Helios

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“First the Sea God curses us. Now the Sun God laughs at our misfortune.”

“Gods,” the king said and spat on the sand. “I have had my fill of the gods and their cruel jokes.”

The mariner raised his fearful eyes. “Your blasphemies are what have brought us to this place. You mock the gods at our peril.”

The man’s insolence was yet another reminder of the king’s abasement. How long had it been since he had seen the fields of his kingdom? How long since he had felt his wife’s embrace? Would he ever find his way home? And if he did, would he find anything left of his former life? These men were all that remained of the fleet he had set out with, so many years ago. Somewhere along the way, he had ceased to be their king, commanding their respect and obedience. Now, without even a ship to call his own, he was nothing to them.

He touched a finger to the pouch that hung around his neck, feeling the outline of the object concealed within, the orb in which the blind seer had shown him his future.

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