Soldier of Arete by Gene Wolfe Read Free Book Online Page B

wish."
    "You would furnish my pets some sport, perhaps. Would you like a running start? I might permit you a stade or two." Her nymphs were clustering in the darkness behind her; I could hear the silver chimes of their laughter.
    I said, "As you wish, Huntress. The end will be the same." Yet the fires on the beach were not much more than a stade away, and I wondered whether I might not snatch up a brand. With fire in my hands and the sleeping sailors roused, the hunt might take a different turn.
    A new voice, a man's, called, "Latro?"
    "Over here," I said, hardly raising my voice.
    "Is there someone with you?"
    I nearly smiled at that. The Huntress answered, "Surely you know us, mantis."
    Hegesistratus was nearer now, so that it seemed to me that he must certainly have seen the Huntress in the moonlight; but he said, "Is that a woman by the tree?" Though he had the help of his crutch, he could walk only with difficulty over the dark, uneven ground. I dropped my stick and extended my hand to him; he took it, and at once bowed his head before the Huntress. The Hellenes do not kneel as we do, nor prostrate themselves like the peoples of the East; yet it seems to me that there is more honor for the gods in the bent heads of men who will not kiss the dust for anyone.
    "Whom do you serve, Hegesistratus?"
    He murmured, "You, Cynthia, should you wish it."
    "And you, Latro? Will you serve me again, if I ask it?"
    My bowels had turned as milk does in a churn, and the arm with which I supported Elata shook; but I reminded myself that this uncanny woman had given one memory at least back to me—that of my earlier meeting with her. (I have forgotten it now, though I recall that I remembered it not long ago; and I recall still what I thought and said of it.) "You're a queen," I told her humbly. "Even if I wished to, how could I refuse?"
    "Others have sometimes managed it. Now listen, both of you. No, by my virginity! Hear me, all three of you."
    The girls in the shadows gasped.
    "Latro named me a queen. Soon you'll meet another—you may rely upon me for that. She has a strong protector, and I intend to make use of him to flush a boar; all of you must aid, and not oppose, her. But when the moment comes, the slut must lose. It will be at my brother's house—you know it, mantis—and thus you should be on friendly soil. Press on, north and west, until you meet her. The queen will save you, if you don't turn south."
    Hegesistratus bowed and I assured her we would do our best, although I did not understand anything she had told us. One of her huge hounds was snuffling Hegesistratus's feet. She glanced at it and said, "Yes, take that scent well."
    She told Hegesistratus, "Latro has all the qualities of a hero save one—he forgets instructions. You must see to those. My queen must win in order that the prince may be destroyed—and thus this queen must not win."
    He bowed lower still.
    "You bring victory, Latro, so you must drive for my prince. If you succeed you'll be rewarded. What is it you wish?"
    "My home," I told her, for my heart was still bursting from the sight of it.
    "What? Barley fields, pigpens, and cowsheds? They aren't mine to give. I have it—do you remember what it was you asked of Kore?"
    I shook my head.
    "It was to be reunited with your friends. She granted your wish, sending you to some of them at least. They were dead or dying, as was only to be expected since Kore is the Queen of the Shades. I shall return you to your friends also—but to living ones, for I have no interest in the dead."
    Hegesistratus whispered, "Yet you are she who brings sudden death to women."
    I was so happy I scarcely heard him. Releasing Elata, I fell to my knees. "Huntress, you are too good!"
    She smiled bitterly. "So many have said. You are content, then, with your reward?"
    "More than content!"
    "I'm delighted to hear it. You shall be punished as well, for what you've done tonight to my maid, losing for a while at least what you're pleased to