Bull God

MOMMA DOESN'T TALK 
ABOUT THAT PARTY ... ;-)

When gods still walked the Earth, a king could pray for d have a white bull rise from the sea to confirm his claim to the throne. But a god's price was high, and Minos did not keep his promise to the god Poseidon, the god meddled with Minos' wife ... and the Minotaur, a child with the head of a bull, was born. The question is, did Poseidon intend his son to be worshiped as a new god, or is he the god's curse on Knossos, a monster that will. destroy it?

Adriadne was the Minotaur's half-sister, the only one who would touch him and care for him when he was born. She was also high priestess of Dionysos, sworn to interpret his Visions, but one Vision destroys her peace. Dionysos Sees that the bull-head must die or bring disaster upon the realm. Can Ariadne agree to the slaughter of the deformed half-brother who clings to her as the only one who cares for him? Can she protect the Minotaur in defiance of Dionysos' vision and dare the god's wrath? Should she?

Praise for Roberta Gellis:

". . . rich tapestry of detail, well-drawn characters, suspenseful story line" --Publishers Weekly

"A master spinner of tales." --Romantic Times

"First rate. . . intriguing" --New York Daily News

Cover art by Stephen Hickman

Paperback

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, May 2000

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 0-671-57868-5

Copyright © 2000 by Roberta Gellis

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
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Typeset by Windhaven Press
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Electronic version by WebWrights
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NO MORE
BORING LEFTOVERS!

As the guard opened the door to the Minotaur's chamber, Ariadne was intent on sliding through as small an opening as possible and making no sound for the Minotaur's keen ears to pick up. Then she looked around for him and froze in place, just inside the door, rigid with horror. The area near her brother and the limp body of the attendant seemed to have been painted red, and the Minotaur seemed to be nuzzling at the corpse.

"Minotaur!" she shrieked.

He lifted his head and she put a hand on the doorframe to support herself. For a moment her gorge rose and bile filled her throat and mouth so that she couldn't speak. The Minotaur's face was coated with blood, and a long sliver of skin and flesh hung from his mouth. She forced herself to swallow the bitterness.

"Stop!" Ariadne cried. "Men don't kill and eat other men. Stop! Stop at once!"

He heaved upright, glaring. "God!" he bellowed. "Bull God!"

He put a foot on the body, seized an arm, and without apparent effort, wrenched it off. Ariadne screamed. The Minotaur laughed.

"Sacrifice!" he said. "Gods eat men."

Shouting at him was useless. She forced herself forward, shaking with horror but reminding herself that huge as he was, he was only eight years old. She tried to grasp his arm to pull him away from the grisly remains, but he pushed her with such strength that she fell. He looked over his shoulder at the mangled corpse, then turned back.

"Don't like? Go away. Minotaur like man flesh."