by Simon Hawke
Jason swallowed hard and floundered for a moment, whether from the question Aietes asked or from Medea's gaze it was impossible to tell, but he finally found words for a suitable reply and, for once, his tone of voice lacked its usual arrogance.
"I would tell my kinsman's widow that I come not to cause her any sorrow, but to bring her husband's spirit rest, for it has been told how the shade of Phrixus appeared in dreams to many of my people, pleading with them to bring the golden fleece back to his native land. Though he married here and lived well for the remainder of his days, Colchis was not the country of his birth. In life, he was denied his birthright and in death, he was denied rest in his native soil. The spirit of Phrixus is bound up in the golden fleece. If we bring it back to Iolchos with us, he may at last find peace."
"A very pretty speech," Aietes said, "yet what proof do you offer us that it is true? We have but your word and you are unknown to us. You are not the first to come seeking the golden fleece. Its fame has spread throughout the world and the fortune of our kingdom is bound up in it. It is our most holy treasure and it makes our country fruitful. Since the time I placed it in the Sacred Grove of Ares, our harvests have become more bountiful and the earth had yielded up its wealth to us. It is well known that there is much gold to be found in Colchis and many have come before you, seeking both that gold and the sacred relic whose power draws it forth out of the earth for us to find. The golden fleece is the greatest treasure of our kingdom, yet you expect me to give it to you for the asking? It is clear to me what you have planned. You hope to play upon our sympathies and upon my daughter's grief so that you may trick us into giving up the fleece. Failing this, you have brought warriors with you so that you could seize the golden fleece by force."
Aietes rose from his throne and pointed a finger at Jason, moving and speaking like an orator whose every nuance and gesture was calculated to achieve maximum effect.
"Yet you have miscalculated, Jason of Iolchos. We are not fools to be taken in by tales such as yours! If the gods wish for the golden fleece to be removed from Colchis, why have they not revealed their designs to us? If the spirit of my eldest daughter's husband is tormented, why has it not appeared to us in dreams? If the gods meant for strangers to arrive upon our shores and bear the fleece back with them, why have they not warned us of your coming, so that we would not treat you as invaders, but welcome you and do their bidding?
"No!" Aietes shouted. "We are not fools in Colchis! Nor are we a passive, docile people to be ill-used by pirates coming to our shores! The golden fleece has brought us prosperity and we maintain a mighty army to defend it and a fleet of swift ships to pursue all those who would come to plunder us! We have dealt severely with such men before and we shall do so again with any who attempt to steal from us! It is clear to me that you have not reckoned with our strength, else you never would have dared to march here in force so brazenly. As you can see, Jason of Iolchos, we are not easily frightened."
Aietes lowered his voice to a more conversational tone and made a gesture to encompass everyone around him. "Yet we are not a barbarous people. Though you may have come here bearing arms and making arrogant demands upon us, you have not committed any hostile acts. You say your voyage has been long and arduous. We are prepared to extend our hospitality to you so that you may rest briefly before starting on your journey home. Quarters shall be set aside for your men in our soldiers' barracks. As a foreign king, you shall be made welcome in the palace and you may select a number of your people to attend you, not to exceed five. When you return, you may tell others that we make strangers welcome here and treat them with the courtesy to which their rank entitles them, but if they come to us bearing the sword, then they shall die by the sword. This audience is ended. You may go."
While Aietes spoke, Jason had turned several different shades of purple and when the king summarily dismissed him, he would surely have exploded but for the presence of mind displayed by Idmon, who came running up to Jason's side and took his arm in a firm grasp.
"We are most grateful for your hospitality, King Aietes," Idmon said quickly and loudly, so that Jason could not interrupt. "With your leave, we will go now and rest from our long journey."
He practically dragged Jason away, a feat which would have been more difficult if Jason weren't so furious that he could do no more than sputter with inarticulate outrage. The moment they had rejoined the main body of the Argonauts, the soldiers turned about smartly and almost frog-marched the Argonauts out of the palace. They crossed the city square and stopped at the soldiers' barracks, a long, fortresslike stone building with a low wall surrounding it. Not looking to provoke a confrontation, Kovalos told Idmon, rather than Jason, that he would return "with a proper escort for the king" when rooms had been made ready for him in the palace. In the meantime, he showed them the area designated for their temporary use-stressing the word temporary-and promised that slaves would shortly bring food and fresh water to them.
"Never has my patience been so sorely tried," said Jason, as soon as they were left alone. "I thank you, Idmon, for your timely intervention. If not for you, I would surely have lost my temper with Aietes. I came to him honorably and spoke plainly of my intent, yet was forced to stand there in mute rage while he accused me of the basest motives!"
"We did come to take the golden fleece," said Theseus, "so for myself, I am little surprised at his response. Yet I am not displeased at this turn of events. It would have posed no challenge if Aietes had given up the golden fleece without a fight."
"Without a fight?" said Argus. "Has it escaped your notice that Aietes has at least five men for every one of us?"
"If the odds intimidate you, Argus," Theseus said nonchalantly, "I would be pleased to take on your five as well as mine."
"It would be difficult for us to take on anyone at this point," Idmon said, stepping between them. "These quarters are built like a prison and you may be sure that we are watched. We would not take two steps beyond these walls before their archers dropped us in our tracks. Unless the situation changes, there is not much we can do at present except to plan a way out of this predicament. It was not for the sake of being gracious that Aietes 'invited' Jason to stay at the palace. He means to have him as a hostage for our good behavior until we can be safely sent back on our way. You may be sure that he will have soldiers searching for the Argo in the meantime. It was fortunate indeed that we concealed the ship and that no one saw us land."
"So what would you have us do, soothsayer?" Theseus asked. "What portents do you see to guide us in our actions?"
"I have seen no portents," Idmon said, "but I have a feeling that we shall receive help from an unexpected quarter, perhaps from within the palace itself. While we were there, I had the strongest intuition that an event of great significance would soon occur within those walls."
"Then I would be best served to take you with me to stay within the palace tonight," said Jason. "Theseus, you shall come as well and Fabius, Creon and Atalanta, since you were the first to join me. That makes up the five Aietes has so graciously allowed me. Hercules, I leave you in charge in my absence. Should anything befall us, I will leave it to you to decide what's to be done, but if I am killed, then it shall mean that I have lost the favor of the gods and there will be little to gain in pursuing that which they have chosen to deny me. In that event, I charge you to bring the Argonauts back home in safety. In the meantime, I will take council with these five and plan a way for us to get the golden fleece. When we have decided what to do, I shall contrive to send a message to you. The soldiers may try to antagonize you. Do not allow yourselves to be provoked. And beware the food and drink Aietes sends. Best to eat from the supplies we brought with us."
"The escort has arrived to take you to the palace, Jason," Hylas said from the window.
Jason picked up his weapons and his leather sack. "Be patient," he told the others, "and wait to hear from me. The golden fleece is not yet lost to us. Trust to the gods to see us through."
10
The rooms set aside for them within the palace had been carefully chosen. They were in the right wing, at the end of a long and narrow corridor with no other doors or hallways leading off from it. At the end of the corridor was the largest room, the one set aside for Jason, with two smaller rooms on either side of it through connecting doors. The palace was situated on the heights over the city and the only windows in their rooms looked out over a deep ravine.
"They have us well in hand here," Theseus said. "We cannot climb down and the only other way out is down that narrow corridor, which affords no shelter and little room to move. We will not be in a good position if it comes to fighting our way out. The guards posted at the corridor's end would see us coming in enough time to give alarm and two or three archers could easily dispatch us before we had a chance to reach them."
"Perhaps not," said Jason. He walked over to a large oval table standing in the center of the room. "This would make a useful shield against archers or spearmen if we carried it before us."
"It would if it were not wider than the corridor," said Idmon, looking down at it.
"How could it be wider than the corridor?" asked Jason. "If it were, how could they have brought it in here?"
"Lengthwise," Idmon said, wryly, "carried by each end. It would not make much of a shield that way."
Jason frowned. "We could hack the ends off with our swords until it was of a right size to carry before us."
"And make such a racket that they would be upon us before we were half finished with the task," said Idmon. "Observe its thickness. We should give less thought to carpentry and more to planning what to do when morning comes. There is little doubt that Aietes' soldiers are even now searching for our ship. Aietes will wish to be certain that we did not leave other men outside the city. I would not expect him to take you at your word. If they find the ship and discover it to be unmanned, they will no doubt burn it to the waterline and then attend to us."
"It is fortunate that we have hidden it," said Theseus. "They will look first to see it anchored just offshore and it may escape their notice. There will not be time to make a careful search of the entire coastline in one night."
"You three have been silent," Jason said to the agents. "Have you no thoughts to add? Fabius, you acted well and quickly in the storm. Do you agree with Idmon?"
"I think Idmon is right," Delaney said. "Aietes has nothing to gain by allowing us to leave. What would prevent us from returning with more men, enough to meet his army on more equal terms? If his soldiers do not find the ship tonight, he can have us lead them to it when we are forced to leave tomorrow. Once we are well away from the city and caught with the sea at our backs, his soldiers will attack."
"Those would be sound tactics," Theseus said. "It means that we must somehow act tonight."
"Only there seems to be no course of action open to us," Jason said. He glanced at Idmon. "Where is this unexpected help your intuition told you of?"
Idmon shook his head. "I cannot say. I can only repeat that I have the certain feeling that it will arrive. As to when or what form it may take, that I cannot tell you."
"For a soothsayer, you do not reveal much," Theseus said, sourly.
"Nor do I embellish," Idmon said. "I reveal only what I know. I do not embroider upon my revelations, as do other soothsayers, who cloak their revelations with imponderables meant to reassure the gullible."
"This quarreling serves no purpose," Jason said. "We have not come all this way for nothing. Thus far, the gods have seen us through and they will see us through it to the end. Aietes cannot defy the gods. Nor can we anticipate them. When the time is right, they will show us what must be done."
"It may not be wise to depend too much upon the gods," said Theseus. "I have always found that the gods help those who help themselves. We should never have allowed ourselves to be separated from the others. With us here as his hostages, Aietes may try to force our friends to reveal the location of our ship."
"I do not think that Hercules would be an easy man to force," said Idmon. "Have faith, Theseus. And patience. Both are kingly virtues. We have not yet-" he stopped, abruptly. "Listen!"
"I hear nothing," Theseus said.
But a moment later, they all heard it, a distinct, low scraping sound like that of large stones grinding against one another. A portion of the wall began to swing out slowly, revealing a secret passageway that had been concealed by the mortared cracks between the stones.
Theseus unsheathed his sword and moved to stand concealed behind the hidden door as it opened slowly. Jason stood where he was, so that whoever was behind the door would see him clearly, but he too unsheathed his sword.
"Our benefactor has arrived," said Idmon and Medea came into the room.
Theseus quickly looked to see if anyone was coming through behind her, but she said, "I am alone. I have come to help you."
"Why would Aietes' daughter wish to help us?" Theseus said. "Take care, Jason, this is some sort of trick."
"No trick," Medea said. She came up close to Jason and placed her hands upon his chest. "Look into my eyes and say if you see trickery."
"What man has ever discerned trickery in a woman's eyes?" said Theseus, but his words did not stop Jason from gazing long and not at all hard into Medea's eyes.
"From the first moment that I saw you," Medea said, "I knew that you were not like other men. It took great courage to have come so far and to have marched so boldly to the palace and spoken so plainly to my father's face. I have never met another who would dare such things!"
"Would you have us believe," said Theseus, "that you would turn against your father merely because Jason has impressed you with his daring and his courage?"
"When you went to Crete to slay the Minotaur, did not Ariadne turn against her father because she was impressed with yours?" said Jason. "Is that not how I heard it from your own lips when you told the tale?"
"Well, perhaps that was not quite the same," said Theseus, uneasily.
"It is not the only reason," said Medea. "I do this for my poor grieving sister as much as for myself. She, too, has dreamed of Phrixus since he died and took it to be an omen that his spirit cannot rest. After you had gone, Chalciope came to me, weeping because her husband's spirit was tormented and heartbroken that brave men had to die because our father will not part with the golden fleece.
"He believes it to be the source of all the wealth and good fortune in our kingdom," she continued. "He wishes to keep it because it brings him fame. He has commissioned poets to compose works about it which increase his fame and bring many here to pay him tribute, yet these works also bring pirates and thieves to Colchis."
"You mean men such as ourselves," said Theseus.
"No," said Medea. "You are different. It was clear at once, even to my father, that you were not brigands. Jason came openly, in the full light of day, and spoke to my father as one ruler to another. We in Colchis have also heard the tale of Theseus, who killed the Minotaur and became the king of Athens. And who has not heard of Hercules? Among our soldiers are men who came from Thebes and know him. Aietes knows that such men do not join with pirates."
"Perhaps not," said Theseus, a bit less antagonistic now that his vanity had been appealed to. "Yet that still does not tell us why you would wish to help us."
"You do not know what it is like here," she said. "Since the golden fleece came into his possession, my father has become obsessed with it. To him, it is a token from the gods in recognition of his power. He has employed men such as Kovalos to protect it, but what protection is there from Kovalos? The mercenaries who make up the palace guard place Kovalos first, before my father, who will do anything to keep his favor. Kovalos does whatever pleases him and I fear that it would please him to have me for his wife. Chalciope has sent her sons away, fearing for their lives, yet in doing so has only made the way clear for Kovalos, who has convinced my father that they have gone away to raise an army so that they might come back and sei
ze the throne. My father became frightened and gave him permission to recruit even more soldiers, mercenaries who came from some foreign land and care more for gold than for our kingdom. You can guess to whom those men will give their loyalty. There is only one more thing Kovalos needs to make his place secure and that is me. With the sons of Phrixus gone and Aietes' daughter as his wife, no one could dispute his right to rule in Colchis. My father knows I loathe Kovalos, but he fears him and has already promised me to him, thinking to gain his favor. You are my only chance. Tonight, while the soldiers are kept occupied watching your men and searching for your ship, Chalciope plans to escape and join her sons. I can help you get the golden fleece. All I ask in return is that you take me with you."
"How would we escape the palace?" Jason asked. "And what of my men?"
"This passageway leads to others that will take us from the palace," said Medea, "but you will need me to show the way. Chalciope can arrange to have your friends escape. There are still some soldiers in our army who remember Phrixus and will help us, but we must not waste time. I heard my father tell Kovalos to send soldiers in here through this very secret passage while you slept tonight, to put you in chains."
Jason shook his head. "It does not sit well with me, to sneak off in the middle of the night like someone running from a fight."