House of Thebes: The Beginning Read online

  “I’m so sorry,” I told Cadmus for the five-hundredth time. “Truly, truly sorry. Deeply sorry.”

  I knelt next to him as Apollo helped him pull the arrow from deep within his thigh. I cringed at the strange popping sound that his bone made when the arrow was dislodged and I could feel the tears forming in my eyes. I had done this to him. All because I wanted to meet him.

  “Harmonia,” my father admonished me. “Get off your knees. I do not wish your mother to see you kneeling next to a slave. He’ll be fine. It’s but a flesh wound.”

  I could feel Cadmus staring at my father before I could even see it.

  “A flesh wound?” Cadmus asked incredulously. “Your daughter’s arrow was embedded in my bone. That’s hardly a flesh wound.” He turned to me. “But your father is right. I’m fine.”

  Ares laughed. “Stop being an infant, slave. I’ve suffered worse wounds than this while shaving in the morning.”

  Apollo and Ares laughed together and I crouched by Cadmus’ side, ignoring them.

  “Truly, I’m sorry,” I said again, as I picked up his bloody hand. “Very, very sorry.”

  Cadmus stared at me, his gaze the color of rich chocolate.

  “I’m alright,” he repeated. “Truly. You do not need to keep apologizing. You meant no harm. You didn’t even wish to harm the bird. I know that you didn’t wish to harm me.”

  I shook my head in agreement. “No, I did not. I simply wanted to meet you.”

  His eyes widened in surprise at my honesty. “Meet me?”

  I nodded without saying a word.

  “I saw you from my balcony and I wanted to meet you.”

  His cheek was smeared with his own blood, but it didn’t detract from his beauty as he smiled. “Well, here we are then. My name is Cadmus.”

  “I’m Harmonia,” I murmured, mesmerized by his dark gaze. He had to be in so much pain, but he was effortlessly hiding it.

  “Yes, she is Harmonia,” Ares muttered. “And she is my daughter. Don’t even think about it, slave.”

  Cadmus barely glanced at Ares. Instead, he kept his gaze on me. It pierced me with its intensity.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Harmonia.”

  “The pleasure is mine,” I answered softly.

  And it was. His fingers were warm inside mine, and the feeling of his skin sent electricity jolting through me and set butterflies aloft in my stomach. I’d never felt such a thing in all of my life. He was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, mortal or otherwise.

  Ares jerked his head toward Apollo. “We should get him to the palace and cleaned up. Harmonia, go find your mother and stay out of trouble.”

  “No, I’m coming with you,” I answered as I tagged along behind them. Each of them had taken one of Cadmus’ elbows and was helping him limp toward the palace grounds.

  “No,” Ares replied through gritted teeth. “You will go find your mother.”

  I didn’t answer, but instead stayed right on their heels as they made their way through the gardens and into the servants’ quarters of the palace.

  They entered a small room and practically dropped Cadmus onto a narrow cot. He didn’t utter one word of complaint.

  “I’ll send a healer,” Ares said as he grabbed my arm on his way out. With Apollo behind us, my father dragged me with him, not stopping until we reached the gardens.

  “Go find your mother,” he instructed me sternly. “I mean it.”

  I nodded. “Yes, father.”

  He nodded back, satisfied at my obedience and turned around to walk away. He went two steps before he paused and looked over his shoulder.

  “And Harmonia,” he grinned. “That was an excellent shot.”

  He was still laughing as he and Apollo disappeared through the garden gates.

  I waited for precisely two more minutes before I made a bee-line back to Cadmus’ bedside. Bursting through his door, I found him reclining quietly, his eyes closed, his mouth tightened with his pain. At the noise of my entrance, he looked up in surprise.

  “Harmonia.”

  His voice was husky and deep and quite honestly, the sexiest thing I’d ever heard.

  I took a seat at his bedside, unable to help myself. I poured him a glass of water and held it to his lips.

  “I’m not an invalid,” he said wryly. But he took a drink anyway. “Thank you.”

  “They are sending a healer,” I told him, trying not to look at the bloody mess that was his leg. “I’m so sorry, Cadmus. I really am.”

  “Think no more about it,” he told me firmly. “You didn’t mean to hurt me. I know that. And I will be fine.”

  He looked at me seriously. “You know earlier… when you held my hand?”

  I nodded.

  “I liked it.”

  Color exploded in my cheeks once again, and I hesitantly reached for his hand. His long fingers curled around mine and I couldn’t explain the feeling that came over me. He felt…just right.

  “You smell like honeysuckle,” he told me, closing his eyes.

  “I know,” I told him quietly. “You smell like blood.”

  He smiled, without re-opening his eyes. “I know. It’s your fault, though.”

  “I know,” I whispered. I held his hand and watched him rest. And just when I thought he was almost asleep, he spoke again.

  “Harmonia?”

  “Yes?”

  “You certainly know how to make an impression.”

  I smiled.

  * * *

  Once again, I stood on my balcony, this time watching Cadmus hobble slowly across the gardens. It had been three weeks since I had shot him. A healer had treated him, but since servants were considered too unimportant to waste magic on, no one had bothered to completely heal his wounds. As a noted healer, Apollo could have done it in a scant second, but he wouldn’t trouble himself. I knew that much.

  My parents had recognized my infatuation with Cadmus and had interfered in my every effort to see him. My mother had not left my side and even now, she hovered next to my elbow.

  “Mother, someone needs to heal Cadmus,” I told her once again, just as I’d told her twenty times before. “Please. I hurt him. I cannot bear to see him pained by my clumsiness.”

  She stared at me sympathetically. “Poor girl. You must feel awful. But you know how Zeus feels about using magic on the servants. I do not wish to risk his wrath for this.” She shrugged and I gritted my teeth.

  “Why does Zeus even care?” I muttered. “It’s not like our magic is a limited resource. There’s plenty to go around.”

  Aphrodite shrugged again. “I know not. You know how your grandfather is. It is a status thing, I am sure.”

  “I’m sure,” I agreed.

  Quietly, I watched Cadmus make his way slowly to a stone bench and lower himself carefully onto it. He remained still, watching the birds. Every once in awhile, I saw him wince, presumably from twinges of pain.

  “I cannot bear this!” I announced to my mother. “This is not right.”

  “Harmonia,” she warned. “He is not your responsibility. Don’t do anything rash.”

  “Too late,” I answered. And with that, I blurred into immortal speed. I found myself by Cadmus’ side in half a minute. My mother didn’t follow, much to my surprise.

  “Harmonia!” Cadmus smiled, looking up from the bench. He started to get up, but I put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Don’t get up. You act like you’re happy to see me,” I said lightly, although my heart did actually quicken in response to his voice.

  “I am,” he answered. Even wounded, he was strikingly handsome. He seemed so tanned and healthy, even with the gash in his leg. I winced.

  “How is your leg?” I asked, afraid of the answer. He shrugged.

  “It’s getting better. Don’t trouble yourself.”

  I sat down next to him, mindful of the heat his body produced. I found that I wanted to melt into it, even though I wasn’t cold. There was just something about him.<
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  We sat in silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was just…silent.

  Finally, I spoke.

  “So, you’re indentured to my father?” I asked politely. Cadmus didn’t miss a beat.

  “Yes. I killed his dragon. It’s sort of my thing.”

  “Your thing?” I smiled. There was a certain edge of arrogance to him, but it was pleasant. I found that I quite liked it.

  He nodded. “My thing. I’ll be forever known in the mortal world as the Phoenician who killed Ares’ dragon.”

  “But this particular dragon cost you eight years of your life,” I pointed out. Cadmus shrugged, unconcerned.

  “What’s eight years? Besides. I’ve spent seven of them living in paradise among the gods. And now I’ve met you. There are fates far worse than that.”

  My eyes widened. “You’ve been here for seven years already? How is it that I haven’t seen you about?”

  “Your father hasn’t exactly wanted me to fraternize with his family,” Cadmus answered with a grin. “He’s letting me venture into your gardens now to exercise my leg. But before that, I was contained to the servant’s quarters.”

  “But you are a mortal prince,” I answered uncertainly. “How is life as a servant treating you?”

  “It’s not bad here,” he answered, unconcerned. “I was a soldier in my father’s armies, Harmonia. I’ve marched in the rain and slept in the mud. At least my bed here is warm and dry. And besides, the scenery is quite exquisite.” He reached over and grasped my hand, sending the strange electricity jolting up my arm.

  “Thank you,” I whispered. He winced suddenly and I knew his leg pained him. Guilt consumed me and I found that Zeus’ rules suddenly weren’t important.

  Jumping to my feet, I leaned over him, pressing my hands against his wound.

  “What are you doing?” he asked curiously? I pressed harder and he winced. “What are you doing?” he asked again.

  “Just be still for a moment,” I told him. I focused on his wound and on feeling the infection in the air above it. I closed my eyes and concentrated.

  White hot energy began to pool in my palms and I concentrated on that, allowing it to build up and build up until the mass of energy cause my fingers to straighten out abruptly as the infection in Cadmus’ leg moved from his body into my fingers. My hands buzzed with the exertion and I squeezed my eyes closed.

  I felt the negative energy that had built up in Cadmus’ wound exit his body and enter my own. Once in mine, it disintegrated because it couldn’t last long in an immortal. It took several minutes, but finally, it was gone and I collapsed in a heap on top of Cadmus. My energy was drained from the process and I found it difficult to even move.

  “Are you alright?” Cadmus asked, pulling me up by my arms to look at me. “What did you do? Are you okay?”

  I looked into his face and found genuine concern there. I nodded.

  “I’m fine. I just…I think I healed your leg. That’s what I tried to do anyway. Try and walk on it.”

  He looked at me uncertainly, but then stared at his leg in wonder. “There’s no pain,” he marveled. “For the first time in weeks, there is no pain.”

  He gingerly stood up and then bounced up and down on his ankles. “Harmonia, I don’t know what you did… but thank you. Thank you! How will I ever repay you?”

  My energy was completely depleted, but I found the strength to stand up and stare incredulously at him. “Repay me? I injured you in the first place. It’s the least I could do.”

  My shaking legs betrayed me and I collapsed back onto the bench. I trembled as I sat and Cadmus instantly sank down to sit next to me again.

  “What can I do?” he asked worriedly. “Should I get your mother?”

  I shook my head quickly. “Heavens, no. Trouble will find me soon enough. I don’t need to hunt it down.”

  “Will they punish you?” Cadmus asked me seriously. He stared into my eyes and I found that he made it difficult to think.

  “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. I reached up with shaking hands to push my hair out of my eyes. That had been the first time I had ever healed someone. It was exhilarating at the same time as being exhausting. Cadmus stared at my shaking hand.

  “What can I do?” he asked firmly. “There must be something.”

  I looked around and found the nearest Lotus tree. “Could you hand me a Lotus blossom?”

  Cadmus immediately lunged to his feet and picked the biggest blue lotus blossom that he could reach and handed it to me. I promptly took a bite. Lotus blossoms were manna to the gods. Along with nectar, they kept us young and strong. They grew in abundance here in Olympus.

  Cadmus watched me eat with interest, keeping his dark eyes trained on my face.

  “Your color is returning,” he finally announced. “Are you feeling better?”

  I nodded. “Yes. I think so. Thank you.”

  “Thank you,” he replied. “You probably saved my leg.”

  He stared into my face for a while longer and finally spoke again. “You have the most unique color of eyes I’ve ever seen…such a bright green.”

  I nodded. “So I hear.”

  “You are very, very beautiful,” he added softly. “I’m sure you hear that a lot, as well.”

  I shook my head. “No. I don’t have many suitors. Most are afraid of my father.”

  Cadmus grinned cockily. “I’m not.”

  “No?” I asked, somewhat shocked.

  He shook his head. “No,” he confirmed.

  One more beat passed and he continued.

  “Can I ask you a question?” he asked, then continued before I’d answered. “Would you be offended if I kissed you?”

  My breath froze on my lips and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and beating in my fingertips.

  Ba-bump.

  Ba-bump.

  Ba-bump.

  “No,” I finally managed to eke out.

  “No, it won’t offend you?” Cadmus asked.

  “No, it won’t offend me,” I answered.

  Bending his head, Cadmus lowered his lips to mine and my entire world exploded in this one moment. He tasted like honey and man and his chest was rock-hard beneath my fingers. I knew, right here and now, that I would never want to kiss another man again. He finally pulled away and I felt dizzy as I caught my breath.

  “Cadmus?” I asked.

  “Yes?” he looked at me quizzically.

  “Do it again.”

  Chapter Three

  I spent every waking thought day-dreaming of Cadmus. When I slept, my dreams were about him too. I was consumed with wanting to be with him- every minute, every hour, every day.

  I hadn’t been punished for healing his leg. Zeus had been in a pleasant mood that day and so when he found out, he simply laughed at my spirit.

  “My granddaughter takes after me,” he had announced and then toasted my parents. You never knew with him. He ran hot and cold as so many of the Olympians did.

  So far, Cadmus and I had kept our romance a secret, although it was