Queen of the Labyrinth
Ch. 1: Stolen
Ioannia looked out at the blue-green sea, listening to the violent crashing of the waves upon the rocky shore. Her long, dark hair flowed with the sea breeze as she gazed out of her window at the vast water. How she longed for an adventure beyond her home city of Athens. Little did she know, the gods were about to grant her wish in the most unusual way.
"Lady Ioannia, your father wishes to speak with you immediately." said her servant as she burst into the room, a look of dread on her face. "Thank you, Mariana." said Ioannia, gently rising to her feet. She walked down the halls of her father's grand house, to the banquet hall where she was confident he would be. There she found not only her father, but several other young men. They all stared at her as she entered, her head held proudly high, her steps soft and sure. "Yes father?" asked Ioannia, she hadn't the foggiest idea what he wanted. She noticed that every man in the room, especially her father, was dripping in sweat and fidgeting with nervousness. "Is something wrong?" she asked, now quite concerned. "Daughter, tomorrow, marks the ninth year since the Minotaur's last sacrifice. Cretan soldiers will be arriving tomorrow and they will take fourteen virgins to Minos' wicked labyrinth to be fed to the Minotaur. My dear child, I cannot allow them to take you. Please, choose one of these suitors so that you may be wedded before they arrive." She stared at her father as if he'd gone mad, "But father, I do not know these men. How can I marry one of them?" He grabbed her hands and fell to his knees. Pathetic sobbing shook his narrow chest. "You must! You must! I could not bare it if they took you away! My blessed daughter!" He cried in absolute sorrow. She wrapped her arms around her father's quivering form and held him tightly against her, "I am sorry, father, but if I marry then I can never serve Athena in her temple. Surely the soldiers will spare me if you explain to them that I am soon to be a priestess of Athena. Surely they will not risk the wrath of a goddess of war." This only made him cry harder. "No! No! The Cretans are cruel, heartless men! They will not spare you! They will feed you to the bull! I know they will!" She tried to comfort him, but to no avail. The suitors went home and she had the servants put her elderly father to bed.
It was late, but she was not tired. Instead, she took a stroll along the sea shore. Her sea foam colored dress billowed in the wind. As her dainty feet splashed through the waves, she could not help but wonder, would the Cretans take her to the Minotaur's Labyrinth? She prayed to Athena that they would not. She could not bare the thought of being separated from her father. Her brother had died in battle only two years ago and her mother died giving birth to her. He was still in mourning for them both. Ioannia feared that he would not be able to survive the pain of losing her as well. She still remembered the last time the Cretans came for their sacrifices. She had been only nine at the time. There had been a lot of screaming and crying that day, a lot of sorrow. She was not looking forward to waking to the anguished cries of mothers and fathers in the morning. Still she could not help but imagine what the Labyrinth and it's monstrous warden must look like. She envision halls upon winding halls of white marble and a man with a bull's head that stalked the dark corridors looking for a wondering prisoner, ready to skewer them on his sharp curved horns and devour them. What a horrible end!
Just as she had feared, Ioannia awoke to the wailing of mothers and fathers as their beloved sons and daughters were dragged away from their houses. From within her own house she could plainly hear the harsh voices of men arguing. Were soldiers in her house? She quickly dressed and ran to the banquet hall. Three soldiers were yelling at her father. Asking the old man where his virgin daughter was hiding. "She is not hiding. She is right here." Ioannia announced. She held her head up proudly, her sharp sea green eyes never faltering. "I demand you leave my father's house immediately"! She ordered in a strong, demanding voice. The three men snickered at her, laughing at her arrogance. "Oh the Minotaur will have fun with this one." chuckled the leader. He snatched her by the wrist and started to drag her from the house. "Stop it! You cannot take me! I am training to be a priestess of Athena!" she protested. The men did not listen. The leader held her hands behind her back in his strong grip and though she kicked and bucked with all her might, she could not break free. "Father!" she screamed as she was dragged from the house. "I'm sorry." she added in a whisper. Her last sight of him was of his quivering form, crumpled on the floor.
The Cretans dragged Ionnia and thirteen other Athenian youths to their awaiting ship. They were thrown into it's bowels and shackled to the walls. All around her were the terrified screams of the men and women who were to be sacrificed along with her. Though they were loud enough to make her ears bleed, she barely heard them. How stupid she had been! She should have done as her father asked and married one of the suitors. She may have been trapped in a loveless marriage, but at least she would not be here, awaiting a gruesome death in Crete's impossible maze. Silently she mouthed a prayer to the gods, asking for their mercy, begging for a miracle that would save them from the Minotaur's Labyrinth.