Chapter Two

We’re onto the fourth day of this ‘festival.’ Three days, three male Athenians. I now have plenty of meat smoked and salted preserved. They will last me a while. Especially that last one, Menestheus, was a portly boy. Sitting on my bed, sharpening my ax, I listen to the crowd outside, waiting to hear the fourth name. “Welcome to the fourth day of the festival! Let the selection begin!" Minos called out as he drew today’s tribute. “Melite!" he called out, and I heard the sobbing of a girl that grew louder and echoed as she was forced into the labyrinth. 

I cocked my head, setting down my sharpening stone, debating if I should bring my ax. This is some young maiden. Should I bother killing her? I guess I’ll decide that when I cross paths with her. I set my ax aside and start to meander from my room. I can hear her whimpering as her feet shuffle along the trails. I am beginning to feel sympathy for her. I suppose I felt pity for the three males before her. None of them wanted to be here. None of them did anything to deserve this fate. 

As I turn a corner, I catch her scent. She smells like the meaning of her name… honey. I followed the smell and glimpsed golden hair and a green chiton. She’s a slip of a girl with creamy white skin, not much meat on her, at least in regards to being worth a meal. I kept my distance as I followed her. Watching her was… entertaining. I caught a glimpse of her face as she went to go down a dead end. Other than that, her blue eyes were red from crying and her face stained with her tears; she’s rather pretty. 

I waited as she reached the dead end and started to cry again. “No… no… there must be a way out. I.. I don’t want to die." she whimpered, banging her tiny fists against the stone. I frowned and sighed. There is a way out, one she’d fit through too. But sending her through that without my mother’s knowledge would be dangerous. Minos can never know of the secret passage. And I’m confident seeing one of the tributes walking around his palace would raise suspicion. I would need my mother’s help to even think of helping this girl escape.

“There is no way out of here alive." I spoke, stepping around the corner. Melite let out a blood-curdling scream as she turned and saw me. From outside the labyrinth, we could hear the cheers of the crowd. They are the ones cheering for what they assume is the death of this girl, yet I’m the one they call ‘monster.’ “No… please… please don’t… don’t eat me." she stammered through her sobs. “I’m not. Come with me." I gestured with my hand for her to follow. “No...no, please don’t eat me." she kept sobbing, shaking as she curled up into a ball.

She’s not even acknowledging that I’m speaking to her. Too scared of me to wonder how or why the monster is talking. I sighed and rolled my eyes, coming closer. She screamed again in terror to the cheers of the festival-goers. “Will you stop screaming." I grumbled as I bent and lifted her, hefting her over my shoulder. She was petite, but as she started to flail, kicking at my chest and punching at my back, she showed she had spirit.

“Pipe down, pipsqueak." I grunted, slapping her across the ass with my other hand. She cried out at the slap, a mix of pain and being indignant, and then something strange. Something… a scent I was unfamiliar with hit my nose making my nostrils flare. I shuddered slightly, finding the smell… arousing. Then I realized what the smell was. As angry and afraid of me and this whole situation, she’s aroused. “Put me down! Let me go! Don’t touch me!" she yelled, still flailing on my shoulder. 

Rolling my eyes, I conceded to her request as I tossed her down onto my bed. Which I doubt she’d find overly comfortable. It’s a stone slab with some blankets my mother snuck me. “Ouch! That hurt!" she yelled as she righted herself to sit on the bed. I watched as her eyes darted around the space. I know it’s not much. The raised stone bed she’s on, a stone table with blood still drying, bones piled in a corner, a trunk where I’m keeping the smoked meat, the fire pit I use to cook and smoke my food with, the well for my water, and then her eyes landed on my ax. 

I saw her mouth open to scream and quickly put my hand over her mouth to silence her. “Stop screaming, Melite. It’s getting on my nerves." I ground out, narrowing my ember eyes at her. I thought she might bite me, but she didn’t. Her eyes went wide as she looked at me. I think she just finally realized I could talk and have intelligent thoughts. Or maybe that I used her name is what startled her. “Now then. If you can not scream, I will remove my hand." I warned. “Nod your head if you understand." I added.

She nodded tentatively. I could still see fear in her eyes as she looked at me, but it wasn’t hysterical fear. I nodded and moved my hand away. She gulped as I stood back up. Instinctively she moved further away till she backed into the wall they set my bed against. “Are you… are you going to eat me Minotaur?" she cautiously, nervously questioned. “Asterion." I corrected. Her brow furrowed, and her nose wrinkled as she tried to understand. It was almost cute, especially with a speckling of freckles across the bridge of her nose. 

“My name is Asterion. Minotaur is the term for what I am. Would you like it if I called you human?" I elaborated. She blinked, and now I was sure she was surprised at my ability to speak. “I… you have a name?" she questioned, confused. I sighed and leaned on the table, folding my arms. “Of course, I have a name. Everyone has a name, even monsters." I answered. “I… I’m sorry. Just… all anyone calls you is Minotaur." she apologized, trying to wrap her mind around all this. 

“I doubt Minos even knows my mother named me before he tore me from her." I snorted with a shrug. She looked down at her hands that she’d clasped in her lap. Did she honestly feel empathy for me? “You… you aren’t what I expected." she admitted in a soft voice. “So not a deranged monster that wants nothing but to devour the flesh of humans? That’s what you expected, right?" I replied. “Um, well, yes. That’s basically how all the stories describe you. They don’t talk about you having a name, of…" she seemed unsure of saying what she wanted to.

“Of being capable of speech?" I offered. “Well… um yes." she nodded. “What are the stories then? I mean beyond that, I’m a monster that loves to eat the flesh of humans?" I asked. Her eyes dart to the pile of bones and the dried blood on the table I’m leaning against. “They say Poseidon cursed the Queen to take the form of a cow by the light of the moon and that she bred with King Minos’ prized white bull. And the product was a hideous monster that was half human and half bull. They hid the minotaur away, and after it ate a servant King Minos had the labyrinth designed to contain it and started to send criminals to their deaths inside to feed the Minotaur’s monstrous appetite." she explained, not looking at me.