In the darkness beyond, figures shifted. I glanced sidelong at Skaris, noting the tension in her muscles. We were armed, but we knew this was not a fight we could win. Six of us against a crew of pirates. It was laughable, really.
“I know of the deal you have with Eurymachus,” Penelope said.
The moon caught on the man’s grin, making his teeth glint. “I cannot confirm nor deny my business, love. It’s all hush-hush. You understand, I’m sure.” His voice then dropped to a low, husky murmur. “I admire you tryin’ though. You’re a brave girl. Stupid but brave. Not always the best pair, mind.”
“You misunderstand me,” Penelope said flatly. “I am not here to expose Eurymachus’s deal. I am here to offer you a better one.”
A gravelly laugh rumbled from the man’s throat. Then he leaned forward, just enough that we could see his dark eyes and the edges of a jagged scar cut along his forehead.
“I do love a woman who can surprise me.” He somehow managed to make every word sound dangerously intimate on his tongue. “Go on then, love. Tell me what this deal o’ yours is.”
“I want you to come to my palace on the day of Apollo’s festival and slaughter every suitor within its walls,” Penelope said. “Once every man is dead,every single one, you may take whatever you desire. I will ensure ample payment.”
“Well, well, well,” the stranger mused, leaning back so the night swallowed him once more. “That sounds like a lotta work to me. Why shouldn’t we just take you now, seeing as you’ve fallen so eagerly into our laps? I’m sure we’d get a pretty ransom for a queen.”
I stiffened at that, but Penelope countered the threat unflinchingly. “Nobody will pay you for my life. My husband is gone, and the suitors would be all too glad to be rid of me. I would be a waste of space aboard your ship.”
“Well, you could always serve as entertainment for the lads. They do enjoy their playthings.”
Chuckles rippled around us, making my stomach roil.
“I am offering you the opportunity to plunder a palace, and you would prefer aplaything?” Penelope tutted. “How unambitious of you.”
“You better watch that tongue, love. Remember, you’re the one that’s out here all alone. You really believe your girls can protect you?” He snorted softly. “It’s almost insultin’, really.”
“And you really believe I came here alone? I’m insulted you think me so foolish.” Penelope lifted her face to the sky. “Perhaps you are unfamiliar with Ithaca’s landscape, but the mountain ranges are perfect vantage points for archers.”
It was a bluff, of course, but one the stranger seemed to buy, perhaps because the truth was too ridiculous to seem plausible. After all, who would believe a queen would willingly meet with pirates in thedead of night with only her handmaids at her side?
The stranger shifted. “Eurymachus is payin’ us handsomely, you know.”
“I will pay more.”
“How can we be sure?”
Penelope signaled, and Hippodamia and Autonoë shuffled forward, then set down the chest they carried. They opened the lid, and the gold inside glimmered beneath the light of my lamp.
“For three summers, I have housed over one hundred men in my palace, all vying for my affections. They leave me gifts regularly—gold, jewels, trinkets. Desperation can make men so very generous.” Penelope motioned to the chest. “This is just a taste. The rest awaits you in my palace, ready to be claimed. If you accept my terms.”
The shadows pressed in closer, lured by the treasure.
“And what are these ‘terms’?”
Penelope smiled. “I have three. First, you will call off the attack on my son. Second, you are to slay only the suitors within the palace. No other soul on this island is to be harmed. And last, you are never to speak a word of this. If anyone asks you about the attack, you are to tell them Eurymachus did not honor his payment, so you took what was rightfully yours.”
The man chuckled at that, the sound scraping against the darkness. “How devious you are. You might even have some pirate blood in you.”
Penelope lifted her chin a little higher. “Do we have a deal?”
My heartbeat quickened. One command. That was all it would take. One command and we could be captured, slaughtered, or worse…
Skaris shifted beside me, reaffirming her grip on her sword. Actoris mirrored the movement, looking surprisingly ferocious despite her tiny stature.
The silence held, the seconds passing sickeningly slowly.
Then a large, scarred hand shot out from the darkness.
“You have yourself a deal,” he said.
