"Your mother and I met under the most strange of circumstances…"
My army had been defeated by the evil King Hyperion and I along with three other men were prisoners, working and slaving away in his salt mines. We met Phaedra at the watering hole where we all spent the night. She walked past Theseus and had a vision, but she kept it to herself. Later that night, she and her three attendants, who also served as decoys so no one would know who the true Oracle was, managed to kill the guards and distract them enough for me and my men to defeat our guards.
That night we ran. Reaching the coast, we hoped to steal a boat, after defeating its few guards, but things didn't exactly go the way we planned.
A massive wave from the ocean demolished the boat and its guards, but in the same moment destroyed our hope of escaping.
That night, Phaedra had another vision, Theseus needed to return to his village to bury his mother; this was the key to defeating the King. Not leaving, retracing his steps.
I made a few rude, or as I thought, teasing comments, and hackled Theseus a bit. I meant no harm, but he went on the offensive and basically made it known that he wanted Phaedra. She didn't take that lightly. She spoke with such fire, I remember it exactly:
"You may not believe my visions, but believe me when I say Theseus has no qualms about killing you. Insulting people is not the way to get on his good side." Her brown eyes flashed, and her red robes billowed in the wind, making the oracle look nearly as fierce as a mother bird defending her nest.
I chuckled at her frown.
"Don't worry yourself darlin'. If you say it, so will I obey. I just wish you could predict something a little more interestin'."
"Don't be foolish. I wouldn't want to have to kill you; you seem like a good fighter. I'd rather have you on my side, than have to fight you." Theseus growled at him, his knife at my throat before I could even blink.
I held up my hands, resigned to see where this vision led our little group.
"Okay, okay. Whatever you say."
24 hours later, I find myself on my knees with an entirely different blade at my neck. I glance to my right, and it kills me to see fear in her eyes. We both exchange a look, mine saying I wish I could have known her better, and hers admitting she felt the same.
Two bright flashes of light are suddenly coming towards us, and beside us. The knife jerks away from my neck and I am on my feet in a second. Something just took out Hyperion's men. We are saved. I feel something soft and warm and what smells like tears in my arms.
Phaedra has embraced me, and the world couldn't feel more right in this moment.
She grasps my arms tightly and turns to the hillside, where the flashes of light came from. In a split second, she's out of my arms, yelling his name.
He tells me of the monster he battled, after laying his mother to rest, and of the bow he found. It looks magnificent, as if carved from black stone, but it feels light as willow bark. He pulls back the string and a silver arrow appears from thin air.
"Gods above…" I whisper in awe, finally convinced at least something is on our side, other than a crazy, beautiful, vision seeing angel.
Speaking of angels, Phaedra is suddenly there, laying a wet cloth on Theseus' arm, bringing down the swelling of the scratches the monster gave him. She has such worry in her eyes, but her face is relaxed, as if she knows the worst has past, and he will not die this night.
R/R please. and yes, this is a temporary first person POV.