Eye of Hecate

Piper

I corner the princess as Jason and Leo go off to check out the living fur coats, with Ozzy in tow to make sure they don't accidentally get strangled by a bearskin. 

"You want them shopping for their deaths?" I demand.

"Mmm." The princess blows dust off a display case of swords. "I'm a seer, my dear. I know your little secret. But we don't want to dwell on that, do we? The boys are having such fun."

Leo laughs as he tries on a hat that seems to be made from enchanted raccoon fur. Its ringed tail twitches, and its little legs wiggle frantically as Leo walks. Jason is ogling the men's sportswear. Ozzy is standing between them with her arms crossed, watching them like a teacher supervising children on a playground. She and I lock eyes and clearly share the same thought: Boys interested in shopping for clothes? A definite sign they're under an evil spell.

I glare at the princess. "Who are you?"

"I told you, my dear. I'm the Princess of Colchis."

"Where's Colchis?"

The princess's expression turns a little sad. "Where was Colchis, you mean. My father ruled the far shores of the Black Sea, as far to the east as a Greek ship could sail in those days. But Colchis is no more—lost eons ago."

"Eons?" I ask. The princess looks no more than fifty, but a bad feeling starts settling over me—something King Boreas mentioned back in Quebec. "How old are you?"

The princess laughs. "A lady should avoid asking or answering that question. Let's just say the, ah, immigration process to enter your country took quite a while. My patron finally brought me through. She made all this possible." The princess sweeps her hand around the department store.

My mouth tastes like metal. "Your patron..."

"Oh, yes. She doesn't bring just anyone through, mind you—only those who have special talents, such as me. And really, she insists on so little—a store entrance that must be underground so she can, ah, monitor my clientele; and a favor now and then. In exchange for a new life? Really, it was the best bargain I'd made in centuries."

Run, I think. We have to get out of here.

But before I can even turn my thoughts into words, Jason calls, "Hey, check it out!"

From a rack labeled DISTRESSED CLOTHING, he holds up a purple T-shirt like the one he wore on the school field trip—except this shirt looks as if it has been clawed by tigers.

Jason frowns. "Why does this look so familiar?"

"Jason, it's like yours," I say. "Now we really have to leave." But I'm not sure he can even hear me anymore through the princess's enchantment.

"Nonsense," the princess says. "The boys aren't done, are they? And yes, my dear. Those shirts are very popular—trade-ins from previous customers. It suits you."

Leo picks up an orange Camp Half-Blood tee with a hole through the middle, as if it has been hit by a javelin. Next to that is a dented bronze breastplate pitted with corrosion—acid, maybe?—and a Roman toga slashed to pieces and stained with something that looks disturbingly like dried blood.

Ozzy squeaks and holds up a white linen outfit, scorched on the edges, as if the wearer had spontaneously combusted. 

"Your Highness," I say, trying to control my nerves. "Why don't you tell the boys how you betrayed your family? I'm sure they'd like to hear that story."

Her words don't have any effect on the princess, but the boys turn, suddenly interested.

"More story?" Leo asks.

"I like more story!" Jason agrees.

The princess flashes me an irritated look. "Oh, one will do strange things for love, Piper. You should know that. I fell for that young hero, in fact, because your mother Aphrodite had me under a spell. If it wasn't for her—but I can't hold a grudge against a goddess, can I?"

The princess's tone makes her meaning clear: I can take it out on you.

"But that hero took you with him when he fled Colchis," I remember. "Didn't he, Your Highness? He married you just as he promised."

The look in the princess's eyes makes me want to apologize, but I don't back down. Ozzy carefully joins my side, her fingers twitching, as if she's thinking of pulling out her wand and staff.

"At first," Her Highness admits, "it seemed he would keep his word. But even after I helped him steal my father's treasure, he still needed my help. As we fled, my brother's fleet came after us. His warships overtook us. He would have destroyed us, but I convinced my brother to come aboard our ship first and talk under a flag of truce. He trusted me." 

"And you killed your own brother," I say, the horrible story all coming back to me, along with a name—an infamous name that begins with the letter M.

"What?" Jason stirs. For a moment he looks almost like himself. "Killed your own—"

"No," the princess snaps. "Those stories are lies. It was my new husband and his men who killed my brother, though they couldn't have done it without my deception. They threw his body into the sea, and the pursuing fleet had to stop and search for it so they could give my brother a proper burial. This gave us time to get away. All this, I did for my husband. And he forgot our bargain. He betrayed me in the end."

Jason still looks uncomfortable. "What did he do?"

The princess holds the sliced-up toga against Jason's chest, as if measuring him for an assassination. "Don't you know the story, my boy? You of all people should. You were named for him."

"Jason," I say. "The original Jason. But then you're—you should be dead!"

Ozzy looks between us both, clearly lost.

The princess smiles. "As I said, a new life in a new country. Certainly I made mistakes. I turned my back on my own people. I was called a traitor, a thief, a liar, a murderess. But I acted out of love." She turns to the boys and gives them a pitiful look, batting her eyelashes. I can feel the sorcery washing over them, taking control more firmly than ever.

"Wouldn't you do the same for someone you loved, my dears?"

"Oh, sure," Jason says.

"Okay," Leo says.

"Guys!" I grind my teeth in frustration. "Don't you see who she is? Don't you—"

"Let's continue, shall we?" the princess says breezily. "I believe you wanted to talk about a price for the storm spirits—and your satyr."

Leo gets distracted on the second floor with the appliances.

"No way," he says. "Is that an armored forge?"

Before I can stop him, he hops off the escalator and runs over to a big oval oven that looks like a barbecue on steroids.

When we catch up with him, the princess says, "You have good taste. This is the H-2000, designed by Hephaestus himself. Hot enough to melt Celestial bronze or Imperial gold."

Jason flinches as if he recognizes that term. "Imperial gold?"

The princess nods. "Yes, my dear. Like that weapon so cleverly concealed in your pocket. To be properly forged, Imperial gold had to be consecrated in the Temple of Jupiter on Capitoline Hill in Rome. Quite a powerful and rare metal, but like the Roman emperors, quite volatile. Be sure never to break that blade...." She smiles pleasantly. "Rome was after my time, of course, but I do hear stories. And now over here—this golden throne is one of my finest luxury items. Hephaestus made it as a punishment for his mother, Hera. Sit in it and you'll be immediately trapped."

Leo apparently takes this as an order. He begins walking toward it in a trance.

"Leo, don't!" Ozzy warns.

He blinks. "How much for both?"

"Oh, the seat I could let you have for five great deeds. The forge, seven years of servitude. And for only a bit of your strength—" She leads Leo into the appliance section, giving him prices on various items.

Ozzy and I make a silent agreement. She follows after Leo to make sure he doesn't sign up for a payment plan, and I try reasoning with Jason. I pull him aside and slap him across the face.

"Ow," he mutters sleepily. "What was that for?"

"Snap out of it!" I hiss.

"What do you mean?"

"She's charmspeaking you. Can't you feel it?"

He knits his eyebrows. "She seems okay."

"She's not okay! She shouldn't even be alive! She was married to Jason—the other Jason—three thousand years ago. Remember what Boreas said—something about the souls no longer being confined to Hades? It's not just monsters who can't stay dead. She's come back from the Underworld!"

Jason shakes his head uneasily. "She's not a ghost."

"No, she's worse! She's—"

"Children." The princess is back with Leo and Ozzy in tow. "If you please, we will now see what you came for. That is what you want, yes?"

I have to choke back a scream. I'm tempted to pull out my dagger and take on this witch myself, but I don't like my chances—not in the middle of Her Highness's department store while my friends are under a spell. Even if Ozzy helps me, I'm not sure what this princess is capable of. I can't even be sure Leo and Jason will take our side in a fight. I have to figure out a better plan.

We take the escalator down to the base of the fountain. For the first time, I notice two large bronze sundials—each about the size of a trampoline—inlaid on the marble tile floor to the north and south of the fountain. The gilded oversize canary cages stand to the east and west, and the farthest one holds the storm spirits. They're so densely packed, spinning around like a super-concentrated tornado, that I can't tell how many there are—dozens, at least.

"Hey," Leo says, "Coach Hedge looks okay!"

They run to the nearest canary cage. The old satyr seems to be petrified at the moment he was sucked into the sky above the Grand Canyon. He's frozen mid-shout, his club raised over his head like he's ordering the gym class to drop and give him fifty. His curly hair sticks up at odd angles. If I just concentrate on certain details—the bright orange polo shirt, the wispy goatee, the whistle around his neck—I can imagine Coach Hedge as his good old annoying self. But it's hard to ignore the stubby horns on his head, and the fact that he has furry goat legs and hooves instead of workout pants and Nikes.

"Yes," the princess says. "I always keep my wares in good condition. We can certainly barter for the storm spirits and the satyr. A package deal. If we come to terms, I'll even throw in the vial of healing potion, and you can go in peace." She gives Ozzy and I a shrewd look. "That's better than starting unpleasantness, isn't it, dears?"

Don't trust her, warns a voice in my head. If I'm right about this lady's identity, nobody will be leaving in peace. A fair deal isn't possible. It's all a trick. But my friends are looking at me, nodding urgently and mouthing, Say yes! I need more to time to think. Even Ozzy is looking at me, silently asking me what to do. 

"We can negotiate," I say.

"Totally!" Leo agrees. "Name your price."

"Leo!" Ozzy snaps.

The princess chuckles. "Name my price? Perhaps not the best haggling strategy, my boy, but at least you know a thing's value. Freedom is very valuable indeed. You would ask me to release this satyr, who attacked my storm winds—"

"Who attacked us," I interject.

Her Highness shrugs. "As I said, my patron asks me for small favors from time to time. Sending the storm spirits to abduct you—that was one. I assure you it was nothing personal. And no harm done, as you came here, in the end, of your own free will! At any rate, you want the satyr freed, and you want my storm spirits—who are very valuable servants, by the way—so you can hand them over to that tyrant Aeolus. Doesn't seem quite fair, does it? The price will be high."

I can see that Leo and Jason are ready to offer anything, promise anything. Before they can speak, I play my last card.

"You're Medea," I say. "You helped the original Jason steal the Golden Fleece. You're one of the most evil villains in Greek mythology. Jason, Leo—don't trust her."

I put all the intensity I can gather into those words. I'm utterly sincere, and it seems to have some effect. Jason steps away from the sorceress.Leo scratches his head and looks around like he's coming out of a dream."What are we doing, again?"

"Boys!" The princess spreads her hands in a welcoming gesture. Her diamond jewelry glitters, and her painted fingers curl like blood-tipped claws. "It's true, I'm Medea. But I'm so misunderstood. Oh, Piper, my dear, you don't know what it was like for women in the old days. We had no power, no leverage. Often we couldn't even choose our own husbands. But I was different. I chose my own destiny by becoming a sorceress. Is that so wrong?" She turns to Ozzy. "My dear, surely you can understand the desire to choose your own path. With magic, you can do anything you desire!"