"Your wife cannot bear a child."

Minos looked at the ground. He'd known they were struggling, but he never thought it would be that Joya would be unable to produce him an heir. The news didn't shock him, however. He'd known that this would be the case. He dreaded telling his wife, though he knew she already suspected that she would be unable to carry a child.

"Why?" he gasped out.

The Oracle looked, not without kindness, into his eyes. "Fear not, King Minos, you will have an heir."

"How? I love my wife, I wish for no other."

"Hush," the shawoman soothed. "There is no need for an annulment of marriage, my king. You will have a child. But he will not be from Atantis. Travel to Samos. You will know the child once you see him."

Joya looked at her husband who was standing at the hull of the boat that was taking them to the nearest part of Samos. It was a small fishing village they were headed and while she was happy at the thought of going somewhere new, she longed to find their new son as soon as possible.
A son. She'd always longed to give Minos her son. She wondered what this boy would be like. Would he be strong? Would he be clever? Would he love her? He, she realised, may love his own mother more. She sighed sadly.
Minos turned to her in a heartbeat.

"What is it?"

"Will he love me, do you think?"

"Of course!" Minos was horrified at the thought his wife would think otherwise. "You will be a perfect mother. He will wish for no one finer than you."

She smiled at her husband. "I hope so."

Samos' fishing village was not what Joya had expected. She'd expected strong, bare-backed young men hauling in their catches for that day, women buying fish and other wares from little stalls, and smiling, elderly people watching over their grandchildren or playing games and children running, laughing, playing hide and seek among the lobster cages.
Instead, there were women, wrinkled by the sun, ripping fishes' bellies open with sharp blades, causing a sight that made the queen feel ill. Men were there, and they were drunk, dumping fish onto the pier, letting most go and shouting angrily at others around them. Children were running around, alright, being chased, but by older children, laughing maliciously as they ran after young children with poles and sticks, proclaiming that they were fearsome warriors.
Warriors they may not have been, but they were certainly fearsome. She prided herself on fearing little, yet she pressed against her husband and prayed to Poseidon that they would be gone from this island soon, their child safely with them.

Yes, their child. Where was he? The Oracle had told them they would know him. They knew none of these children. They peered around in vain, walking everywhere in the village, nodding politely at people who recognized them as royals. Sunset was upon them, orange clashing with blue, pink clouds streaking across the sky, the first of the stars just appearing and the King and Queen were near despair. They couldn't leave their kingdom for more than several days, yet they didn't wish to return childless.
Joya turned around and then rushed her hands through her hair in desperation. She felt her tiara fling off her light-coloured tresses and near growled in frustration. Whipping around she saw it, held out to her, the sapphires glinting , the silver metal almost copper in the sun's dying light.

"You dropped this." a small voice told her.

Looking at the owner of said voice, she gasped. He was small and innocent with blue eyes, perky golden curls and was just so oddly perfect with his skinny little frame and his pale skin. This was him, she knew. "Minos!"

"Yes?" He felt his eyes widen at this small creature. He was no fighter, he knew, but there was something Minos couldn't put his finger on about this child. He just had a feeling that this boy was destined for great things.

Trembling, Joya knelt down in front of him. The boy looked at her and then back at the bejeweled diadem he held and then, almost shyly, placed it on her head. She felt his little hands stroke her hair as if in awe and felt her heart melt. He was amazing.

Minos knelt by his wife. "What is your name?"

The little boy opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by a man's voice. "Pythagoras! What did I tell you about wandering around?"

"S-sorry."

The boy's, what the royal couple assumed to be, father stomped over to his quivering young boy. He was tall, strong and had dark hair cut to his jaw and a straggling beard with went to his chest. His light blue eyes were a startling contrast to all his surrounding darkness. He grabbed the child's arm, none too gently and glared at Minos and Joya.

"What do you want with my son?"

"We are the King and Queen of Atlantis." Minos told him, standing up and looking the man in the eyes. He sensed his guards behond him and knew the man would be dead if he so much as made a move towards him.

The other male gave a snort. "You are not my King. Or Queen."

Minos bristled at how the man looked Joya up and down. "We were told we'd find a child here."

The boy, Pythagoras, groaned as his father's grip on his arm tightened. His father frowned at the childless couple. "So?"

"We cannot bear children," Minos began.

"Neither can I. They ruin everything." The fisherman stated, glaring down at his child.

"We were told we'd find an heir. Here, in Samos. We think it may be yours."

"Are all Atlantians as crazy as you? This," he gave Pythagoras a slight shake. "Is my child. Not yours."

"We meant no offence..." Joya started to tell him.

"Father, you're hurting!" Pythagoras gasped. He'd kept quiet as long as he could, but his arm was causing him great pain.

The patriarch loosened his grip and turned from the King and Queen. "Find a child in an orphanage." he advised. "But this boy is happy with me."

Joya crept along quietly behind the tall fisherman. He kept a firm hold on the child, not wanting him to wander off again, the queen suspected. Minos was behind her. He couldn't quite believe his wife was following this dangerous man, but he'd stopped being surprised by her long ago. The man made a sharp turn to his right and, after opening a door, pushed his son into a building. Joya leapt behind a barrel and Minos shadowed her.

"You are an insane woman." he whispered. "I should have you placed in an asylum."

"That is our child!" she hissed back. "I'm not having him being kept by that...creature."

'That creature' was inside his home now. Creeping closer, Joya heard raised voices and weeping. The man was furious about something. Stalking closer, she heard words like 'problem child' and 'left to the wolves'. She didn't notice a jar before her feet and she kicked it over accidentally. It smashed, making the loudest noise she'd ever heard. She held her breath, praying the father hadn't heard it.

Creeeeak

He'd heard. As he exited his home, he noticed her. His eyes narrowed. He was not pleased.

"Mnesarchus?" A woman, younger than Joya padded out. She looked worn out. She had long, wispy hair reaching down to her waist, the colour of aged parchment. She was wearing a ugly, grey dress that hid her completely. Seemingly her husband wanted no other man looking at her. Her eyes, brown and large like a deer's had no spirit. Joya felt that she'd never seen a more broken person.

"These two," Mnesarchus pointed at the King and Queen. "Want our son."

"What?" Maia's eyes widened in horror.

Joya tried to explain. "We can't have our own. Our Oracle said that we would find him in Samos, that we would know him when we saw him. We can give him the best life he can have."

Maia looked thoughful. The man, Mnesarchus, looked annoyed. "He will have a good life here." he insisted. "He will become a merchant like all the members of this family have become." He pushed his wife back into the house. "Go back to Atlantis."

Minos looked at Joya who was staring at the now closed door, biting her lip. "Darling?"

"We will have that child. I don't care if we have to declare war, that child will be ours!"

Maia did not know what she would do without her son. He was her life force, the one thing she could not bear to lose. Yet...
She wanted him to have a better life than this. Somewhere she knew he would be safe, loved and...happy. He was not happy. How could he be, with a father like Mnesarchus? A man who terrorised his family and made it obvious that his child was a disappintment to him?
He was sleeping now, his peaceful expression, long eyelashes and golden curls making him look like an angel. Mnesarchus didn't see the perfection that she saw. He saw Pythagoras' delicate limbs, his frail body. Features that would never make a warrior or a fighter.
This child may not be a fighter, but he was a survivor. But could he survive to adulthood with a father like he had?

She remembered the queen, how she'd looked with such longing at her son. She could have another child, she knew. The other woman couldn't even have one. She made a decision. She saw Mnesarchus was flat-out drunk, slumbering on their bed. She put her hands under her son's armpits and lifted him onto her hip. Instinctively, he burrowed his head against her shoulder. She tiptoed past her husband, quietly opened the door and sprinted into the night.

Joya sighed as she stepped towards their boat. One day, she swore, they would have their child.

"Wait!"

The Queen whipped around and saw a figure running towards them, a bundle in its arms. Upon arrving closer, Joya realsied it was the boy's mother and she'd brought her son with her.

"You will love him? You won't allow any harm to him, you'll keep him safe?"

"Yes. Of course."

Maia felt large tears ooze out of her eyes as she passed her sleeping child to the Queen, who gasped with amazement as she took on the boy. He stirred.

"Mama?"

"I love you very much." Maia told him, taking his hands and kissing them. "Don't forget that."

"What's happening?"

"The King and Queen will take care of you."

"What can we give you?" Joya asked, stroking Pythagoras' hair.

"Nothing. A good life for him is all I ask."

"Nonsense. You've given me the most precious gift of all." Joya turned to Minos who was already on the boat. She passed the boy to him and turned back to Maia. She leant against a post and lifted her leg up. Feeling around her ankle, she slipped off the anklet that she'd been given by Minos when they'd first started courting. It was made of fine silver and had little blue stones attached to the links. It was beautiful and she'd loved it. She still loved it, yet this woman had given her the most amazing thing. She handed it to her.

"I can't." Maia stuttered.

"Please. I cannot give you anything less."

"Thank you. But it is too fine.."

"Keep it and remember your child." Joya implored her.

Maia's fingers closed over the jewellery. "I will."

Joya climbed the plank and stood on the boat. Maia looked steadily back at her. "I won't let him forget you."

"Thank you." Maia looked at her son one last time and turning away, began sprinting back to her home.

Joya went to her husband and placed her arms around him and her new son. Finally, they had what they'd always wanted.

So, Emerald-Has-Been-Cumberbatched and I were talking last night about Jariadne and Jagoras and what if roles were reversed etc. She asked what if Pythagoras was the Prince and Ariadne wasn't, in fact, the princess. I would still ship Jagoras, I said. Then, without warning, an idea came into my head. I asked her 'would you read a fanfic where Pythagoras was the prince and Jason was, well, canon?' She said she would, so I've written this. I feel like I'm rewriting history a tad, but there we go. This should be fun. Well, I hope you enjoyed and reviews are welcome! And, yes, it is, in fact, AU.

Love from Shania. xx