Chapter 12: Kings and Queens on Thrones

Ariadne and Phaedra pushed open the thick doors of the Greek baths.

While the Romans and Turkish were far more popular in the concept of public bathing, the Greeks had their shares. King Minos and Queen Pasiphaë had such baths within their palace, each gender-specific and big enough to host a party of a hundred. However, not many sent RSVPs to the cruel king and Pasiphaë hoarded the hot bath to herself.

Given that the Cretan monarchs were currently having dinner at some wealthy merchant's party on the other side of Crete, and having the servants fill up the princesses' baths at night could lead to snitching, the brats had only one option.

In less than an hour, all the palace guards and servants were having the party of their insignificant lives in the courtyard. Ten bottles of Dionysus' wine were an impressive bribe.

The sisters waited for the filthy demigod to step in before closing the doors. In the large chamber, a golden dragon fountain spit greenish blue water into the bath. Mosaics of Helios crossing the Mortal Realm went through all the walls.

"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this!" Phaedra whined. "Father and Mother are going to kill us!"

"Oh, the worst thing they'll do is marry you off! I'll be fine!" Ariadne sealed the doors by pushing a bench against the large wooden surfaces.

"YOU'LL be fine?" Phaedra nearly ripped her cheeks' flesh off. "Mother will burn you to smithereens, then resurrect you, and then Father will have you trampled by bulls!"

"I don't think Uncle Hades would like it if the dead were brought back to life." Dionysus began to pull down the dirty clothes.

"NOT IN FRONT OF US!" Phaedra covered her eyes. Ariadne wasn't surprised. She'd already seen the demigod's bare flesh when they played in the waters of Samaria.

The clothes hit the tiled floor. The waters' steam framed the bare silhouette. A bit more curves and odd, vulnerable softness.

Curiosity took Phaedra and she lifted her hand away. She frowned in confusion. "Uh, weren't you a boy five seconds ago?"

"Phaedra!" Ariadne's blush turned into one of embarrassment.

"What? He…"

A pathway opened on the wall.

Ariadne pointed at the new entrance. "Would you rather go to bed and pretend like this never happened, or say something I'm not gonna like and I shave off your head? I might anger Minos further if his most profitable princess is bald."

Phaedra sighed in relief. "Just make sure he's gone before our parents get back. I'm going to bed." Phaedra stepped inside the pathway.

"My friend's a she!" Ariadne shouted, the wall closing afterwards. She groaned in exasperation.

She heard the splash behind her. The fragrance of chamomile infiltrated the steam. Ariadne approached the edge of the bath.

Dionysus kept herself as deep as she could, the back of her head facing Ariadne.

"Sorry you had to see me like this…" Dionysus mumbled over the water.

Ariadne sat down, soaking her bare legs into the water.

"I'm used to seeing you soaked in dirt. How's that new?"

Dionysus lowered further.

"Since when did others' opinions matter to you?"

"Ya know how your sister reacted…"

"Ya know I'm not Phaedra, right?" Ariadne kicked some water at the demigod's direction.

The demigod disappeared into the water.

Ariadne groaned and started to disrobe herself. "Drama baby."

She jumped into the water. Her presence made the waters warm a bit more. Once Dionysus poked his head out, Ariadne swam to meet up with him.

"I… I thought you'd be…" He stuttered.

"Somebody told you I'd dislike you if you told me?" Ariadne smirked. "You make a pretty girl."

Dionysus blinked. "You think so?"

Ariadne nodded. "Besides, you never conform. I think it suits you. Sometimes, the best of both things is being King AND Queen."

"I guess… But if I'm a girl, that would expose me more. Fertility god/goddess…"

"Maybe…" Ariadne swam a bit away from Dionysus. "But you hate being bossed around."

"True."

"And if gods are as unaccepting as you think they are, maybe they'll ignore a fertility deity who shifts between male and female." Ariadne grabbed a comb from the cleaning set resting by the fountain.

"Can I brush your hair?" Dionysus asked.

Ariadne swam backwards, her hair soaking in the water. "Depends."

"On what?" Dionysus let Ariadne pass him.

"If you're my Dorknysus or not." Ariadne stepped out of the waters.

Ariadne was grateful for her turned back and the steam clouding her when she grabbed a towel.

Did I seriously just call him MY Dorknysus? She thought. Almost like when the maids argue over the same guard.

She tightened the towel around her and sat on the ground.

Dionysus poked her head out of the water, still staying beneath the edge. Her vulnerability was adorable.

SERIOUSLY? WHY IS DIONYSUS JUST AS CUTE AS A GIRL? WHY DO I FIND THIS CUTE, FOR GAIA'S SAKE?

"I don't know if I am your dork…" Dionysus leaned against the edge.

"I could kick you out of the palace." Ariadne twirled the comb in her fingers. "That is, if you weren't my dork…"

"I hope I am your dork. I don't want to leave you alone."

Ariadne smiled, tossing a towel at Dionysus. "THERE you are! The dork who badly needs to be my friend! I lost track of the amount of times I tried to get you to leave Crete after we first met!"

"And the times I kept coming?"

Dionysus' words stunned her.

"I visited a month after the first day. Then it was three weeks later. Every two weeks. Every Sunday." Dionysus wrapped the towel to cover his lower body. "I send you star stones from the flowers of all the places I go."

Ariadne pulled her hair back. She tapped her star-shaped adder stone earring. Bracelets, necklaces, anklets, earrings… Asterion even helped her get a nose ring.

"I wish I could create gems like my Uncle Hades. You probably would have liked star gems better." Dionysus caught the comb. He carefully combed each individual curl of Ariadne's black mane. "A star tiara would really stand out on your hair."

"I could never pull it off." Ariadne snickered.

"You totally could! I don't know why, but…" Dionysus kept brushing Ariadne's hair. "Ya know how constellations bring stars together? You're kinda like one."

"The non-existent string?"

"Non-existent, no. String, totally. You can find your way in and out of the labyrinth just fine. One time, you even figured out how to show the way with thread you weaved yourself. If those who mattered to you were attached to one end of the string and you the other, you'd just pull to reach them! And…" Dionysus hesitated. "You're… Well… Between my mad me and my chaotic me, you're kinda my string of reality. I guess it's a weird metaphor."

"Uh…" Ariadne wasn't able to respond properly. This was perhaps the deepest speech she'd ever heard from Dionysus.

The demigod went on to create a giant braid of Ariadne's hair. Her fingers carefully looped and tightened the strands, a perfect weaving. "Weirdest part though, I don't feel like a lesser or beyond lesser person. Around you. I dunno, maybe you're the only one I consider as an equal. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but everyone in Nysa is lesser than me. Only the gods are above. I mean, I'm obvious not your ideal match, but I view you as more than a best friend."

It stung a nerve in Ariadne.

The dork, in her dumbest, humblest form of egotism, had just said he viewed her as an equal. Yet Dionysus didn't find it within her to be worthy of Ariadne.

How did a demigod with semi-phenomenal powers and a fertility deity manage to be so self-loathing? In public eyes, Dionysus was either a public hazard or a popular party animal. A shady dealer or a precocious child.

Only Ariadne saw Dionysus as all of the above.

She'd owe Asterion some drachmas now.

Dionysus made it hard for her to limit her feelings for the former.

On Olympus

Hera bolted up, finding herself in yet another grayscale world.

Such a palette, she could never tell if it was a vision or a nightmare. Her nightmares usually agonized her physical being.

The new sensation… felt powerful.

It wasn't a distressed one. She wasn't feeling terrible. Like she did when she sensed Persephone's trauma.

Lights turned on one by one. Marble thrones appeared after each light appeared.

Twelve thrones.

Hera felt compelled to sit on her own throne.

"I don't like where this is going," she muttered.

Colors flashed onto the thrones. Zeus appeared next to her.

Demeter, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Athena appeared on Hera's left.

Hermes, Hephaestus, Ares, and Poseidon emerged on Zeus' right.

By the sides of both the King and the Queen of the Heavens, two thrones were empty.

Hera's eyes widened.

Weren't those the seats of Hestia and Apollo?

Where was her sister? And that bitch head of a stepson?

A shadow sat down on the throne by Hera's side.

Hera scowled.

"Why do I have a bad feeling?" Hera questioned the shadow.

The shadow extended its hand. From its hand, a wand Hera hadn't seen since before the Titanomachy appeared.

Where did the shadow get a thyrsus?

Out of nowhere, a figure appeared, kneeling before the thrones.

Apollo. His egotistical appearance looked beaten up, his clothes in terrible rags.

The shadow stomped the thyrsus on the ground.

In her vision, Apollo exclaimed at the opening on his back. The more the shadow stomped its wand, the more ichor spilled out of the purple skinned god's back.

Apollo looked ready to beg. But his pride wouldn't allow it.

The shadow kept striking.

Hera smiled at Apollo's fate.

"You hate him as much as I do, don't you?" Hera told the shadow. "Is that what I see?"

The shadow flew away, the thyrsus disappearing.

"Wait!" Hera flew after the shadow.

She almost thought she saw fur growing out of the shadow. However, the more it flew off, the more the fur brightened. The more it popped spots.

Hera watched the spotted fur coat fly in the invisible winds, shrouding the shadow. The greyscale environment became lighter. A crown of vines circled the shadow's temple. While horns grew from the head, Hera recognized the purple locks flowing above the coat.

"You can't be serious!" Hera groaned. "Just when I was rooting for you!"

The shadow, obviously an unknown bastard of her husband, stopped before an island's beach.

A golden drop fell onto the grey sand. Perhaps a tear from the sun.

Hera gasped at the maiden walking to the shadow. The maiden's dark dress made her veil shine like sunlight before twilight. Her golden eyes were stars. Hera could see the mortal skin shrouded by the veil.

The shadow bastard gave a smile. It handed a tiara to the maiden. Hera marveled at the sight of the tiara.

Metis had created Hera, her youngest daughter, out of stars. Zeus didn't give much to Hera as a ring. Hades had literally used moths to make Persephone's ring when he proposed to her.

The shadow had literally given the maiden a tiara of pure, shining stars. The maiden smiled genuinely when the shadow placed the constellation over her veil.

The shadow's mortal skin, now exposed, revealed the bastard's genuine smile.

"It's just like when I had that vision of Hades and…" Hera sighed.

"HERA!"

Hera woke up in a bolt. The greyscale world of her visions vanished, awakening her into her bedroom on Olympus. She found Aphrodite eagerly leaning by her bedside.

"Ugh! Aphrodite, what time is it?" She groaned. "And how'd you get through Echo?"

"Hera! Hera!" Aphrodite squealed. "Craziest thing EVER that will distract us both from the Apollo problem!"

Hera groaned. "Look, I'm glad you found an emotionally balanced, cheating-free matrimonial relationship with Hephaestus, WITHOUT my approval due to my coma, but just because you're my daughter-in-law DOESN'T mean you can break into my room at night!"

"But it's SERIOUS! It's a love and FUTURE MARRIAGE deal!" Aphrodite unceremoniously leaped onto Hera's bed. The Queen of the Gods grumbled and sat up. "So, I was having a fun night with Hephaestus, talking about devices to reinforce passion in mortals and brainstorming what to get Hedone for her birthday! Then, I get the CRAZIEST sensation EVER! So I go check on this sensation-seeking telescope Hephaestus built for me. You know, the one that detects mortals' feelings? Anyway, I check the telescope, and BEST THING EVER! Friends with blooming feelings!"

"Fantastic, a childhood friend romance that goes wrong." Hera muttered and got up from her bed. She grabbed the glass of water left for her on the nightstand.

"But that's just it! They're friends, but they try to suppress any blooming thoughts! It's crazy how they'd ignore their own feelings out of fear of harming the other. And the demigod is so considerate of her feelings! For ten seconds, I saw the future when they get married! The girl gets a crown of stars from him rather than a wedding ring!"

Hera choked on her water.

"WHAT?"

"What, what?" Aphrodite frowned. "When they get married, the demigod…"

"I know what happens, Aphrodite!" Hera wiped her lips with a towel.

"You had a vision too?"

"Yes…" Hera coughed.

Aphrodite had the same vision of the couple as I did, Hera thought.

That was concerning.

If the romantic part of Hera's vision was accurate… then was it the same case for the previous one? The one of the two empty thrones, one being occupied by the romantic bastard? Where it laid the worst tortures on Apollo?

But what of Hestia and Apollo? Did the bastard take one of their seats?

But…

If the vision was accurate…

"Hera, can we discuss at some point blessing the couple?" Aphrodite clasped her hands together. "If the Goddess of Marriage and the Goddess of Love both had the same vision, then blessing the union would increase mortal favors!"

"Can we discuss about this when I'm not in bed?" Hera scowled.

"Noted. I'm going to get as much information as I can on the princess' suitor. Since the suitor's a demigod, perhaps I can set up a meeting on Olympus."

"Sure thing…" Hera yawned. Just when she got back to bed, she realized. "Wait? The princess' suitor?"

"Yeah," Aphrodite said calmly. "I saw that the demigod's friend in question was the princess of Crete. Minos and Pasiphaë's eldest daughter. A very confident girl. Could you imagine, a granddaughter of Helios marrying one of Zeus' bastard demigods? That'll be the next hit union after Hades and Persephone get married! OK, talk to you later!"

Even with Aphrodite teleporting herself out of the royal bedchambers, Hera was unable to fall back to sleep.

The vision of two Olympians out of their thrones and a unique bond. Both connected to yet ANOTHER one of Zeus' bastards.

"HE'S GOT LIKE A FUCKING HUNDRED OF THOSE!"

In the morning

Grey clouds shrouded Helios as morning sat upon Crete.

Dionysus observed the palace's exterior from the window of Ariadne's bedroom. The servants and guards were now officially unconscious from their hungover. Dionysus was still surprised that no vultures had swooped down on the available flesh yet.

The cuckoo perched by the window tilted its head at him. Dionysus smiled, ruffling its head feathers with a gentle touch of his index finger.

Behind Dionysus, Ariadne got up from bed. "I can't believe I actually slept well last night!"

"I can't believe your parents make you sleep on that." The plain, woven beds in Egypt and normal mountain rocks felt more comfortable than that royal bed, it hadn't bugged Ariadne when Dionysus found better sleep in the shape of a cat.

Dionysus picked up the cuckoo, still cautiously stroking it. Ariadne unbraided her hair. "You feel a bit better?"

"About yesterday? Still not good. About my general tactics and disdains? We're still good." Ariadne chuckled when she saw the bird. "Bringing a treat for your pets?"

"A cuckoo? Are you nuts?" Dionysus placed the bird on the balcony. The creature just flew back and perched itself on his shoulder. "My Pops told me to never harm a cuckoo. Otherwise, he'll harm ME with a cuckoo!"

"Uh, uh." Ariadne searched her trunk for clothing. "Your clothes are still drying. You want one of my dresses?"

"Ooh, dress up!" Dionysus clapped.

Ariadne chuckled. "See, one way I know you as my Dorknysus. Boy or girl, or neither, you are unusually obsessed with costumes."

"Well, I am improving mortal theatrics." Dionysus searched through the trunk like an enthusiastic child opening presents. Her fingers pulled out a cloak and what seemed to be the traditional bull-leaping loincloth the Cretans wore for such contests. Dionysus put them on immediately. The fabric cloak was replaced by a feline fur cape and the orange loincloth by a black toga with green and purple embroidery of grapevines.

The cuckoo shook its feathers.

"Still feel like yourself, I see." Ariadne said smugly.

"Well, making you angry IS my specialty."

Ariadne's hair nearly flamed up. Dionysus smiled dumbly. "Careful. The cuckoo might get roasted." He scooped the cuckoo in his hands. "What ya think? Some seeds for breakfast? Unless ya like wine…"

"You're not drinking before you leave Crete." Ariadne pushed him towards the door. "Quick breakfast, quick chat with Asterion, and you get the heck out of Crete. I'm still amazed Pasiphaë and Minos aren't here yet."

"Um, Ariadne?" Dionysus pulled back. "Have you… talked to your siblings… yet?"

"Uh…" Ariadne rubbed the back of her head. "Can we talk about this at breakfast?"

"OK." Dionysus followed her to the door. "How can the palace be this quiet? Even Uncle Hades' house isn't as quiet and he's King of the Underworld!"

"Yeah? Well, if you run into the King and Queen of Crete, your breath goes silent! Forever!" Ariadne pulled the door open. "I need to dispose of the hungover guards before…"

Both children froze.

The man blocking their exit must have stood there for such a while, he was stiffer than a statue. His thick fingers calmly stroked his dark beard. His hair was pulled back to properly rest his golden diadem. Orange and gold fabrics made his toga. Black leather sandals protected his feet. Black stone vipers coiled over his arms. Rumors claimed that his own wife sent vipers on him, but he killed the snakes himself and turned them into ornaments, a small dedication to some Minoan snake goddess.

King Minos gave his daughter an awfully tranquil glare, his hand still stroking his beard.

"Ariadne didn't do anything wrong," Dionysus spoke up. The cuckoo flew out of his hold and into the hallway.

"Don't!" Ariadne hissed at him.

"I'll leave for good, just don't…"

"I'm afraid we can't let you leave. Her Xenia isn't fit from Cretan royalty." Minos suddenly bowed to Dionysus. "Lord Dionysus, my Queen and I would be honored if you could join our family and the Cretan court for a feast. It's the least we may offer after the disgraceful guards and slaves intoxicated themselves."

"Uh… I'm the demigod of intoxication." Dionysus pointed out.

"Ariadne, get your pathetic sister out of bed. You're lucky I haven't found you violated. Your mother would hate to see you flogged for such post-matrimonial blasphemy."

"You…" Ariadne began.

"Go check on Phaedra," Dionysus whispered to her.

"Dork, that's…"

"Aren't you going to apologize to Lord Dionysus?" Minos stroked his beard.

Dionysus wanted to break Minos' skull.

"Princess Ariadne of Crete has my blessing to refer to me as she pleases, Great King Minos." Dionysus pulled out his best dramatics and held his arms up. He bowed a bit to Ariadne. "Princess, would you be so kind as to go consult your sister? I'd very much like to have you at my side for the feast."

"Certainly, Lord/Lady Dionysus." Ariadne curtsied. She walked upright, nose upward past her father. Dionysus held in his chuckle when Ariadne flipped her middle finger at Minos.

"I'm impressed by how you've tamed that temper of hers," Minos acknowledged. "As much as they'd hate to admit it, Ariadne did inherit her mother's arrogance and her grandfather's wrath."

"I'm also impressed that I haven't murdered you yet," Dionysus felt the vines coiling around her arms. "I find your touch on her person every week."

"My apologies. I will work on damaging her less for you." Minos bowed, this time a bit more relaxed. "Perhaps we can treat you to a finer chamber before the feast?"

The Cretan King led the demigod out of the princess' rooms. From outside, soldiers could be heard grunting while the drunken ones had no idea their wasted bodies were being tossed into the Labyrinth.

I should have just turned them into dolphins, Dionysus mentally thought.

"By the way, I understand that my daughter refers to you as Lord/Lady?"

"I should hope it's not an issue that a Cretan princess associates with a demigod like me."

"Well, if it had been another demigod offspring of Zeus like Hercules or Poseidon's bastard Theseus…"

Dionysus gagged at the last word. "I hate that guy!"

When Minos laughed, it truly sounded like he was coughing out snakes while experiencing an orgasm. Dionysus didn't like how to Minos was basically the mortal version of Zeus. Treats his children like garbage. Lashes at everyone. Civilians only liked him if he didn't throw them to Asterion's dinner plate. Women stopped liking Minos when critters popped out of his dick.

"The things we've heard weren't understated, then!" Minos said. "Dionysus, the demigod of wine, ecstasy, madness, and theater. Your wine and alcohol dealing empire extends outward of Nysa from Thebes to Lutetia! Your ecstasy inspires mortals and immortals to step out of line. The other pantheons admire you. Fancy this, our host last night was serving one of fifty bottles he purchases from you every three months!"

"To be fair, I make trades with various smugglers…"

"The mortals are building a temple for you. On Naxos."

Dionysus stopped in his tracks. "Very funny."

"I swear on the Styx. I didn't believe it when the gossip was spreading before and during last night. I believed it before dawn, when my Queen's aunt, the Titaness Eos, announced that her first rays of dawns had revealed the islanders waking up early to continue on your temple. Pasiphaë used her powers to check."

"But… I'm just an ordinary demigod," Dionysus chuckled. "They're probably just building a party house."

"Pasiphaë's family thought the same thing when Apollo's first temple was in construction." Minos' tone got firm. "A concert hall would have been better, right? But temples are usually what makes the worshipped ones a major figure. Favors from mortals. And you know what happened when Apollo's favors increased?"

Dionysus looked bitterly out the window.

He didn't need to see the Sun Titan to know he was walking around. Doing the actual dirty work. Imprisoned. Collared. Dionysus couldn't blame Ariadne's maternal family for their hatred. He couldn't really blame Helios either for painting an ugly picture of Auntie Persephone.

Dionysus also couldn't blame Heracles for being so willing as to free Prometheus.

Then again, never gamble with the strongest Greco-Roman demigod when you promise a lifetime supply of wine.

"Then the new Olympian has to keep up the popularity. Favors in the Mortal Realm, popularity among the immortals," Minos said. "You know what's the funniest story I heard?"

"Is it related to the purple… I mean, Apollo." Dionysus gagged the name.

"He's losing popularity. Pasiphaë was in jubilation when the scandal of his violation was made public. You know it's serious when the Queen of Crete increases the peasants' wages. Not much, but still, it says something!"

They stepped inside the throne room. Servants were pushing around tables, setting up torches, and struggling to hang potted plants. Dionysus summoned the vines to hang the pots for the servants, popping some grapes in the process. The servants blushed some smiles before bowing to Dionysus.

Dionysus gave them a comfortable wave.

"You know, aside from your reputation as a chaotic demigod, an unpredictable entertainer, and a shady business prodigy, there's been applause of your approach to both mortals and immortals." Minos adjusted an amphora on a table. "In your core, you surely embrace your chaos."

"Well, I don't like conforming." Dionysus crossed her arms.

"And that is why they are building in your honor!" Minos pointed at Dionysus. "Temples come when worshippers are confident they have someone who represents their values. The power over domains. The bloodthirsty glories. The prideful inventions. The purities. The lust. The arrogant wisdom. At this rate, anyone could be deified into a god of thunder, sun, music, or love."

Minos led Dionysus to the Cretan throne. "Of course, we can't just CLAIM ourselves gods. Niobe's fate symbolizes our arrogance. But a demigod who connects with people?" Minos stared at the throne, then at Dionysus. "Silenus isn't the true master of Nysa anymore. Not since you could walk, right?"

Dionysus' bones froze.

"Ruler of Nysa is catchy. But with the population adoring a demigod who can relate with the freedom of their true chaotic selves, they might as well name you Ruler of the Mortal Realm."

Dionysus felt the tiles beneath him shifting into soil. The throneroom darkened. The torches illuminated the way to the throne, now as tall as Olympus. Green lightning flashed.

Dionysus couldn't believe the presence of her adult self, slouching proudly on the throne. Feline fur cape, purple vines, and a grapevine crown shining like jewels. The vision held the thyrsus firmly on both hands.

"For someone like you, they should just give up one of their own. Not just any Olympian. The Twelfth Olympian. The others would have to fight to see who'd they'd expel. Who'd they could live without once a new god came into the picture."

Why was Dionysus listening to Ariadne's abusive father again?

"Dionysus, the demigod who became a deity. Dionysus, the deity of wine, madness, ecstasy, and theater."

Dionysus tried to turn away from this vision acting like Pandora's box.

When the lightning flashed again, Dionysus feared seeing himself die. Instead, the throne had been cut into two. No throne was smaller or larger than the other.

Two figures in dark attire sat strong on the thrones. Their hands held one another at the center, none above the other. Dionysus recognized himself, but he couldn't believe who he was seeing next to him.

Though the black dress matched her eyes, her tiara of stars matched her eyes.

Dionysus wound up back in reality. He must have been standing in there for a while, staring at the empty Cretan throne.

"It does sound crazy, so don't think much of it," Minos bowed to Dionysus. "I must still show your chambers. The servants will please your desires in preparation for the feast."

"That sounds… good…" Dionysus weakly agreed.

He felt Minos looming over him. His words would then scar him.

"Princesses can be very powerful, but even they have their greed like most women. I know I suffocate them in Crete. I wouldn't mind I Ariadne deserted her native island… unless it was for an average demigod with no kingdom, civilization, or imports. Or worse, no ambitions. After the scandals her family went through, Ariadne could do so much better than a prince with no honorable promise… I personally wouldn't mind having the Deity of Wine as a child-in-law. Unless they lacked ambitions." Dionysus turned, only to see Minos shrugged as if the King of Crete had been talking about the Olympic Games. "But, hey! Descendants of Helios. They never had great tastes in mortal spouses, right? I'm sure Ariadne can prefer worse!"