It’s as pointless as me maybe giving her grief because she couldn’t get Hower off me and I had to fix things between him and Minya myself.

She shifted forward again as the king’s voice suddenly rose. “Avicus, I tell you I have had enough! Enough fools and dolts, enough—!” He was pacing again, arms flailing as he bellowed at his priest. Avicus’s eyes moved, and now and again his head, to keep his king in sight, but he was otherwise motionless. Menelaus finally stopped. “I,” he said evenly, and in a clear attempt to rein in his temper, “am going to my chambers, where I will have food and wine brought to me. Good wine, a full pitcher of it. And nothing short of an armed revolt or Apollo’s descent from the heavens will bring me back out tonight! If you wish more of these—these—” He drew a ragged breath, expelled it in a gust. “If there are more ‘heroes’ for this quest, then it is entirely up to you to choose them, priest.”

But Avicus was already shaking his head. “My king. Highness. I agree that you should take an hour, enjoy a proper meal, drink a little wine. Relax. But remember what I told you about that bowl!” A gesture took in the tripod and its vessel. “It will only work correctly if we are both present.” Menelaus sighed heavily and turned away. “And recall the bargain that was set, when you told me your desire, and I petitioned the god on your behalf.”

“Yes, of course,” the king answered impatiently. He turned back. “I intend to keep my bargain with Apollo, priest.”

“And the pact you and I made, Highness?” Avicus asked steadily. “I cannot pick your—ah—‘heroes’—by myself; that is partly the god’s decree and partly sense on my part. I will not risk your wrath if somehow this goes awry and if, because of a man I alone named, you fail to retrieve your woman.”

Menelaus bared his teeth, slammed one fist into the palm of his other hand and began pacing again. “Then let us say we have enough! Enough heroes, enough idealistic young wanderers—enough of whatever you choose to call them! Because I refuse to deal with more village puppies and wide-eyed would-be Jasons!” He stopped short, drew another harsh breath, and let it out slowly. “Did you receive any message from that—what was his name?—the one who travels with Hercules?”

“Iolaus? No,” Avicus said. “I scarcely expected to, Highness. Though there was just enough of a chance to make it worthwhile, sending the message.

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