There was a chorus of questions that Artemis was bombarded with. It brought an abrupt halt to her story, and she instantly cut herself back, listening to her hunter incessant inquires. If anything, her story about P-him, was opening up any hidden curiosity they held within them.
"My Lady, what was the camp full of men like?"
"How did you adjust?"
"Did you shoot any of them?"
"Were any like Perseus?"
Artemis found several questions answerable, if only to uphold her own honor. But suddenly, she found herself chuckling, while looking at all her hunters' eager faces. Even Phoebe and Zoe, looked somewhat intrigued. Mythological story telling was something that she did uncommonly, and mostly she only told brief, bullet pointed histories that would be something of value. Hippolytus, the labyrinth, and the 12th Roman legion were subjects she versed her hunters on, but never in depth.
She never would have known that this form of epic poetry would captivate her own daughters so easily.
"My Lady, are you all right?" Zoe asked.
Artemis smiled, and looked to her lieutenant. As always, she sat directly across the fire from her. Zoe cocked her head, and gave her a look of amusement, which shone across her face. Artemis couldn't remember the last time that Zoe had looked so carefree. Phoebe was smirking as well, along with the rest, in fact, Elizabeth looked like she was about to choke from laughter. Elizabeth's pale, freckled face, was beet red.
Artemis grinned back at her hunters, "I think I will retire for the night, after all, all these interruptions will only hinder the story… I think that…"
Absolute pandemonium reigned, as Artemis felt herself giving way to unfeigned snorts of laughter as she saw expressions of horror, dread, and helplessness break out.
Their clamoring and shouts slowly died down as they realized her ploy, and with a last couple of chuckles, Artemis wiped a rare tear from her eye.
"Shall I continue?" Artemis laughed, and she was met with many scowls and grumbles.
"I thought so. Now… I walked with him to his camp…"
The density of the tree cover still covered their movements. It had been a long time, and Artemis found herself lost in her thoughts. She had remained quiet, along with Perseus, after telling him of his father. She had felt like the moment was right, and found it impossible to listen to woes of his father, when she in fact knew the truth. It hadn't seemed important then, but Artemis looked to Perseus's face, and found him calm, and seemingly at ease with her. Before, he had always looked guarded, or even wary. Even in his remarks after defeating the Chimera.
It was a curious thing. Artemis had always found in her observations over mortals that their faces held their entire beings on them. Gods and Goddesses never revealed their true intentions, or especially not on their faces. Artemis found it frustrating, and full of subterfuge. She prided herself to be upfront, and avoid roundabout conversations.
She found it necessary to ask Perseus more, to learn more about him. He hadn't slowed or stopped to tell her about the location of camp. But it couldn't be far now. They had to have walked miles.
"Perseus. I find that I am curious. Would you tell me how you grew up with Alexander? You are not one that at first glance I would deem a close companion of a King." Artemis asked sharply.
Perseus looked back at her, "Thanks for that, every man likes being told he doesn't look important."
Artemis ground her teeth. She had wanted to get to know this man?
"I wouldn't call you a man if you continue to annoy me with your petty jibes."
Perseus laughed lightly, "Very well, I will tell you. We are almost to the camp; the picket sentries are within sight after that rise ahead." Perseus gestured with his hand, his forearm armored with a leather vambrace.
Artemis swiveled her head, seeing a rise in the tree line, at the edge of their vision. It would take mere minutes of walking. "Do you have patrols running?"
Perseus shook his head, and answered, "Not now of day. All the outlying patrols would have returned sometime within my absence this morning. Luckily for you I decided to come to our meeting place early for some quiet thought."
"Yes. Quite lucky of me."
Perseus grinned at her, and looked down, sitting on a fallen log. It was partially covered with moss and bark, but nonetheless beat the ground. They were still in a dense section of the forest, but all around them were more fallen trees. The very density of the still upright trees most likely causing many to uprooted and killed. Artemis found one across from Perseus, and looked at him.
He seemed to understand she wanted to hear his story.
"Well," Perseus began, "I only remember some of the past through stories from my mother. She grew up a paid servant of some low noble, I have long forgotten his name, in the outskirts of the city of Pella. She cleaned him, and dressed the man every day. But one day, while running errands in the agora of the city, she came upon a man who sat on the steps of a stoa, playing on a wood pipe. She said it captivated her. The man, she said, was dressed plainly, and had a warrior's body, but played soft melodies on his instrument. But she was in a hurry, and had to go. Every chance she could, she tried to make it to the agora, where she would look for the man playing his wood pipe. If he was there, she would stay as long as she could before the noble angered at her absence."
"One day, however, she lost track of the time, enraptured with the man playing his wood pipe. Her noble employer found her, daydreaming by a pillar of the stoa, her duties long forgotten as she watched her pipe player. He yelled at her, and began to tug her by her long black hair, while she cried in pain. Suddenly, someone wrenched the arm of the noble away from her hair. There was a scuffle, and when she looked up, the noble was on the ground, his lip split, and her pipe player stood over him. They married that day, for the pipe player had noticed the servant girl on many occasions. But before they were married, the noble had informed the city watch, who later found the pipe player. The low born noble accompanied the city watch to the pipe player's home. It was in the confines of the royal palace, as the pipe player was a bodyguard to the newly crowned king, Philip II." Perseus grinned to her. "Seems that it runs in the family. After their marriage, my parents found land on the outskirts of the city, where there was woodland nearby, with fields for planting, beyond city walls. Every day, and sometimes for weeks, my father would always attend to Philip, as they formed a deep friendship. But my mother always said that when he came home, he would sit on the steps in front of their complex and play his pipes."
She found herself smiling back, "Your father seemed a just man."
"Yes, I always loved hearing my mother tell the story to me, although lately it has sat darkly in my mind. But if what you say is true, I can rest easy," Perseus said, pausing absentmindedly to trace patterns of the moss on his log, "I noticed that my father in his final days were spent without sleep, and he had bloodshot eyes that were wild with grief, pain, and fear. I never knew what troubled him. But now…" Perseus trailed off.
Artemis finished the thought, "He was trying to fight Eris's curse…" She whispered. That she wouldn't have ever guessed. Eris had spun courses of events of goddesses and mortals alike, including Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena. All powerful goddesses. But to have a mortal almost resist that power… was impressive.
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Don't forget to throw some power Stones, to keep the story going.
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