Beauty of Thebes - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Apollo and Artemis  

Thereafter, Eutostea covered her head with a cloth and left the temple.  

Pyatia, who was about to tell her to go back to Thebes, thinking the princess would change her mind before the journey came to an end, looked worried. The look she saw in Eutostea’s eyes when she cut her hair and returned the sharp knife to her had already been set.  

“Are you leaving like this?”  

“Inform the king that the tribute had been delivered safely and contents of the prophetic trust should, hopefully, be nullified.”  

“Where will you go, princess? How can a woman navigate this dangerous world alone? Please break down your stubbornness and go back to Thebes and beg the king for repentance. He won’t be so hard on you.”  

This was what Pyatia thought, thinking that the king would be reasonable enough to worry about his daughter.  

“…You don’t know my father. I’ve already said my goodbye to him.”
 

‘…And yet, he didn’t budge.’  

Eutostea adjusted the clothing on her head and squeezed the hem of her dress.  

“You’ve had a difficult journey. Then… if it’s what you’ve decided, we shall part ways here.”  

Pyatia stared at her chin—which was barely visible—and led the empty wagon to the accommodated area Paeon and his party had taken up.  

Eutostea stood to the side, watching. A moment later, she left the building where the altar was located in search of a place to avoid the black night.  

From afar, eyes watched the scene, and then, just as swift as a flying squirrel, it disappeared into the darkness of the forest.  

***
 

Artemis sat on a large rock in a deep forest located southwest on the back of Mount Parnassus.  

The goddess wore a hunting garment, a shoulder brace made of deerskin, and a ponytail tying her hair up.  

Fairies fanned her sweat to cool her off, gave her drinks to quench her thirst, and wiped and rearranged her equipment. Artemis’ elaborate hounds sniffed at the carcasses of the hunted animal gathered next to the rocks. Not long after they started hunting, they caught almost all the animals in the southwest forest.  

Apollo was washing his bow and arrow in the clear valley water beneath her, grazing the grass beside him. He wore a laurel wreath—which symbolizes victory—and wrapped a black veil around his upper body like a cape. His arm was wrapped in a band made of leopard skin.  

He, who drained all the blood of the beasts from his bow, rose from the shore in contentment.  

So far, the two twin siblings were tied.  

As Apollo neared Artemis, the fairies who served her withdrew and moved to the edge.  

“Don’t get too close. You’ll scare my children,” Artemis said harshly.  

Apollo chuckled. “They’re more afraid of you.”  

Apollo grabbed a glass with his own hands and poured himself a drink.  

Artemis stroked the fairy’s cheeks that sat next to her, thinking that her brother’s words made sense. The cheeks of the pure maiden fairy blushed with shame. The goddess’ fingers jeered at the fairy’s lips.  

While the brother and sister duo took a break, the fairy, who was spying on the festival under the orders of Artemis, returned in a hurry.  

“Goddess…” the fairy said urgently. Her eyes spoke a sense of importance that she needed to inform Artemis.  

The goddess beckoned to the fairy whose eyes were astonished and asked her to come to her side.  

Apollo gave up his ears and listened to the fairy.  

He looked up, staring at the night sky with a sour look on his face. His crows haven’t arrived yet.  

“On the altar… the hair…”  

He could hear the language of the fairy spoken. He couldn’t understand much of it, only bits here and there. He saw her sister’s expression, who had listened to the fairy’s words hardened as if she had bit her tongue. Her face then distorted horribly.  

Unaware of the circumstances happening in Delphi, Apollo put down his glass and got up from his seat.  

“Let’s move, sister. If we go north, there’ll still be many beasts left.”  

“Will we be able to determine the winner by dawn if we catch only the smallest beast? At this rate we’re going, it’ll only be a tie.”  

At Artemis’ words, Apollo looked at the mountains of hunting trails.  

The goddess, who climbed on the back of a rock-sized bear where she was sitting and shot it down through the skull with an arrow, had trouble deciding whether to announce what she knew.  

“Let’s have fun… something more difficult to catch. The points are 500 points. If we catch just one difficult beast, we’ll be able to turn the tide and come out a winner.”  

Artemis grinned.  

Apollo saw the hidden meaning behind that girlish smile. Apollo thought that his sister was up to her usual tricks and antics again, as usual.  

“Fine,” said Apollo.  

And with that, Artemis ordered the fairies close to her and explained to them the new ruled before being released. Dozens of fairies rose with grim faces and ran like the wind.