Alex crawled as far as he could until his hand struck something. He yelped. By Jove! What is this thing? Looking down, he could see nothing in the darkness. He kept his hand on it a moment later. It felt like metal, cold but rough under his fingers.

Sighing, he pulled off the backpack he'd had the foresight to bring, rummaging through it for the torch he always carried with him on mountain climbing or camping expeditions. He found it after a few minutes of scrabbling about in the back and pulled it out.

Flipping it on, he took a good look at what his hand had struck. It was a lever of sorts and in the back of the cave, just feet away, were two more levers.

Alex stared at them in amazement. "What in the blazes are these doing in here?" He whispered.

His curiosity got the better of him, and he pulled the lever back. You shouldn’t play with things you don’t understand. His mother’s voice from childhood slipped through his mind for a fleeting moment. But he ignored the words. He had a high sense that something strange was going on. You didn’t just find strange levers and contraptions in the middle of nowhere in a cave. And these things looked like they were all rusty as though they’d been sitting here for decades, maybe millennia. Certainly not something new.

Sliding his backpack back onto his shoulders, he flipped the rest of the levers too. The world began to spin then and he felt something shift. There was a dazzling flash of light and Alex blacked out.

***

When he woke, a pair of green eyes were staring down at him.

He started, trying to scramble back, but hands held him in place. The piercing green eyes continued to scrutinize him. He felt his breath coming in ragged gasps as his pulse accelerated. Where was he? He had been in a cave in Tunisia just five minutes ago. Not even five. Or had it been longer since he had been… Been what?

It flashed into his mind again. The brilliant, eye-searing light and then the blissful darkness had enveloped him. He looked around cautiously to see where he was.

He was in a circle of women dressed in short green dresses. The woman in front of him was wearing a slightly longer dress and some sort of crown, so Alex guessed she must be the leader.

Craning his neck, he saw that the hands holding him belonged to two other women.

Something was off, but he wasn’t sure what. Glancing around the circle, he realized what it was. He was the only man standing – well, laying really – in the circle. In fact, he was the only man in sight. And it was making him deucedly uncomfortable. Where are all the men? Why am I the only one here? Shouldn’t there be someone, anyone here other than these women? And why is everyone standing out here in the rain getting soaked in the early morning hours?

  He cleared his throat, trying to sit up. But the two women holding him kept him pinned. It was drizzling lightly but the women didn’t seem to mind. Of course, they weren’t the ones who were pinned to the ground with their faces turned up into the rain. “Now, see here!” He croaked out.

The women started when he spoke. That was a good thing, he thought. Well, it was until the woman with the green eyes slapped him harshly across the mouth. “Skáse , xénos!” She spat.

He didn’t understand her words. His eyes widened and he began protesting. “What? Now, look here, we can figure this out. Whatever your problem is…”

The woman cut him off again with another vicious slap across the face. “Den tha milí̱so̱ an milí̱sei.” She snapped with a haughty expression on her face.

Alex finally caught the drift of what she was saying and shut his mouth. He didn’t know what she was saying exactly, but it was clear that she didn’t want him to talk. Especially since, every time he did, she slapped him.

She snapped at someone behind her and a young woman around his age came over with a piece of rope.

Alex struggled against the grip of the strangers holding him, trying to get away. What is she doing? Are they going to tie me up? Maybe they’re bloody cannibals who eat people and they’re going to roast me alive? These thoughts only intensified the rapid thudding of his heart and he kicked at his captors, trying to shove them off him as he lay in the mud on his back. Water from the wet ground was soaking in through his shirt’s back and soaking his skin. It was also seeping into his jeans and his shoes. He moaned. I really did it this time! Why, oh why, did I have to pull those stupid levers?

The women holding him twisted his arms making it impossible for him to continue to struggle without hurting himself seriously.

The young woman gave him a strange look and then spoke soothingly. “Mi̱ fovásai . Egó̱ den tha sas vlápsei .”

The older woman, who looked remarkably like the younger woman, snapped at the girl. “Peíte mi̱dén me ton ídio, Vasiliki, kóri̱ mou . Eínai kakó , éna gouroúni.”

The younger woman looked at him, wide eyed. “Eínai af̱tó?”

The Queen glared at her. “Peíte mi̱dén me ton ídio, Vasiliki, kóri̱ mou!”

The younger woman, who Alex gathered was called Vasiliki, bowed her head in submission. “Ópo̱s epithymeíte, mi̱téra.”

The older woman, who must be Vasiliki’s mother, nodded curtly.

Vasiliki walked forward with the rope.

Alex gazed at her, still terrified. He hadn’t understood a word the two women had exchanged apart from catching that the younger woman was the daughter of the elder. And the younger woman’s name was Vasiliki. A beautiful name.

“Please, what are you going to do with me?” Alex cried out.

They didn’t respond. How can I clear this all up if they can’t understand me? Are they going to eat me? He thought in the horrifying silence.

Vasiliki bound his hands tightly with the rope and led him to her mother. Her mother took the rope and started walking.

Alex wasn’t expecting it, and he tripped and fell into the mud of the clearing. He gritted his teeth against the pain, refusing to cry out. I can’t cry out. I can’t give them any other reasons to believe that I am weak or despicable. These women obviously despised him enough. No need to prove to them he couldn’t handle it.

***

Vasiliki watched the stranger with interest. He wasn’t like the other men in the village. The others were slaves and they hardly spoke to any of the women, knowing that they were to speak only when spoken to.

Oh, they spoke among themselves often enough. Vasiliki had often listened to conversations among them and watched her own brother as he conversed with them in his menial labors. She heard the weary resignation in their voices and the sparking rebellion in her brother’s.

“Mother?” She called.

Her mother turned to look at her. “What, my daughter?”

“What will we do with him?” Vasiliki nodded her head at the stranger.

Her mother waved a hand. “We will behead him. He is a stranger, and we do not want any more men among us than we have.”

Vasiliki didn’t respond, but inside she squirmed at the thought. She didn’t want to see the stranger killed. I don’t know why I don’t want him dead! He’s a man just like all the others… But he… He reminds me a little of Daedalos. I can’t stand by while he’s killed just for appearing in my courtyard! “But he just appeared in front of us. Is it possible he can show us how to get back outside?”

Her mother shook her head. “A man? Do anything worthwhile? Vasiliki, I have raised you better than that. The men are all useless. They are good for nothing but to perform the tasks we do not want or do not have time to perform. You know this.”

Vasiliki bowed her head. “Normally, I would agree, mother. But he did just appear in the middle of our courtyard.”

“Queen Kyrene!”

Kyrene turned to see who was calling her. It was the prophetess, Sofia Andromeda. “Yes, Sofia?”

Sofia ran to Kyrene’s side. “My Queen, do not kill the man.”

Kyrene started, but she masked it quickly. “Have you lost your mind, Sofia? We must. The laws require that we either enslave or kill him.”

Sofia smiled. “His coming is prophesied, My Lady!”

Kyrene huffed. “Of course it is. Have you gone soft? Perhaps we ought to behead you along with the stranger.”

Sofia’s smile faded, but she kept stride with Kyrene and did not allow her fright to show. “I have not grown soft, Queen Kyrene. I seek only to ensure our people’s best interests are being served.”

“That, I believe, is my task, Sofia.” Kyrene’s eyes were hard.

“As you say, My Lady. I can show you the prophecy, however.”

Kyrene smiled thinly. “Very well, Sofia. Let’s see your prophecy. And if I find it to be false, I will have your head along with the stranger’s.”

Sofia bowed. “Of course.”

Vasiliki stood silently by watching as the events unfolded. She made to follow her mother and Sofia, but her mother held up a hand. “Vasiliki, go back to your chambers. I will speak with you when I am done with Sofia.”

Vasiliki bowed, backing away. She kept her face and posture humble and respectful towards her mother as was expected of the Princess of the Praelia. Inside, she seethed, hating her mother for her despicable behavior.

She walked back to her chambers, wanting to scream in frustration. If only she too could see the prophecy. To read it and see if it truly spared the life of the man who had found his way into their prison, their dimension.

But instead she sat on her bed and polished her arrow heads while she waited for her mother to return and tell her what the verdict had been.