The Alyta Trilogy: Handmaids, Heroes, and Hierarchy
Meanwhile, Loua has been up for hours; today is one of her busiest days as head maid. She runs up the stairs, yelling commands to younger servants as they pass her. She stops for breath on the fifth floor, and realizes that she�s outside of Jason�s chambers. Here I am, working hard for his sake, and he�s not even up yet? No, I don�t think so, she concludes in her mind and raps loudly on his door.
�Jason! Big day! Get up!� she yells. When no answer comes in over twenty seconds, her voice becomes more concerned as she calls for him: �Jason? Jason, are you there?� She cautiously opens the door; she knows that he would never leave on a day like today, and certainly not be up at this time no matter what day it was. She walks over to his bed, carefully. She doesn�t see anyone there. But wait, there is something moving� she can�t tell what it is. Inch by inch, she moves closer. She takes the edge of the sheet in her hand and tears it off the bed.
�Jason! You scared me. Why didn�t you answer me when I called you?�
�Just five more minutes, Sytifa�� Jason mumbles as if he doesn�t want to leave whatever dream he�s having.
�Typical, Jason. Just typical. Don�t you realize that today�s the day of your coronation? Get up, sleepyhead!� Sytifa yells jokingly as she throws a pillow at Jason.
An inhuman glaze passes over Jason�s eyes. �Coronation. Yes, of course.�
*~*~*
�Where is Jason?� Alyta wonders out loud. It is 8 o�clock now, and he was supposed to meet her for a pre-boredom sparring session and breakfast almost an hour ago. She begins to mock fight with a mean looking elm tree in the garden where she first fought against him. Jab, thrust, and trip. She is wet with sweat before she looks up at the sun and realizes that it is already noon. He never showed up. With hurt and annoyance, she jogs off into the castle, in search of Jason, and maybe some food. Where can he be?
*~*~*
Hercules wakes up. From his room in the inn, he can see that the sun is almost to the its zenith. He walks downstairs, to where Iolaus is sleepily looking at a thick piece of bread with honey.
�Why do you think bread is bubbly, Herc?� he asks as he recognizes the sound of Hercules� footsteps approaching him. Trust Iolaus to come up with the real important questions in life. The two eat in sleepy silence, while other travelers come in for lunch, talkative. Most of the talk is, of course, concerning the coronation that will take place tonight. They overhear talk of what Alyta did to another princess through the grapevine. Having heard the same story over dinner last night, by Alyta herself, the story sounded more like something an eccentric bard would be telling. Well, that�s life in a tavern. A strange girl walks in, wearing her hood low over her face so that only her mouth is showing. She sits down at the bar and orders a mug of ale. The man behind the bar starts to protest at serving a lady ale, but she reaches into her travel sack and pulls out some dinars, laying them on the table. The man stops his complaining before he starts, and accepts the money. She downs the ale after hearing the punch line of the Alyta tale, and, as if disgusted, she sets her mug with a loud thump while all the once-captivated listeners discuss the events of the story. Hercules looks up when he hears the disgruntled slamming of the mug on the bar surface and sees only the shimmer of a silver armband as she strides angrily through the door.
*~*~*
Sytifa soaks some clothes of Alyta�s. A bright color catches her eye and she pulls that dress out from the pile. It�s the dress Alyta was wearing the day she met Jason, and the edge is stained with blood. What did those two get into while I was worried sick like some mother hen? She asks herself. Honestly, if she didn�t have Amazon training she�d be long dead by now. Always getting herself into trouble, that one is. But I don�t blame her, really. Just like me in the old days� she�s like a daughter to me.
*~*~*
