Hazel turned over and rested next to Frank's comforting bulk. Nighttime inside the cave always made her feel uneasy. Wind roared through the vaulted ceilings and water dripped from the stalactites. Each sound, even the faintest, from the breathing and snoring of Hazel's companions to fish swimming in the subterranean lagoon, reverberated across the cave. The dying embers of the fire cast shadows over rock formations, creating shapes on the walls. Hazel thought she saw the silhouettes of monsters, such as a sleeping dragon who loomed over the camp- the dragon frighten her the most. Leo had laughed at her when she told him about this. He said Festus, that was what he called the dragon shaped rock formation, could not hurt her. But still, the childish part of Hazel feared that if she were too loud, she would wake Festus and be burnt to death.

Frank's strong arms encircled her and she felt safe again. Hazel was further comforted by the knowledge that his bow and quiver were in readiness at the side of the bed. She herself kept a knife hidden under her pillow.
They slept on a simple wooden couch called a kline, used for both sleeping and dining. The kline was softened with straw stuffed cushions.

Lying next to Frank made Hazel curious about what it might be like to actually couple with him. Frank had been respectful towards her. He wasn't the type to push things too far before they were married.
The camp was not an ideal place for lovers to find time alone together. There were always people around and every sound could be heard all over the cave. Each knew what the other was doing. It was because of this that Hazel did not think Prince Jason and Lady Piper were having an affair behind his betrothed's back. Still, they had the whole island if were up to something but Hazel was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
For all Hazel knew, Lady Piper was as much a maiden as she was.
They had just begun to fall back asleep when a scream rang through the passageway down to the caves. Hazel and Frank shot out of bed. He reached for his quiver and bow; she pulled her knife out from under the pillow. Prince Nico and Princess Thalia rushed over with oil lamps to see what had happened.

Lady Piper lay on the stone floor. She had a gash on her left arm. Her knees were scraped and her right ankle was twisted.
"I went to use the latrine," she said. "Something came out of the hills and attacked me. I ran back to the cave and it scratched my arm. As I fled, I dropped my lamp, so I had to stumble around in the passageway. Next thing I knew, I had tumbled down here."
Prince Will drizzled wine onto Lady Piper's cuts, then cleaned them with olive oil.
"These should be healed in a few days," he said. "Your ankle is also pretty twisted, so you should rest it tomorrow. You're lucky you escaped without worse injuries."
He handed over the jug of wine so Lady Piper could take a generous swig before he bandaged her wounds. Prince Jason helped her to her feet and to limp back to her bed.
"Are you comfortable?" Hazel said, putting a pillow under Lady Piper's right ankle.
"I'll be alright," Lady Piper replied, a loud yawn contorting her face. "Once I've had some sleep."
"Do you have any idea what attacked you?"
"Those scratches look like they came from a big cat," Prince Nico said. "Like a lion or a panther."
"Yes. It must have been a big cat. I remember it had white fur."

Lady Piper lay her lovely head on the pillow and they left her alone to sleep.
Hazel expected that Lady Piper would look pretty, even as she slept. But she did not. Her mouth hung open and her tongue lolled out. She snored and made little pig-like grunts.
Still, Prince Jason watched over her until he was too exhausted to stay awake.

Aphrodisia and Athenaíí rose first in the morning to light a fire. Hazel woke next and helped them with baking bread for the day.
By the time everyone else awoke, they had prepared porridge for breakfast.
"We're going to track down the beast who attacked Lady Piper," Frank told Hazel after he finished his porridge.  "Me, Leo, and the princes." 
"I'll go with you," Princess Reyna added.
Prince Jason took her hand.
"Please stay behind in the caves," he said. "I'd feel better knowing you're safe. You can keep Lady Piper company while we're away."
"She has plenty of people to look after her: Hazel, Princess Thalia, Aphrodisia, and Athenaíí."
Lady Piper lounged languidly on her bed. Her face was flushed. The bandage on her arm had unraveled and the gash looked raw and red, like she had scratched at it. Hazel brought her a cup of water.
"Thank you," Lady Piper said, her voice dry and weak.
"You're burning up," Hazel said, putting a hand on Lady Piper's forehead. "Prince Will, come and look at her."
Prince Will saw how warm Lady Piper felt and looked over her wounds.
"The cut on her arm is infected," he said.
"It itched," Lady Piper added. "Like insects were crawling through the bandages."
"I'll have to clean and bandage it again. Hazel, we have some dried yarrow and ground willow bark in the medicine chest. Brew a tea for the fever."

Hazel grabbed the herbs Prince Will spoke of and put them into a pot of water. The pot hung over the fire until it began to boil.
Aphrodisia tried to cool Lady Piper off with woven fan while Athenaíí dabbed her forehead with a damp cloth. Hazel fed her spoonfuls of the yarrow-willow bark tea.

Since Princess Reyna resented having to stay behind in the cave while the men went to go track the beast, Prince Will offered her his place in the hunting party so he could look after Lady Piper.
"She'd be happy if I died," Lady Piper said after the hunting party had taken off.
"Who," Hazel replied.
"Princess Reyna."
"That's not true and you're not going to die."
"Perhaps it would be better if I died."
"You're not well, My Lady. Things will look better after you've recovered."
Athenaíí put her hand on Lady Piper's forehead.
"By the furies," she said. "She's hot enough to fry an egg on."
"Try to get some rest, Piper," Prince Will added.
Lady Piper closed her eyes. Athenaíí draped a damp cloth over her face.
"Elderberries are also good for fevers," Hazel said. "Calypso showed me where some grow. We can make a medicinal syrup out of them."
"If you're going to leave the cave," Princess Thalia, who was keeping an eye on the bread as it baked, said. "You'll have to be careful, with a dangerous beast on the loose."

Princess Thalia (and her bow and arrow) ended up joining Prince Will (with his sword) and Hazel (her knife dangling from her girdle) when they went to gather elderberries.
The elderberry bush grew below the rocky ledge at the highest point of the island.

"I can see Athens from up here," Hazel said, craning her neck to look out to the horizon.
"If you look really hard," Princess Thalia added. "You'd be able to see Thessaloniki."
"Really?"
"Yes, if you had the eyes of a god."
They filled a small basket with elderberries and made their way back down to the cave. Something rustled the brush which dotted the craggy slopes of Ogygia. It moved with a graceful and elegant, yet predatory, feline gait.
Hazel noticed the outline of a large, white cat.
Princess Reyna climbed down a dusty path, so fast that her tunic and braids flew up, giving her the appearance of flying. She looked like a hawk or some other bird of prey. Frank, Leo, and the three princes followed after her.
Princess Reyna raised her spear in readiness to attack whatever was hiding in the brush. A sleek, muscular lioness pounced to defend herself. One of her paws lunged at Princess Reyna and scratched her cheek.
Princess Thalia fired an arrow at the beast. It barely grazed the lioness's flank but that was enough to make her retreat back into the brush.
"Are you alright?" Princess Thalia said, extending a hand to Princess Reyna, who had stumbled due to the shock of the lioness attack.
"Never better," Princess Reyna replied.
Frank and the princes went after the lioness but could not find her. She appeared to have disappeared into the hills.

The cuts on Princess Reyna's cheek were shallow and would quickly heal. Prince Will cleaned them and an applied a salve.
"If the cuts feel itchy," he said. "Put on more of this salve. Don't scratch them if you don't want to get a fever like Lady Piper."
Prince Jason and Prince Percy had taken over the duty of looking after Lady Piper from Athenaíí and Aphrodisia. Prince Percy fanned her while Prince Jason nursed her overheated brow.
Hazel crushed the elderberries and boiled their juice with honey and water.

"Do you think she'll make it?" Frank said, looking towards Lady Piper.
"I hope so," Hazel replied.
"If she does, it'll be because of you."
"Hardly, I was just following Prince Will's orders."
"But the elderberry syrup was your idea."
"I don't even know if it'll work."
Hazel stirred the syrup simmering in the pot.
"Frank," Prince Jason said. "Would you go get some water."
"I'll get right on it," Frank replied.
He grabbed a hydria and left to fill it up from a spring Calypso had shown them. It seemed like an age since they had seen Calypso in the camp. Perhaps she abandoned them after Leo rejected her.
Princess Reyna walked over and poured herself a cup of watered-down wine.
"You're lucky," she said to Hazel. "Frank's crazy about you."
"I hope you don't think I'm boastful for saying this," Hazel replied. "But I agree with you."
"He said he wouldn't forgive himself if you were attacked like Lady Piper was. Between him and Prince Jason, I couldn't tell who was more eager to kill that lioness."
She leaned against the wall and took a long sip from her wine cup. Her gaze traveled to where Prince Jason dabbed Lady Piper's face with a damp cloth.
"No wonder he's so devoted to her. She's exquisite."
Even with her scratched cheek, Princess Reyna was a striking woman; perhaps even as lovely as Lady Piper. They were so different that it was hard to compare them. Being attractive and high born, Princess Reyna could take her pick of suitors.  Failing to get the attention of the one man she wanted to impress would be insulting to someone like her.
"She's sweating!" Prince Percy said.
"That means her fever's breaking," Prince Will replied. "Make sure she's kept warm and doesn't catch a chill. Get her an extra blanket."
Princess Thalia went over to a wooden chest which held bedding and pulled out a thick woolen quilt.
"Hey," Princess Reyna said to her.
She looked up and met the other woman's gaze. 
"Thanks. You were great back there."
Princess Thalia smiled back at her.

Lady Piper was tucked into bed under several warm blankets. She managed to hold down two glasses of water and bowl of broth after she awoke from her feverish delirium. Hazel fed her a spoonful of elderberry syrup every few hours. By night fall, she was feeling well enough to sit up in her bed.
"Prince Jason sat by your bed all afternoon," Hazel said, handing her a cup of water and vinegar mixed with honey.
"Did he?" Lady Piper replied; she was still a little bit out of it. She took a sip of the water-vinegar-honey mixture which seemed to revive  somewhat. "I don't think Princess Reyna was too happy about that."

A/N watered down vinegar, sometimes flavored with honey, lemon, and ginger, (known to the Romans as posca and to 18th century farmers as switchel) is a good source of electrolytes, similar to modern day Gatorade. We loose electrolytes when our body heat is unnaturally high, such as when we have a fever or have been moving around a lot. This is why Gatorade is often given at sporting events and at hospitals.

"No. She was not."
"I wish she understood that I'm not a threat to her. When we leave here, I'm going back to Cyprus and taking my vows as a priestess. Prince Jason will never see me again." 
She took another sip of her drink.
"I know it was foolish of me to care for him but how could I not. Still, we were never meant to be. It's better if I go home and let him marry Princess Reyna."
"You're still a bit feverish, My Lady. Why don't you get some sleep?"
After putting Lady Piper to bed, Hazel climbed into her own kline, finally able to get some rest after a long day.