“It went very well indeed,” Medea replied, as if she had not bathed my tunic in tears the night before. “I am restored to myself.”
“That’s good, very good.” An awkward pause, as Jason tried to figure out what to say next. “So if we need any weather magic, we will go to you?”
“I don’t know much about weather magic,” Medea replied. “A disadvantage of growing up in a city. But healing small injuries, divinations, spells to find lost things—all these I can do. Oh, and, of course, if you need anyone changed into a dragon.”
They both laughed at this. Even I, sitting forgotten nearby, cracked a smile.
As though it had only just occurred to him, Jason said, “Oh! And might I take back the Golden Fleece, now that it has served its purpose?”
Once she gave him the Fleece, Jason disappeared, leaving Medea to stare after him with an obvious longing that set my teeth on edge. Seeing Jason walk off with the Fleece reminded me unpleasantly of the men who had torn down the pelt of the Calydonian boar.
“Perhaps Circe wasn’t wrong to turn men into pigs,” I muttered under my breath.
Medea looked up at me, snapping out of her daze. “Atalanta, I want to thank you for showing me how to use this,” she said, indicating the spear, “and for going with me to Circe’s island. I apologize for her untoward comments and harassment.”
Share my bed.The memory invoked a prickle of heat across my skin. “Her offer was not entirely unwelcome,” I replied.
Then I rose to my feet, knowing I’d said too much. Medea was staring at me acutely, trying to figure out what was behind my words. Procris would be furious if she knew I’d entertained Circe’s offer—but Procris, I recalled, had a husband of her own when she’d met and made love to me.
Not wishing to answer any of the questions that hovered on the tip of Medea’s tongue, I went belowdecks for my shift at the oars. It was only later that I realized, in my haste, that I’d left my spear with Medea after all.
Medea
What did Atalanta mean, saying that Circe’s offer was not unwelcome? I pondered this as I stared out at the sea.Certainly she didn’t mean that prurient comment about sharing a bed. Well, more than just sharing a bed—Atalanta and I did that, after all, or at least a bedroll on the ground, and there was nothing at all scandalous about that. Circe had been referring to a very specific thing that happened when some people shared beds—namely, sex.
I fanned myself, suddenly unbearably warm.
Perhaps it was the offer of transformation that intrigued her, and some part of Atalanta still longed to be a bear. Yes, that must be it. Maybe I could make something for her, now that I had my magic back, some sort of short-acting potion—a tincture, perhaps, like Circe had mentioned...
My thoughts were interrupted by a discreet cough. “Erm, miss.”
Castor and Polydeuces stood there, peering at me nervously. “Excuse us, miss,” Polydeuces said, his hands clasped in front of him and his expression beseeching. “We were hoping you could help us with something.”
The last time I’d seen Polydeuces, he’d cracked open the skull of the Bebrycian king during their ill-fated boxing match, but I was not one to hold a grudge. Mostly I was relieved that the crew harbored no anger toward me about the detour to Circe’s island. “What is it you need?” I asked.
“We heard that you can see into the future,” Castor said, more animated than his brother. “Can you find out which one of us will become king of Sparta?”
I smiled and told them to bring me a gull. Once they did, I opened it to inspect the entrails.
“Neither of you will rule,” I said. “That distinction will go to another man.”
Their faces fell. “Told you,” Polydeuces said to his brother. “Tyndareus would never choose either of us to succeed him. Hesays we’re bastards, even if we’re the sons of Zeus. He’ll probably give the throne to baby Helen’s future husband.”
A surge of sympathy filled me. For all that Castor and Polydeuces were bloodied warriors, they were also simply... boys, enduring the opprobrium of a cruel father. And I knew very well what that was like.
“Glory will attend you all your days, and you will be remembered as great heroes,” I added. This statement was not entirely supported by the divination, but seemed a logical conclusion. Besides, it ensured the brothers went away in good spirits.
Not long after Polydeuces and Castor left, another shadow darkened my patch of deck. Heracles stood there, with Hylas by his side.
“He does not sleep,” Hylas explained, pointing to Heracles, who hunched his shoulders and looked off into the middle distance. “Nightmares dog him. He is too proud to ask you himself”—this was accompanied by a sharp glare at Heracles—“but if you know any charms for good rest, please favor my lord with them.”
I sent Heracles away with a dash of wine blessed with a traced sigil of the moon, which governs sleep. Not a very potent spell, but enough to tide him over until I could gather more appropriate herbs when we came to shore.
As I handed the brew to Heracles, I got a good look at him for the first time. Sorrowful eyes peered out from the gray-streaked mass of his untamed hair and beard, and a presence had settled over him. I recognized it from Lemnos and from my own experience: miasma, so old and strong it was nearly baked into his skin, impossible even for someone like Circe to eradicate entirely. It took all my willpower not to flinch away.
Nightmares dog him,Hylas said. It was clear why they did.
Other members of the crew came to me with hearts in hands, asking favors of the resident witch. It reminded me of being at thetemple of Hekate again, ministering to the people who came there. I dispensed small charms and divinations, and transformed a few ropes into arrows for better defense. Sometimes I declined the requests, as when I told Zetes that I wouldnottransform him into a dragon, since it would disrupt his ability to pull the oars, and besides, he could already fly. At other times I gave advice rather than magic, as when I told Peleus he should leave Thetis alone when he asked me to locate his former wife.
