The Son Of Snakes

4 - An Old Blood Debt

King Dictys of Seriphus sat at the end of the large, rectangular table. Made from an excellently grown tree, it was quite the beautiful piece of furniture. Along with the soft chairs they sat in, his dining room was certainly one of the best. Plates lined across the table and the chairs full of important people from Seriphus. Well, all of the chairs except for three at the other end. Those were vacant,

Today was a day of celebration. They were about to have a feast. The celebration of the day in which their hero Perseus came back to Seriphus, turning King Polydectes to stone with the severed head of Medusa.

Perseus' tale had spread far and wide in Greece, unlike the news of the new ruler. Dictys had been king for seven years now and yet so many still believed Polydectes was in power. They were too enamored with Perseus' slaying of Medusa.

King Dictys didn't care. He was much less haughty and selfish than the former king, his brother. Dictys used to be a simple fisherman, well, until he found Perseus and Danae in a chest that washed up onto Seriphus.

He never would've imagined back then that Perseus would become one of the greatest heroes in Greece. There hadn't been a noteworthy hero in so long, that Perseus took the world by storm.

And if Dictys was right in who he thought Perseus' father was, then no wonder. However, Danae refused to tell him, and he wouldn't pry and hurt her, so he's kept it as a theory.

"They should be arriving any moment now." The woman sitting to his right stated. "I hope they didn't get lost."

"They wouldn't get lost, Clymene." King Dictys smiled at his wife. "Otherwise I'll have to teach Perseus another lesson."

The two laughed at their joke, joining in with the joyous chatter of everyone at the table. With the festival outside, everyone was in such a great mood. Who couldn't be?

And then the door opened.

Standing there, now in the room with the others, stood three people. They were immediately recognized by everyone in the room, who had fallen silent.

Andromeda and Danae gave apologetic smiled while Perseus grinned straight at Dictys. "Hope I'm not late."

"You were cutting it close." King Dictys chuckled. "Please. Sit down." He waved to the three chairs.

The three sat down, and suddenly the volume of the room had blown up to even higher than before, people having a joyous time as the food arrived.

Bread, wine, cheese, and so many more delicacies.

Yes, this was quite the day. A day of celebration.

. . .

Nikolas was off-put by all of the loud sounds which surrounded him. Cheering, yelling, screaming, talking, and all sorts of different noises assaulted his ears.

Why was it so damn noisy? What had gotten everyone to act like this?

Nikolas cautiously walked towards someone, making sure not to trip over anything or bump into one of the excited residents running around.

"Excuse me?" Nikolas spoke out loud, hoping someone would answer him.

"Hm? Yes?" A man turned towards him.

"What is going on here?" Nikolas asked. "Why is it so crowded and loud?"

"It's the festival? Of the day Perseus returned from his quest to slay Medusa? You didn't know?" The man wondered.