with a powerful spin, Jon tossed Akropos onto the paved ground at his feet.
Jon doubled over, panting. “If magic boosts are allowed in your fights, you should have given me an enchanted armor or something.”
“They’re not,” Theseus said, his smile so wide it threatened to split his face as he looked maliciously at the giant crumpled at his feet. “Not only were you cheating, Akropos, but you intended to fight me using your earth magic. Do you know what the price for deceiving a king is?”
Akropos rose to his knees, cradling his injured side, seeming more disoriented than angry by his defeat. “You never said I had to play fair, just to fight for Erytheia’s hand.”
“And you lost.” Erytheia beamed at him spitefully. “And for cheating, we waive any payment you wanted for the gold you brought down from the mountains, including my hand in marriage. That means you get to leave empty-handed, and never come back.”
The giant slammed his fists on the ground, grinding his teeth. “We had a deal!”
“And you failed to meet the requirement by losing this fight.” Erytheia made a dismissive gesture, nose in the air. “What could I need with a giant who needs magic to win a fight, and still lost to a mere man from the Folkshore? That dishonor alone would make a courtier like Merope reject you, let alone the Princess of Summer.”
Theseus sat down again, leaning back lazily in his throne, flicking Akropos a shooing gesture. “Off with you now.”
But Akropos didn’t leave. Not before grumbling through a few more sullen arguments. When he finally left, he stomped away so hard he shook the ground, and slammed into Jon even harder, like a giant child throwing a tantrum.
Agnë’s fairy face twisted in a furious frown I’d never seen before as she rotated glowing hands around a pale blue light. It solidified into an ice ball as large as her head, and she scurried after the giant and tossed it at his. The impact toppled him all the way down to the city below like a boulder, making us all burst into a range of mirth, with the royal duo laughing the hardest.
“That was surprisingly petty of you,” Meira slurred, clearly still dizzy, and holding onto Will for balance, who supported her with an arm around her waist. I was so used to her being below my height that the sight of her as tall as Will still didn’t feel like reality.
“It was,” I agreed. “I didn’t know you had it in you to be mean, Agnë.”
“Only to those who deserve it.” Agnë sniffed, creating another ice ball and handing it to Jon. “Put this on your nose, it’ll help.”
“Thank you.” Jon kneeled on the ground as if unable to stand anymore, pressing the ice to his face. From this position, he looked up into Agnë’s eyes, and even his pain didn’t affect the gentleness he always regarded her with.
Theseus clapped, regaining our attention. “You’re a more capable group than I thought, and I thank you for ridding us of that humongous pest.”
“Thank us by telling us the information we came for!” Will sniped impatiently.
Theseus shrugged. “I could, if you want me to ignore the princess’s request.”
I couldn’t help the quiver of desperation as I exclaimed, “Why?”
“Because I would answer your requests after you’ve performed the three tasks for me. If I answer any now, I’ll forgo yours.”
“No, no!” Meira said urgently, even as Will groaned in the background. “We don’t want that.”
“If so, we come to the task that would benefit me.” Theseus suddenly pointed at me. “It’s your turn to prove yourself.”
Chapter Twenty-One
I’d been so caught up in the others’ tasks, I’d forgotten I’d be given one myself. But now I’d seen what his tasks involved, there was no way I could perform mine.
I raised my translucent hands to the king helplessly. “But I can’t do anything.”
A wicked gleam came into his feline eyes. “Nothing at all?”
“I can perform something mental, like answer a riddle? Fairies do that sometimes, don’t they?”
Not that I was confident I could do that. Not enough to stake my life on it.
Theseus leaned back in his throne, crossing his legs. “Your Highness, I’m afraid the entertainment part of your tasks was already fulfilled, in exchange for something as simple as a report on the Wild Hunt’s current location. Ridding us of Akropos’s massive nuisance will be awarded the more valuable news of the lady they seek. But you are asking for something infinitely much greater—myself.