The emperor's lineage

Escape or.......

Ariadne P.o.v

I storm out of my bed chambers, seeing as the servants pave way for me by just hearing the noise from my boots, eager to just see my brother. He must either have a good reason for this or he should be ready to face the consequences. I look out the window to see Leonidas in the training camp with some men, I directed my fury towards him first, knowing fully well that he is Theseus accomplice in crime.

I launch my whip which is always a part of me at him, he is taken by surprise when I use the whip to drag him back towards me. Leonidas is strong but he is no match for me. The whip cuffs his neck perfectly dragging him back towards me as I stop him with my feet, his hazel eyes race up to look me in the eyes. He tries to speak but my whip prevents him from doing that. I tightened my hold on the whip, which in turn tightens around his neck, he begins to choke, tapping my boots softly as he weakens.

Then I released him only because I still do not know what happened, I hate to kill the innocent, I kick him hard back to his original place where the generals all bow on their knees immediately, they know better than to try to stop me.

“where is Theseus?” I asked , blood shot eyes, gritting my teeth together.

“He is in the court room, my princess”, one of the generals said, I walk to where Leonidas is, still having uneven breath, massaging his neck… I bend down to reach his ear, then whispered:

“you had better have a very good explanation for what happened to Ocean, or you will be glad to see the gods when am done with you”,

I push off sending one last glare towards him, before turning to find my brother. The thing is Theseus is the strongest of all the emperor’s children which is cause for envy when we were little. A lot of people tried to kill him, but he is touched by the gods. I know I can’t catch him by surprise but I know just what to do to him,

The two guards stationed outside the court room looked at me, then hurry to open the door with shaking hands, I walked him majestically, taking my stance, sending deadly stares at the ministers who are in the meeting with Theseus. Immediately our eyes meet, I know he must have sensed me outside the door, he wastes no time in dismissing the ministers, I doubt the want to wait back for the show:

“Ariadne, to what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked feigning naïve,

“Theseus, or rather heartless dragon king, spare me the rubbish, I know what you did to her?” I said spitting fire at him with my words,

“I explained to you sister, she is with our brother, she drugged my wine!” he replied yelling, anger radiant through his voice,

“brother, am ashamed to even call you brother at the moment, have you no sense. The one you seek is out there, lest you spend our time torturing your wife!”

“she is no wife to me, she is a w***e…” my whip latch at him in terror, but he caught it with his wrist which held a metal rubber glove,

“enough of all this Theseus, you will apologize for what you did, everyone might see you as a god, but you are nothing but a human”, I said tightening the hold on my whip, knowing fully well it does not affect him,

“never, sister, never”, he said using his other hand to grip the table

“fine then, I disown you as my brother from this moment on, you disgust me”, I yelled retracting my whip to me,

Then I broke his heart when I added,” I will return to the palace at first light and I will be taking ocean with me, I no longer want to live with men that abuse woman” I turned sharply walking out of the room, sensing his sadness through our bond, I walked back to my bed chambers.

I heard the door of the room open, then close. I pretend to be asleep until I notice it is Ariadne, she looks so sad, looking out through the window. I know she must have gone to fight her brother, only the gods know what else he will do to me now. I tried to keep it from her, not wanting this fight to happen, or the pity but she is smart. I could see the fire burning in her as she rushed out of the room. The servant who she left with me told me she went to fight Leonidas first before going to the king.

I contemplated going there but I still cannot look at that man, the pain still rings in my body, the moments he called me a w***e, the look on Leonidas face. Leonidas has always been a good friend to me, but now he sees me as a w***e. Only the gods know who else he told. I sighed softly, but jerked up when I heard a crash, like something breaking. I see that Ariadne has broken some old vase. She is fuming with anger now, so I get up from the bed. I count my steps towards her, knowing fully well that she must have sensed my presence.

I touched her hair first before reaching into her embrace. When am with her I feel like am a little child with her mother, or sister. I could not hold back the tears again as she whispers into my ear, that everything will be settled. She leads me back in the bed, then join in too before blowing the candles out. Soon darkness welcomes me.

I stirred lightly when I heard the sound of objects been moved, I look up to see Ariadne giving orders to the servants, Lilian sees me awake then rush to my side on the bed, she looks as if she has not slept in days, she said

“I know what happened, am sorry I could not do anything to stop him,” she starts to cry after saying that, Ariadne turns to us both on the bed,

“Lilian, it’s not time to cry, get everything in place before the sun reach the peak, we do not want to miss the ship”, she said rather harshly, what is all that about, I look at her wanting to ask her where she is going to again, a cold chill runs down my spine when I think she will leave again, my vision soon get blurred with tears, but I stopped when she takes Lilian’s space beside me, saying,

“I will never leave you again, we are going back to the palace, since Theseus refuse to apologize for his actions”, I look at her smiling a bit before remembering their father’s words, I shake my head vehemently, trying to tell her no, but since I cannot talk she just looks at me. She soon gets up bringing me a stroll, ink and writing stick. I sighed softly thinking how smart she is,

“I am not pregnant, your father will kill me if I go back, that was his promise to me when we left the palace”, I write quickly trying to reason with her,

“no, I won’t let that happen, neither father nor Theseus or Alexandros can get to you while am around, calm yourself”, she said assuring me, but I still cannot calm down as I know what Theseus can do, but not that of the emperor. I try to write some more but she stops me, a smile crept up her face,

“bathe, then eat something. I want us to go to the temple, maybe the oracle can do something about your voice, I would heal you but I know it would not work” she says helping me out of bed, I stop her trying to reach for the stroll but she takes it out of my hands,

“This is important now, if the oracle can heal your voice, then you can tell father what Theseus did to you”. She said pushing me towards the tub, which already held warm water. I try to get her to leave, she refuses. Once I was done, she picks different jewelries for my hair, ears, neck. I try to stop her, but she refuses saying I have to show her brother what he will be missing.

I think for a second about telling her that he already did bed me, but I stopped not wanting to cause more trouble. She pulled me out after adding some color to my face, lips and perfume. She made me wear a beautiful blue dress, there is thousands of little gems on it. Soon we are walking towards the gates, but I stop when I see Leonidas, he looks as though he was struck by lightning, his neck had bruises scattered on them. she held my hand in hers when we passed him, she glanced at him, more like send deadly daggers towards him. She looks at me, smirked then dragged me off to the temple.

I noticed the snow has stopped, making it easier to walk the roads. I remembered staggering through the roads, tears threatened to fall, but I compose myself. The villager’s bowed to us as we walk on the roads. We soon each the temple, I awed at the size, there are different statues on the entrance. I noticed some of the guards outside, maybe they are here to pray. We removed our sandals before going in.

I pulled my hand from Ariadne’s when I saw the painting on the walls, the pillars held different painting like they had meaning. I was so lost in the painting that I did not realize his presence in the room, my breathing raced when his scent hit me, my eyes starts to burn even before I turned to look at him, my fingers pierces into my skin as I try to get more air into my lungs, I turned when he touches me. I stood there gulping harshly, before I feel a hand pull me back, Ariadne. I look down immediately crying only to hear her voice,

“have you not done enough damage?” what more do you want?” she said yelling while holding my wrist

“Ariadne, this is about the walls, it is important. You do not have to leave or even take her with you, you will be putting everyone in danger” I heard him say, his voice…it sounds so amazing…what is wrong with me!

“we are leaving, Theseus. I would hate to fight you on this” Ariadne replied leaving my hands to walk towards him,

“you will listen to me, I am still your brother and she is…….” I hear someone clear their throat to get everyone’s attention, it is the oracle from the other night. I turn to her first before everyone else did, she has light brown hair, blue eyes….almost like that of the high priestess, she walks towards me, then smile cupping my cheek, I feel some comfort from her like she knows my pain, the gods do speak through them,

“children, you know It is wrong to fight in the temple”, she said looking away towards the siblings, then she added,

“you do not have to fight over anything, the gods will decide at the moon’s festival, that’s why I asked for you my king, it’s time for the festival to take place” she said smiling, but when I looked at Ariadne, she did not look happy…..

“my queen since the gods have brought you here, you cannot miss this festival, it will be bad luck as you also have to participate alongside the king, we all need this now for the war to be in our favor”  she added while I stand there confused, and terrified, what festival, what war….

 I look at Ariadne who just held my hand dragging me after the oracle who is already retreating to the front of the temple, soon we gain on her then she spoke before Ariadne could speak

“I know what you seek child, but I cannot do anything about it, except pray to the gods for her”, then she looks me in the eyes saying” all your pain will be worth it”,

Ariadne sighed in defeat, but I assured her with a smile, I am really anxious to know about the war, and festival…… I pull her towards the entrance but stopped when the oracle speaks again,

“but I can bond you both, that way she can communicate with you through her mind, but be warned your feeling will be one, your heart will be one as well”, she said, I look at Ariadne who seems happy to do it, I hesitate though she will feel my pain too, I shake my head refusing.

“I can protect you better with this, trust me”, Ariadne said assuring me again,. The oracle takes us into another room, connected to the temple, she had us both cut ourselves, drop the blood in a cup. She takes it ten starts chanting, she added something to the cup before having us share the drink. Ariadne drink it first, then I did. I feel like am been split in halves before I hear the oracle tell me to say something, I stare into Ariadne eyes before calling out to her,

“Sister”, she did not react at first so I figured it did not work, I look to the oracle, who only smile. Then I feel her hands pulling me into an embrace. “yes you are my sister now”. She said