Nobody's Prize Read Online Free PDF

themselves and abandon the quest for the Fleece, it will draw attention. I’m not ashamed if people gossip about what I’ve done, but
they
will be.”
    “I doubt you cared this much about their feelings when you chose this path,” Iolaus said. He didn’t raise his voice. The truth doesn’t need to be shouted.
    “Maybe not,” I answered, looking him in the eyes. “But I had to choose it.”
    “That’s ridiculous.”
    “No more ridiculous than why
you’re
ready to sail into the unknown. The only person who
needs
to chase after the Golden Fleece is Prince Jason, yet you and all the others are joining him for the sake of pure adventure. You hunger for it! Why can’t I?”
    “Enough.” Iolaus raised his hand. “You win, for your brothers’ sake and because I’ve got the feeling you’d find a way to sneak aboard no matter how much they or I try to stop you. I wish some of the men I know had half your boldness. It’s strange to see it in a girl. Perhaps you’re really Atalanta’s daughter.”
    My smile answered his. “My nurse, Ione, said I was Zeus’s child.”
    “My uncle Herakles is supposed to be Zeus’s son. You two must be related. He’s a great one for following his heart first and thinking about the consequences afterward. Or never.” His teeth flashed in the shadows of the old fishwife’s home. “I’ll keep your secret.”
    “Thank you. You won’t have to do it for very long. You said I didn’t care about my brothers’ feelings when I decided to join this quest. You were right. I’ve only been thinking about what
I
want.” I took a deep breath. What I was about to say tore at my heart, but I couldn’t escape it. “I’ll go back to Delphi. It’s one thing to take a chance with my own life, but not with so many others’.”
    “Oh, I agree,” Iolaus said. “Which is why I intend to take very good care of my new weapons bearers.”
             
    It was sunset when Iolaus left us. He waited until Melitta returned to ask if we could stay with her for one more night. “These boys work for me,” he told her. “We were separated on the road. I’d bring them up to the palace, but I get the feeling that Lord Pelias wouldn’t welcome the surprise of two more mouths to feed.”
    The old woman snorted. “You don’t have to tell me about Lord Pelias. His fingers clench around every crumb. They won’t uncurl until he dies.”
    “The lads won’t be a burden to you, Mother. I’ll bring you plenty of extra food and wine for them.”
    “Keep it.” She nodded at me. “They’re welcome under my roof.”
    “Spoken like someone who’s never seen them eat.” Iolaus chuckled. Then his voice turned serious. “Can I trust you to keep their presence here a secret?”
    Melitta’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
    “Unless Iolkos is the only city where no one gossips, word could reach those men, the ones who scuffled with Glaucus. They might decide to stir up trouble.”
    “Hunh! Not likely, the cowards,” she said.
    “Cowards don’t pick fair fights,” I pointed out. “They might do something nasty and sly if they find out we’re here, something like…like—”
    “Like starting a fire,” Milo piped up.
    “That sounds like just what they
would
do,” the fishwife agreed, and promised to let no one know we were her guests.
    That night she fed us flatbread and fat anchovies she’d broiled on a rock in the house’s fire pit. “Here, boys,” she said, holding out portions to Milo and me. “I’ll cook more soon enough. There’s plenty, thanks to that good master of yours. He’s no Lord Pelias, that’s for sure. Our false king wouldn’t give a bone to a starving dog unless he was planning to take its pelt to market and boil its bones for soup. Eat, eat!”
    “Why do you call him ‘false’?” I asked, taking a bite of my bread.
    “Because he’s got no more right to rule this land than I do, since Prince Jason returned. Child, surely you know the whole story behind that