Chapter 2:
In truth, it was out of fear that Megara did not speak much to her brothers, only making a few light comments about how the day did not seem particularly overcrowded with misfortune, yet. Even saying so seemed to dangle her life-string in front of the Fates for the snipping, but she was too nervous to hold her words back.
Somehow, Ismene was doing a better job of controlling her anxiety, but she was further ahead and it was impossible to reach her without pushing past her older brothers.
Megarion was rather supportive even in his silence, but Megara was hoping for someone to either shut her up or give her enough feedback to help her relax. Her twin's temperament was not the sort to offer either, and thus she merely kept babbling as before.
Antigone, with her edgy black lipstick outlining her words, turned around and asked Megara, "Is it because Alkides isn't here to pat you on the head and tell you to calm down? Come on, some of us were already at this school last year, it's not going to be any better this year, so just cool it, will you?"
Megara's lips instantly jumped back into her mouth as if to hide from Antigone's disapproval, and she bowed her head. She wanted to back-sass her cousin, but she was firmly of the belief that her older cousin was much cooler than her. No response could ever suffice.
Megarion slipped an arm across her shoulders, and whispered, "I'm sure she's just cranky because her father told her she's got to actually pay attention to her grades this year, and that means less Haemon than usual."
"Oh, but he can't do that," Megara whispered back. "Haemon never listens to things like that, won't they just ignore it?"
"I'm sure they will," Megarion shrugged. "And it'll be at least half out of rebellious spite."
Megara rolled her eyes, as she suspected had been the intention. "I can understand that, but they should at least take school seriously."
"Ah, I do wonder if you would say that had Alkides been enrolled at Sphinx Gate," Menoikeus chuckled, falling back in the group just to talk to the two of them.
"I do miss him…" Megara sighed.
"But alas, he needed his special education," Megarion jabbed her ribs with his elbow, and snickered in a perfectly Theban manner.
Megara may have come up with a reply, but a fanfare interrupted her before she could unleash her venom.
Prince Kreon, Megara's father, with streaks of gray in his thick black beard, was standing in a purple robe on a platform beside the gate to the academy with his hand raised. "You are about to embark on an academic adventure the likes of which is unparalleled in all Boeotia," he said, scanning the crowd with his deep violet eyes, so dark they were nearly as black as his hair.
"It's still not Athens," Megara grumbled to her twin, who hushed her.
"As the brother-in-law to your king, it is my duty to oversee that which King Oedipus cannot, and that is why I am here to welcome all you children to school, among you several of my own. You will soon know them," he added with a glint in his eyes as he glanced over his children in the same manner as other men might count their goats before a feast day. "Do not forget this one thing as you begin your education: You are among the best in all of Greece. Prove it."
Cheers went up from the crowd, and the guards marched the young royals through the gates to what looked like a smaller-scale version of the palace they had left that morning.
As they passed Kreon, Megara looked up to catch his eye. He was looking at her, but there was something other than fatherly pride in those eyes, and it was strikingly unwelcome. She could not identify it, but even though she was looking into the eyes of her very own father, he may as well have been a stranger in a cave with a knife.
"Change your face, Meggie," Menoikeus instructed her in a low grunt. "You'll make everyone think you're a second Antigone, and the family doesn't need another drama queen."
"We already have Dionysus," Megara pointed out, noting that Haemon was casting the occasional glance over his shoulder at his siblings. Let him be jealous, they were more fun than his Tiggy anyway.
"All the more reason not to appear insane," Menoikeus said in utter seriousness.
The group came to an abrupt stop, and the guards slowly peeled away from the core group of royals, making Megara suddenly feel as if they'd walked off with her clothes and everyone was staring.
Well, they were staring even with her clothes still on, so it made very little difference.
Ismene rushed back through the little group to stand next to Megara and Megarion, her face losing even the scant color which had been on her cheeks. "They're all staring, what do we do?" she whispered.
"I don't know, I've never left the palace," Megara whispered back, blushing at the admission even though everyone had already known that.
"Hey!" a sharp bark of a voice alerted them to the approach of someone who was, surprisingly, a female. She wore her hair in long, auburn curls, and her features were sun-darkened, even be-freckled. She wore a short green dress, and sandals that twined around her legs and up to her knees like climbing ivy. "This is where we start, right?"
"Ah, this is our cousin, Atalanta," Menoikeus said, as he was the only one of their number not astounded by the girl's wild appearance and unpolished accent. "Welcome to school, how did you get in before us?"
"Climbed the wall," Atalanta shrugged. "I don't know what the point of it was, you city people act like if you line up a few rocks nobody will get into a place."
"The wall is supposed to be a hint," Antigone said. "But I suppose now you're in it isn't worth trying to make you leave."
"Oh, I very well could run off, but I just met my father, and I guess it's best to stay on good terms with him. He begged me to attend school, and I always fancied myself a good girl."
"You'll be following Megara and Ismene, then," Eteokles said, finally breaking off from some whispering and snickering with Polynikes.
"Why?" Ismene asked, and the instant she realized how she'd sounded she squeaked and hid behind Megara.
"Because you're girls," Polynikes sneered in return.
"So am I!" Antigone huffed.
"But you're different," Eteokles said.
"Because you're engaged," Haemon said, wrapping an arm firmly about her waist. "Let the other girls band together, they don't have what we do."
"I'm engaged!" Megara burst out, more offended by the suggestion that she wasn't than by anything else in the conversation. "Alkides, remember?"
Polynikes waved a hand in her direction. "Just because he's engaged to you now is no guarantee he will actually marry you."
"And just because you're a prince doesn't mean you'll ever rule!" Megara lashed out, so loudly she was sure the entire city had somehow heard her.
Her cousin appeared genuinely stunned, but she turned back Atalanta's way when she heard slow clapping.
"I think I'll enjoy having this family," the wild girl said, "race you all to class!"