Chapter 6 - The Queen's Court

Queen Pasiphaë stood before her mirror as Lysippe fastened the ceremonial brooch - a golden bull, Minos's private joke. She'd learned to bear these small cruelties without flinching.

"The King awaits in the throne room," a servant announced from the doorway.

Three weeks he'd been absent from court. Three weeks of construction reports, strange vibrations through the palace stones, and quietly moving gold to discrete accounts in Athens. Now he was back, and everyone would pretend normalcy while calculating their proximity to disaster.

The throne room stank of incense and fear. Every minister in their assigned positions like actors who'd memorized their marks. At the far end, Minos sat on his obsidian throne, smaller somehow despite the seat's imposing size. He'd lost weight. His robes hung like curtains on a frame. His fingers drummed against the armrest, three quick taps, pause, two slow ones, repeat.

Pasiphaë took her place on the smaller throne. The stone was cold through her robes. Minos didn't acknowledge her arrival.