Medea the Enchantress

by Joan Holub

  “Really?” Looking intrigued, Jason dropped onto the bench. His smile made Medea’s heart go ka-thump.

  Speaking of thumps, Glauce, who’d heard what Medea had just said to Jason and had been staring daggers at her, now thumped herself down on the bench on Jason’s other side. “No offense, Medea, but why should Jason trust you?” Having gotten Jason’s attention, Glauce went on. “There’s something you should know about Medea. . . .”

  Guessing what the girl was about to say, Medea gave her an urgent, warning shake of her head. However, Glauce ignored it and confided to Jason, “King Aeëtes is her dad. He rules Colchis and owns that fleece you want.”

  Gasps went up from the crew, and Medea felt everyone’s suspicion fall on her, just like at the beginning of the trip.

  “Which is why I’m the best one to supply inside info on how to get the fleece,” Medea declared quickly. “For instance, Jason, did you know my dad visits that Golden Fleece once a day, always in the evening? So you’ll want to avoid trying to steal it then. And also, did you know that the serpent-dragon guarding it never sleeps? I can give you all kinds of helpful tips like that to help you steal the fleece, or at least avoid becoming dragon dinner.”

  “Hmph! If Medea has to pick a side, she’ll help her dad,” Glauce insisted. “No offense, Medea, but Jason shouldn’t trust you.”

  “Let’s trade her for the fleece!” someone in the crew suggested. Others chimed in, some in agreement with that idea and some disagreeing.

  “You could try,” said Medea, “but I suspect my dad loves that fleece more than me, so trying to trade me for it might not gain you anything. And do you really want Apollonius’s musical to portray you acting so dishonorably?”

  Jason eyed Medea in the same appraising way he’d looked at each of his crew members before picking Euphemus to hurl the pillow at the Symplegades.

  Medea sat up straight. Holding his gaze, she said, “If you give me the chance, I pledge on the honor of my wand that I will help you get the fleece.”

  Glauce gasped, then grudgingly admitted to Jason and the others who were listening, “A pledge on your wand is sacred to anyone who goes to Enchantment Academy. So I guess she really is telling the truth about helping with the quest.”

  Medea smiled, knowing she’d convinced her new crush and won this round with her frenemy. “So, Jason, here’s the thing. My dad is super bossy. If he sees me tomorrow, he’ll probably send me to my room to protect me from, uh, danger.”

  The real reason was that her dad would want to protect her from a fleece thief who had been prophesied to steal her heart. Too late, Dad, Jason has already stolen it!

  “So anyway, I wouldn’t be able to help you anymore if that happened. I’d better hide here on the Argo with the crew.” Just after Medea said this, a vague memory of a previous plan to swim to shore and warn her dad about something flitted through her mind but then was gone. She smiled at Jason and went on talking, helping him plot her dad’s defeat.

  Around sunset the Argo dropped anchor near Colchis and Jason left the ship with Orpheus, Zetes, and Calais. As they went ashore, Medea and the others watched and listened from on board as Orpheus sang ditties to document their purpose.

  “Jason is meeting Aeëtes the king.

  Here’s hoping this visit will solve everything.”

  “Not likely,” said Glauce, eyeing Medea. “There are some things it won’t solve, anyway. Like you crushing on my crush!”

  “I can’t help it. I got pricked with one of Eros’s arrows,” Medea protested. “So you’ll just have to put up with me crushing on Jason till the arrow’s magic wears off.”

  “What? Well, when’s that going to be?”

  Under the spell of the crush, Medea raised and lowered her shoulders. “Never, I hope!”

  9

  Three Tasks

  MEDEA’S DAD MUST’VE HEARD THAT a ship had arrived, because he was waiting onshore with a group of guards and servants to meet Jason and the trio of crew members with him. Glauce and Medea watched from behind the ship’s railing, hidden from King Aeëtes’ view.

  “Who are you? What’s your business here?” the king shouted out as Jason, Orpheus, Zetes, and Calais approached.

  “I am Jason. Sent by King Pelias to get your fleece,” Jason told him at once.

  Medea gasped. She couldn’t believe he’d come right out and admitted he was here to steal! She’d thought he would try to trick her dad or something.

  “You’re here to try to dethrone me, aren’t you?” roared King Aeëtes as the boys came up to him.

  Jason’s eyes widened. “I have no plans to dethrone you. I only came for the fleece.”

  Her dad stroked his beard, then said, “My fleece? Sure, I’ll give it to you.”

  “Huh?” Medea said, even more startled. She squinted, wishing she could make out her dad’s expression. It might help her to figure out what he was thinking. He loved that fleece . . . right? He wouldn’t just give it away to a stranger. And why was he acting so surprised about what Jason wanted? After all, Circe had told him a thief would come for the fleece. Hmm. What was he up to?

  When her dad spoke to Jason again, it was in a jolly tone that worried Medea even more. “The fleece is yours!” said the king. “But only if you return tomorrow and complete three tasks I assign you before sundown.” Orpheus sang from beside Jason.

  “King Aeëtes of Colchis now boldly asks

  That our hero Jason tackle three tasks!”

  The king eyed the musician for a moment, then turned back to Jason. “By the way, you’re not allowed to bring him or any of the guys from your crew to help you tomorrow.”

  “I bet Dad suspects that without the talents of his crew, Jason will have way less chance at succeeding at whatever tasks he’s given,” mused Medea.

  “Stop saying that! Jason can too do stuff!” insisted Glauce.

  Hmph! Her frenemy was so in like with Jason that she couldn’t see past her own nose. Medea saw Jason as he truly was, however, despite her arrow-caused crush on him. She felt a spurt of anger at her dad. Why did he have to go and make Jason jump through so many hoops to get that fleece?

  “But these tasks will probably be the most exciting part of our quest!” they heard Orpheus object to the king. “I need to be with Jason to compose songs about them, or Apollonius will be disappointed. He might even give up on the whole idea of a musical!”

  King Aeëtes made a sour face, as if he’d been sucking on lemons. “Yes, I heard that that gossipy goddessgirl who writes for Teen Scrollazine has been spreading stories about some sort of musical. One that would celebrate your so-called quest to steal my property!”

  Still safe behind the ship’s rail, Medea whispered grumpily, “Her name’s Pheme, Dad.”

  Her dad’s head lifted and he glanced toward the ship. Worried for a second that he’d somehow overheard her, Medea ducked and pulled Glauce down lower with her. After a few minutes they dared to peek over the rail again.

  “All right, you can bring Orpheus, but he can’t assist you,” the king finally agreed. “So here’s task number one, Jason. I’ve got a couple of bulls, and I’d like you to get them to plow one of my fields in long, neat rows.”

  “Sure,” Jason replied in a confident voice. “I’ll get it done in a snap.”

  “Good,” Glauce murmured to Medea. “Sounds like Jason has a plan.”

  “Maybe, but that task sounds too easy. There must be a catch,” worried Medea.

  “After you plow my field, I want you to plant some seeds in it for me,” the king went on. For some reason he snickered as he handed Jason a small seed pouch.

  “No problem,” Jason replied easily.

  “And then, if you survive, uh, I mean, if you manage to complete those first two tasks, your third and last one will be to fetch the Golden Fleece hanging in the grove beyond the field. If you can.”

  Now all the king’s guards and servants were snickering too. Because everyone knew what guarded that fleece.
A fierce serpentine dragon!

  “Deal,” said Jason, shaking the king’s hand. Medea wondered if his quick agreement to the deal meant he had confidence in her ability to help him. At least where the dragon was concerned. By the time he returned to the ship, however, his confidence had vanished. He was more down in the dumps than the crew had ever seen him. “I have no clue how I’ll get those tasks done in one day,” he groaned.

  “You don’t have a plan, then?” Tiphys asked him.

  “Not really. But I didn’t want the king to know that.” Jason sighed. “Without any crew to help, I guess I’ll just have to wing it.”

  Before she had been pricked by Eros’s arrow, Medea would have been delighted by his uncertainty. Especially since it might’ve made him decide to give up his quest. But now she was only concerned for him. Somehow she had to help her crush succeed!

  That night, unable to sleep, she paced up and down the Argo’s deck. Stopping near the figurehead, who was sleeping on guard duty, she happened to glance out across the sea and notice a stick lying on the beach. It was long and thin like a straw. Hey! Did that stick just move? As she watched, it gave a little twitch, then a jump, its tip sparkling with gold in the moonlight. Quickly it wrote something in the sand: I AM YOUR WAND. COME GET ME!

  “My magic wand!” Medea murmured excitedly. Currents in the sea must have helped it make its way here to Colchis, where it knew it would eventually find her. On silent feet she raced down the gangplank and picked it up. “What a faithful and wonderful wand you are,” she told it. Back on the Argo, cradling her precious wand, she snuggled up on her coil of rope and fell fast asleep.

  The next morning when she showed her wand to Glauce, the girl’s only reply was, “What about mine? Did you look for it, too?”

  Medea shook her head. “No, but I think mine came here because this is where I live. So maybe yours is looking for you back at Enchantment Academy.”

  “I hope so. Fat lot of good that does me right now, though,” said Glauce. “Too bad wands only work for one person. Otherwise we could share yours.”

  “True.” Relief filled Medea that Glauce wasn’t going to be able to take over her wand like she did everything else!

  Medea hurried to Jason at the stern of the ship. “My wand found me again,” she said, waving it in front of his face. “And even though my dad said none of the guys on your crew could help you do those tasks today, I can. Because I’m not officially on your crew and I’m not a guy, either.”

  “I could help too,” said Glauce, who’d followed her. “For the same reasons.”

  “Me too,” Atalanta chimed in from where she sat on her bench. “I mean, I am a crew member, but I’m obviously not a guy. All three of us could help and it wouldn’t be breaking the rules.”

  Jason looked thoughtful. “The king would probably say I cheated if anyone gave me hands-on help. Technically speaking, he didn’t say no girls could come, though. And your advice would be welcome.” He looked at Medea. “But didn’t you say he’d send you to your room if he knew you were here?”

  “Well, my dad won’t know any of us are with you tomorrow if he can’t see us!” So saying, Medea quickly waved her wand to do a cloaking spell that would render Glauce, Atalanta, and herself invisible.

  “From all but Argonauts hide us three:

  Glauce, Atalanta, and also me.

  And let no one in Colchis hear us speak

  While the Golden Fleece we seek.”

  “Okay, let’s go,” said Jason. “My first task is to plow up a field.”

  Medea nodded, aware that he and the others could still see her. “I know which one my dad meant. It’s a couple of acres that have never been plowed before. I’m guessing it’ll take all morning, but with two strong bulls it should be doable. We can worry about the other two tasks later.”

  When they arrived at the field, Orpheus sang,

  “In the king’s field are two bulls snorting fire.

  Taming them to start plowing is Jason’s desire.”

  His description of the bulls was totally accurate, but they did not look interested in being tamed. Snort! Snort! Fire was blasting out of their nostrils! After pawing the ground, they suddenly charged. Jason, Medea, Glauce, Atalanta, and Orpheus jumped out of the way just in time to avoid getting trampled.

  “Your dad is so mean!” Glauce said to Medea.

  “Never mind the bulls. I’ll just pull the plow myself,” Jason declared. But when he tried to lift the plow, he discovered it was much heavier than expected. “It’s made of stone instead of wood! Those strong bulls could probably drag it, but I can’t.”

  “If only there were some way to protect you from their fiery snorts so you could work with them,” said Glauce.

  Maybe there is, thought Medea. Looking around, she spied a clump of a yellow-flowering charmed herb that she’d remembered grew in patches in this field. After plucking a clump of it, she showed it to Jason and Orpheus. “My aunt Circe sometimes makes a cream for me from this herb,” she told them. “I use it to protect other people from my, er . . . from getting sunburned.”

  Oops, she’d almost given herself away! She wasn’t at all sure how Jason would feel about her if he knew how her eyes flashed and sometimes sunburned people or melted stuff when she got mad. She wanted her crush to like her, not fear her! Luckily, Glauce and Atalanta had moved to the edge of the field and were discussing the bulls, so they hadn’t overheard. Otherwise Glauce might’ve thought to reveal Medea’s deep, dark secret.

  Kneeling, Medea quickly ground the herb she had picked between two stones until it was a paste. “Here, Jason. Rub it on your skin, shield, and sword. It should protect you from the bulls’ fire.”

  “Thanks,” said Jason, taking the herb mixture and doing as she suggested.

  “Anything for you,” Medea assured him in a goo-goo, lovey-dovey voice that she hardly recognized as her own. When Orpheus looked at her curiously, she cringed. If he noticed she was crushing on Jason, would he write a song about it? How embarrassing would that be!

  After Jason had rubbed the cream on himself and his armor, he had no problem harnessing the bulls despite their fiery snorting. In no time at all they had helped him plow the entire two acres into long, neat rows ready for planting. And he didn’t get a bit scorched!

  Task completed, Jason unharnessed the two bulls and they wandered away from the newly-plowed field to graze in the distance. Medea smiled at Jason, saying, “Now for task number two.”

  Jason loosened the pouch of seeds he’d gotten from the king, which he’d tied to the waist of his armor. Looking rather pleased with himself for having managed task one, he casually tossed the pouch from one hand to the other.

  A thrill zipped up Medea’s spine when he glanced over at her and smiled. “All I have to do is plant these in the soil I plowed,” he said. “Easy-peasy.” Eagerly he took off running up and down the long rows the bulls had made, sprinkling the seeds. Within minutes he finished the task. As he ran triumphantly back across the field to Orpheus and the girls, he threw out his last few remaining seeds.

  “Done!” he crowed happily.

  Medea peered at the seeds he’d dropped a few yards behind him. “Ye gods! Those aren’t seeds, they’re—” Before she could say “dragons’ teeth,” Atalanta spoke up.

  “Uh . . . Jason, you might want to turn around,” she said.

  When Jason did, he saw what the others had already seen. Hundreds of metal warriors were magically sprouting up in rows from the “seeds” he’d planted. Clank! Clank! They turned and eyed Jason, then grinned, showing jagged metal teeth.

  “Crush! Kill! Destroy!” chanted the warriors. Like robots, they began marching single file toward Jason and the others up and down the long, straight rows. Only when they reached the end of one row would they turn up the next.

  The tin men didn’t seem to understand that they could’ve just stepped over the rows of dirt to reach Jason faster, Medea realized. So, however fierce and powerful they
might be, maybe they weren’t so bright.

  “Those metal men are a little goofy in the roofy,” observed Atalanta, echoing Medea’s thoughts.

  “Yeah, they must have rocks in their heads instead of brains,” added Glauce.

  That gave Medea another idea. She picked up a big rock and handed it to Jason. “Quick! Throw this at one of them.”

  “Won’t that just make them mad?” he asked her.

  Glauce looked at Medea worriedly. “Yeah, they might attack. Jason could get hurt!”

  For once Jason actually seemed to notice Glauce. “Thanks for caring,” he told her. And then he gave her a warm smile.

  “You’re welcome,” she said shyly.

  Jason gazed at her in confusion, as if trying to figure something out.

  Atalanta rolled her eyes at him. “Seems like I’m the only girl on the Argo who isn’t crushing on you. Now, get out there in that field and do some crushing yourself!”

  At the mention of girls crushing on him, Jason actually blushed! But then he grinned at Glauce. She smiled back hopefully, wearing a sweet expression that Medea couldn’t recall ever seeing on her face before.

  Orpheus began murmuring yet another song under his breath. Could it be about Glauce crushing? Medea wondered. What was going on here? Was Jason falling in like with Glauce? Anger welled up in her. She wanted to stomp her feet and yell, Pay attention to me, Jason! I’m the one helping you with your tasks! Her eyes began to heat up. Uh-oh! She closed them tight and took several deep breaths to calm herself, so as not to give anyone here a sunburn. Or worse!

  Regaining control of herself, she opened her eyes just in time to see Jason throw the rock she’d given him into the middle of the warriors. As she’d hoped, they clattered to a stop.