Autolycus was never quite sure how he was always able to make it past such thugs, but he'd stopped questioning his abilities long ago. ~ Indeed ~ , he thought to himself as he passed a smoothing finger over his mustache in triumph, ~ I am truly the King of Thieves! ~

Although he certainly hoped to gain from his infiltration of the God of War's abode, Autolycus' presence in the Halls of War was purely a matter of honor. Two nights before, he'd heard some soldier in a tavern talking of a "treasure" being hidden away in the Halls of War. The teller of the tale had sworn that Ares had this treasure stashed away so well that "not even the King of Thieves himself could get in there!" That was like waving a red flag in front of a bull, and before he'd even realized that he'd taken the challenge, Autolycus was on the road to Thrace. Now, he was pleased to see his skills and efforts were already paying off handsomely.

"Hail to the King, baby!" he chuckled lightly as he moved easily through the darkened hall, which quickly opened onto a small armory full of weapons, with three corridors leading away from the north wall. "Oh, I see," he now complained, "I gotta play 'Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo' now, right?"

No answer came, though he did hear something like a pebble being scooted across the stone floor of the first corridor, and it intrigued him. He walked over and peered into the dark passageway, seeing nothing but a small flickering that must surely be torchlight. Trusting his eyes, he stepped into the corridor and walked toward the light until he found himself in an antechamber which was indeed lit by torches. He also found himself face to face with a huge door made of thick oak, and sealed with a heavy bolt and lock that could have only been made by the fire god, Hephaestus. Seeing a god-rendered lock like that would have daunted a lesser thief, but instead of disappointing him, the sight of the rather impressive and complicated lock only made him rub his hands together with glee.

"Aha! At last, someone who anticipated the likes of me!" he congratulated himself and the absent God of War, and began pulling out his tool belt for the purpose of winning this challenge. He fell to work with inspired diligence, silently praying that his efforts would be rewarded once he got the door open.

"Come on, baby, talk to Papa!" Auto urged the unlistening lock as he tested each cylinder within the huge metal casing with a pick. Exhibiting extreme patience - the trademark of a thief, and the true hallmark of an artist, in his not-so-humble opinion - , Autolycus began trying each of his tools in order, and to his amazement, he discovered that eventually each tool in his collection caused another tumbler to fall within the lock's cylinders. However, the internal mechanics of the lock were proving to be truly daunting and ultimately challenging, which only pushed him to keep going until he had exhausted all his tools and could go no further.

"Why, you . . . ," Auto shook his fist at the stoic, metal bolt. "I oughta - !"

Then it hit him - being the King of Thieves, he always had one last trick up his sleeve, and he quickly reached into it to retrieve just the item he needed: a skeleton key!

At first, Autolycus scrutinized the large, tarnished, skull-headed key, for it hadn't been needed in ages. However, as any good artisan would, he kept all the tools of the trade, regardless of its usefulness. Sooner or later, like at this moment, he knew he would have use for it. Yet, he hesitated to try it because it was just too simple an answer to so complex a lock. However, being the gambling man that he was, he took the long shot and put the key into the lock and turned it slowly.

"Come to Papa," he whispered in encouragement for both himself and the key as it came in contact with the final tumbler and hesitated at the solid blockage. And then, just as he began to fear he was wrong, the tumbler fell in a loud click of victory and Autolycus had to restrain himself from shouting in delight when he saw the bolt release from the lock casing.

"Oh, you sweet key!" Autolycus praised the neglected tool and kissed it solidly before putting it back in its place somewhere up his sleeve. After pulling the opened lock from the door, he tossed it into his sack. "A little something for my trouble!" he smiled as he reattached the bag to his belt.

Now open, there was nothing left to impede his entrance, so Autolycus boldly took hold of the door handle and pulled back on it. The great, oaken door opened slowly to reveal . . . another short, dark corridor which led to another antechamber and another huge, oaken door latched with another huge lock. However, there were no torches to light his way this time.

"Well, Sweet Mother of Zeus!" the King of Thieves cursed in exasperation, unhappy with the scenario he was facing once again. There was no question that he could best this lock, or any others like it that should follow - the question was, exactly how many were there? And could he get them all open before he was discovered? Autolycus had to ask himself if the uncertain possibility of there actually being a "treasure" somewhere within the temple was worth risking the wrath of Ares, and most likely his own life.

For the moment, he was willing to take the risk. He turned back to retrieve a torch and close the first door behind him so as to afford himself a little more privacy as he worked, as well as give himself a little fair warning if he were to be discovered.

"Here we go again," he sighed as he set the torch in a sconce and began to pull out the necessary tools once more. However, to his instant dismay, he discovered that the lock was not at all the same as the lock he'd just bested. In fact, this lock appeared to be a sort of "combination" device, as the front of it was set with three rows of dazzling precious stones of all colors and varieties. The King of Thieves had encountered only a few combination locks in his time, but this was certainly the most complicated he'd ever seen. Just from his first look at it, he judged that he would have to first discern the pattern of stones that were to be touched in order to release the bolt, and that was going to be hard to figure out without plenty of time to think on it - time he really did not have.

His forehead wrinkled in consternation as he contemplated the rows of stones that glittered so beautifully in the torchlight, knowing it could be any number of color combination possibilities. He was afraid to admit it, but the hard fact was that he might not be able to crack this one.

"Oooh, I hate this!" the thief growled at the tempting lock, for even if there were only yet another locked door on the other side of this one, the lock and its jewels alone were worth the attempt to open it. But, how to crack this one? Autolycus rested his chin on his left palm as he considered the possibilities and specifics surrounding the lock.

"Now, to begin with, we have a lock obviously forged by the great Hephaestus himself, so it was done as a special favor to his brother Ares, for as we all know, Hephaestus is employed full-time making thunderbolts for his daddy, Zeus - or, at least he was until recently," Auto reasoned to himself. "So, that means Ares had these babies made to order. First, a key lock only I, the King of Thieves, would have the patience, fortitude, and cleverness - not to mention the tools - to crack, and now a combination lock that would confound the gods themselves, but which must have an easily remembered combination, since it is rarely opened, judging by the dust gathered on it. Since Ares ordered this himself, it would go to figure that he supplied his own combination for it as well . . . what are the odds?"

The thief mused over the options, wondering if there were any simple solutions to the lock. It could be anything, so he broke it down to the basics.

"All right, we've got three rows of gems with three gems to each row. In row one, we obviously have an aquamarine, a black pearl, and a garnet. In row two, we have a very lovely diamond, an emerald, and a peridot. And, in row three, a ruby, a sapphire, and a topaz."

He stopped abruptly, suddenly realizing that the precious gems he had just named off had all been installed on the lock in an order that corresponded with the Greek alphabet, and a very self-satisfied grin spread across his face as he began to wag his finger at the lock.

"Aha! Thought you could fool me, didn't ya!? Well, I'll admit you had me going there for a second, but you can't out-think the likes of me!"

Autolycus approached the lock, his mind now searching for a clue as to what word related to the God of War would fit the limited number of stones available. The first option that came to mind - "Xena" - didn't fit. Neither did "Hera" or "Zeus" or any of the other gods' names.

After a few moments of exasperated thought, the King of Thieves berated himself, "Hold on one minute before we fly off the handle . . . If we were going to make such a lock that we were fairly sure only ourselves would ever see, and only on rare occasions at that, what word would we use as our combination? What's the one word we'd never forget?"

Slowly the realization dawned on him, and he almost dismissed it for its sheer simplicity. However, he had learned through his many encounters with the Warrior Princess and Hercules that the God of War was interested primarily in himself, and Autolycus had to try it if only to prove himself wrong.

"All right, let's give it a shot," he agreed with himself, and he reached out to the lock, pressing in order, amethyst, ruby, and emerald. "Here goes nothing," he proclaimed as he reached for the sapphire. The moment the exquisite blue stone was pressed into the casing, the tumblers fell in a rather loud "Clink!", and the bolt popped free of the latch. The combination was ARES!! The war god had used his own name!

"Ohhh, I'm so good - I should write a book - 'How To Beat the Odds and Rob the Gods'!" Autolycus praised himself yet again as the bejewelled lock joined the other in his bag, and he reached for the handle on the heavy door. To his surprise, the portal opened onto a huge, well-lit armory, and a greater smile came to his lips.

At the end of a long, red carpet that lay between the rows upon rows of swords, spears, maces, and other implements of war, was another oaken door, but it was locked with the simplest lock Autolycus had seen all day. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation, for he knew instinctively that he'd finally found Ares' treasure, and within minutes, it would be his.

Autolycus closed the door behind him, then crept up the long, red carpet to the door. When he got closer, he saw that even the smallest needle would open this lock, and he felt almost insulted. The other two locks had been worth the effort, and no treasures lay behind either door which they locked. How could it be that Ares would put a treasury behind a door that was locked with something so very flimsy, though it appeared to be made of the same metal as the two others?

~ Of course, ~ he reminded himself, ~ Ares was prepared for less than the likes of yourself to attempt to get in here, and anyone other than you would never have gotten this far . . . the God of War never expected me in the first place! ~

Whoever it was that Ares did plan for, they had obviously never made such an attempt or security would have been much more strict, and the door before him would surely be crawling with guards. Instead, it was standing unwatched, with only a small key lock hanging from the bolt. With less effort than it took to breathe in his opinion, the King of Thieves whipped out his favorite lock pick and proceeded to liberate it as well. It came loose easily, and joined its larger, more elaborate brothers in the bag, and Autolycus smiled. Even if there were only more weapons behind the door, at least he had three Hephaestian locks to hawk on the black market as consolation for his troubles. Unfettered at last, Autolycus opened the door and almost walked right into the most beautiful statue, made of the strangest materials, he'd ever seen.

The statue stood with its back to him, but he could easily discern that the most delicate, pearlescent marble ever quarried had been sculpted for the body. The chiseled hair of the female statue appeared as the strangest color of blue, like the clearest of oceans, and was detailed to the finest curl, all of which he could not explain.

"Whoooa!" the thief exclaimed when he tried to guesstimate the price of such a precious artifact, and to his surprise, the statue came to life and turned around to face him. "What the - !?" he cried out as he jumped back, then complained, "Hey, you're not a statue!"

"Who are you?" the living statue demanded, her voice sounding anxious and longing.

"Um, uhh . . . ," he hesitated, looking at her nervously as his mind sought out an alias.

"Did Iolaus send you to rescue me?" she pursued, and Autolycus frowned.

"Iolaus? Are you talking about 'Curly'?" he questioned, still nervous about this sudden situation he found himself in. "And who are you?"

"I am Sorrow, Goddess of Lamentation," she explained in deep confusion. "What made you think I was a statue?"

"Never mind," Auto excused himself sheepishly. "What were you saying about Curly?"

"Curly?" Sorrow half-smiled in amusement. "Is that what Iolaus' friends call him?"

Autolycus saw that the goddess apparently didn't know who he was, and he smiled confidently as he began to lay it on thick, "Why, of course! Only his closest friends call him that, you know. And how do you know the short guy?"

Sorrow blushed deeply, "He is my love."

"Iolaus?" Autolycus questioned, wondering when the diminutive warrior had crossed paths with this beautiful goddess, and even more how he had not heard this tale. If Hercules hadn't spilled it, he thought he could at least count on Gabrielle to write an entertaining scroll about it. He often pretended to merely tolerate her stories, but he had to admit that the Amazon Bard of Poteidaia could tell a pretty good tale. Except for this one, and he didn't know whether to be upset that he'd been left out of the loop, or glad they hadn't involved him. But, here he was, getting involved without even realizing it, and his lack of knowledge on the topic did not encourage him in the least. He frowned again more darkly.

"Iolaus did send you, didn't he?" Sorrow questioned hesitantly, beginning to eye the rather dashing intruder with suspicion. Something about him seemed familiar to her, but she knew deep down that this man was someone she had not aided in many, many years - not since he was a young man and she was a little child.

Without a moment's hesitation, Sorrow reached out with her right hand toward him, and Autolycus suddenly felt paralyzed as she drew as close to him as she was able, for he saw the chain that held her captive and out of reach of the door. As she stood silently scanning him, Autolycus found himself becoming entranced by her unusual beauty, and he forgot to be frightened when the palm of her hand reached up to touch his chest just where his heart resided. Her eyes closed so she might review the pain that lay within, and she immediately found the death of his parents lying very near. The murder of his beloved brother seemed to pervade his entire being, and served as the force that drove him to continue surviving and doing what he did best, stealing. There was also a wee bit of sadness for the loss of a sweet, blonde dancer, and an unrequited longing for a dark-haired warrior woman with piercing blue eyes.

"Autolycus - it's been such a long while!" Sorrow exclaimed as her eyes flew open in recognition, and she laughed to see his unsettled surprise. "Oh, come now, Auto, you know me!" To prove it, she reached into his vest and went for a particular pocket, and from it she plucked one tiny, teardrop-shaped pearl. "You found this beside you the morning after you cried yourself to sleep when your brother Malagus was murdered, didn't you? And you've never cried since - "

"I've never cried since - ," Autolycus echoed in amazement. "That - that was you? I felt someone there, but I couldn't see you - "

"It's a rare person that can sense my presence," she smiled softly, and held up the pearl for him to observe and reclaim. "This is one of my teardrops which I cried for you that night."

"Really? Well then, I guess I owe you thanks," Autolycus said uneasily as he took hold of the souvenir of his own sadness and put it away again. He then cocked a questioning eyebrow at her as he grinned most charmingly, "Say, you wouldn't want to maybe ditch the little goody-two-shoes for a guy like me, would ya?"

Sorrow smiled back knowingly, "Thank you kindly for the offer, but I don't think you want to be responsible for this." She pulled back on the excess silk of the draping, white chiton she was wearing, and Autolycus could easily see what she was referring to.

"Hey, you mean . . . you and Curly?" Autolycus stammered, unwilling to believe or accept that Iolaus could even begin to woo, let alone impregnate, an Olympian goddess.

"Yes, Iolaus is the father of my baby," Sorrow confirmed, then added unhappily, "I had hoped Iolaus had sent you to rescue me. I see that you do know him, but that you have not seen him in far longer than I, myself." As she spoke, a single tear escaped her eye and fell as a pearl to the floor.

"Hey, come on, kid," he quickly intervened, feeling uncharacteristically protective of her. "The Iolaus I know would have been here a long time ago if he knew how to get to you - I can promise you that! Ares is a pretty tricky fellow - I know!"

"Yes, we all know," she nodded, feeling heavy with sadness. She then looked to the open door to her cell, and the open door beyond that, and asked with intense curiosity, "How did you get to me, Autolycus?"

"Well, it wasn't easy, I'll give the war god that," the thief confessed. "I slipped past the guards up front, and don't ask me how I exactly got here, but I did. I picked the first lock, though it took forever and every single tool I've ever acquired in my life to open it, then figured out the combination to the second one. This last one was pretty easy. And that's how I got here. Now, how did you get here, if you don't mind my asking? And how did you get that chain around your ankle?"

Sorrow looked down to her chain, "I owe Ares thanks for all this. He imprisoned me, and tried to make me marry him and have his children, but he was too late - I was already pregnant with Iolaus' baby." She sighed deeply and added, "Iolaus doesn't even know it's his . . ."

Autolycus eyed the metal cuff that encircled her right foot and ventured, "You know, I could get you out of that in a jiffy."

"You could?"

"Sure, if you'll just allow me the liberty to touch your goddess-ness," he quipped in all seriousness, for he did not care to offend this particular goddess. She had obviously not crossed his path on official business in many, many years, and he hoped to keep it that way.

"Please, do what you must - you have my permission!" she urged with equal seriousness, for she wanted out of her cell before the baby was to be born. She did not want her child to be brought into existence in captivity, so she willingly lifted her skirts and let him get down on his knees before her to inspect the heavy Hephaestian cuff that bound her to the Halls of War.

"This will be a quick job," Autolycus finally pronounced with complete confidence, and he pulled out the same pick he'd used just minutes before when opening the last lock. With a little effort, for the cuff's lock was being a bit stubborn, the King of Thieves released the bolt at last, and the cuff fell away from her ankle with a clang.

"Thank the gods!" Sorrow exclaimed with extreme gratitude when she felt the heaviness leave her. "You truly are the King of Thieves, Autolycus!"

"The one and only!" he saluted her gallantly as he rose up from his short work. "Now, how about we get you out of here before trouble shows up?"

"How many guards are in the temple?"

"Just two," he shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm afraid I can't help you get out of here - you're going to have to sneak back out the way you came," she explained, her voice exhibiting worry for her new friend and liberator.

"You can't just wave your magic wand and zap us both outta here?"

"I'm weak, Autolycus," Sorrow admitted uneasily. "I've been chained for many months, and during that time, the metal of the chain kept me pretty much powerless. Now that I'm released, it will take me awhile to regain my strength. I may be able to get myself out of here, but I cannot help you."

"Just my luck - I save the only weak goddess on Olympus!" Autolycus complained.

Sorrow laughed, "I'll be strong soon, so watch it, eh? Now, can you get out?"

"Hey, I got in, didn't I?" he asked smugly. "I think I can make my way back out of here, as well. But wait a minute - !"

"Yes?"

"The reason I came here in the first place was because I'd heard of some great treasure Ares supposedly has hidden somewhere in this temple - got any idea what or where it might be?" Autolycus asked hesitantly, fearing that the goddess herself might be that very treasure.

"Truly, Autolycus, I do not know," she replied. "I've been here almost a year, and he has never mentioned any such treasure in the few times he has visited me. In fact, he has not been here in a great while. At first I thought it was because he didn't care to see me, but now I think it has something to do with all those weapons out there." She pointed to the armory outside the door and continued, "I think he'd intended for them to be given to the army of a great warrioress, and she turned him down on the offer. I think he doesn't like to come here because it ultimately reminds him of her. Of course, I'm only surmising this from something I've read."

Autolycus looked to the vast array of weapons and began to get nervous, "Yeah, I think I've heard this story a coupla thousand times - listen, if there's no such treasure to find, what say we get out of here while the getting's still good?"

"I'm with you," Sorrow agreed immediately, then promised, "I'll meet you somewhere out front, okay?" Within seconds, she dematerialized in a shower of blue and green sparkles.

When she was gone, Autolycus shook his head in mild disgust and complained as he left the cell, "Why does Shorty always get these kinds of breaks?"

Sorrow materialized within a set of camouflaging bushes just outside the Halls of War and settled down amongst the leaves to wait for the King of Thieves to find his way back out of the temple. She had no qualms whatsoever that he would get out just fine, for he had the blessings of Aphrodite, Athena, and Artemis to safely guide him. She could sense their most welcome influence over the kind-hearted thief, and guessed that the rumor he'd heard had been a calculated move on the part of her female cousins to get her out without violating their agreement to remain uninvolved after she lost the wager with Ares. Whatever they had done to arrange her release, it had worked, and the Goddess of Lamentation was now free at last.

Nine long months had crept by and she had remained alone for most of that time, chained to the floor of the cell and unable to leave, or even be visited by family. She had been that way since the day she said goodbye to Iolaus forever, with only a few visits here and there from Ares to check on her health and progress.

Having read each and every one of Gabrielle's scrolls several times, Sorrow was fairly certain that the armory had definitely become a sore point with Ares over the years, and was now a deterrent to his visits. However, he also had his silly little wars to deal with, or he was always busy pleasuring himself with one of his many priestesses - one in particular named Nika who seemed to keep him rather occupied. Sorrow really did not care what his reasons were for staying gone, so long as he was not around to bother her.

In his absence, the child she bore grew stronger each day, and she focused her every energy toward the nourishment of it, believing for certain now that a human child was growing within her. She had no real proof that her child was human, but the clues added up after awhile. The very fact that she found herself hungry, in spite of never needing food before, was a direct message to the goddess that her child needed what all humans needed, and Sorrow provided it with great love and devotion.

Other than taking care of herself and reading Gabrielle's scrolls, Sorrow had filled her hours with daydreams of life with Iolaus, or sleeping and dreaming of him at night. Cousin Morpheus had been kind to her all this while, keeping a vision of Iolaus always close in her dream scape, and she somehow knew that they were surely sharing the same dreams. It comforted her on one level, but kept her feeling incredibly lonely and sad on another. Now that she was free, she vowed she would never willingly spend another lonely night without Iolaus by her side.

Much more quickly than she expected, Autolycus rushed past the bush behind which she sat, and she jumped up to call him back, shouting, "Autolycus! I'm here!"

The King of Thieves hesitated just a moment to look back and see the Goddess of Lamentation waving at him from her hiding place, but he had no time to explain. He quickly pointed at the ensuing soldiers from the temple, then threw his thumb over his shoulder and yelled, "It was nice meeting you, Sorrow, but I really gotta run!"

"Autolycus, wait!" she called, and he hesitated once more.

"I'm headed this way - find me later if you can!"

Sorrow nodded before having to duck back down, and she held her breath as the soldiers tore past her hiding place, silently praying that the thief would be okay, and that she would be able to find him later. If not, she would just have to find Iolaus alone, but she sensed that Autolycus' help would make the search much easier. With the soldiers now gone, Sorrow arose from her hiding place, and making herself invisible, began her more immediate search for the King of Thieves.

On to Chapter Twenty

Back to The Power & The Passion