The Pandora Curse (Greek Myth Series Book 4) (12 page)

You deserve the prizes. Show them who you are.

“I don’t quit. I am a warrior.” She slid her sword into the scabbard on her back. “I fight until the very end and won’t back down to anyone.”

The Furies’ words, as well as Nikolai’s indirect challenge, gave her the motivation to continue. She would not forfeit. She would not show doubt or fear.

“So are you going to fight?” he asked.

“I am.” She took a step forward, then turned back. Suddenly, she wasn’t as confident. “You did say that I’d win?”

He smiled, and she couldn’t help but think of what Agatha had just told her.

“That’s what I saw in my gazing crystal,” he told her. “But as I said earlier, anything could change.”

She hurried back to him. “Look into your crystal now. Tell me if anything has changed.”

“Queen Vara, step up to the starting position or you will be disqualified from the event,” called the announcer.

“Hurry,” she instructed. “I need to know.”

“Is that a command I hear? Because it certainly doesn’t sound like a request.”

He did nothing to give her an answer, and the horns sounded for the game to begin. She knew Nikolai would not give her what she wanted until she gave him what he desired. She tired of this.

“Damn,” she said, grabbing her helmet from Zetes. “I will not play your games any longer. I don’t need your answer. If I say I will win, the I will.” She looked over to Agatha. “Come, Agatha. I will show you how to win a competition.”

The little girl picked up her rose and ran after Vara, hurrying to keep up with her pace.

Vara stepped up to meet her competitor, Harold of Corinth, within the designated area for the sword fight. He was a very large man with a crooked nose and a battle-scarred face.

“Traitor,” she said, so only he could hear it. “You ran from your king when I attacked Corinth, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t betray my king,” he told her. “I simply left because I decided you were not worth fighting.”

“Then you are a coward.”

“Not any more than you are,
Vara the Conqueror
.”

“What do you mean by that? I conquered Corinth. I am the new queen. That is not being cowardly, but running from a battle is.”

“If you are not a coward, then why didn’t you kill our king when you had the chance? I saw you hesitate. And then you changed your mind all because of her.” He pointed at Agatha sitting close by. “Once a warrior hesitates, he has lost. You will lose from this day on, as I’ve already proved at the archery event.”

Don’t let him speak to you that way.

He knows not what he says.

Grind him into the earth. Show him you rule.

“You will lose, not me,” she said through gritted teeth. “And speak that way to me again, and you will lose not only this competition, but your life as well.”

She fastened the wooden plate serving as her armor tighter around her chest. Then she fastened the strap of her helmet.

“No, you will lose. And not just the competition. You will lose Corinth because you are not strong enough to keep it.”

“We will see about that. I am ready,” she called, raising her sword in the air, feeling the power of her weapon flowing through her. “Vara the Conqueror is a winner.” The straight trumpets sounded and before she could ponder this further, the competition began.

Nikolai watched as Vara challenged her large competitor, managing to hit his wooden shield several times with her sword. Her fury was up for some reason, and she fought with the power of a lioness. She was good, he had to admit it. So good, that he hated the thought of having to ruin her reputation.  But he only did it to help her. Without his help, her curse may someday cause her to take her own life.

“Baruch,” he whispered, looking around for the green fog. “Are you ready?”

“I’m ready,” came a little forlorn voice from the air. Agatha looked over, almost as if she had heard Baruch, and came to Nikolai’s side.

After a while, the trumpet sounded for a break, signifying the halfway mark of this particular competition. Vara, breathing heavily, ran over and Zetes assisted her taking off her helmet. He placed it on the ground and handed her a bladder of ale. She chugged it down greedily.

“Well, Seer,” she said with a smile, “it seems as if I didn’t need your scrying abilities after all. I am winning the competition. There is no way Harold can beat me now. I can already feel the weight of the winner’s crown on my head.”

Nikolai picked up her helmet and nodded, giving Baruch the signal. The green mist floated over and disappeared inside the helmet. Nikolai looked up to see Agatha watching him intently. He smiled and she smiled back. No one else had noticed.

“I must warn you, my lady,” Nikolai told her. “Even though I wasn’t going to do it after the way you addressed me, I did look into my gazing crystal after all.”

Her eyes shot over curiously and she handed Zetes the flask. “Well, I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me what you saw.”

He saw her fidget as Zetes readjusted her chest plate. Her eyes kept roaming over to him and then back to her competitor. Her curiosity was eating her up from the inside out.

“I am glad to hear you have decided to compete fairly, without knowing the verdict ahead of time,” he told her.

“Yes,” she answered, securing her hair back up into place. “I don’t really care what you saw.”

“Good. I am so happy to hear that you don’t care if you win or lose.”

He’d said the words that pushed her to her limit. Her curiosity must have been tormenting, as she shouted at him in anger.

“I am winning,” she reminded him. “I am going to win the crown and run this man into the ground. I’ll grind him beneath my feet as I take the award.”

“Are you sure?” Nikolai handed her the helmet. She took it from him and slapped it on her head.

“Of course I’m sure.”

Nikolai heard her words, but he also noticed a tinge of doubt in her voice. His plan was working.

“All you have to do is disarm him, my lady,” Zetes reminded her. “Whichever competitor is disarmed loses, and the game is over.”

“I am trying,” she said. “He has a strong grip, but mayhap I can do it now that I’ve taken some ale.” She looked at Nikolai, her eyes still curious, her confidence obviously shaken.

“My,” said Nikolai. “I never thought I’d hear the word try coming from a warrior’s mouth. It sounds as if you have doubt.”

“No!” she shouted, as if that would scare her doubt away. “You are wrong, seer. I have no doubt at all that I will win this competition. Even if you did see circumstances arising. I am in charge of my fate. Not you. I will win this event.”

“Never predict the future when you are not a seer,” he warned her.

She scowled and headed back toward the competitor’s ring.

“She is not going to win, is she?” asked Agatha from his side.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I saw the green fog you put in her helmet. Do you want her to lose?”

“I am trying to help Vara, even if it doesn’t seem that way.”

“Are you trying to make her good people come out instead of her monster?”

Nikolai liked the little girl’s analogy.

“Yes, Agatha. That is what I’m doing. Sometimes people have to lose to eventually win in the end. Do you understand?”

She looked out toward Vara and then back at Nikolai. “I think so. You like her and that’s why you don’t want her to be bad anymore. Right?”

Nikolai was taken by surprise. What wisdom coming from such a young child. She could see things that others could not. But the fact that she knew he cared for Vara was the part that startled him most of all.

“Yes,” he said. “I suppose you could say that.”

“I like her too,” said Agatha, caressing her flower. “And I want you to bring back her good people, so I won’t tell her what you just did.”

“That’s a good girl.”

Agatha walked back to the front of the crowd to watch the competition. He hoped the child would keep her word. She knew his secret now and he didn’t have a choice. He had to trust her.

He watched Vara step back into the game field to meet her opponent. She was fine at first, but then Nikolai knew his plan was in action. She glanced over toward him once, then twice. Every time she did, he only smiled wider. She almost missed blocking a blow, and stumbled slightly. Nikolai could see that her own doubt would have probably kept her from winning even if he hadn’t sent Baruch to destroy her chances.

He knew Baruch was succeeding when she wiped at the sweat at her brow, never noticing its greenish tint. She continued to fight, but the sweat dripped down her face like a rainfall, and down her sword arm as well. In a matter of minutes the moisture of her palm caused her to lose her grip on her sword. Her opponent disarmed her easily, and her sword landed on the ground next to her, sealing her fate.

“The winner,” said the announcer, “who has once again beaten Queen Vara, is Harold of Corinth.” The announcer rushed out and raised Harold’s hand for all the crowd to see. Harold made a lavish turn and urged the crowd to cheer him louder. He looked back over his shoulder at Vara and laughed.

Nikolai could see the disappointment as well as the fury on Vara’s face. She took off her helmet and threw it so hard that it dented. She picked up her sword and stormed straight toward Nikolai.

“You said I would win!” she snapped. “This is your fault.” There was no mistaking the vice of anger, even if he hadn’t noticed the blackness of her eyes.

“I believe you were the one so certain of winning that you didn’t want to hear that I’d seen circumstances after all that would keep you from succeeding.”

“Well, what difference would it have made?” she growled. “You didn’t come to me with that vision until I was halfway through the competition. Arrggghh!” She stormed away with Zetes right behind her, trying to comfort her. She pushed him away, complaining that she smelled so bad from sweat that she needed a bath.

Nikolai hurried over to her discarded helmet, seeing the green puddle of sweat.

“Baruch, change into something small and hide in this helmet. Quickly.”

The green liquid swirled around and a little lizard appeared and crawled inside. Nikolai picked up the helmet and turned around to find Vara standing there. He hoped she had not heard him.

“Give me my helmet!” She ripped it out of his hands and the lizard dropped to the ground. “What’s that?” she asked. Then disgust dripped from her voice. “Stay away from my helmet, you worthless lizard.” She went to step on it, but Nikolai grabbed her by the arm.

Agatha ran up, dropped her flower, and gathered up the lizard into her hands.

“You disgust me the way you would hurt an innocent creature without giving a second thought,” said Nikolai. He released Vara’s arm only after she’d put her foot back on the ground. He stood between Agatha and Vara. “You are vile, Vara. How can you live with yourself knowing you survive only to win and to hurt others? You are no lady.”

“I told you, I am a warrior.”

“Even warriors don’t step on lizards. They fight equals who are armed. You had better take a good look at yourself, Vara. A good look, before it’s too late.”

He helped Agatha get to her feet, then took the lizard while she picked up her flower. He hurried away and didn’t stop until he got to his tent. He placed the lizard on the ground inside, and immediately Baruch turned back into himself.

“I can’t do this anymore,” the minion complained. “She nearly crushed me under her heel. And she threw her helmet atop me and I couldn’t breathe.”

“You were sweat, Baruch. You didn’t need to breathe.”

Agatha giggled from the door, and Nikolai cursed himself for not realizing she had followed him.

Baruch jumped. “What’s she doing here?”

“Come inside quickly,” Nikolai told Agatha. Then he spoke to Baruch. “Don’t concern yourself with her. She is not going to tell anyone about you.” He shook his head and looked to the girl. “Are you, Agatha?”

“I won’t tell,” she said.

Baruch frowned. “Niko, you were supposed to keep me a secret. Hera is not going to be happy about this at all.”

“We have no choice,” said Nikolai. “She already knows too much.”

Agatha took a step closer. “I can keep a secret.”

“Oh, Niko,” said Baruch wringing his tail. “I don’t like this at all. Hera is going to be very mad.”

“Well, don’t tell her.”

“What?” Baruch’s eyes opened wide. “Not tell her about Agatha knowing about me? But I’m supposed to report everything to Hera. That is my job.”

“I see.” Nikolai ran a hand through his hair. “Then I suppose you’ll have to face the consequences by yourself, since I won’t be there when you tell her.”

Baruch’s eyes opened wide. “Well, I suppose I could forget to tell her, just this once.”

“Good. Now go to Hera and have her heal you again. But hurry back. The competitions are far from over.”

“Nikolai?” came Vara’s voice from outside the tent.

Nikolai looked to the door and then back to Baruch. Then he looked at Agatha. She smiled and held a finger to her lips to let him know his secret was safe.