Dreamless

able to fall back to sleep right away. She went downstairs and heated up some of the casserole her dad had left her and then sat down at the kitchen table to eat, get warm, and think about what she should do next.
    When she had finished her late meal she went back up to bed, still debating whether or not she should tell the Delos clan about Orion. A part of her was starting to believe that the farther she kept herself away from Orion, the better off he would be.
    “Kneel, slave,” Automedon said, and faced the rising sun.
    Zach did as he was told. He heard his master mumbling something in Greek and saw him take a beautiful, jeweled dagger out of the sheath on his hip. Automedon finished speaking, kissed the blade, and turned to face Zach.
    “Which is your strong hand?” he asked almost pleasantly. That frightened Zach.
    “My left.”
    “The mark of Ares,” Automedon said with surprised approval.
    Zach didn’t know how to respond to that. He hadn’t had any say in which hand was stronger, so how could it be a compliment? He decided to hold his tongue. His master usually preferred it when Zach was silent.
    “Hold it out,” Automedon ordered.
    Zach extended his left hand, trying to keep it from shaking too much. His master hated any signs of weakness.
    “Do you see this dagger?” Automedon asked, not expecting a reply. “This was my blood brother’s dagger. His mother gave it to him before he went to war. Pretty, isn’t it?”
    Zach nodded solemnly, his outstretched hand trembling underneath the beautiful blade in the cold dawn.
    “Did you know that a part of a warrior’s soul is kept inside his weapons and his armor? And when you are killed in battle, and your opponent takes your armor and your sword, he owns a bit of your soul?”
    Zach nodded. In the Iliad there were several heated fights about who got whose armor. More than one of the great heroes died in dishonor over armor. He knew it was a really big deal.
    “That is because we all swear on our arms. It’s the oath that puts our souls inside the metal,” Automedon explained intensely. Zach nodded to show he understood. “I swore my loyalty on this dagger once, as did my brother before me. I swore to serve or die.”
    Zach felt a burning sensation across the palm of his hand, like a needle of fire had just been shot through it. He looked down and saw that he was bleeding freely, but that it was only a flesh wound and it wouldn’t cause him any permanent harm. Automedon grabbed his wrist and directed the blood to flow across the blade of the dagger, until both sides and all the edges were bathed in Zach’s blood.
    “Swear on your blood, spilled over this blade, that you will serve or die.”
    What choice did he have?
    “I swear it.”
    The next morning, Helen sat with Cassandra in the Delos library for another session of what she secretly thought of as “Sundays with Sibyl.” She still hadn’t decided whether to tell the Delos family about Orion or not. Twice she’d opened her mouth to ask if Cassandra could “see” whether or not Orion was still alive, and both times she’d closed it again. The third time she was spared, because Claire came barging into the library, closely followed by Matt, Jason, and Ariadne. All four were demanding that they be allowed to join in on the research.
    “We’ve been through this before,” Cassandra said firmly. “We can’t risk it. Some of these scrolls have curses imbedded in them that could harm the uninitiated.”
    The other three turned to Claire expectantly.
    “So initiate us,” Claire said, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes in challenge. “Make us priests and priestesses of Apollo.”
    “Say that again,” Jason said, turning to Claire. He was so stunned there was almost no expression on his face.
    “That’s the plan you’ve been working on for the past two days? The one you told us not to worry about?” Matt asked in an increasingly high-pitched voice.
    “Yup,” Claire responded, completely unfazed.
    “Oh, honey. There is no way I’m becoming a priestess,” Ariadne said. She shook her head definitely. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d risk my life to help Helen, but join the clergy? Uh-uh. Sorry.”
    “Why not? Do you even know what it means to become a priestess?” Claire asked. “Well, I’ve done some reading and I can tell you, it’s not what you’re all thinking.”
    Claire explained that the ancient Greeks were much more relaxed about the whole priest thing