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COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Young Hercules, Hercules, Iolaus, Jason, Lilith and all other characters who have appeared in the series, together with the names, titles and backstories are the sole copyright property of MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. No infringement of copyrights or trademarks is intended in the writing of this fan fiction. This story is copyright © 1999 by Elizabeth L. Plessinger and is her sole property. A lot of the story idea was taken from the Young Hercules episode My Fair Lilith. I thought about what would happen if they had to do it all over again and this is what I came up with. The characters of Denaea, Princess Sierra, and King Menosis are her own creations. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.
Disclaimer: This is the second story in a series of Young Hercules stories. Neither of these stories is connected to the other except by characters. You don’t have to read the first one, Trust and Truth, to understand this one but I recommend that you do in order to understand some of the background.
Jason frowned as he looked around the throne room. His friends watched as he continued to rant and rave. "What do I need with all this stuff?" he complained. "It’s not like I’ll ever use half of it! I wish I could give it all back!"
"You could have used Princess Dido but you gave her back," Iolaus pointed out.
"Wrong, Iolaus," Hercules corrected him, "YOU could have used Princess Dido."
"At least that marriage scam is over with," Lilith commented with relief. "I don’t ever want to have to do that again."
"You may have to," a voice from the doorway said.
They all turned to see Ophistus standing there holding a piece of parchment.
"Why is that?" Denaea asked. She hadn’t been at the academy when the plan had taken place, which was weeks ago, but Lilith had told her all about it.
"Because a messenger from Marathon just handed me this note," Ophistus began. "It’s from King Menosis. It seems he has a daughter, Princess Sierra, that…"
"Don’t say it, Ophistus!" Jason warned interrupting him.
"He’s offering to you as a bride," he finished.
"Not again!" Jason wailed.
"But we can relax this time, Sire," Ophistus told him. "We’ve done this before and King Menosis won’t be arriving until tonight."
"Forget it, Ophistus," Lilith broke in, "I’m not doing this again!"
"But you have to, Lilith," Hercules pleaded with her. "Jason needs you."
"I’m not marrying her," Jason said through clenched teeth.
"If Lilith agrees to play the queen again, you won’t have to," Ophistus comforted Corinth’s future king.
"Well, I won’t," Lilith said folding her arms across her chest, looking very unbending.
"And I’m not getting married," Jason said, equally unbending.
"I’ll play the queen then," Iolaus offered. Everyone stopped and stared at him as though he’d lost his mind. "What?"
Ignoring him, they all started arguing again. "C’mon, Lilith!" was heard mixed with "I’m not doing this!" "But, Sire," blended together with "It’ll never work!"
Denaea stood back and watch it all unfold. She couldn’t believe these people, who usually only argued good-naturedly, were about to have a mini war over this. ‘I’ve got something to say about this but will they listen to me?’ she thought. ‘One way to find out.’ "Quiet, everyone!" she yelled over their shouting. Again, they stopped to look at who interrupted them. "We need to calm down and think rationally."
"I am thinking rationally," Lilith told her hotly. "And I’m NOT playing the part of Jason’s wife again!"
"And you shouldn’t have to," Denaea agreed with her gently. Lilith was stunned. That wasn’t the answer she expected to hear.
"But if she doesn’t, this plan is non-existent," Hercules protested. "And Jason will be forced to marry Princess Sierra."
"No, it isn’t," Denaea replied, "and no, he won’t." She walked around Jason. "You’re not ready to get married, right?"
"I don’t want to marry someone I don’t know and don’t love," Jason replied calmly but honestly.
She walked over to Lilith next. "And you don’t want to go through the charade of playing wife and queen," Denaea surmised.
"I won’t be put through all those etiquette and sophistication lessons again," Lilith said, a little less gruffly than before but still sounding stubborn.
"How is this going to work if Lilith won’t do her part?" Iolaus asked.
"Lilith can’t play the queen again for a very good reason," Denaea told them. When they didn’t say anything, Denaea rolled her eyes and said in an exasperated tone, "Think, you guys! King Cadmus surely has dealings with Marathon and its king. Don’t you think he’d have said something to King Menosis by now?"
Jason looked at his companions. "She’s right," he agreed, "King Menosis isn’t stupid. If Lilith pretends to be my wife again, Menosis will know something’s up."
"So what do we do?" Ophistus asked.
"You just need to find a new queen," Denaea said in a matter-of-fact voice, walking away from them.
"And where would we find her?" Iolaus wanted to know, sounding as if he were smarting off.
Big smiles crossed the faces of Hercules, Jason, and Lilith as Denaea turned around with a flourish. "Denaea, you’re brilliant!" Lilith exclaimed.
"You’d do that for me?" Jason asked sincerely.
"What?" Iolaus was confused. "She’s going to be queen?" His eyes got big as he pointed at Denaea.
"Why not?" Denaea asked defensively.
"Well…Because…Do you know anything about how royalty should act?" he shot at her seriously.
‘Do you?’ Denaea was thinking as she began a curtsey to him. She looked up at his face and said, "This is the way a proper queen should act." With lightning speed, she then flipped him over her shoulder. He landed with a thud on the throne room floor. "And that’s not," she said smiling as she stood over his prone form.
She walked over to Jason and gave him a lopsided grin. "To answer your question, yes, I would." She looked intensely into his eyes and continued, "You guys have done a lot for me by being there when I thought I had no friends. This is the least I can do to start repaying you."
Jason leaned over and kissed her cheek. Smiling back at her he said, "Thank you, Denaea."
"OK," Hercules cut in. "Now that we know who will be doing what. We have to make sure you’re ready for this." He took Denaea’s hand and led her and the rest of them to the dining hall to a table set for dinner. She looked at him strangely for a moment. "Sit," he commanded. "I just want to see if your table manners will pass."
She just stared at him slackjawed. ‘I can’t believe this!’ Denaea thought. ‘I think I’m old enough to know how to act at dinner.’ She sat down anyway.
"Good idea," Ophistus agreed. "You have to act regally in front of another king." He looked at Jason. "Jason, why don’t you sit with her to help her." He turned his focus back to Denaea. "You know, you can’t look scared or surprised when he touches you or holds your hand. You’re supposed to be married to him. It must look natural." Denaea nodded her understanding.
Jason sat next to her. He looked at her and smiled. He then picked up her hand and kissed it while looking into her eyes. Denaea just smiled back, her eyes laughing.
"Very good," Ophistus praised her after a few minutes of seeing if she knew which utensil to use when. "I think dinner will go smoothly."
"What about the clothes?" Lilith asked. "Will you have trouble wearing a long dress? Personally, I could hardly walk in the thing. It was so uncomfortable."
"I shouldn’t have a problem," she replied. "I guess the only problem I’d have is if it didn’t fit."
Lilith just rolled her eyes at that. "You’re so skinny, you won’t have a problem with the dress fitting you."
"That’s not the problem I mean," Denaea said. "I’m worried about the dress falling off me because it’s too big." She and Lilith giggled at the thought.
"Don’t worry," Jason assured her. "We’ll find you something that will fit."
Ophistus, Lilith and Denaea left the dining room to find something for Denaea to wear.
Hercules and Iolaus went over to Jason. "Do you think this will work?" Hercules asked.
"I think so," Jason answered him. "She seems to know how to act and walk gracefully. She’s doing much better than Lilith did at this point." He realized how that sounded and quickly restated, "I mean, I think King Menosis will believe she’s my wife."
"Doesn’t she look awfully young though?" Iolaus threw his two dinars worth in.
"Not any younger than Dido did," Hercules told him.
"What’s that have to do with anything?" Jason wanted to know.
"Well, shouldn’t a queen look old enough to rule?" he further asked.
"She’s fifteen, Iolaus," Hercules said. "People become crown princes and princesses younger than that so why not be married at fifteen?"
"OK," Iolaus conceded. "I was just asking."
The trio talked awhile longer about what they would say if Menosis were to ask something about Denaea.
"OK," Hercules began, "where will we say she’s from?"
"Well, she’s from Thebes," Iolaus said. "Can’t we use that?"
"Nah," Jason answered, shaking his head. "I’m sure King Menosis knows the King of Thebes and everyone knows the king’s daughter is only four winters old. She needs to be from a place far away, where Menosis wouldn’t know the royal family."
"How about Atlantis?" Hercules suggested. "It’s pretty far away. Not many people know very much about it. I don’t think many kings in Greece have much to do with the government of Atlantis."
"Atlantis," Jason repeated. "Yeah, I think that will do."
"I can research a name to give Menosis if he asks who her father is," Iolaus said. "I’ll let you know what I come up with."
"Well, I think this will work," Jason spoke. "I mean, Denaea is pretty. She knows how to curtsey properly. She knows how to act at a dinner party. Is there anything else we need to test her on before King Menosis gets here?"
"What about that fan thing?" Iolaus suggested. "You know, that thing Lilith had trouble with and ended up breaking a vase over?"
"Oh, yeah," Hercules remembered. "We need to teach her about unfolding a fan."
Just then Lilith came back into the room. "So, guys, are you ready to feast your eyes on Queen Denaea?"
When she entered the room, mouths hung open. Her transformation was amazing. She was wearing a pale blue gown with a full skirt and a high neck half-collar. It was sleeveless with a cape hung around the shoulders. Her hair was done in an upsweep with curly tendrils hanging down each side of her face. The crown was sitting elegantly on top of her head. But what amazed them the most was not her outfit but that she had a fan in her hand and opened it gently to fan herself.
"Well," Iolaus began, "I think that answers the question about the fan thing."
‘Oh, gods on Olympus, she’s absolutely stunning,’ Hercules thought to himself.
Before he could approach her and tell her what he was thinking, Jason walked forward, took her hand in his and kissed it. "You look wonderful," he told her, not taking his eyes off her once.
Denaea smiled shyly. "Thank you," she replied. "Do you think I’ll pass as a bride and queen?"
"No question about it," Hercules broke in. "You look every bit the part."
"I guess we’re ready for King Menosis then," Lilith commented.
"We still have a few hours before he arrives," Ophistus said. "Get yourselves ready and meet back here in an hour so we can go over last minute things. We don’t know exactly what time he’ll be arriving and I want everything to go smoothly."
"Let’s go get ready, guys," Jason told them as he headed for the room. Lilith, Iolaus, and Denaea began to follow him but Hercules called Denaea back.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I just wanted to tell you how beautiful I think you look," he said grabbing her around her waist.
"Why thank you," she answered him. She was half joking around but she saw the seriousness in his eyes. "Hercules, what’s wrong?"
He acted like he didn’t want to tell her but he sighed and began to explain. "I just noticed how Jason was looking at you and I didn’t like it."
Denaea smiled at him. "You’re jealous," she stated.
"No, I’m…" he started to protest but realized she was right. "Yes, I am. I just found you and I love you. I don’t want to lose you. To my good friend no less. I don’t think I could handle that."
"Don’t worry," Denaea reassured him. "You’re the one I love. Jason is my friend. I’m doing this to help him out. I like him but I don’t love him. Not like I do you." She leaned in and reached up to kiss him. When she broke off, she looked into his eyes and asked, "Feel better?"
Hercules pulled her in tighter and hugged her. "Yeah," he whispered. "I feel much better." He let her go and smiled. "C’mon. I need to get changed and you need to put yourself in a royalty state of mind."
A few hours later, King Menosis, his daughter, Princess Sierra, and his entourage arrived at the palace. Only Jason, Hercules, and Iolaus were in the throne room to greet them.
"Hello, Jason," King Menosis said in a friendly greeting. "How have you been, boy? I’ve heard good things about you. I’m sure your father would be proud."
"Thank you, Menosis," Jason replied, shaking the king’s hand firmly. He turned toward his friends to introduce them. He first pointed to Hercules. "This is my good friend and advisor, Hercules." Next he pointed to Iolaus. "And this is another good friend and advisor, Iolaus."
They both said hello to the king of Marathon. "It’s nice to meet you both," he told them. He turned his attention toward his daughter. "And now I’d like to introduce you to my daughter and your bride, Princess Sierra."
Sierra stepped forward and bowed her head to Jason but she didn’t smile. In fact, she didn’t look happy to be there at all.
Jason smiled at her and took King Menosis aside so their conversation couldn’t be overheard. "Happy as I am to meet your daughter, sir," Jason began, "I can’t marry her."
"What?" King Menosis shouted in surprise. "Why not? Do you not think her worthy of you?"
"No!" Jason said quickly. "No, that’s not it at all. You see, I can’t marry her because I’m already married." He gave Menosis an apologizing look.
King Menosis still looked surprised but then he started smiling and laughing a little. "Jason, don’t even try it," he told the future king of Corinth. "I’ve talked with King Cadmus and he told me all about your little game to get out of marrying Princess Dido. I know you didn’t marry Lilith."
"You’re right, Menosis," Jason answered him. "I didn’t marry Lilith. I married a girl I just recently met. We immediately fell in love and were married."
"Who is she?" he asked.
"Her name is Denaea," Jason said. "And she’s from Atlantis."
"I must admit I don’t know much about Atlantis," Menosis said, "but I’ve never heard of her. Is she aligned with royal blood? Who is her father?" He looked around the room and noticed she wasn’t there. "And where is she?"
"She’ll be along in a little while," Iolaus said, ignoring his other questions.
"She’s…" Hercules hesitated, trying to think of something.
"She was making herself presentable to a neighboring kingdom’s leader," they all heard from the doorway.
They all turned toward the melodic voice and saw Denaea standing there, looking even more stunning than she had earlier that day. She wore the same gown but there was an air of elegance about her. The way she carried herself screamed the regal attitude she was supposed to portray.
Lilith walked in behind her.
Denaea approached King Menosis and curtsied to him. "It’s nice to meet you, Your Highness," she greeted him. "I do apologize for my tardiness. I just didn’t want to greet you looking like a stable hand." She smiled at the king of Marathon.
"She was out riding," Hercules explained
. King Menosis looked at Jason and grinned. "Seems you’ve made a good choice of brides," he told him.
"Thank you, sir," Jason said slipping his arm around her waist. "As you can see we are very happy together." He smiled at the other king and pulled Denaea in tighter. She put one arm around him and the other on his chest.
Hercules fought the urge to break that up, as a streak of jealousy ran through him. He hid a look of distrust as he told himself, ‘She’s only acting the part. She doesn’t love him. She’s only helping him out. He doesn’t mean anything by holding her so close.’ He looked at his friend. ‘But he’d better not try anything with her.’
Just then Ophistus came in to tell them dinner was being served. As Hercules moved toward Denaea to escort her to the dining room, Jason smiled at her and offered her his arm. She smiled back at him and took it.
Lilith moved up behind Hercules and whispered, "Sickening, isn’t it?"
"Huh?" he looked back at her.
"The way he’s looking at her and the way he’s holding her," Lilith pointed out to him. "I thought you and she were an item. The way he’s acting you’d think they were actually married."
Iolaus came up behind them both. "They’re supposed to be," he told them. "That’s what this is all about. I think they’re putting on a great performance."
"Jason doesn’t have to get into the part so much," Hercules said in an annoyed tone.
"Denaea doesn’t either," Lilith added.
"You know what I think?" Iolaus asked.
"No!" they both said at the same time.
"Well, I’ll tell you anyway," he said, ignoring their tone of voice. "I think you’re both jealous because they are doing a great job with this façade and each of you wishes it were you doing the acting."
"I am not!" Hercules hissed at his friend. "I just…" Iolaus stopped his words with just a knowing expression. "Alright, I’m jealous. He doesn’t have to hold her so tight or even look like he’s enjoying himself so much!"
"And you, Lilith?" Iolaus glanced over to her. "I know you’re jealous of Denaea because it was your part first and now she’s playing it."
"That’s not true!" Lilith exclaimed. "I’m not jealous. I don’t like Jason like that!"
Iolaus just gave her a look. "Don’t try to kid me now, Lilith," he said. "I could see the daggers in your eyes from across the room." Lilith just looked away and didn’t say anything more. "C’mon, you guys. You can’t honestly think that Jason and Denaea are serious about this marriage thing outside this plan. They’re just making it look good for King Menosis and Princess Sierra." He looked out the door to where Denaea had just disappeared. "The question I’m asking is where did she learn how to act so regally if she grew up on a farm?"
"That is a good question, Iolaus," Lilith agreed calmly. She then looked at him with her eyes blazing. "But that doesn’t matter because the performance she’s putting on is so convincing, I think Jason is fantasizing that this is real!"
"Alright, that’s enough!" He sighed heavily. "I guess we could try harder not to get so mad," Hercules relented. "But dinner better not take too long. I don’t know how long I can sit there and watch them making goo-goo eyes at each other all for the sake of fooling King Menosis." He walked out with Lilith and Iolaus trailing behind.
At dinner, Hercules made a point of sitting next to Denaea on her right as Jason was seated at the head of the table and on her left. He kept a close eye on his friend to look for signs that he was more than role-playing.
"So, Jason," King Menosis began, "where did you meet this amazing creature?" He smiled endearingly at Denaea.
Jason and Denaea exchanged a quick panicked glance. They hadn’t been prepared to answer those types of questions. At least Denaea hadn’t. Jason discussed things like this earlier with Hercules and Iolaus but this particular question was never addressed.
Luckily, Iolaus pulled through. "Jason was on a business trip to Atlantis and met her at a party held in his honor," Iolaus lied. "She is Baron Philipus’ daughter. He didn’t even know the baron had a daughter let alone one so beautiful. Jason’s only dealt with the Baron and his sons. Anyway, they spent practically every minute with each other at the party. By the time the party had ended, he was hooked. The more time they spent together, the more they knew they were meant for each other. He spent an extra three days in Atlantis for the sole purpose of winning her over to be his wife. Obviously, it worked. They were married upon his return."
Denaea and Jason had huge smiles on their faces as Iolaus finished his story. He’d made it sound so believable!
"That’s wonderful!" King Menosis practically shouted. "I propose a toast to the future King of Corinth, Jason and his new bride, Queen Denaea. May you always be in love and may you always show it the way you do now."
"Here, here," was heard throughout the dining hall as they drank to Menosis’ words.
Jason beamed at Denaea as if to reinforce the King of Marathon’s sentiment. He reached down and picked up Denaea’s hand and kissed it while looking into her eyes. He then reached over and kissed her gently on the lips.
Denaea was surprised but she hid it with a smile. She remembered Ophistus’s words that everything had to look natural. She quickly checked Hercules’s reaction and noticed he was taking deep breaths to calm himself. He looked like he’d been stabbed through the heart. ‘Uh, oh,’ she thought, ‘this was a bad idea. I should never have suggested playing this part. I should have known it would turn out to be a disaster.’
‘He kissed her again!’ Hercules thought remembering earlier when he kissed her on the cheek. ‘I can’t believe he kissed her again! Just like that!’ He felt his face turn red and thought for a moment he would explode. Taking a few more deep breaths, he said to himself so no one else could hear, "I will not blow this for Jason but he’s got some explaining to do!"
Iolaus noticed Lilith’s reaction to Jason kissing Denaea. She was almost as surprised as Denaea and about as red as Hercules. Iolaus, not wanting to cause undo attention, casually reached down and squeezed her hand reassuringly. He didn’t want her anger to blow the plan for Jason.
Dinner ended soon afterward and Jason and King Menosis went to the throne room to discuss some political issues. Denaea, Hercules, Iolaus, and Lilith went to the Royal Gardens to get some air.
Once there, Hercules started to yell at Denaea. "What are you doing? I thought this was just an act! You certainly don’t look like you’re acting!"
"Hercules, calm down," Denaea told him. "It isn’t what you think."
"Well, then, Queen Denaea," Lilith shot at her with venom in her voice, "what exactly is it?"
"Jason surprised me too with that kiss," Denaea said defending herself. "It’s not like I said before we got in there that I wanted him to kiss me to make it look good. He just did it."
"I think everyone needs to calm down," Iolaus said. "This argument isn’t doing anyone any good."
"So what about you and Jason holding each other close and looking into each other’s eyes, huh?" Hercules asked, ignoring Iolaus totally. "What is that for?"
"I’m just acting out my part," Denaea further explained. "I can’t help it if Jason holds me a little closer than you’d like or if he looks at me in a romantic way. I’m just playing a role here."
Hercules was still looking accusatory at Denaea. "You may just be acting the part but do you have to make it look so real?"
"Isn’t that what all this is about?" Denaea asked, using Iolaus’s words. She started to get a little more defensive. "You know, you’re jealousy could spoil this whole thing. I thought making it look real what I was supposed to do in order to fool King Menosis into thinking I was really Jason’s wife so he wouldn’t have to marry Princess Sierra."
"What? You’re not really Jason’s wife?" they heard from behind them. They all turned around and saw Princess Sierra standing there by a rose bush.
"Uh, Princess Sierra, how nice to see you," Lilith stammered.
"Yes, lovely night for a stroll through the garden," Iolaus said, sounding fakely upbeat.
"What are you doing here?" Hercules asked nervously. "I thought you were in the throne room with your father."
"I was but it got boring," Sierra said. "Father finally told me to find you."
"Oh…Well, we, uh…" Hercules faltered.
"We were just discussing Euripides’s latest play," Lilith fibbed.
"You don’t have to pretend with me," she told them. "I heard your conversation. If Jason didn’t want to marry me, why didn’t he just say so?"
"Uh," Denaea looked at her companions uneasily. "I’m sorry, Princess. I’m not really a queen. I’m a good friend, nothing more. We didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I guess Jason just didn’t want to hurt your feelings by refusing you."
"Hurt my feelings?" she asked in shock. "This doesn’t hurt my feelings." Her eyes lit up and her face held an expression of joy. "This is great! I didn’t want to get married either!"
"I thought you looked a little unhappy to be here," Iolaus commented on her introduction in the throne room earlier.
"Yes, I was," she explained. "Daddy didn’t even give me a choice. He just said ‘Crown Prince Jason is to be your husband’. Just like that. Not caring a bit how I felt."
"Jason will be relieved," Iolaus told her.
"But you still have to put on this charade for a while longer," she added. "Until we go back to Marathon."
"Why?" Lilith asked. "If you don’t want to marry Jason, I don’t see…"
"It’s my father," Sierra interrupted. "He was dead set on me marrying Jason and becoming Queen of Corinth that if he finds out Jason isn’t married, he’ll insist on a wedding immediately."
"What do we do?" Lilith wanted to know.
"I don’t know," Denaea answered her. She turned toward Princess Sierra. "Listen. This won’t work anymore. I’m sorry. I’m just a girl who wants to be a warrior. I was lucky enough growing up that my parents taught me enough about how to act in front of dignitaries but I…I don’t think I can do this anymore. I’m not royalty and I really don’t know the first thing about how a real queen would act. I’m just pretending. And all it’s doing is upsetting everyone."
"But you’re doing a great job," Princess Sierra protested to her. "You have to continue doing this. It’s for everyone’s happiness in the end. If Jason and I end up married, we’ll both be miserable."
"You know, she’s right," Iolaus told them. "Do you really want our friend to end up miserable for the rest of his life? Not to mention Princess Sierra?"
"I’m sure Jason is a wonderful guy," Sierra let everyone know her feelings, "but I don’t love him. I don’t even know him well enough to like him a lot. I don’t want to marry him."
Hercules was still angry over Jason kissing his girl but he didn’t want his friend to have his life ruined by marrying someone he didn’t want to marry. "OK," he agreed, "we’ll keep up this game a while longer." He looked at Denaea. "You can do this, Denaea. As much as I hate to admit it, Iolaus is right. You and Jason are doing a great job at fooling King Menosis."
She looked at everyone. She saw how Princess Sierra looked almost desperate to get out of this arranged marriage and how Hercules looked sincere with his words of encouragement. She sighed in her resolve. "I’ll do what I can," she told him as they started moving toward the throne room. She held him back from the rest of the group. "Remember, I love you," she said softly. "It doesn’t matter what I pretend to be with Jason in front of Menosis. It’s you who I’ll be snuggling close to when this is all over."
Hercules threw his arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer. "I know," he whispered into her hair. "It’s just hard for me to see you with him when I want it to be me."
Denaea looked up at him and smiled but said nothing more. She was sure being jealous of his friend was hard enough for him to admit. Telling her to continue the charade must’ve been truly painful.
When they entered the throne room a short time later, Hercules escorted Denaea over to stand next to Jason. He smiled reassuringly at her as he let go of her arm.
King Menosis just smiled as the group rejoined them. "Ah, your lovely bride is back." He turned to his daughter and asked, "Did you enjoy your walk in the garden with them?"
"Yes, father," Princess Sierra replied. "I learned a lot about Corinth’s new queen." She smiled and winked at Denaea.
"Yes," Denaea agreed. "I’m sure we’ll become good friends."
They made some more small talk when suddenly Denaea started feeling dizzy. She leaned against Jason for support.
"Honey, are you OK?" he asked keeping up the front for Menosis.
"Oh, not again," she said breathlessly.
"What’s the matter?" Jason was almost panicked. He was sure the plan was ruined now.
"I’m feeling a little dizzy for some reason," she told him.
Jason looked at Hercules. "Would you escort the queen to our chamber?"
As they started to leave the room, King Menosis said, "Please wait a moment. I know it’s getting late and we must be going anyway. But before we leave I’d like to present these flowers to your beautiful new bride." He snapped his fingers and one of his servants walked in with a large bouquet of flowers, mostly containing daffodils.
Denaea passed out in Hercules’s arms. Lilith sprang into action and took the flowers from the servant. "I’ll just take these for our queen and put them in some water," she said. She ran out of the room.
Jason and Iolaus ran over to Denaea. "Take her out of here," Jason commanded Hercules, who was already scooping her up. Iolaus left the throne room with them and went to find the palace physician.
Jason confronted Menosis and Sierra, who wore confused and concerned expressions on their faces. "I’m sorry, Your Highness," Jason apologized. "My wife is sick and I need to be with her."
"What’s wrong?" the King of Marathon asked, sounding as concerned as he looked. "She was fine a moment ago."
"Uh, I don’t know," Jason lied knowing full well it was the daffodils causing the problem. He didn’t want the make the king feel bad by offering Denaea flowers she was allergic to. Menosis didn’t know and Jason wasn’t going to throw the king’s generosity in his face.
King Menosis got a twinkle in his eye. "She’s not carrying your heir, is she?"
Sierra stood there trying not to laugh at her father’s supposition. Jason’s eyes got wide. "Excuse me?" he asked in shock.
"Denaea," Menosis smiled at him. "She’s pregnant, isn’t she?"
"No," Jason shook his head. "No, she’s not."
"She’s got all the symptoms," Menosis pushed further. "She’s feeling sick and dizzy. She passed out right here." He elbowed Jason in a friendly way. "And she has that glow about her. Well, she did earlier anyway."
"No," Jason repeated, still shaking his head. "Denaea is not pregnant. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go." He rushed out of the room and away from that uncomfortable conversation.
He went looking for Hercules, Iolaus, Lilith and Denaea. He found them in his chamber. Denaea was lying on the bed still passed out.
"How is she?" Jason asked.
"She still hasn’t woken up," Hercules informed him. "The doctor gave her a sedative." He shook his head sadly. "This reaction is a bad one. Those flowers must’ve been really strong scented or something."
"Don’t tell that to King Menosis," Jason said. "He seems to think Denaea is pregnant."
"What!" all three exclaimed at the same time.
"He thinks she’s carrying my heir," He explained. "I tried to tell him differently but he’d already made up his mind."
"Didn’t you tell him she’s allergic to daffodils?" Iolaus asked shouting at him.
"I couldn’t," Jason shouted back. "He was nice enough to offer them as a gift. I wasn’t about to throw his generosity in his face."
"But you’re willing to let him think she’s carrying your child?" Lilith got angry with him.
"You’re making this sound like it’s all my fault," Jason shot back at her.
"Isn’t it?" she confronted him. "All this is because you don’t want to get married. You couldn’t just say you were betrothed…or better yet, you couldn’t tell King Menosis the truth! No, you had to parade around here with Denaea on your arm making goo-goo eyes at her and falling all over yourself over her and letting King Menosis think whatever he wants about you two! Well, I can’t watch it anymore! I’m going back to the academy!"
As Lilith turned to walk out of the room, Jason grabbed her by the arm. He looked into her eyes and saw something in her he’d never seen before. "You’re jealous," he said calmly. "Lilith, why didn’t you ever say anything?" Before she could comment back to him, Ophistus came through the door. "Prince Jason, you all need to quiet down," he told the future king. "King Menosis and Princess Sierra are coming down the hallway as we speak."
"Tell them they can’t…" Jason started to order his advisor. "Oh, hi, King Menosis."
"Jason, what is this?" Menosis asked walking into the room. "I heard something about not telling me the truth. What’s going on?"
"It’s nothing, Your Highness," Ophistus tried to smooth everything over.
"No, it isn’t nothing, my good man," the King of Marathon disagreed. "I know what I heard." He stepped over toward Jason. "Is it true you aren’t really married?"
"Well, sir," Jason stammered. "It’s just…I didn’t…I’m sorry. It’s true. I’m not really married and I don’t want to be."
"Well, then your free to marry my daughter," Menosis said ignoring Jason’s second comment.
"No, daddy," Princess Sierra spoke up. "I won’t be pushed into this."
"But it’s for your own good, honey," her father pressed on.
"You aren’t listening to me, daddy," Sierra raised her voice a little. "I don’t want to get married. Not right now, anyway. And not to someone I don’t know and don’t love. And how do you know what’s good for me?"
"I’m your father," he stated. "I should think that would tend to make me an authority figure."
"But I’m not a little girl anymore, daddy," she said. "I can make my own decisions and I won’t be forced to marry when I’m not ready."
"You will do as I say!" he yelled at her.
"Don’t make me run away again!" she screamed back at him. "I’ll do it! Just like I did the last time you tried this! I won’t be forced to do something I don’t want to do!"
Menosis looked at his daughter and really saw her for the first time. He didn’t say anything at first. He just continued to stare at her. "Such a headstrong girl," he finally commented. "So much like your mother." He sighed as he looked at his daughter’s face. ‘There’s no way she’s giving in,’ he thought, ‘so I may as well give up. "Alright, I won’t force the issue anymore."
Jason looked at Ophistus and Iolaus and breathed a sigh of relief. "Now that that’s over with…" Jason began.
"How is she?" Menosis interrupted and pointed to Denaea.
"The doctor gave her a sedative," he told the older king. "She’ll be asleep the rest of the night." He moved toward the door. "Why don’t we all just leave her to rest." Everyone but Hercules filed out the door.
At the palace gates, Jason and company saw King Menosis and Princess Sierra off. "It’s been a pleasure meeting you, King Menosis," Jason said shaking the king’s hand. "And I’m sorry I lied to you."
"I think I understand, Jason," he accepted his apology, "and it’s alright. With your help, my daughter opened my eyes to the fact that she’s not a little girl and I can’t tell her what to do anymore." He smiled at his daughter then at Jason. "Thank you."
As they walked away, Lilith turned to Iolaus, Ophistus, and Jason. "Well, I guess I’ll be heading back to the academy now."
"Not so fast, Lilith," Jason said, grabbing her arm once more. He looked at Iolaus and Ophistus pleadingly.
"Uh, we’ll just go…" Iolaus stammered.
"Check on Denaea," Ophistus finished for him. They quickly headed off in that direction.
Jason turned his attention back to Lilith. "We need to finish the conversation you started earlier," he told her.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you being jealous over Denaea playing the part you still wanted to play even though you refused to do it."
Lilith opened her mouth to protest then closed it. What was the point in arguing? Jason was right. "I’m sorry, Jason," she apologized. "It just never hit me how much you mean to me until I saw you doing things with Denaea that I wished you were doing with me." She looked at the ground as she continued. "I’ve acted like an idiot. I’m really sorry."
"Don’t be," he said smiling at her as he raised her chin so she could meet his eyes. "I’m flattered that you think of me that way." He stepped in closer to her. "To be honest, I was hoping you felt that way." He cupped his hands around her face and leaned down. Ever so gently he kissed her.
"Hercules," the weak voice from the bed called softly. Denaea opened her eyes to find she was in a bedroom in the palace.
"I’m here, Denaea," he said picking up her hand.
"What happened?" she asked waking up a little more. "King Menosis brought you a bouquet of flowers with many daffodils," Hercules told her. "You can guess what happened from there."
"The last thing I remember is falling over into Jason and him telling you to escort me out," she recalled. "Did I sleep all night?" She looked toward the window. It was a little dark but the sun was peaking out over the horizon.
"Yeah," Hercules confirmed. "Jason had the palace doctor give you a sedative. It calmed you down and let you sleep off the allergic effects."
"Oh." She wanted to ask something else but was reluctant in bringing it up. But she had to know. "How did the rest of the night go with King Menosis?" she asked rather cautiously.
"After you passed out, it went from bad to worse," Hercules said not holding anything back.
"Oh, no," she groaned. "So when is the wedding?" She asked it half-seriously, half-jokingly.
"Luckily for Jason, Princess Sierra stepped in and stopped her father’s insistence that she and Jason be married."
"Well, that’s good at least," she agreed. "So what did happen?"
"Uh, well, you see, uh…" Hercules stumbled over his words. He didn’t want to tell her that Menosis thought she was pregnant or that Lilith yelled at Jason because of her.
"That good, huh?" she said cynically. She put her hands up and continued, "You know what? I don’t even want to know anymore. If you’re going to be shy about telling me, I’m better off not knowing."
Hercules sighed with relief. Smiling he said, "Yeah, you really are."