Stone Blind(58)

‘It did,’ said Perseus. ‘But I didn’t know who to ask.’

‘How about the king who set you on your quest?’ suggested Athene. ‘Polydectes. Remember him?’

‘I couldn’t ask him.’ Perseus was horrified. ‘Then he would have thought I was stupid.’

‘Yes, I can see how that would have put you off,’ Hermes said. ‘You could have told us you had no idea what you were doing when we found you.’

‘He did seem like the kind of person who might embark on a quest for a Gorgon’s head without knowing what a Gorgon was,’ Athene said. ‘Now you mention it.’

‘You already thought I was an idiot,’ Perseus said. ‘I didn’t want to make things worse.’

‘They’re worse now,’ Hermes replied. ‘Now I think you’re much stupider than I would have if you’d said something at the outset.’

‘Right,’ said Perseus.

‘I probably don’t,’ Athene added. ‘But that’s because I thought you were incredibly stupid when we met, and there wasn’t much scope for me to think less of you.’

‘Yes,’ said Perseus. ‘I appreciate that.’

‘So you’ve been walking along the coast, wondering if whatever you see might be a Gorgon?’ Hermes checked.

‘Yes,’ said Perseus.

‘Like gulls or sheep or prickly pears?’ Athene asked.

‘Well, I know what all those are,’ he said. ‘But otherwise, yes.’

‘So you just asked Zeus for help, and the help you need is to know what a Gorgon looks like?’ Hermes said.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘No, I just wanted to be sure. I could just tell you anything was a Gorgon, and you’d believe me?’

Panic flooded Perseus’s face. If the gods decided to trick him, he would have no way of knowing until he reached Seriphos. He could see the vicious disdain in the eyes of the king as he revelled in Perseus’s failure, hear the mockery of his courtiers. He felt suddenly short of breath, even after sitting on the rock to recover from his climb. Perhaps Zeus would intervene to save him, he thought. Or, failing that, perhaps Polydectes wouldn’t know what a Gorgon was either, and he could just bluff it out. Even as Perseus thought this, he acknowledged it was unlikely.

‘Gorgons are immortal creatures,’ Athene said. ‘Did you really not know this?’

‘No,’ said Perseus. ‘Well, yes, I suppose I would have guessed they were something like that, because the Graiai mentioned they were sisters.’ He tried and failed to suppress the shudder that afflicted him whenever he thought of the hateful hags. If he had been brave enough, he would have told Athene that he hoped they were exactly like the Graiai. Because then he would not struggle to behead one.

‘They are indeed sisters to the Graiai,’ said Hermes, and Perseus supposed that his pomposity was just part of his nature and had to be tolerated.

‘But they are far more deadly,’ Athene explained.

This was not what Perseus had been hoping to hear. ‘More deadly?’ he asked. ‘How much more?’

‘Well,’ said Hermes, leaning on his staff. ‘A lot more. The Graiai are old, and blind, and only have a single tooth between them. Had, I should say. The Gorgons are predators.’

‘Like wild cats?’ asked Perseus. ‘Or eagles?’

‘No,’ said Athene. ‘Like dangerous creatures who would swallow you whole if you irritated them.’

‘I see,’ said Perseus. ‘Lucky the Hesperides gave me this sword.’ The harpē was the only thing he hadn’t complained about since he received it.

‘Lent you this sword, I think,’ said Hermes. ‘It belongs to your father, and he will want it back.’

‘What do they look like?’ asked Perseus.

‘You really need to worry about the tusks,’ said Hermes. ‘They have huge, sharp teeth and they could crunch your bones in a beat of your puny heart.’

‘Right,’ said Perseus. ‘Avoid the teeth.’

‘They also have wings,’ Athene said.

‘So they can fly at me, with their teeth?’

‘Yes,’ she said.

‘They’re incredibly strong,’ added Hermes. ‘As strong as a god, really.’

‘So it’s not just the tusks I need to avoid?’ Perseus said. ‘It’s more the whole creature?’

‘That would be ideal,’ said Hermes.

‘Except I need to decapitate one.’ Perseus thought for a while. ‘Perhaps I could sneak up on one from behind?’

‘Yes and no,’ said Hermes.

‘Why no?’

‘The snakes, of course,’ snapped Athene.

‘They live somewhere surrounded by snakes?’ Perseus asked. He hadn’t even begun to think about the environment in which the Gorgons might live. He’d been too busy concentrating on what they might be.

‘No,’ Hermes said. ‘They are surrounded by snakes.’

Perseus sighed. He wasn’t afraid of snakes, he didn’t think. But it probably depended on how many snakes there were, and this didn’t sound good.

‘The Gorgons are all surrounded by snakes?’ he asked. ‘Do they just sit among them or . . .’