Danae swallowed. It scared her because she knew it was true.
Polyxo pushed her through the doorway of the hut with surprising strength. Danae ducked to avoid colliding with the preserved animals dangling from the ceiling. As she straightened up, she noticed a row of amber bottles stacked on a shelf on the right-hand wall, identical to the ones the hunters used to revive the Argonauts on the beach.
“Sit,” said Polyxo.
Danae pulled up a stool. Immediately, Polyxo’s prying hands were running through her hair, feeling her scalp for bumps.
“You hit your head?”
“No, yes... I’m fine.” She chewed the inside of her lip. She didn’t have time for this, she had to get Dolos.
“Somewhere you’d rather be?”
Danae shook her head, forcing a dreamy smile across her face.
Finished with her head, Polyxo moved on to her left arm and lifted the limb into the air. “Not a scratch,” the old woman muttered.
This was taking too long.
Looking around the hut, Danae spotted a jug of water on the workbench. Polyxo bent down to inspect Danae’s legs and she seized the opportunity.
She didn’t know if this would work. She’d only used her life-threads to heal herself or manipulate the earth, and that was the result of an emotional outburst, not a conscious choice. But she had to try.
Danae summoned a stream of shimmering life-threads from their flow around her body, concentrated on holding them in her mouth, then blew.
A gust of air, with the strength of a sea wind, tore from her lungs across the hut. The jug fell, cracking as it hit the workbench, liquid contents spilling over the wood.
Polyxo cried out and scurried over to salvage her stock. Danae took her chance, reached up, grabbed a couple of bottles of the reviving potion and ran from the hut.
She sprinted across the clearing, her body thrumming with the realization of what she’d just done. If her power could manipulate earth and air, what other elements might she be able to master?
When she arrived at the Hunters Hall, the last of the Argonauts and hunters were piling in for dinner. She glanced over her shoulder, but it seemed Polyxo had not pursued her. Dolos would be inside by now. Slowing to a walk, she blended with the crowd and slipped into the hall.
She spotted the healer near the entrance, already tucking into his meal. She tried to catch his attention, but he just smiled lazily at her, then returned to his food.
Clenching her jaw, she skirted around the edge of the hall and crouched behind him.
“Polyxo needs you.” She had to get him away from the hunters before she could tell him about Heracles.
“Coming,” Dolos mumbled. He shoved another handful of mangos tossed with lotus petals into his mouth before rising to his feet.
Danae’s eyes bulged.
She looked along the table. Jason was draped across Hypsipyle’s lap while the queen fed him slices of the orange fruit, making sure he ate the lotus petals soaked in its juice. She consumed none herself. As Danae watched, she realized none of the islanders were eating anything that contained lotus petals, only the Argonauts. The omelets Sofia gave her for breakfast every day were stuffed with the purple flowers. Now she thought about it, there wasn’t a meal she’d eaten on Lemnos that didn’t contain lotus.
“Come on, it’s urgent.”
She grabbed Dolos’s arm and steered him outside before anyone could question where they were going. As soon as they were clear of the hall, she broke into a run, dragging him into the jungle.
“We’re going the wrong wa—”
“Sorry about this.” She punched him in the stomach.
The healer doubled over, splattering half-digested mango across the tree roots.
Despite dispelling the lotus petals, he still looked dazed, so she pulled an amber vial from her bag.
Dolos backed away from her. “What are you doing?”
