Megara saw the spikes on the Hydra's back at the bottom of a goblet of wine passed to her by one of the servants who'd helped serve her family her entire life. She could hear that inhuman shriek and those teeth… She drank down bittersweet wine and glanced around the palace courtyard.
So many people were here to celebrate their new hero's defeat of their founder's nemesis. The creature wasn't dead, exactly. That wasn't for sure, but that vicious rage was quieted now. Hercules had ripped its limbs apart, shredding the ancestral terror.
Her hand was still shaking.
The shaking started when she flew down to scoop Ismene out of danger. Lamentably, she had to leave Hercules to contend with the beast. Her mind was on fire with terror from being so close to that massive, draconic creature. To leave the man she loved to face it alone…
"You're holding yourself together well," Megarion approached her with a trayful of honey-drizzled pastries. "How was it up close? They're saying the creature kept growing new heads when Hercules cut them off."
Megara took a pastry off the tray, flicking her eyes around the crowd again. Hercules hadn't gotten back yet. He was still out getting his ceremonial bath at the temple complex. She just wanted to run out and see if he was doing all right, but she was here, shaking and trying to look casual. "If you think this is handling it well, either you're going blind, or I'm a better actress than I thought."
"It's the other one," Megarion said. "Guess there's some benefits to being tortured by the family curse for your whole life. Even Ismene seems to be recovering."
Megara's eyes tracked Ismene through the doors into the residential space. Menoikeus and Haemon had gone with her. Megara prayed to any god who'd support her cousin for the aid to bring her through without breaking her mind."Issie was kidnapped by her sister, who already betrayed the family and chained up so she could be a monster's appetizer before my husband and I came to get her."
"Instead of being a monster's toothpick, we're keeping her pampered in the palace from now until she's married off," Megarion said. "You don't have to worry about Issie anymore."
"You say that like you think that makes a difference. Antigone got in here before, and she's allied with Hades. There's a narrow limitation on what she can do now."
Megarion made a face, then rolled his eyes. "I knew Antigone was a melodramatic drama queen, but I never thought she was that morbid…"
"Keep your guard up and pray to all the Olympians to watch our family," Megara said.
"Ah, your in-laws are on good enough terms to look out for us instead of screwing us over?"
"Who knows? They like attention, though. Maybe they'll respond well." Megara's mind wandered from the Olympians above to the lord of the world below. As much as she hated granting any credit to her enemies, the team-up made sense. Antigone had been around Megara since before she was born and ditto with Hades and Hercules. The two of them knew their adversaries far better than the reverse.
Megarion waved a hand in front of his sister's face. "I know we swore never to become party royals, but how about just this once you relax? It doesn't look good when the hero's girl mopes on the sidelines."
"How 'bout we switch clothes, and you can spend the rest of the night pretending to be happy?"
"Pass. Just got this tunic tailored." Megarion stuffed another of the honey pastries into Megara's mouth. "Lighten up!" he left her like that, moving so quickly he almost hid the smug expression he wore. He thought he did something there.
Megara dipped the pastry in her remaining wine, ate it, and then drank it down to the dregs.
There were so many people at the palace! She'd thought she'd be off with Hercules by now to discover his trainer and move on to a life of solitude, at least for a little while.
Instead, the palace was full of commotion and eyes that followed her along the shadowed colonnade. She walked outside, grabbing a wineskin on the way out to pour herself a new cupful.
The garden air, perfumed with jasmine and almond flowers, made her take a deep breath to impose serenity on herself. Sanity slid seasick through her mind, but she walked more or less steadily to the center of the garden. She sat on a stone bench, letting the coolness of the stone beneath her and the crisp night air breeze away some of her thoughts.
She looked into the stars, then, thinking of how much nicer it would be when Hercules had his stars up there. If only he were immortal again, she could stop replaying moments from that day and thinking of how precarious his position on this side of the Styx had been. She may never stop thinking that the beast's jaw seemed unmoored from its skull, waving in the air while it roared its battle cry.
Both her shoulders tensed closer to her ears. She'd chosen this life with the man who meant more to her than the rest of the cosmos. She was in this now. Somehow, she'd have to overcome this queasy feeling and make it like it didn't bother her so much.
With how difficult it had been to convince Hercules he could include her in his livelihood, he could easily cut her back if it was too much for her. He'd feel compelled to.
Megara tipped back her wine again. It left a warm, buzzing sensation on her tongue running through her head. She ought to lay off the wine soon. Right after she stopped thinking of all those teeth… Legend had it that Cadmus knocked out enough of that dragon's teeth that he replenished the settlers killed in a confrontation using those teeth. Supposedly, Megara herself was descended from these tooth warriors. She preferred to think of the goddess Harmonia and her necklace of beauty. She was the only member of her family who hadn't been cursed and willingly took the curse onto herself.
With her head bowed in thought, Megara took longer than usual to register the change in general clamor from the palace.
In the distant hum of voices, one stood out to announce the arrival of the Mighty Hercules.
She sat up straighter as she realized he was finally here.
What would he think now that she was outside? Did it seem like she hadn't been waiting for him all this time?
A desperate surge of anxiety brought Megara back to her feet, but she was now too wobbly to stay there. She thudded back onto the bench with a painful impact. Gripping the edge of the bench, she knew she wasn't going anywhere for now.
She squeezed her eyes shut and doubled over, bowing toward the ground. She'd been so stupid to let herself overindulge. Anxiety couldn't rule her. All that effort she'd put into dealing with people to bolster solidarity with Hercules was for nothing if she wasn't there when he arrived!
How had she so quickly failed as a wife?
The hum of voices solidified into someone asking Hercules if it was true he was a fallen god. Her ears burned at the sound of his name, and she lifted her head when she heard him speak.
"Yeah, I fell all right, I fell in love!" Even without seeing him, she knew he was wearing his cheesiest grin.
The crowd loved his dorky giddiness, and Megara did as well. However, she was so agonized by the saccharine tone.
"Where's Meg?" he asked casually.
Should she speak up so he could find her more easily?
She couldn't get up at the moment and didn't want to stumble into the party or call out so everyone could hear her slurred speech… But if he didn't find her soon, he'd be frantic. That would be her fault, too.
"I'm gonna go find her," she heard him say over the dull hum. It wasn't a minute before he called her name across the courtyard. "I'm so glad to see you!" He rushed up to her, still smelling the oils used to wash him at the temple.
Megara smiled her greeting to him. "Herc..." she drawled, "have you tried the wine? It's so sweet!"
"Heh-heh… can't be sweeter than you!" Hercules strode across to her. His arms had new scrapes, but he acted like nothing was wrong. He'd been so close to death… "Thought I'd see you in there," he said, kneeling in front of her spot on the bench.
"I needed some air… then I couldn't move…" she admitted before her natural reticence could make her clam up.
Hercules furrowed his brow, carefully brushing her hair back from her face. "Whoa…" he whistled, looking her over while softly brushing his thumbs along her cheeks. "Looks like you've been sampling a lot of the wine."
"Yeah…" she blushed, knowing he'd feel it under his thumbs. "I um… I was thirsty. What about you? Did you need something to drink?"
"Not at the moment," he said mildly. "Besides, it takes much more than a glass or two of wine to get me down."
"How do you know that? Have you done lots of drinking before?"
"Nah. But I've spent enough time around Bacchus to have something to measure by." He patted her shoulder. "How're you doing? Do you wanna walk around a little bit and get your land legs back after sailing on the wine-dark sea?"
Megara rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine, no big deal."
"Are you sure?" Hercules leaned in closer. "I bet you wouldn't say that if I told you I'd carry you back to bed if you needed the help."
"Are you sure you want to go? This is your party…"
Hercules shrugged. "Doesn't matter, you do." He wrapped a solid arm around her shoulders. "Is that what you want?"
"Your fans'll get mad at me… since you're not over there…"
"Hey, look," Hercules tilted her chin up. "Don't think of it like that. I'll just say victory makes me long for my wife." He kissed her brow. "I'm sure if they've seen you, they'll figure out why."
She made a slight, unconvinced noise.
"That's what we're getting a trainer for," Hercules assured her. "You sound a bit different…" He furrowed his brow. "Are you drunk?"
"'Course not!" she protested. She bent down to retrieve her cup and show how little she'd had to drink, but she wobbled dizzily.
"Careful!" Hercules caught her around the waist and pulled her upright. "Seems like it kinda snuck up on you, huh?" With his lopsided smile, he examined her face. "That's all right, I'm friends with Bacchus. He'll help you through this if you want, but I can also do the honors."
"You've got a party…" she slurred.
"Who cares?" Hercules swung her up into his arms. "C'mon, little lady, we'll find you a nice place to ride out this feeling."
"Are you sure? I don't wanna ruin your night…"
Hercules raised a brow at her. "If you think for one second I'd rather socialize with a roomful of strangers than take care of you, you must have had a lot to drink!"
"It wasn't that much," she protested. Honestly, she couldn't recall how much she'd had to drink, but she wasn't about to try hard enough to admit it.
"Sure," he said with a little wink. "What do you think? Shall we go back through the party, or should I sneak us back through a window?"
"Oh… windows sound fun!"
"I bet they do." Hercules took her to the shadows and skirted the villa. "I hope we'll have a nice place to stay while I'm training, princess," he said. "You'll need lots of soft pillows."
"I've got you," she reminded him.
Hercules barked a laugh. "You wouldn't like to sleep on the hard ground, though. If there's no place for you to get comfortable, I'll build you one. Maybe the trainer will want me to stay in some kind of barracks-like accommodations, but I refuse to put you through that."
"Aww, cutie," Megara giggled.
He paused, right about to climb through their bedroom window, to examine her face in the mingled moon and torchlight. "You're gonna have to be careful with that cute little giggle," he said, then climbed into their room with her. Once indoors, he deposited her on their bed in a giggling heap. He stood over her momentarily, surveying her with his arms folded. "Who are you, and have you seen my wife?"
Megara made a face at him. "I can be as bubbly as I want when I'm drunk."
"That so? Who gave you permission?"
His question deepened her pout. "I gave me it," she said."Besides, you were gone so long, and there werepeopleeverywhere, and I couldn'tstandhow many of them there were, and Imissed you,and that battle was so terrifying, but you weren't around!"
Hercules blinked a few times to digest what she'd said. It took him a long moment to speak, during which he leaned over her. "I'm sorry about that. I thought you'd want to be here soon, where you're safe and comfortable. I wanted to clean myself for you so I'd be worthy of you again."
"Ask me next time!" she snapped.
"I will," he promised and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry you went through that. Did you drink so much just because you were lonely, or was there something else?"
"I worried maybe the Hydra poisoned you."
He nodded solemnly. "That's a rational worry to have, and next time, I'll be more mindful of whether you're worried about me. Is it not very team-friendly to leave you alone like that?"
She shook her head. "And there were so many loudmouth strangers, but everyone was busy with Ismene, so I didn't have someone to commiserate with."
"On the bright side, that's a big word, so you're probably getting over it slightly. Plus, now that we're here, you're safe from all those people you dislike."
"That's so many people…"
"Yeah, I've noticed! But hey, I get it. Now that I'm a mortal, everyone wants a piece of me, like I'm a curiosity, and they want proof they saw in person."
"I'll claw their eyes out," Megara declared with no hint of irony.
"Heh. I'm going to assume you're still drunk and let that slide. Now we're together, though, so how about we focus on how amazing that is?" He trailed his hands down her sides.
"We can…" she finally let go of the little things that frustrated her and drew a deep breath. "Nobody smells as nice as you…"
He chuckled. "Trust me, it's probably down to the nymphs at the sanctuary. They handed me all kinds of oils to get that nasty monster gunk off of me."
"You smell like fruits… were they dryads?"
"I guess," he shrugged. "I was just focused on getting clean."
"I like it when you smell like fruits. Did you know I like fruits? And I like wine! And wine is made of fruits!"
By the end of her declaration, Hercules was barking with laughter. He clutched his sides and shook his head. "I take it back. I'm gonna need you to get drunk way more often now." He leaned down to comb his fingers through her hair while holding her close to his chest. "You're funny regularly, but this is a new depth of silliness I like seeing on you."
"I'm not silly!" she protested.
"Uh-huh," Hercules said in a comedic monotone while caressing the sides of her face. "I think it's about time you get some rest."
"No!" she protested. "You've been gone so long! I don't wanna leave you!"
"I'll stay right here," he promised soothingly.
"There's a party waiting outside!"
"So what?" he shrugged. "They seem to be enjoying themselves." He sat on the bed and brought her into his lap so she could rest against his hardened leather cuirass. "Don't worry about anything or anyone. I gotcha, you snuggly little drunken princess!"
"All right…" She curled closer to him in his arms and closed her eyes. It would be so easy to drift away into sleep.
It became even easier when Hercules rolled them onto their sides and rubbed her back. "I'm honored that I get to be the one who sees you like this," he whispered.
"Welcome," she mumbled into the leather shell he wore. "If you're not going back out there, I want the armor off."
His arms tightened around her. "I'd rather be ready if I must be," he said softly.
"Are you scared?"
Rather than answer, Hercules drew circles on her arm with his thumb. "Are you?"
"Only if you are."
"Then I'm not."
"Doesn't count if you lie for me."
Hercules sighed and kissed the top of her head. He breathed deeply as if taking courage from the perfume in her hair. "I'll tell you a secret. I've never had to fear for my life before. Today… things are different." He bundled her into a blanket and held her cocooned in his lap, snuggling her close. "I'm not just scared for me, though. I was able to fight back. I won. But what if something like that got ahold of you?"
"That'd be over pretty quickly."
The sharp intake of breath she felt against her hair spoke for Hercules, though he remained speechless. The way he rubbed her arm seemed more and more like a nervous tic.
He'd been so much happier when she was silly. She wasn't drunk enough for this… But she was an excellent actress.