Queens of Themiscyra: The enthralling rise and fall of the Amazons most fearsome daughters. (The Grecian Women Series) by Hannah Lynn

Author:Hannah Lynn [Lynn, Hannah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Medusa Publishing
Published: 2022-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

Estimating time and predicting events were skills Hippolyte had mastered as an Amazon. She could look at a clear sky and know beyond doubt if it would remain that way long enough for them to complete their outside chores or whether the rain would come sweeping in off the mountains. When thunder clouds appeared, she knew if they would break above them or would wait until they had reached the sea before bursting. She knew how long it would take her women to win a battle from first sight of an enemy warrior and, more often than not, know how long it would be until that same weak king called upon the Amazons again for help. And yet now, it was as though time itself had forgotten how to behave.

Some days moved so slowly it was as if the threads that dragged them towards nightfall had become tangled and unable to move. She and Aegeus would lose hours together on the southern veranda, watching wavelets form or the sun move millimetre by millimetre across the sky. At other times, they sped by so quickly, it seemed as though dawn had barely broken before they were lighting the lamps and she was once more ushering Hippolytus to bed. Yet, throughout all the uncertainty, one thought was unchanging. Theseus.

Questions went endlessly through her mind. Had he reached Crete? If the winds were strong, and they encountered no obstacles, the journey could be completed in less than half a moon cycle. Would the sacrifices be offered to the Minotaur the moment they arrived or might there by a period of grace to allow the young people a few last pleasures? A chance to eat and drink and feel the heat of the sun on their faces and the sand between their toes before they were fed to the beast. Would they be offered up all at once or one by one, dragging out the agony for those who waited their turn?

At one point, Aegeus had muttered something about games being held in honour of Androgeus, but they were just words he whispered into the wind, as he had taken to doing more and more with each day that passed. However deep her own anguish might be, Hippolyte did not want to add to the King’s by questioning him.

“Theseus saved me,” Aegeus said, in one of his more lucid moments. “Did he ever tell you that? Did he tell you of my wife, Medea? She tried to have him killed. No doubt she would have done the same to me, too. But he saw through her. He saw her for the witch she was. Without him, I might never have met my grandson. Or seen my city thrive.”

“And you and your son will continue to see it thrive for many years to come,” Hippolyte replied. “And you will live to watch Hippolytus grow into a strong brave man, just like his father and grandfather.”

He had taken to standing on the cliffs each morning from the moment the sun glinted on the horizon, his eyes searching for a hint of approaching sails.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.