The iron chains clattered to the ground as Hippolyta's restraints were released.
Just as Alaric was about to say something, the newly freed Amazon queen suddenly bent down with lightning speed, snatched the dagger from the floor, and spun around, pressing its blade against his throat.
The cold edge touched his skin.
Since Alaric had forged the dagger himself, he knew exactly how sharp it was, it could slice through even the flesh of a demigod as easily as cutting tofu.
Now that same weapon was poised at his neck, capable of ending his life at any moment.
The Argonauts aboard the ship erupted in alarm. Cries of outrage filled the air; several even looked ready to leap into the sea to rescue Alaric.
Yet Alaric's expression didn't change. It was as if the weapon didn't exist at all. His voice remained calm.
"Hippolyta, what are you doing?"
"Can't you tell? I'm taking you prisoner," Hippolyta said with a hint of pride.
"Didn't we have an agreement? You're breaking it, aren't you? Where's the honor of the Amazon queen, the credibility of a warrior?" Alaric countered.
His words only seemed to make her more pleased.
"I did keep my word. The deal was for me to exchange myself so your companions could board the ship. But I don't recall that you were part of the bargain."
Alaric blinked, then smiled.
"Looks like you've gotten clever."
"I learned from the best." Hippolyta smiled too, reaching up to gently stroke his cheek.
The next moment, her tone turned cold, and she gave him a shove.
But even in her voice, Alaric sensed no real killing intent, only a strange, unspoken emotion beneath the surface.
"Come with me, my prisoner. As you said yourself, by our rules, everything you have now belongs to me."
That line could so easily be misunderstood.
"Oh?" Alaric blinked. "And what exactly do you plan to do with me, then?"
"You'll find out soon enough. Come on, I have a score to settle for what you did earlier."
"All I did was capture you to make a point. You're really holding that much of a grudge?"
Alaric muttered under his breath.
"Truly, women and petty men are hardest to deal with."
"What was that?" Hippolyta shot him a glare.
"Nothing," Alaric denied instantly.
"Then move it," she urged, shoving him forward. "I can't wait to wipe away my humiliation."
"Wipe away your humiliation?" Alaric chuckled as she pushed him along. "Hippolyta, are you sure you've really captured me?"
"Isn't that obvious?" she replied.
And then she sensed something was wrong.
Could it be, did this man still have another trick up his sleeve?
In the next instant, Alaric leaned forward. Before she could react, his lips caught hers in a sudden, forceful kiss.
The unfamiliar sensation left Hippolyta momentarily dazed, but the shock quickly turned to fury.
"What are you doing!"
Startled and enraged, she instinctively swung the dagger to strike back.
The moment she moved, realization hit her like a bolt.
"No, !"
That strike would kill him.
Though she resented Alaric for capturing her, she had never intended to take his life.
She only wanted to teach him a lesson, to reclaim a bit of her pride. In truth, she admired the man who had subdued her so effortlessly.
She had once told herself she'd lost only because she'd been careless, or that he'd used some underhanded trick.
But after spending time with him, she'd begun to see things differently. His victory had been genuine, an expression of true strength.
Not every warrior needed to fight head-on to prove their valor.
She acknowledged him as a worthy opponent, as someone who had truly defeated her.
He was only the second man to ever do so, after Heracles.
A warrior that strong, that courageous and loyal, one who risked himself for his comrades, such a man was worthy of admiration.
Though Alaric wasn't the towering brute she had once dreamed of, he had a strength of another kind, one that drew her respect.
Part of her had even thought, perhaps she should just keep him here in Amazonia, make him her consort.
But with that one instinctive swing, everything shattered.
Just as regret welled up inside her, she realized something was off. The dagger hadn't met flesh, it hadn't met anything at all.
The man who had been kissing her only a heartbeat ago rippled like a reflection on water. Waves spread across his image, and then it broke apart.
"What… what's going on?"
Hippolyta reached out, but her hand passed through empty air.
An illusion? But that kiss, it had felt real!
While confusion clouded her mind, Alaric's phantom spoke, drawing her gaze.
"My dear Amazon queen, I'm leaving now. Forgive me for tricking you this way, but I have no intention of becoming your prisoner."
"So that's how it is!" Hippolyta snapped, slashing the air in frustration. "Bastard! Liar!"
"I still have a mission to fulfill," the phantom went on, "so I must go. Consider this dagger a parting gift."
"Who needs your gift!" she shouted, raising the dagger as if to throw it, but her hand froze. She couldn't bring herself to let it go.
"Oh, and since I did capture you once," Alaric's image added with a teasing smile, "I'll leave you a bit of advice.
The Argonauts sail under the will of the gods. The harm your Amazons dealt them will surely draw divine wrath."
"That's impossible," Hippolyta protested instinctively. "We are the daughters of the god of war."
"Even a mere god of war cannot defy the will of Olympus," Alaric replied.
"But don't worry. If disaster truly comes, hold that dagger, speak my name aloud, and I'll come to save you… only once."
As his final words faded, the phantom dissolved completely into the air.
"Who needs your help anyway? I'm Hippolyta, queen of the mighty Amazons! There's no trouble I can't handle myself, I don't need a man's protection."
Her voice trembled slightly, but her grip on the dagger tightened.
Gazing at the spot where Alaric had vanished, her heart felt strangely hollow.
"First Heracles… and now you. Alaric, they called you?
What a strange name… Why is it that men like you never stay in Amazonia? Just when I finally… finally meet someone who might be right…"
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