Page 112 of A Tribute of Fire

“Can we please listen?” I asked. I knew exactly why I’d said what I did. Those were the things I dreamed about—Jason kissing me interspersed with Demaratus calling me stupid.

“You know it’s dire when Lia’s the one telling us to be quiet,” Zalira said, and I made a shushing noise as Io and Ahyana started to giggle, Suri grinning.

They finally stopped, but I knew my cheeks were red. As far as I could tell, I was the only one who had ever had any type of romantic relationship and all my sisters wanted to live vicariously through me. I kept trying to tell them that I’d only had the one brief experience, but it didn’t seem to matter.

Maia spoke about a great warrior named Jason, who had been tasked with finding and destroying a horrific beast. A creature that had the head and body of a woman, but the lower half of a dragon.

Every time she said the name Jason, I could feel my sisters’ eyes on me. I was going to be teased relentlessly later on, I already knew it.

The lesson was not only about him, but about other heroic warriors who were celebrated in word and song for having hunted down and destroyed other monsters. Creatures who could turn men to stone with a touch, or unhinge their jaws to devour men whole. Ones who had poison in their veins and instantly killed anyone who tried to mate with them. Beasts who kidnapped children in the middle of the night, breathing fire on those who tried to reclaim them. A chimera who had a hundred heads and would grow two more if you cut off one.

“What do all of these monsters of mythology have in common?” Maia asked.

The room was silent. Finally a second-year acolyte raised her hand. “They all eat people?”

“They’re all female,” Artemisia said from the back of the room, cutting through the first answer like a knife.

“Yes.” Maia nodded. “In the stories, the beasts that must be vanquished are always female. Have you ever wondered why? It is because men have always feared women’s destructive potential. Knowledge gives us power. Your power is a threat. Especially the women in this room.”

My breath caught. Was this why Ilion kept their women ignorant? I raised my hand. I needed to know more.

A priestess entered the room, obviously out of breath. “The king is dead!”

Maia’s face fell. “Class dismissed!”

She raced up the stairs, grabbed the messenger priestess, and exited with her. The entire class broke into a noisy uproar.

While it was sad that the king had died, I didn’t understand the confusion.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“This is going to cause total chaos,” Ahyana said, her face grim. It wasn’t an expression I’d ever seen on her face before.

Now I was even more bewildered. “Why?”

“A new king must be selected,” Zalira said.

“Won’t it be his oldest son?” There should be a line of succession. It was how things worked in Locris.

“No,” Zalira said with a shake of her head. “There is a council of elders for the city and they will determine the king in three months’ time. They will choose from the king’s sons.”

“How do they choose?”

Ahyana said, “My father once told me that the king was chosen over his brothers because he was already married with an heir.”

That made my breath catch and solidify in my chest. I couldn’t breathe.

As far as I knew, none of the king’s sons were married.

And only one of them was betrothed.

Prince Alexandros.

To me.

My mind quickly followed the logical outcome of this situation. If the prince had to be married in order to be chosen as king, he would press the betrothal. He would demand that I be brought to him and our contract fulfilled.

How much time did I have? Two weeks? Two months? I didn’t know. Panicked dread made my limbs feel shaky and I had to stand up.

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