Chapter 5

The underground purification chamber had no windows.

After the door sealed shut, only a single oil lamp in the corner cast its light over the stone bed and a simple altar. A white stone statue of Hera stood on the altar, and at the statue's feet sat a small bronze basin. The priests ordered Althea to kneel before the basin and submerge her hands in salt water until she agreed to surrender the Thunderbolt Seal.

She knelt until well past midnight. Both knees had gone completely numb.

The lamp flame shivered. A faint scraping sound came from the darkness. Althea looked up. A silver-gray serpent glided out from behind the altar, its scales catching the firelight with a cold gleam.

It was the sacred serpent kept by the Temple of Hera. Normally locked in a triple-layered bronze cage, it was only brought out during major ceremonies by a designated attendant. Its venom would not necessarily kill, but it would cause relentless fever, violent convulsions, and, in the delirium that followed, the victim would say whatever the priests wanted to hear.

The serpent reared its head. Althea tried to stand, but her stiffened knees buckled, and she crashed against the edge of the stone bed. The serpent lunged. Its fangs sank into her wrist.

The pain was not severe. An icy cold spread up her arm. Althea seized the serpent's neck with her other hand and flung it hard against the wall. The thunderbolt mark on her chest flared hot, and a thin line of fire traced along her veins, temporarily halting the venom's spread. She staggered to the door and pounded on the thick wood. "Open the door!"

No answer came. She kept pounding until her hands gave out. Finally, a young priest making rounds noticed the disturbance and summoned guards to break down the cell door. By the time Althea was carried out, fever had already blurred her vision.

Someone entered the chamber to investigate. Before long, a guard discovered a freshly cut seam behind the altar's base. The serpent had not been released through the main entrance. It had been sent through a hidden passage behind the temple altar into the cell.

Word was sent to the main hall. Lysandros rushed in. The first thing his eyes landed on was not the blackening snakebite on her wrist, but the hidden passage behind the altar.

"Where does this passage lead?"

Ianthe, supported by a handmaid, stood nearby. Tears sprang to her eyes. "The serpent cage and the passage both fall under the temple's authority. The queen has been poisoned. What matters most right now is saving her. Once she has recovered, we can investigate who used the temple to harm her." She hesitated, then added in a low voice, "Only... she just channeled lightning to suppress the venom. With the child so close to being born, I'm worried that if she loses control again, the baby could be hurt."

The handmaid in charge of the serpent cage knelt and gave her testimony. "Only two of the priestess's closest attendants entered the offering corridor tonight. I dare not make accusations. I only know that when I went to refill the lamp oil, the passage stone was still sealed. By the time I heard the queen's cries, someone had pushed it open from outside."

Althea leaned against a pillar. The venom was darkening her vision, but she forced herself to speak. "Only the priestess and the high priest hold the keys to the passage."

Lysandros turned to her. "But no one can prove who opened it."

"Then check the keys. Check the corridor. Check everyone who entered the temple tonight." She struggled for breath.

Philocles stood behind the Queen Mother, his expression unchanged. "Althea has been poisoned. Her mind is no longer clear. Nothing she says right now can stand as testimony on its own."

"I remember exactly what happened."

Eurydice cut the argument short. "Treat the poison first. Seal the passage, the keys, and the corridor. When her mind is clear, the testimony can be verified."

The words sounded protective, but Althea knew better. Once the passage and keys were in the Temple of Hera's custody, Ianthe would have more than enough time to erase every trace. After Althea was taken away for treatment, she would never be able to examine the evidence herself.

Lysandros's expression grew colder still. He had no proof that Althea was guilty, but neither did he want to believe, on the eve of the royal heir's birth, that there was something wrong with Ianthe's temple. Althea's testimony, the venom, and the hidden passage all lay before him. Instead of investigating, he chose to isolate her first.

"Why is it that every time something happens, you always point the finger at Ianthe?" he asked, his voice low.

Althea looked at him and suddenly felt that any explanation was pointless. The venom's dark tendrils had already crawled from her wrist to her elbow. The culprit was standing right in front of him, and still his first demand was that she prove she harbored no ill intent.

Ianthe slowly sank to her knees. "Your Majesty, please do not send the queen to the House of Silence."

Ianthe continued. "The child is due any day. The queen has just been poisoned. If she is sent to the House of Silence, the world will say I couldn't tolerate her. Let her stay in the side hall next to mine to recover. I will see to her care personally, and I will wait until the temple has finished investigating the passage."

Eurydice nodded in agreement. "That is the most prudent course."

After a moment of silence, Lysandros gave his order. "Althea, starting today, you will be moved to Ianthe's side hall to recover. You are not to leave without permission. Until the passage is cleared, you are forbidden from going near the Sacred Flame, any weapons, or the royal heir." He looked down at her. "If anything happens to her or the child, you will face trial."

The dark venom lines on Althea's wrist had already spread to her elbow. She did not beg for the serpent cage to be re-examined. She no longer argued about the eagle feather.

Only one night remained before the old watergate opened at the Festival of Dionysus. As long as she could reach the underground drainage channel, it no longer mattered what version of the truth Lysandros chose to believe.