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.”I understand,” I said.To me also it had seemed likely that the largest and strongest Amazons, rather than the most attractive, would be selected for our attentions.Vaguely I wondered whether there would be many eager volunteers.And of course politics would play some part, as it always seemed to do.I went on: ”I, too, find the prospect of a long stay in these parts not all that alluring.”It turned out that Theseus, too, had fought a duel with the queen.He complained that it was never in actual combat that he lost out, but in the complications that arose when people were trying to make peace.”I’ll admit it to you, Hercules—I had a long struggle, trying to put her down without doing her any serious harm.Of course I managed it in the end, but I have no doubt that in a fair fight, one on one, she’d kill nine out of ten of my men; and my men are—were—hardly milksops.Maybe even nineteen out of twenty.” From the moment that Theseus had spoken his name to me, I had been ready to dislike him, knowing his ill repute for vile deeds as a pirate—there was no doubt that in his case it was justly earned.Another reason to feel aversion for him, if any were needed, was that in appearance, Theseus was everything I would have liked to be, tall and handsome with bulging muscles and graceful movements—sort of a blond, sun-bleached Jason.I could well imagine that the new warriors he sired for the queen would match the very Amazon ideal.But at the same time, he gained my respect by refusing to either be afraid of me or fawn on me, even after he felt my strength.In this he was unlike those so-called heroes of the Argosy, or at least that faction among them who had resorted to base trickery to get me off the ship.Another matter that Theseus and I discussed was to what extent we were really prisoners.As far as he could see, he told me, the house was completely unguarded, and no one followed him when he walked out of it and strolled about.No specific rules had been spelled out to either of us, but we were both certain that any attempt on our part to leave would have been strongly discouraged.Our peaceable conversation was soon interrupted by another young woman, whose name, as I soon learned, was Antiope—she was the ”one in particular” he had mentioned earlier.Antiope had originally been one of the pirate’s assigned bed partners (and, according to my taste, much better-looking than the average of them) who, while playing her assigned role, had fallen desperately in love with the handsome intruder.She was obviously quite willing to be abducted by him.When he caught sight of her looking in at us, he called: ”Come in, sweet one.This is Hercules, he’s just arrived.”My name meant no more to Antiope than it had to Moctod.She looked from one of us to the other, and appeared pleased.”I see that you are friends,” she commented.”We’re working at it, honey,” said Theseus, and kissed her.Antiope adopted a friendly attitude toward me as soon as it became apparent that I posed no threat to her beloved.And when Theseus strongly hinted that I was not to consider her as one of my own clients in our joint fertility program, I assured him that I would take no girl or woman to my bed who was unwilling to be there.With these points settled, the three of us conversed as friends.I found myself rather liking Antiope and silently hoping that the man she now adored would not desert her, if the pair of them did succeed in getting away to the great world.Theseus talked for a while about what might happen to any of his crew who still survived, if he escaped on his own.But it seemed practically certain they were all dead.I am not sure how many warriors I actually fathered for Moctod, but quite possibly there were several.However, the number cannot be vast.Not many days after my arrival, the sprite whose arrival I had been hoping for came in secret to me at night, making its presence known when I was alone in bed.The creature seemed as incapable of speech as ever, but I took its cheerful buzzing to mean that the Skyboat was conveniently nearby—or at least as near as it was going to get by water—and that the sprite would somehow guide me to it when I was ready.I told Theseus nothing of this visitor but, when the two of us were alone, let him understand that I had some magical reason to believe the time had come.No doubt it was my strength that made him consider me trustworthy.He and I made our getaway from the Amazons in a cooperative effort.He began to outline a plan that would have involved killing to get our hands on a boat, but I strongly urged that we do no harm, if we could avoid it, to any of the women—I reminded my colleague that there was no point in offending Diana unnecessarily by injuring her worshipers.I also let my companion know I had reason to believe that we would find a boat available.With these facts in mind, my nonviolent method was adopted.Rising from our respective beds in the middle of the night, we joined Antiope, who had made her own way to the rendezvous and was waiting for us with provisions.The three of us then headed into the hills, in the direction of the nearest stream that was big enough to carry a small boat [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]