“I cannot. I will not.” You stand tall, bracing your feet and pulling your fists to your face. Your father looks down sadly. The other kings in the room grumble.
“I am afraid you do not have a choice.”
“Then you will have to drag me away.”
Your uncle Menelaus pushes past your father. He grabs you by the arm, avoiding your swinging arms. Everyone starts yelling, and you can see your father begin to turn away.
“Father!” you yell, “please!”
The crowd pulls you to the altar, a white marble table decorated with carvings of animals playing a children’s game. The seer stands at the table with a curved knife in his hand. In your last seconds, you pray to the goddess Artemis, begging her to save you. You close your eyes.
THE END