Megara spent a few serene hours in the temple of Hercules. She hadn't slept well at home, but despite a lack of beds in the temple, she was able to lie down untroubled. Nobody came to hurl the door open and scream at her or announce a new, terrible consequence of being born into the wrong family.
A howling wind finally woke her and forced her to stop ignoring her hunger. She'd never heard its like, so she woke to investigate the source.
It only took a quick peek outside the temple door to see a massive wind tunnel stirred up by a massive white flying horse. The same one, she knew, that was depicted inside the temple. She read Pegasus on one of the inscriptions.
Hercules and Pegasus rode circles around their enemies, shouting for the soldiers he'd caught within the whipping winds to leave Thebes. He was doing that for her.
A warmth she'd never experienced went flooding from her heart through her limbs until it formed a blush on her face. The last thing anyone had done for her was all three of her brothers getting her away from Adonis before he could do unspeakable things with her.
Now, a god was going out of his way to do something unforgettable that they'd discuss throughout Boeotia and then through the rest of Greece.
Megara combed her fingers through her hair self-consciously. She'd been so focused on getting to the temple to petition the god she'd forgotten to take care of her messy hair, and then she'd taken another nap. She must look like a complete wreck and a half.
There was a moment when Ares challenged Hercules so loudly it rocked the city, but the younger god was unimpressed.
On any regular day, Megara would pretend she wasn't moved by that expression of disgust with his foes, but this was not that day. After all, there was nobody to lie to.
Megara pressed a hand to her once bruised cheek and remembered only the way it had tingled when he healed her. She ducked back into the shadows of the temple, unable to contain herself while looking at the god in the distance.
This ingenious move put her alone in a room with that same statue of him that had come to life. Could he still see her? Was there anywhere to clean up before he returned?
Megara peeked back out of the temple and noticed a sacred spring for cleansing oneself before an athletic competition.
Perfect.
Without a comb available, she did her best with her fingers. She bowed her head under the flow of water and oiled it before she sat in the sun to air-dry her curls.
Hercules was so monumental she could watch him from her vantage point atop the acropolis, and from the crowds amassed at every vantage point in the city, other people were doing the same.
Everyone would speak of this day for the rest of their lives.
"There you are!"
Megara jumped at the sound of Antigone's voice.
A cowering Ismene followed on her heels, apologizing silently with her eyes.
"I didn't believe her when she told me you were out here because I thought you were smart," Antigone snapped at her.
"Buzz off, Tigs." Megara dismissed her cousin with a wave of her hand. "I'm the one who asked the Mighty Hercules to do this, and it was Ismene who inspired me to do it. You should be thanking both of us."
Antigone followed Megara's gaze out beyond the walls of the city. "That's because of you?" she was audibly impressed, but Megara wouldn't hold her breath for praise.
"You actually did it, Meg!" Ismene cheered and rushed over to hug Megara. "I can't believe you went through with it, and it worked!"
"What did you offer him?" Antigone asked.
"That's the best part. I explained how unfair this whole thing was, and he said he wanted to do something about it. He's so… different."
It was marvelous, even difficult to grasp as reality, but it was true. Thebes had never seen freedom from Ares's curse.
"What do you think life could be like without the curse?" Megara asked Ismene.
"Under the reign of King Eteocles, we will flourish," Antigone said. "We will achieve greater prominence than ever. Our trade routes will flourish, and our industries will boom. We shall be the greatest generation of royalty that our people have ever seen! Think how exciting it will be to marry the greatest king of Thebes since my father!"
"Wow, it's like you forgot what he did to my face yesterday."
"You deserved that for running away."
"I'm not marrying that scumbag, so you can start fantasizing about the glory of your house to someone who cares."
"Of course, you'll marry Eteocles. Nobody else will have you."
"That's not fair, Antigone," Ismene said. "All she has to do is tell people she has a direct line to the Mighty Hercules, and he will support any house she marries into. They'll reconsider her then, for sure."
"Or maybe I'm not interested in getting married off, and I'd like to make some decisions for myself," Megara interjected. "But… thanks, Issie. It's good that someone can still see sense in your family."
"Are you really suggesting that you'd refuse my brother?" Antigone rounded on Megara, who was still watching the events of the duel over her shoulder. "He's your king! It is, furthermore, your filial duty to obey the head of our household!"
"Don't you think we're already a little bit of a mangled tree after what happened with your parents?" Megara asked. "Nothing against either of you, but I don't want to mix blood with a cousin who's the son of a mother and her son. You're free to do as you like with Haemon, but that poor sap's in love with you. I don't even like you, let alone your brother."
"It doesn't matter what you think! You've got to follow the edicts of the family!"
"Please stop shouting. We can all talk about this," Ismene begged.
"Yeah, we really should be praising Hercules for saving the city," Megara said, though she paused as she saw Zeus's face appear in the sky. It sounded like Hercules's fight on behalf of the city had not met with the king's approval. Were they in trouble again? Was the fighting about to begin now? Would removing the curse now give them a chance to make a difference with their untrained boys as an army?
Hercules was summoned back to Olympus. She may never see him again. Why did that bother her so much?
"You need to come back to the palace with us," Antigone said. "Come on. I'm sure there'll be a feast to celebrate the victory today, but you'll have to answer to Eteocles for running off."
"You'd have to make me leave," Megara retorted.
"Excuse me, what?" Antigone took a step closer to her. "This is a sacred space, and I will not violate it."
"Good, so you'll leave me here and stop ruining my day." Megara folded her arms and crossed her legs, making herself more comfortable on the bench. "Get out."
"You can't tell me that! I am not only a senior royal to you, but I'm from the direct royal line, and you are not!" Antigone wound up with a backhanded smack, only to remember at the last moment that she couldn't perform any violent act on sacred ground.
"Issie, you're free to stay here with me until we get our situation figured out," Megara said, never taking her unwavering gaze off Antigone. "Tigs, get out of here before I provoke you into doing something to violate the sanctuary. We wouldn't want you punished for your lack of decorum and inability to negotiate, would we?"
Antigone sputtered with rage. "You will obey me! You will come to the palace where you belong."
"Who's going to force me? Bring your brother here. See if he can give orders any better than you can. It's his fault this war ever started, so maybe he's got some practice that'll help."
"I'll bring your brother so he can see what a disgrace you are!"
"Great, we'll discuss how boneheaded you are and whether you should be married off to Haemon because maybe you'll abuse his kindly nature. I'm sure he'll be heartbroken for a while, but he should get someone better to replace you in no time with us to sell his winning personality. There are way more worthwhile princesses in Greece than princes, so there's no telling what the possibilities could be for him."
"I'll go back with you," Ismene volunteered. "I'll explain everything, and then we can get back to normal."
Megara raised a hand to her appeasing cousin. "No, normal is unacceptable. The curse is broken. We don't need to play that game anymore."
"Are you sure?" Ismene asked.
"I'd rather die than marry Eteocles, and you can tell him that. Tell him to come here and collect. I'll be waiting." To punctuate her statement, Megara checked her nails. They were looking exceptionally clean today. She felt as if she'd been cleansed head to toe even though she'd focused on her hair.
She could get used to this place.
"What exactly do you plan to do here?" Antigone demanded.
"I'm going to thank the god who saved our city. You can slink off and heap praise on the man who imperiled it." Megara waved her off, got off the bench, and strode back into Hercules's temple.
Antigone started to protest again, but Megara slammed the temple door behind her.
Now that it was just her and the statue, she realized that she had nothing to offer the god. Nothing material. Everything she owned belonged to someone else.
She dropped to her knees before the statue. 'Thank you for all you've done for me today," she said and clasped her hands together in the most pious pose she could think of. "I own nothing that I could give you, but if you think of something I could make for you, I'll do my best to have it to you in a timely fashion."
It sounded so impersonal and transactional.
This wasn't the same as calling on Athena to help her with a weaving project. Hercules had gone up against a family member and turned away a whole set of armies to protect her, and all she'd done was ask.
"The only thing I own is my voice, and the only thing I can give is my gratitude," she said.
A thought sparked to life at the back of her mind, and she rose to her feet before she could tell herself it was stupid. She climbed atop the pedestal supporting the seated statue of the god so she could reach his cheek, and after a brief pause, she bestowed a gentle peck to one. It was no more than she would give her grandmothers before they died, but it was hers to give.
"Thanks again. You're officially my favorite Olympian."