The Trials of the Minotaur

Part Two: The Oracle's Mortification (Chapter Seven)

After the arrival of the god to the temple that had been constructed for him, Thedeo had been untroubled by dreams or the anguish that had so regularly haunted his days from the moment he had ascended to the throne as a child following the death of his regent mother, poisoned by some of the local grandees. His father had died earlier from a wound turned gangrenous, and so for most of his unhappy life Thedeo had been surrounded but alone. His advisors and wife, both selected from among the families of those who had poisoned his mother, he could not bring himself to trust, especially after the revolt that he blamed for their misinterpretation of his dreams.

The god he trusted absolutely, and he began to have audiences with him daily, where he would tell of whatever dream had come to him the night before or talk of the problems of the state. Often the god said nothing in response, or only a mere phrase that seemed obliquely related to what Thedeo had said. It mattered not, for there was a comfort for the barbarian king in being in the presence of a seer and a god. Most importantly, he knew he could trust him, for the god owed nothing to the grandees or to Thedeo himself.

It was always late in the day when he left his palace for his audience with the god. He preferred to go as the sun was setting, when all the other supplicants had been received or sent away. The penitents on duty at the temple’s doors welcomed him, taking his sword and anointing him with perfumes and blessings. From there he climbed up the winding staircase until he reached the chambers beneath the god’s tower, where he was greeted by one of the chosen. He preferred the woman, who always smiled warmly and asked after his family, but today he saw the Sufferer before him.

The man did not acknowledge him, going through the rituals as though he were any other supplicant. Thedeo disliked him intensely for his lack of obeisance before a king. The man was his subject, after all, whatever his service to the god. The Sufferer seemed not to feel that way, though, acting as though he were Thedeo’s better. No matter that his exalted position had been paid for with the king’s treasure. He would be just another villager passing his days in obscurity were it not for Thedeo and the god. The king voiced none of these thoughts, joining the Sufferer in his invocations and songs and then receiving a blessing for his offering.

This done, he rose and climbed the broad stairs that led to the open tower where the god sat before the day’s last light. Thedeo approached on his knees, as he had in the cave, the sun sharp in his eyes, and when he was near enough that he could hear the beast’s breathing, he spoke.

On this occasion he had momentous news: his wife was with child. “I must know,” he said to the god, “will I have a son to inherit this kingdom?”

He could feel the beast’s gaze upon him, though he knew that was impossible in the strictest sense. The god seemed to loom over him, enclosing him, as though into an embrace, though the beast had not moved. Thedeo felt at peace in these moments, awaiting the word of the god. He trusted it, more than his own senses and judgment, and when it came at last, whether for good or ill, he would commit himself to what was said totally.

At last the god spoke: “Want carries the seeds of its doom. It is a vine that overgrows the heart.”

Thedeo felt a chill cut through him at those words. Though he had many questions about what the god had said, he merely swallowed – not without difficulty, for his mouth had gone dry – and went on his way. Who knew what else the god might say? He feared he might be even more terrible. The beast’s words to him that night stalked him in the following months, haunting his thoughts whenever he was alone, allowing him no respite. He had two of his wife’s ladies stay with her at all times, and had them report to him on her welfare twice a day. The pregnancy went well, and when it came to term a son was born.

All Alari celebrated the news, and Thedeo wept with relief that both mother and child were healthy. The happiness that such a blessing brought him left him uneasy, though, for the god’s words were still in his head. What doom awaited him, he wondered – what heartache remained to come? He could not imagine it, and yet it came to preoccupy all his thoughts. Each decision he made was with the god’s words in mind, to vanquish whatever evil might be visited upon his family.

Though he tried to speak with the god of those words uttered that fateful day, questioning him on the matter many times when he came before him, the beast was silent on the matter, refusing to say any more. At first he had repeated what he had said that day, as though the explanation was secreted within the phrase itself, but then as the weeks went on and Thedeo became ever more desperate to unlock their meaning, he refused to say anything at all. The silence offered its own danger, for Thedeo knew that he dared not anger the god, or risk being cast into the world unsighted and alone, yet he so desperately needed to know.

Away from the god Thedeo raged against the beast, cursing him until he wept with anguish. What had he done to forsake the god that he would deny him this help in his time of greatest need? Always, though, he would relent and tell himself that, as with his first prophecy, the answer was there for him to find if only fate allowed it. Fate favored the bold, those able to pierce the veil of darkness that shadowed all their lives and strike at that which threatened. It was left to him, then, to find his way through and ensure that when the gods gave him his chance he would be ready to seize it.

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This is the fifteenth  chapter of the Trials of the Minotaur. I will post a chapter a week (there are over 30), but if you enjoy what you're reading and don't want to wait, you can buy this book at Amazon, Kobo, and Smashwords. Thanks for reading.