Dion: His Life and Mine Read Online Free PDF

Minotaur is big business. Souvenir shops are making a mint selling junk to tourists, Minotaur hats, t-shirts, flags, mugs. Why don’t you get in on the action? These would be lapped up.”
    “What?” I asked.
    “Sell them.”
    “Sell them!” Aster and I repeated, expressing different emotions, mine appalled, his intrigued.
    “Sure. You’re looking for a way to get off the island. Here’s your chance to do it. None of the stuff I’ve seen is as exquisite as this.”
    “Or as authentic,” said Aster with a wry smile. Daedalus and I looked at him, then at each other and laughed. It was the first time we had laughed together since Andro had died. It felt good.
    That was the beginning of our business. I saved up my allowance to buy materials for Aster. He made his sculptures and Daedalus sold them to souvenir vendors, who watched excitedly as tourists did, indeed, lap them up.  We took delight in every model that was made and sold, knowing it was getting us closer to escaping and starting the new life we had planned. For Aster it was even more important, as it was his link to the outside world. In thousands of homes, each little sculpture he made would have pride of place, as a reminder of a couple of weeks someone had whiled away on Crete. Even my unsuspecting father bought some to give them to visiting ambassadors. Daedalus joked that if they had known the real Minotaur had made them we could have charged them double!
     
    Then Theo arrived, bringing hope and leaving tragedy.

Chapter Three   A Tall Dark Handsome Dream              
     
     
    Although, understandably, the Athenians were horrified with Crete’s demands, they also recognized the ancient rules of hospitality, something the Athenian nature prided itself on. Andro had been killed, whilst he had been their guest, by one of their own citizens. Therefore, my father had the right to make whatever demands he wanted. For the first few years they were resigned to it. To start with, the youths were made up of Athenians who had committed the worst crimes. This suited the fickle populace. The silent words serves them right, shouldn’t have done what they did soothed the Athenian conscience to sleep. Everything rubbed along quite nicely for a few years. Father had his required pounds of flesh and Athens reduced the size of its prisons.
    Then it was proved that one of the men they had sent was innocent. Human Rights got on to it and the idea of sending unwilling volunteers, in criminal form, was scrapped.
    Instead, Athens set up a novel way of finding suitable candidates. Competitions were held and young men and women competed to be allowed the chance of glory, by killing the Minotaur. As candidates were whittled down, Athenians began to pick their favourites and placed bets on their chances of success. Before they left for Crete, the chosen fourteen were invited to parties and premi è res, asked to open hospitals and went on game shows. As they boarded the ship to take them to Crete and their inevitable demise, they were seen off at the harbour by thousands of fans waving flags and banners and screaming for the return of their favourite, bearing the head of the Minotaur. None of them were successful, of course, because there was no Minotaur. My father laughed at their endeavours, but then someone arrived on Crete to wipe the smile off his face: Theseus, the son of King Aegeus of Athens .
    To make the fairytale complete, Theo wasn’t just Aegeus’s only son, he was also his long-lost son. The result of a discreet dalliance Aegeus had had with a maiden, when he was travelling through Troezen. Boys will be boys, especially if their lot in life is to grow up to be respected elderly rulers with long white beards. Some years later, Theo turned up at the palace doorstep, intending to catch up on the time he had lost with his old man. At first, he didn’t get the warm welcome he was expecting. His stepmother had her arms wide open, but used them to signal