The King of Sparta never bowed to anyone. He led the country with the strongest military in all of Greece. Therefore he was not willed to show his weakness. Like most other Spartan warriors—though he didn't always fought on the front lines anymore—his body was strong and his palms can still grip the sword firmly. The gray hair and the wrinkled lines at the corners of his eyes didn't diminished his prestige.
He was preoccupied with the matter of his country's feud with Thebes. His troops experienced difficulties because Thebes now had rapid progressed in their military strength. It was something Sparta had not previously anticipated.
The Spartan warriors might have been discouraged if the Oracles hadn't said that the Goddess Athena was on Sparta's side this time.
But there was something else that preoccupied his mind more than anything right now. An Oracle who brought medicine for Portia said that the god of war asked his daughter to be his bride in exchange for her recovery. At that time the king agreed and did not think carefully.
He and the rest of the palace were sure that Portia would not survived. Even though everyone said she was bitten by a venomous snake— there was no antidote that could cure her. The king took the risk and gave the drug to his daughter.
When Portia recovered, instead of being happy he was sad. Because the king had already promised.
"That is a lie, my king! nothing like this has ever happened before! A real god doesn't need to ask a human's permission to marry a woman!" Alexei tried to convince his king.
"General Alexei has a point. In legend, a God like Zeus simply chooses and goes to the woman he likes. they are gods! They can do anything!"
The king was sat on His throne. He scratched his chin in thought. The king has acted quite selfishly today. he held a special meeting to discussed the fate of his daughter and gathered all the advisers and wise men he trusted.
"It's possible that Princess Portia recovered by chance!"
"Or worse, the Theban spies poisoned her and then they brought the antidote themselves. all so that they can bring Princess Portia to their country."
"What's the purpose?" The king asked. The latest theory is quite disturbed His mind.
"They know that you love Princess Portia very much. If you lose her our country will be weak," someone theorized.
"That makes sense," the king nodded.
"Or this is a trick of the man who wants Portia as his wife. You know yourself that you have rejected dozens of proposals from nobles, governors and princes and even kings from neighboring countries. it's not impossible for a man to plan all of this. You remember the Oracle who brought the medicine? He's too young to be an Oracle!" an adviser of the king added.
The king pondered. He was reluctant to let his daughter marry. the king imagined Portia as the goddess Artemis who was always holy and calmed his heart. He couldn't think of having his daughter who behaved gently and beautiful touched by another man. Therefore the king refused all the envoys who came to propose to Portia. He intended to kept Portia forever in his palace, as an antidote to his sadness and calmed him when he is upset because of state problems.
Sparta had been dominated by men who are firm, disciplined and tough. They were stiff and serious even the behavior spread to the men who were also members of the council or worked as a farmers. Sparta was different from Athens and Thebes whose life was still colored by music, artists and poets. Such a thing was rare in Sparta. Portia became a kind of anomaly in the palace environment. She was liked by the people and the king felt the atmosphere of Sparta was warmer since Portia's birth.
"But what if the Oracle is telling the truth? The messenger of the Ares will arrive in three days to pick up Portia." The king said.
"They must not be real messengers. They are swindlers. It is impossible for a real god to send his followers to the land of men. I ask more than three Oracles that resided in the temples of Athena and Apollo, none of them claimed to have received Revelation from the gods for this event." Alexei reassured his king.
Alexei had not been silent while Portia had fallen ill. He went around many places looking for evidence. He even tried to find Cyllenius the mysterious Oracle even though he failed to find him.
"Allow me to escort princess Portia, my King! I will take her to a safe place away from your enemies. She's already died once. We don't know what danger will befall her."
The king turned to Alexei who had been presumptuous of speaking without the king's permission.
"Then? How about you Alexei? Do you think I'm crazy to let my daughter be escorted by you? You too are like other men. You want Portia! Maybe you are the one who poisoned Portia and planned all this. No Alexei! I will not agree to your plan." The king said firmly and coldly.
"No my king! I Will never hurt Princess Portia!" Alexei knelt down, he realized that the king could suspect him after this. A king didn't need evidence let alone a court to convict someone.
"We're discussing whether it's true or not that I'm dealing with the god of war! therefore the only way is to prove it! Three more days is the time. I've decided to confirm it by way of war. I think the war god would like that instead. Let's just say we have a welcoming party in the way Ares likes best." The king issued his order.
***
Jill sat on the edge of a clear lake while busy watched the trail of water beetles pass by. She didn't have much entertainment in Sparta. She was tired of played dice or listened to musicians strummed the lyre. She even almost fell asleep because of it.
The girl noticed her reflection in the lake. Portia's physique is indeed very charming- Even though she wasn't wore heavy makeup. Her golden blonde hair was also left loose and only combed with her fingers. Her skin was flawless white and her lips were naturally red like ripe apples. Her eyes are symmetrical round with curly eyelashes that make her gaze deep as if drowning.
When she spoke, everyone would think she was singing. When she smiled she would make other people who saw her smile too.
Is this how Narcissus felt when he seen his own reflection? His reflection was so perfect that he fell in love with himself. But Jill was not that naive, she was a modern girl who is not easily swayed by someone's beautiful face. Besides, even though she's never been on a serious date, She still likes men.
While shw was still busy assessed her physical appearance—she saw a beautiful deer join and drank beside her. Then a canary whistled merrily before landed on her arm.
"Gosh? What is this? I might not be reincarnated in ancient Greece, but in a Disney fairy tale world." Jill said to herself while feeling ridiculous. What's after this? She can talk to animals? Portia is so convincing being a fairy tale princess.
It seems her theory is wrong. The canary flew while flapped its wings frantically after heard Jill spoke. Obviously she can't talk to birds.
"Your highness!" Her servant rushed over to her.
"How is it?"
"I've never held gold this heavy. Your jewelry is sold out. I hope I didn't miscalculate. But it looks like you can buy a house with all this gold," the servant handed her a rather heavy leather pouch.
"Thank you, now I have enough money for my plan." Jill muttered excitedly.
She didn't want to wait for the king to decide her fate. somehow she had to go. Perhaps she would never met the Ares messengers. Sparta's palace was heavily guarded, especially since Portia's misfortune. Although all this time she felt free to roamed- in fact she always saw a knight watched her. Alexei actually didn't need to escort her yesterday.
Portia had to find an opening where she could escape. Perhaps he could pay the Ares emissaries to let her go or have her loyal servants tether a horse on the slopes of the Olympus mountains. The problem is, she didn't knew the truth. It was possible that they wouldn't take her to Olympus but to some other place she didn't know. After all, Olympus was very far from Sparta.
Her only chance might be to negotiate with the entourage who would pick her up later. Hopefully they're not real Ares follower. Because if they really were from Olympus, all the gold pieces she had would be worthless to them.