Beauty of Thebes - Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Hunting Eutostea  

Apollo’s eyes opened wide, bow still in hand.  

It was the crow, his flying messenger. Apollo hadn’t given the crow any order, yet it rushed up to the mortal woman and blocked the arrow rushing towards her.  

The crow was out of breath. Apollo flashed to the bird’s side and lifted its body.  

A flock of the crows’ black feathers swarmed in sorrow at the death of their colleague.  

They sang in one voice.  

“Sun God… please take care of her. A woman you didn’t recognize came to your temple and offered her hair as a sacrifice.”  

“!”
 

He put down the body of the crow and hurriedly looked in the direction that Artemis’ hounds were chasing.  

Artemis emptied barrels of arrows one after another.  

There was an evil smile on the face of his naughty sister. Her thought, which could not be hidden in the fog, could finally be seen.  

Her face seemed to say,  ‘How dare you cut off your hair and offer it as a sacrifice to a festival to commemorate the dignity of my brother without taking care of the problems you have!’  

The goddess’ anger against the mortal woman, who was alluring enough to catch her brother’s eyes, was fervent and of extreme anger. A virgin must be pure. Even if she doesn’t serve the goddess of chastity, the mortal woman should live a life of chastity. No one walks the path of slavery on their own without facing retribution.  

The mortal woman’s bobbed hair was seen as a symbol of sex when it came to Artemis’ eyes. She was unmarried and must have sought Apollo’s eyes as she wandered around the festival with no one to look after her.  

The more Artemis thought of it, the more repugnant she became.  

The blood on the mortal woman’s shoulder gradually spread on her back. Artemis looked at her—who ran and ran and ran away from the hounds— and raised her arrow, directing it to the mortal woman’s back.  

“Artemis!” Apollo’s angered voice resounded, “She’s Eutostea, Princess of Thebes! Lower your bow!”  

As blood continued to spread on the mortal woman’s back, a flock of crows approached her in a hurry. Artemis clicked her tongue and looked at Apollo angrily, then dropped the bow she was holding.
 

Eutostea shrieked sharply.  

Hit by a thick branch, her shoulders snapped.  

Eutostea staggered, closing her eyes tightly.  

The sound of the hounds was approaching ominously.  

“Focus on hunting, brother! It’s to wrap this up!”  

Artemis stared aggressively at the crows as if to remind Apollo what they betted on.  

“If you don’t want to upset me, lower your bow, Artemis,” Apollo growled.  

Crows flew above.  

His pale red eyes glared, eyes raising fear like the lion of death.  

“No, brother.”  

Artemis pulled a new set of arrows from her barrel.  

“If you want it to stop, be more aggressive. You’re funny. I will win this hunt, brother.”  

Artemis glared. The side of her face glowed angrily.  

‘Raise your bow if you don’t want to lose. Stupid brother!’  

Artemis glanced at Apollo’s bow, his arms drooping. She remembered Apollo mentioning his forearm before the hunt began that he had injured it. She thought it amusing that his bow—that could kill anything in sight—was akin to rotting at this moment.  

Apollo’s visible helplessness touched Artemis’ sadism to further harass the mortal woman.  

Artemis stood straight, the back of her hair waving. Her silver bow glittered menacingly.  

“Break the tendons of her ankle this time. If you fail, you’ll be punished, Tigris!”  

Her loyal hound answered her solemn command with a loud bark.  

Artemis’ fairies, watching the hunt on the branch trees, waved their arms to cheer for the goddess’ victory. Listening to the calm voices of the fairies singing, Artemis calmly performed her execution.  

Her arrow flew precisely and sank beneath the mortal woman’s legs.  

Eutostea screamed in tears. Pain penetrated her body whole.  

Then… she fell over the bushes.