Atalanta

by Jennifer Saint

She was my sister, mother, guide and teacher all in one, and just like her, I wanted to fear nothing.

‘For it isn’t my decree alone, Atalanta. The prophecy that comes to you from the oracle is that marriage will be your undoing. If you take a husband, you will lose yourself.’

Artemis had shown me that the gods could be as ruthless to their favourites as they were to their enemies.

But he knew nothing of the gods. Jason thought the world was built for heroes. I knew we had to build it ourselves.

I had left my forest for this quest, convinced it would be a feat of heroic glory. But the bulls, the earthborn warriors, the monstrous snake – none of it had been our battle. Somehow, we had been spectators to Medea’s victory instead.

It was their rage, I thought, the anger for their stolen girl that made them punish every man they saw.

The silence that followed was painful. When we met, he had told me the story of his mother’s dream, the log she had seized from the fire to give him invulnerability. Maybe swords and spears and arrows would bounce off his flesh, but here was a wound I’d never expected, splitting him apart in front of me.

I needed to remember who I was, who I had always been. A woman who was unafraid.

The oracle warned that I would lose myself, but the opposite is true. I am more myself than I have ever been. I am wild, I am free. I am Atalanta.