"Yes," Asterion agreed. "For the first half of my life, I was exactly the sort of creature Birsha believes monsters to be—a captive beast, and then a scavenger in hiding after I escaped the labyrinth." "In the story, Theseus killed you." "He nearly did," Asterion said, nodding. "But my half-sister, Ariadne, gave him false information about my body. It's easy to convince a man that the monster he faces in battle is wildly different than him. He missed my heart by a few inches, and he was far too eager to leave the labyrinth to wait until I finished bleeding out. He dropped his spool at my feet
...more
