Thank you for giving my story a chance! I am hard at work finishing the first chapter. Fun fact: in the original draft, this was the entire first chapter. There were a total of 77 chapter, each around 500 words long. But don't worry, I will be posting much longer chapters. If you want to check out the original chapter one and some of my thoughts on it, head over to my Patreon:  patreon.com/CalliopetheAce, and if you want to read more of my work, check my other book, Evanescence: Or the Art of Seeing Things.

Enjoy!

Theseus clenched the rail, his grip tight enough to drain the blood from his hand, as the island of Crete grew slowly on the horizon. He knew he was meant to be happy, but all he could feel was nerves. Though it was less than a two days’ journey, he felt keenly the vast expanse between him and everything he knew. He had never been so much as a hair’s breadth beyond the walls of Athens, cloistered as he was within his luxurious prison.

And now he was getting married.

Theseus closed his eyes and thought of Ariadne, the beautiful princess of Crete. They had never met, but her fame preceded her. Those among the ship’s crew fortunate enough to have seen her seemed scarcely able to describe her, a dreamy, far-off look entering their eyes whenever Theseus asked. He could only hope he would not suffer the same affliction once he finally met her. His father had assured him that they would make a wonderful match, and his mother had smiled, which was the closest she ever came to an opinion, but Theseus couldn’t help the feeling that he was totally unprepared.

The same girls who had fawned over him the entire journey no longer paid him any mind as their future came into sight. He might have been a bit offended if he didn’t know they were only attracted to his title. They, too, gripped the railing, but he knew it was excitement not fear that caused their short breath and glinting eyes. If only he could say the same for himself.

Theseus heard the clatter of oars being stowed as the helmsman skillfully steered the ship into harbor and the ship leapt to life around him. They had officially arrived.

As the highest ranking among them, Theseus led the way down the gangplank to the uneven dock, though this was a moment he was eager to delay. Awaiting them stood fourteen elegant steeds, each draped in gold and accompanied by a uniformed servant. The finery was jarring against the backdrop of fisherfolk and fetor, air thick with the miasma of fish guts and seaweed. Theseus walked briskly toward the line of horses, eager to be away from the smell and the staring eyes. The servants greeted them with bows, producing footstools to aid the visitors in mounting, but they worked in total silence, no words of welcome forthcoming. Theseus supposed they would be greeted properly at the palace, but still, a knot of unease began to form. It got along quite well with the nerves.