"Mother fell in a love with a cow?" Ariadne laughed at the story that Daedalus was telling her, "That's ridiculous."
Daedalus raised an impatient eyebrow at the young princess's giggles and turned back to the new invention that was sprawled across the massive worktable; the only furniture in the room beside two stools occupied by teacher and pupil. Ariadne's laughter was strangled quickly at his look and she waited for him to go on. "Never underestimate the power of Eros' arrows, Ariadne. Not to mention that I would say this was the second white bull that Queen Pasiphae fell in love with. Zeus came to your grandmother in the shape of a massive white bull to father Minos and his brothers, your uncles. Not to mention you can trace your paternal origin to the revered Io who spent many years in the form of a white cow. Your family has an affiliation with pale bovines that you should not dismiss with adolescent laughter. You all have traces of Io and Zeus's blood in you."
"Sorry Daedalus," Ariadne was now all meekness and deference. An attitude that Daedalus knew from experience was one that Ariadne had trouble with.
"Sure you are, lass," He gave her a smile and his clever brown eyes twinkled at her, "Now as I was saying, the Queen, your mother, fell quite in love with this bull and begged me to build her a statue of a bull so she could get closer to him. I had no idea she would use this to ravish the poor bull, so I built it for her as life-like as possible. Even you, my sharp eyed princess, wouldn't have been able to tell if it was a live beast or a mockery of life. Nine month later, he was born half-beast and half-man. The Minotaur. Minos wanted to kill the poor thing right off; but in her own way, Pasiphae loved the monstrous thing and asked the king to spare his life. You know that your father loves your mother very much. He would do anything for her even after this defilement of nature. So, he asked me to build a maze, a labyrinth, so confusing that no one would ever be able to find their way out once they were led in. So I did. However, I am the only one who knows the entire story and the secret to the maze. After I was finished, he imprisoned me in these walls and decreed that I would never work for anyone besides him. And here I have stayed for the last 16 years."
"Oh, Daedalus that's awful!" Arianne burst out at the end of his story.
"It has had it's ups and downs, Ari, you don't have to be as outraged as that." Daedalus tried to flatted the wild mane of hair that graced his head as he smiled indulgently at the indignant princess, "For one, I have had the blessing of teaching a princess with the intellect and beauty to surpass all of her siblings. Which is why I shall tell you, and only you, how to beat my labyrinth."
Her dark eyes shined with interest then and she sat up straighter on her hard backed stool. With much flourish Daedalus stood and went to is cupboard of old inventions and hid his gift from view. Daedalus, though perhaps the most brilliant man alive, looked like nothing more than an awkward crane. With his emaciated shape from missing to many meals while caught up in the throes of inventing, and his wild mane of dark hair that was tussled and snarled from lack of attention, he looked like a man devoid of sanity. The man had more lines in his face then his age should implicate, but his brown eyes still sparkled with cleverness and mischief as any young boys would. Ariadne loved him with all her heart.
In response, Daedalus could not help but smile at the picture of this eager young princess staring at him with impatience radiating her from her. She had the pale skin and large liquid dark eyes of her family, descendents of the beautiful white cows that the two were just speaking of, but that is where her bovine features end. She was on the verge of womanhood at 15 and glowed with her youth. Her dark hair was long and at the moment unadorned but it just let her natural beauty shine forth even more. Daedalus loved her like the daughter he never had because along with this stunning form, she was graced with a mind that Athena would praise. She was quick witted and always eager to learn more. Daedalus knew that she had inherited this from her father, as he and his brothers were very clever themselves, but Ariadne had none of her father's menace behind her cleverness.
So, with much bravado and flair, he produced a common skein of yellow thread. He couldn't help but laugh at crestfallen look on his princesses face. She had obviously been awaiting the appearance of another of his inventions. Even as she slumped in disappointment her dark eyes narrowed in concentration as she tried to understand his puzzle.
"Thread?" She asked carefully studying the skein in his hand.
"Thread." He agreed and gave it to her. She turned it over in her hands a couple of times.
"Just common thread that can beat the labyrinth; can help you find your way out…" She mused, trying as hard as she could to figure it out. Daedalus just waited and watched her finger one end of the long skein.
He smiled as a glimmer of understanding lit in her dark eyes, "There is a torch holder at the very beginning of the labyrinth. If you were to tie one end of it onto that and let it unravel behind you, all you would have to do was follow it back to find the entrance again. That's it isn't it!" She nearly crowed with delight as she looked at her teacher for approval.
"Yes," Daedalus smiled indulgently at the happy girl sitting before him. He had to teach all the royal children and she was the only one who would deign to sit on a lowly wooden stool in his workshop and listen to his stories as well as his lessons. The former often being more instructive than the latter. She was the only one who truly showed the cleverness that their father was famous for. "Now you should be off now, Ari. The Athenian embassy is coming today with the new prisoners. Your father wants all of you there. Even baby Phaedra, so remind her nurse, would you?"
"Of course, I lost track of time!" Ariadne stood and smoothed out the beautiful purple gown that she had to wear today. For even Minos' children wear the color of royalty when embassies come. Especially embassies from conquered nations like Athens. Years ago, there had been a war between Crete and Athens with Crete being the victor. Since the Athenian king had killed Minos's eldest son Androgeus, the Athenians had to send fourteen youths to Crete every nine years to be devoured from the Minotaur. Ariadne suppressed a shiver at the thought of the fate of those young people while proceeding say good-bye. She went to hug her teacher and then turned to leave.
"Oh, one more thing Princess," Daedalus called as she was leaving, "Don't forget the feather next time you come, dear. I need them for my current project."