THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH Percy Jackson ... - No one's invited.

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Minos, the royal creep himself, swept into the room.He was so tall and serious he made the other king
look silly.Minos’s pointed beard had gone gray. He looked thinner than the last time I’d dreamed of him,
and his sandals were splattered with mud, but the same cruel light shined in his eyes.
He bowed stiffly to the man on the throne. “KingCocalus . I understand you have solved my little
riddle?”
Cocalussmiled.“Hardlylittle , Minos.Especially when you advertise across the world that you are willing
to pay a thousand gold talents to the one who can solve it. Is the offer genuine?”
Minos clapped his hands. Two buff guards walked in, struggling with a big wooden crate. They set it at
Cocalus’s feet and opened it. Stacks of gold bars glittered. It had to be worth like a gazillion dollars.
Cocaluswhistled appreciatively. “You must have bankrupted your kingdom for such a reward, my
friend.”
“That is not your concern.”
Cocalusshrugged. “The riddle was quite simple, really. One of my retainers solved it.”
“Father,” one of the girls warned. She looked like the oldest—a little taller than her sisters.
Cocalusignored her. He took a spiral seashell from the folds of his robe. A silver string had been
threaded through it, so it hung like a huge bead on a necklace.
Minos stepped forward and took the shell. “One of your retainers, you say? How did he thread the
string without breaking the shell?”
“He used an ant, if you can believe it. Tied a silk string to the little creature and coaxed it through the
shell by putting honey at the far end.”
“Ingenious man,” Minos said.
“Oh, indeed.My daughters’ tutor. They are quite fond of him.”
Minos’seyes turned cold. “I would be careful of that.”
I wanted to warnCocalus :Don’t trust this guy! Throw him in the dungeon with some man-eating
lions or something! But the redheaded king just chuckled. “Not to worry, Minos. My daughters are
wise beyond their years. Now, about my gold—”
“Yes,” Minos said. “But you see the gold is for the man who solved the riddle. And there can be only
one such man. You are harboring Daedalus.”
Cocalusshifted uncomfortably on his throne. “How is that you know his name?”
“He is a thief,” Minos said. “He once worked in my court,Cocalus . He turned my own daughter against
me. He helped a usurper make a fool of me in my own palace. And then he escaped justice. I have been
pursuing him for ten years.”
“I knew nothing of this. But I have offered the man my protection. He has been a most useful—”