Starcrossed

evil.” Daphne hauled herself up onto her knees. “But why don’t you believe me? Or if not me, why not Lucas, your own nephew? He’s a Falsefinder .”
    “Lucas has every reason in the world to want your version of the story to be true,” Pandora hissed, kicking at the sand as she began to pace. “He is blinded by his love for Helen, and he would do anything to keep her. Maybe even lie to his own family.”
    “First of all, Lucas can only have half of Helen,” Daphne said darkly. “And second, you know there are easier ways to see if I’m telling the truth about who killed Ajax than kidnapping me. Have you ever asked Tantalus why he’s still in hiding?”
    “Probably because he knows you can look or sound like anyone!” Pandora shouted back, furious. “The only thing you can’t do is fake someone’s handwriting. That’s why he’s only communicated through letters—to protect himself because he knows you want him dead!”
    “And why would I want him dead?” Daphne’s own temper rose. “If it’s a Triumph I wanted, why wouldn’t I have killed any one of you Theban rats as soon as I saw you? Why would I want Tantalus, and Tantalus alone, unless he stole something precious from me?” she asked, her voice breaking at last.
    Pandora watched Daphne as she settled back into the sand, turning her back on the ocean she dreaded, to stare slack-jawed at her own feet. Pandora moved away from her and crossed her arms, tilting her face into the wind. She was breathing hard and her eyes darted from left to right as if she was reading the dark horizon. Suddenly, she snapped back to attention.
    “You snake,” she said, turning to stare at Daphne with awed rage. “Creon said you were cunning, but this is something else entirely. You actually believe what you’re saying! That’s why Lucas couldn’t find anything false in what you said. All those years of hiding behind other people’s faces and now all you are is one big lie. This is why I have to keep you away from Castor and Pallas—from everyone I love. I know in my heart that you used the cestus to trick my brother. You never loved him, and he could never have loved you.” Her words were harsh, but doubt was beginning to creep into her tone. “Ajax was too good, he was too pure. . . .”
    “And too noble, and tender, and generous, and brave,” Daphne said, raising her voice to talk over Pandora. She was blinking repeatedly as her eyes squeezed at dry tear ducts and came up with nothing. Her body was crying, but the moisture was missing, and somehow that made it hurt more than it usually did. “Since Ajax left the world nineteen years ago, there has been no good in it for me,” Daphne whispered.
    “What about Helen? She’s good. And she’s at least a part of Ajax. . .” Pandora trailed off when Daphne’s eyes began to drill into hers.
    “Helen’s birthday was yesterday—her seventeenth birthday,” Pandora whispered in shock. “But why? Why would you want to make her think that Lucas is her cousin. . .”
    Pandora looked away, shaking her head with grief. She couldn’t understand how Daphne, how any mother, could hurt her own daughter like that. But they had run out of time. Creon was coming up the beach, behind Pandora’s back. Daphne had tried to win her over, had honestly hoped to spare her, but there had never been a real chance for that. Daphne could only pray that Ajax would forgive her in the Underworld.
    “That’s right, Pandora, Helen isn’t his child. I have nothing of Ajax, and so I have nothing in this world that’s of any value to me. Even you, the baby sister he loved so much, the one he made me promise to protect, even you have been polluted beyond hope. You know, it would kill Ajax to see you like this.”
    “Don’t you dare tell me what my brother would feel!” Pandora screeched as something snapped inside of her, just as Daphne knew it would. She dove for Daphne, her fingers hooked into claws, trying to scratch her eyes out. Daphne rolled under Pandora, protecting herself as well as she could while shackled. She knew she only needed to defend herself for a moment.
    “Don’t touch her, she could have more bolts!” Creon yelled as he caught Pandora from behind and hauled her off of Daphne.
    Daphne turned away from Creon and Pandora as they struggled. Covering her face with her arms, she adopted short, dark hair and pretended to cower.
    “He would never have fallen in love with her!” Pandora