Read Online Cursed by the Sea God by Patrick Bowman - Free Book Online

and called out. “Hello?”
    After a moment the gate opened and a tall, fine-featured woman with high
     cheekbones and a nest of curly hair appeared. “I wondered when you would work up
     your nerve tocall, good sir,” she said, her voice a
     high-pitched chirp. “I am named Circe,” she added.
    Her hand flew to her mouth as she came out and saw the rest of us around the
     corner. “Oh! I didn’t realize there were so many of you.” She hesitated. “Well,
     I suppose . . . I suppose you should all come in. Yes,” she added, her head
     bobbing, “that’s it. Of course. Do come in, my lords. Please.”
    At her request, the men dropped their armour and weapons at the gate. Circe
     showed us across the flagstones and into a sunny room scattered with wooden
     stools and small tables. Colourful woven tapestries covered every hand-span of
     the walls. I trailed behind the men and took a seat in the corner, wondering why
     Ury wasn’t ordering me over. Come to think of it, where was he?
    Circe’s voice distracted me. “Please, sit down, do,” she said, her
     long-fingered hands fluttering like tethered sparrows toward the stools. “You’ve
     come from far away, I can see that. You must be thirsty in this heat, my lords.
     Thirsty, yes,” she repeated to herself. “Perhaps you would like some wine,
     perhaps, some cool wine?”
    I hadn’t realized just how parched I was, but the idea suddenly seemed
     wonderful. The Greeks agreed enthusiastically, and she went into a back room,
     returning a moment later with goblets and a beautifully decorated deep bowl that
     the Greeks called a krater , from which she dipped wine for us all.
    It was a light Pramnian wine, sweetened with honey and a sprinkle of white
     barley meal, but after only a single cup I feltmyself growing
     strangely thick-headed. Around me, the conversation was slowly drying up, the
     Greeks slumping motionless on their stools. My thoughts were becoming slow and
     stupid. A goblet dropped from someone’s fingers and clattered against the stone
     floor. For some reason it didn’t seem worth turning my head to see.
    I could hear Circe enter the room to my right. She walked past me and picked
     her way delicately through the seated men, pausing in front of Polites. “I’ll
     start with you, I think.” Her tone was sweet and high-pitched. “You naughty man,
     you didn’t think to tell me there were others, did you? But then, that’s just
     like a man, isn’t it?”
    She was carrying a delicate brush in one hand and a tiny glass amphora in the
     other. I watched, unblinking, as she dipped the brush by its golden handle into
     the amphora. The bristles glistened as though coated in oil. She turned to
     Polites and brushed his ears and nose with it, then put the amphora and brush
     down to watch.
    Even in my stupor I was alarmed. His ears were growing! As I watched, they grew
     hairier, thinner, and developed points on the ends. His nose stretched up and
     back so I could see his nostrils, then flattened itself on the end. Like
     a—
    Circe clapped her hands and squealed. “Oh, I do so love pigs!” She spun around,
     her long skirt flying out around her. Behind her, the transformation was
     quickening. Polites’ head had become a pig’s, his body was shrinking and
     becoming rounder, his legs and arms shrivelling, his feet and handstwisting and hardening into trotters. With a frightened squeal,
     he slipped off the bench and began to run around, snuffling at the floor and
     grunting wildly.
    She turned to Pharos, seated motionless on the next stool, and stepped over his
     long legs stretched out before him. “Your turn, my pet. Aren’t you a big one!
     But don’t be scared. It’s all for the best. You must trust me, you know.” She
     leaned closer and pouted. “No? Well, you’ll understand very soon.” She brushed
     his nose and ears with oil as she had before. In a few moments, there was a
     second pig, much larger than the first,