Orpheus rubbed his neck and glanced away, avoiding the weight of Alena’s rapt attention. He didn’t like sharing his secret. If it got out who he really was, he’d never hear the end of it. People would swarm him, maybe even hurt him, to get what they wanted. He’d traveled a long way, posed as someone he wasn’t, and chosen a frequently overlooked profession for the express purpose of avoiding attention. But what purpose did keeping his secret serve now, when the likelihood was he’d never make it out of here alive?
“The reason the crew called me an archon is that they heard my father say I was abusing the power gifted to me by the gods. They misinterpreted that as legislative power.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What other interpretation is there?”
“My father is a wealthy Athenian merchant with an uncanny gift for negotiation. One might even say he has a silver tongue. Power of voice runs in our family.”
Alena took a seat on a boulder near the stream and leaned toward him. “Go on.”
“This special ability runs in our family because he is the son of Theneus, who is the son of Kaleus, who is a descendant of Cimon, son of Medus.”
“Medus.TheMedus?”
“The one of legend. Son of Medea and King Aegeus.”
Her face paled. “Are you telling me that you are a descendant of the sorceress Medea and the goat-head king Aegeus?”
“I inherited my magic from Medea. I’m a fair sorcerer, but my greatest strength is that I can influence living things with my voice. As for the sphinx, I was able to convince it through song that it couldn’t use its legs.”
Alena pursed her lips.
“You don’t believe me, do you?”
“You spend your days delousing people. Why would you do that if you were powerful enough to control any beast? You could be wealthy beyond your wildest dreams.”
“I was already rich when I left Athens. I’d worked for my father for years and made a fortune. Besides, there’s good money in delousing. I don’t think you realize how lucrative it is.”
She stared at him incredulously.
“Why don’tyoutell everyone what you are?” he countered. “I know you raised that goat from the dead. You’re far more powerful than an ordinary healer.”
For a long moment, Alena took an interest in the babbling brook winding through the glade. He thought she might not answer him, but then she said, “I’d never hear the end of it. I wouldn’t have any freedom if people knew what I could do. Every dying child would be at my door. The gods require balance. I can’t be toying with life and death at every whim.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Then you understand why I prefer to be known for a simpler calling.”
Her expression turned impassive. Was she judging him now that she knew his secret? Being a barber wasn’t glamorous, but it was a needed and respectable profession. And what about her secrets?
“So you can control all animals. You sing the vermin off your customers?”
“I always hum while I work. They never ask why.”
“Fascinating. And it works on all living creatures?”
“The larger the animal, the more draining it is for me, but yes. Humans are the most difficult.”
“But the spell you did in the stone room, that was not from singing but sorcery?”
He snapped his fingers, and a spray of sparks lifted toward the sky.
“Ooh!”
“As impressive as it may seem, my abilities are rather limited without my voice. My song focuses my magic. Without it, I tend to make mistakes, like today when I vastly miscalculated the amount of air I would need inside my containment spell.”
She pushed herself off the rock. “We should keep moving. Who knows what dangers lurk in the shadows here?”
Orpheus balked. “Wait, aren’t you going to tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
