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?No, but come on in,? Helen replied. Maybe she would get a
chance to ask if Lucas still had a girlfriend somewhere. ?How?s
Cassandra??
?Overly sensitive, but she?ll be okay. You?re the one that got a
Hector beat-down, and since I know what that feels like I?m going
to ask you honestly?is anything still broken?? Ariadne glided into
the locker room.
?Nothing broken. Well, not anymore,? Helen replied. Everything
about Ariadne was so feminine and round and lovely that Helen
simply couldn?t imagine anyone hitting her. ?Do you guys do this to
each other often? The fighting, I mean.? Ariadne was shaking her
head before Helen had even finished talking.
?No. We spar together to stay in shape, but only the boys really
fight, and only when they need to get something off their chests.
Lucas and Hector do most of the fighting, obviously.?
?They don?t get along, do they??
?Yes and no,? Ariadne began carefully. ?Hector is really proud in
general, but he?s especially proud of our ancestry and our family.
He doesn?t like that we?ve fractured the House of Thebes. Don?t get
me wrong?he doesn?t believe all that crap that the Hundred Cousins
do, but he hates to see our House divided. And Lucas feels like
it?s his responsibility to keep Hector in line because, well, he?s the
only one that can.?
?It must be really difficult being separated from the rest of your
family,? Helen sympathized.
?We don?t have a choice,? Ariadne said with a tight smile.
?Is it because of the cult?? Helen asked delicately. ?Lucas never
got a chance to explain . . .?
?Tantalus and the Hundred Cousins believe that if only one