Megara had never gotten used to the torrent of petitioners who ran through the throne room. She'd avoided it all through her childhood when she could, and it became easier to withdraw after her mother died. Nobody expected her to sit in front of people when she was supposedly in mourning for a woman who'd ended her own life in despair of losing two sons. She had more children to look after, but it was those two older boys that actually meant something to her.
Even now, she noted that she was sitting on a throne meant for Hercules and wasn't expected to address any petitions herself. She considered it something like mercy when person after person glanced at her but was then diverted because Hercules absorbed their attention.
She could probably sleep if she wanted.
Megarion nudged the back of her head. "Hey," he whispered after a long string of petitioners, "are you awake?"
Megara glanced at him. "That depends on what you want."
Megarion rolled his eyes. "I planned to do something at dinner, but you've gotta agree to it, or I'll look like a total bastard for putting you up to it."
"Now it's sounding even more like something I don't want to do."
"I could take you home and let you rest," Hercules suggested.
"If… you really want…" Megarion frowned. "But… I thought maybe you might still be happy to perform. And maybe if we did it at dinner, it would be the right amount of attention because people weren't milling around."
"I can sing." Megara stretched and rearranged herself in Hercules's lap in a way less likely to put her to sleep. "Does the band know any of my songs?"
"I passed it all down to the academy, so there are some hopeful teenagers who'd like to perform with you but would be consoled just to play the music."
"Then I'll do it," Megara rearranged her hair. "What else did you have planned?"
Megarion smiled secretively.
"I know that look," Megara pointed accusatively at him.
"Oh, it's nothing! I think we'll all be grateful for such an auspicious performance."
"Sometimes I hate how we are," Megara grumbled. "It's a yes, but you're going to make me regret saying it."
"No, I won't," Megarion said, but his Theban smirk only intensified
"Some wine for courage?" Dionysus asked. "It's the kiddie kind; I remember you liked that when you were little and not supposed to have any."
"Wow, you really are the god of wine," Megara said.
"It's the same one we stole from Eteocles and Polynikes, then?" Megarion asked. "The one with the orange and pomegranate and cinnamon?" Her brother's voice had taken on a sort of childish lilt that made Megara smile.
"Nothing's sweeter than the wine you're sneaking from your bully cousins," Megara remarked.
"I'm not really much of a rulebreaker," Hercules said. "But I'm not surprised you two got up to mischief."
"Not without cause," Megara said. "We were too young to drink it, but Eteocles had lorded it over us for a week that he got to attend a symposium for the first time, and we were just babies."
"How old were you?" Hercules asked.
"Twelve," Megarion volunteered. "Meg was technically a woman, though, so it was really unfair of Eteocles to call her that."
Hercules made a face.
"He said technically," Megara reminded him.
Dionysus passed Megara a cup, and she drank from it with gratitude.
It was still sweet, though the illicit pleasure of it had faded. She scarcely enjoyed such complex flavors.
When she finished drinking from the cup, Megara let the cup rest on her belly. It gave her a secret to smile at that Hercules instantly picked up on.
"You're sure you don't want people to know?" he whispered.
"Wait for the best moment," Megara replied.
Another round of congratulatory Thebans approached the throne on their knees. Comments flew about how they'd never encountered two gods at once.
One woman, whom Megara recognized as Melanippe, a fellow cheerleader from two lifetimes ago, eyed her with curiosity. "You were always a princess, but you really look like one now. I can't believe you got this far, and I never heard from you."
"I ran away when my family fell apart," Megara replied. "But someone came along and helped me forge a new one."
Melanippe gave Megara's middle a casual glance, came to a conclusion, and smiled. "I'm sure you're well on your way. Most of us you left behind were swept up in a frenzy when he arrived, but…" Now she's begun blushing so intensely it was difficult for her to speak, and she purposefully dodged eye contact with Hercules.
"It's okay; I know I had a sort of aggressive campaign at first," Hercules said. "I don't mind if you're shy."
"It's not any easier up close," Melanippe admitted. "Sorry, sir."
Hercules chuckled.
"Don't worry about him; he's the sort who knows all about shyness. I'll be at dinner later. Maybe we can make arrangements to exchange letters or meet up for some things."
"I'd like that… I'll talk to the other girls. Maybe we can throw a party for… anything you need to celebrate in the near future."
"I appreciate it," Megara said. It was bizarre to imagine that soon she'd be among old friends she thought forever lost to her. Moreover, these friends wouldn't be mystical or monstrous in any way. Not even made out of clay.
"I just have to ask… how did you two meet?" Melanippe asked. "People were watching everywhere Hercules went for months… it's kind of amazing you found time to date!"
"You're not kidding," Hercules shook his head. "I was flying toward Thebes, and I saw that the Ismenus River had flooded. I thought maybe if I could solve the flooding issue, it would be a good way to ingratiate myself with Theban society."
"I don't remember a flood," someone said behind Melanippe.
"It was highly localized," Megara said. "Nessus, the river guardian, saw me looking for herbs in the forest and flooded the river so I couldn't run away. Then he tried to… well, he was a centaur."
Melanippe nodded her understanding. "Where was Theron?"
The mention of his name shredded some of Megara's tranquil demeanor. "I haven't seen him in years, and I hope I never see the cheating backstabbing scoundrel again."
Melanippe's face registered surprise. "We thought he had something to do with why you disappeared. Maybe you eloped."
"That was his promise, but… when Hercules found me, I'd been abandoned for a long time. I didn't know people like him existed. Then again, he's one of a kind, so I couldn't possibly have guessed."
"She always has the best compliments…" Hercules gushed.
A ripple of shock went through the crowd but quickly resolved itself.
"I thought he'd changed for you," Melanippe said solemnly.
Another former cheerleader, one named Chara, found the courage to step forward. "When he dated me, he was always talking about getting out of Thebes, and he said he'd take me with him. But then I realized he was using me to get to you. I hated you for a while, but then we all… sorta thought you died. So then we just felt bad."
Hercules gave Megara a squeeze. 'I promise, if I meet that guy, he'll be sorry. I wasn't there when it happened, or things would've gone way differently."
Megara briefly allowed herself to imagine that tangle in the Tapestry of Fate but returned to the present before anyone could catch her daydreaming. "I believe you," Megara said to sum up her hazy visions of herself with that goofy-looking kid from Hercules's Pro Ac yearbook instead of slick Theron.
Megarion sat forward on his throne. "Guys," he cleared his throat, "... colleagues. I'm going to need help in a second."
The word "help" activated an instinctual response from Hercules. He set Megara down on the throne and stood in front of her in case danger was on its way. "What's the issue?"
Megarion nodded toward the crowd, where a collection of prominent-looking men had started squabbling over something. A collection of women darted their eyes toward the throne and seemed torn between approaching Megarion and calming the gentlemen. "I can't have a fight break out, and I know all those girls are meant for me. How do I get out of this?" He focused that question on Megara.
"Oh, no, I'm not helping you plan an escape if you won't even tell me what's waiting for me at dinner. You're a king, and you're single; you'll have to deal with this at some point."
"Father never did," Megarion grumbled.
"Have you looked at him recently?"
Creon was still off in the shadows, glowering as if he were an apotropaic guard statue meant to frighten off thieves.
With nobody to offer him a way out, the gentlemen escorted the herd of hopeful young ladies toward Megarion's throne.
"I plan to blame you for not helping me escape, you know," Megarion grumbled to his sister.
Megara arranged herself on the throne with all the prim aplomb of a queen. "Add it to my tab."
"Hear, hear!" Dionysus raised his cup, and Megara's was instantly filled with more spiced wine.
"Thank you very much!" Megara raised the cup and took a sip, still managing to smirk over the rim of the cup.
Megara watched her brother from the corners of her eyes the whole time the gentlemen pressed suits and promised things like cattle and storerooms full of oil. Her twin brother sat still in a state of shock, which never ceased to amuse her.
Hercules, ever the altruist and spoilsport, intervened. "Hey, that's great. How about you all put that in writing and send it in for him to read some other time? My wife's getting hungry, so I'm taking her to dinner, and it can't start without her brother, so we're all going."
At the first hint of an excuse, Megarion jumped off his throne. "Thank you, Hercules! You've reminded me I need to look after my sister!"
"I'm touched," Megara drawled.
"Not as much as you're going to be," Hercules remarked before lifting her into his arms, careful not to spill any of her wine.
Someone pushed past the prominent Thebans with her pale arms and revealed an irritated set of green eyes. "I foresaw that you'd invite me to dinner," Cassandra said.
"Cass!" Hercules cheered in delight.
"Of course!" Megarion was blushing, something his pale features couldn't hide. "I'm glad to see you. I wasn't sure you'd received my invitation."
"I started traveling before it got to me, but I intercepted the courier on the way," Cassandra said and preened the updo that had tamed her hair into classy curls. She wore a green and blue dress covered in swirling wave patterns that mimicked her eyes during a vision as much as they did the Aegean Sea. "I saw Galatea and Theseus out there, but they're having a harder time getting through the crowd than me. So many people want to talk to them."
"We'll collect them on the way to dinner," Megarion said. He stepped closer to Cassandra and offered his arm. "Herc's got Meg. Would you walk with me?"
Cassandra fluttered her lashes and giggled, one hand daintily poised over her heart. "Sure!"
Megarion escorted Cassandra past a fuming line of random Theban women, and Hercules followed with Megara, who had never stopped sipping.
The whole thing was too entertaining.
She didn't even mind when they reached the familiar dining chamber that she'd frequently been denied admission to.
Hercules sat on the dining couch first; then, he helped Megara stretch out in front of him. He propped himself up on his elbow so that he could drape his free arm across her. "Are you comfortable?" he asked.
"Sure am," Megara watched Megarion fumble around, uncertain whether he should invite Cassandra to share his dining couch. "I get a front-row seat to the best show in town."
"Are all siblings like this or just the Theban ones?"
"Twins are the worst," Megara said. "But we're also very Theban, so who knows how much of it is common to all twins and how much is just us?"
As they spoke, Theseus and Galatea arrived at the far end of the dining hall, and they waved eagerly at them.
"Brace yourself," Megara muttered,
"I've been braced since I heard her name," Hercules replied, just as Galatea's shriek of delight hit their ears.
