Chapter 20Julos shielded his eyes as he squinted up at the eagle. It wheeled in the sky, vast against the winter sun. The great bird flapped its wings, circling over their heads, before it swept down toward the earth.
He glanced to his side. Though he could not see her face in her helmet, he guessed the princess was confused too. Warriors of Italia and Troy packed into the clearing to peer upward. Every mouth was open. The eagle was the sign of all-conquering Zeus. Surely this was a message from the gods?
The eagle clipped Julos’s shoulder with its talons as it alighted on the riverbank. He swore and rubbed his shoulder, a trickle of hot blood on his fingers.
The feathers seethed, turning to pale flesh. The bones thickened, muscles spooling. Where the eagle had been was now a quivering
