Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Once again, Theseus stood between two swordmaidens, waiting for Queen Hippolyta’s next task.
The morning sunlight twinkled on the ocean waves as they washed against the island’s cliffs.
The palace and cluster of stone homes filled the point of land behind him while a tree-covered island wilderness spread out before him.
A warm breeze stirred his hair, keeping the heat of the day from being too unbearable.
If the day was warm, Queen Hippolyta was doing her best to cool it down with the ice in her eyes. “King Theseus. A giant pig is currently ravaging our island. Your second task is to capture the pig.”
“That’s it? No underhanded tests or trying to trick me into killing someone?” Theseus crossed his arms, glaring right back.
Queen Hippolyta raised a single eyebrow, as if to tell him that it wouldn’t be a test if she gave him the answer. “You have until sundown.”
One of the swordmaidens shoved a rope at him. When he took it, both swordmaidens gave him a push toward the uninhabited wild section of the island before him.
He could take the hint. Without a glance over his shoulder at the swordmaiden queen, he strolled forward.
The shadows beneath the trees enfolded him as the undergrowth scraped against his arms and legs.
He had to fight his way between the plants, battling for every step, until he stepped into a section of forest with taller trees, their foliage shading the forest floor so completely that very little undergrowth could flourish.
Ariadne leaned against one of the nearby trees, still dressed in her white servant’s garb despite the fact that he knew the truth.
He halted in front of her, hefting the rope higher on his shoulder. “Do you have any magic items to help with my task today? A golden lasso or a magic apple to lure the pig into a trap?”
Ariadne smirked, an expression that seemed more confident than the smiles she had given him before. Perhaps she felt free to be herself, now that she wasn’t lying about being a servant. “Nope. For this task, you are on your own.”
“Will you at least keep me company?” Theseus gestured at the forest around them. “This is a small island, but it still might take a while to locate this pig.”
“Of course. After all, who could resist your charm.” She raised her eyebrows to match the sarcasm in her words.
It made him want to take as long as possible to round up this rampaging pig.
Spending the day tromping across this beautiful island with her at his side sounded like a pleasant way to pass time.
Besides, he likely would never have another chance to explore this island, considering the rule against men.
Win or lose, he would be banished from this island forever once these trials were over.
He set off deeper into the forest, and Ariadne fell into step with him. Or, at least, as much as she could as they wound their way between trees and pushed through stands of thick undergrowth.
After a few minutes, Theseus stumbled from the brush onto a pebbled path. He glanced up and down the path, sighing when the left side of the path paralleled the thick forest he had been fighting his way through.
He pointed at the path. “You could have mentioned that there was an easier way.”
Ariadne smirked, brushing dirt and leaves from her white dress. “Where would be the fun in that? This is supposed to be a trial, after all, not an easy stroll.”
She had a point, but he wasn’t going to let it go that easily, even if he wasn’t truly angry. “Is there anything wrong with following the path now?”
Her smirk didn’t falter. If anything, her eyes twinkled more.
Not a good sign. Would the swordmaidens lay traps on the trails on their island?
Wrong question. Of course they would. The better questions would be, what kind of traps had they laid and how could he spot them?
“What should I look out for?”
“The usual. A few trip wires, hidden pits with spikes at the bottom, swinging logs. That sort of thing.” Ariadne shrugged, as if strolling down a trail littered with deadly snares wasn’t a big deal.
Theseus didn’t dare even shuffle his feet, knowing how dangerous this was.
And he had been blithely bumbling through the forest a moment ago.
Was the forest as deadly as the path? He twisted to better face Ariadne while keeping his feet planted where they were.
“If I asked nicely, would you warn me before I step into any traps?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Ariadne started off down the path deeper into the island.
It wasn’t the most reassuring answer. But Theseus hurried after her, trying to step where she stepped and move when she moved. When she switched to walking on the far left side of the path, he did the same. When she stepped higher, he did too, barely spotting the thin trip wire as he cleared it.
She strode with such purpose and ease that he suspected the swordmaidens must train frequently along this path. Perhaps they took it at a full run, each snare memorized through practice.
After about a mile of walking, taking several branching paths, Ariadne halted. As she did, Theseus also heard the snuffling, grunting, squealing sounds from ahead.
The undergrowth shook before a massive animal burst from the trees. It was covered in dark gray, wiry fur with gleaming tusks curving out of either side of its mouth. Its sloping back was as tall as Theseus was, its head level with his chest and so large that his torso would fit inside its mouth.
That mouth gaped open, showing jagged teeth, as the giant pig bellowed. Still bellowing, it charged straight at Ariadne and Theseus.
Ariadne dove from the path, and Theseus threw himself after her a heartbeat later.
He rolled, scrambling behind a large rock.
The ground shuddered as the giant pig thundered past. It plowed right through a trip wire, and a log swung from the forest and bumped into the pig’s side. The pig squealed but didn’t slow.
Theseus touched the rope he still had slung over his shoulder. “Queen Hippolyta gave me this rope as a joke, didn’t she? It isn’t going to do much against that monster. A magic lasso would be rather useful right now.”
Ariadne peeked over the rock, grimacing. “Sorry. No magic rope.”
Even if Theseus managed to get this rope around the pig’s neck, that creature was stronger and heavier than he was and would drag him all over the forest until his skin was stripped from his body. Not a pleasant way to die.
That meant he needed another plan.
He peered over the rock alongside Ariadne. The pig seemingly had forgotten them and crashed about the brush, tearing up saplings and trampling ferns.
What had caused the creature to become so angry?
Perhaps it was merely a monster, bent on destroying everything and everyone in its path.
But usually monsters targeted people, hunting them down wherever they could find them.
Yet this pig was largely ignoring them, except for the moment when they had drawn its attention.
A creature—a monstrous creature, even—but not truly a monster from the Realm of Monsters.
Then what was causing this giant pig to go on a rampage? Animals normally didn’t carry this kind of sustained anger, though wild pigs were known to be more ornery than most.
What Theseus wouldn’t give for a few hours to consult with the Great Library. The librarians there would have all the information he would need within a few minutes if he asked. How was he supposed to come up with a proper plan without that information at his fingertips?
As the giant pig thrashed through the brush closer to them, Theseus studied it as closely as he could manage while the animal bellowed and charged random trees. If he couldn’t research at the Great Library, then he would have to go with good old-fashioned observation.
There wasn’t much to see. It was a standard wild pig. Dark bristles. Tusks. Chunky body. Just really, really huge.
Except…Theseus squinted to focus. That pig was a sow. “That’s a female pig.”
“Of course. This is the Island of Swordmaidens.” Ariadne raised her eyebrows at him.
“Yes, but that pig is a mother.” Something that was rather obvious, based on the way its body was swollen from feeding piglets. “Which I know for a fact can’t happen without a male pig being around, at least for a little while.”
Ariadne shrugged. “It is still free to come and go as it chooses.”
He wasn’t sure he wanted to know how this giant pig would get on and off the island.
As he kept an eye on the pig, its tail lifted and something golden popped out and dropped to the ground.
He glanced at Ariadne. “The pig poops gold.”
As if this day wasn’t already weird enough.
“It’s a giant pig. Obviously it’s magical.” Ariadne pointed at the pig, though she kept her hand low to avoid the pig seeing them.
Ah, so this was part of the test. The temptation to catch the pig and keep it for himself rather than turn it over to Queen Hippolyta.
Another bellow came from the pig as it plowed down yet another tree. Theseus flinched and ducked lower behind the rock. He didn’t care if this pig pooped gold, diamonds, and rubies. No way was he keeping that creature for himself.
He turned back to the giant sow and studied it again. It was alone, even though it must have piglets young enough to need care.
That was why it was so angry. It was separated from its young.
If he couldn’t rope and drag this gigantic pig back to its piglets, then perhaps he could use one of the piglets to lure it back to its pen, wherever that was.
“Can you show me its pen and piglets?” Theseus eased down into hiding behind the rock, glancing at Ariadne.
“Yes. Follow me.” Ariadne crawled backwards deeper into the brush before she stood.
If she agreed so easily, then finding the pen wasn’t the test, even if figuring out that this sow had piglets seemed to be part of it.
Theseus matched Ariadne’s movements, working to stay quiet to avoid attracting the attention of the enraged pig once again.
Once they were out of sight of the pig—though they could still hear its distant bellows and squeals—Ariadne returned to the path.
The trail sloped upward, leaving the forest as it climbed into a rocky section of the island.
Finally, they arrived at the mouth of a canyon surrounded by steep cliffs on all but one side.
This final side had a large timber stockade taller than Theseus built across it.
A wooden gate was locked with a bar the size of a small tree.
No part of the fence or gate was damaged. It was even still locked.
That meant the pig hadn’t gotten away on its own. It had been purposely released and driven into the forest as part of this test.
Theseus caught Ariadne glancing at him, something in her gaze pointed. Did she want him to read into this situation? It seemed cruel to drive a mother pig away from its young.
He would think about it later. Right now, the priority was reuniting the giant sow with its piglets.
Reaching the gate, he gripped one end of the locking bar. “Could you please lift the other end?”
Ariadne lifted her end of the locking bar without apparent effort as Theseus heaved his end free of its bracket. They lowered the bar to the ground where it wouldn’t be in the way.
Theseus yanked open the large gate and stepped inside the pigpen.
The smell hit him first. Apparently even magical pigs had that same rancid manure stench as regular pigs. A brown slurry spread out in front of him, veined with gold streaks.
Five piglets splashed about in the muck, occasionally squealing and grunting as if they were looking for their mother and were worried that they couldn’t find her.
Their brown fur appeared softer than the wiry texture of their mother’s coat, and stripes of lighter fur lined their backs.
They might have been cute, if they hadn’t been so big they reached his knees and probably weighed fifty or sixty pounds.
As he stood there, gaping, one of the piglets pooped out a stream of gold.
His stomach churned. He didn’t know who would be desperate enough to collect that gold, but he certainly wasn’t.
Though with this much gold, he would have leverage. He could bargain with any Court he wished, giving them gold in exchange for the use of their warriors on Midsummer Night. He wouldn’t have to marry Hippolyta or continue these trials.
It would be easy enough to carry off one of these piglets and head straight for the Anywhere Door. This gold could be a far more certain salvation than risking the future of his Court on his success in these trials.
He shook himself. What was he thinking? He’d never thought himself the type to be tempted by the lure of gold, but it turned out he was desperate enough to think about it.
It was a foolish thought. If he stole away a piglet, the Court of Swordmaidens would come after him, and adding a war with the Court of Swordmaidens onto the chaos of the upcoming Midsummer Night would doubly doom his Court.
Even assuming the swordmaidens let him get away with it, the piglet would likely die, separated from its mother so young.
Besides, magic like this was tricky. He didn’t know why these pigs pooped gold.
It might be something they ate or something about the magic of this island.
He couldn’t be sure the piglet would still poop gold if taken from its habitat.
No, he needed to concentrate on finishing this task. He wouldn’t fail, and he would win Queen Hippolyta’s hand.