Chara walked into the village the next day, she was going to have a second discussion with Della and hopefully Della’s whole family. Even if Della was uncertain, her family might be more welcoming of a better future for their daughter.
“Are you Chara?” an approaching woman asked accompanied by a young man that Chara assumed was the woman’s son.
“Yes,” Chara told the Helot woman she didn’t know.
“I hear that you are settling in Attica,” the woman said. Chara frowned; it was not good that perfect strangers knew of her activities, it increased the risk significantly. Chara didn’t respond in any discernible way. “You have to take my son. I plead with you, take my son with you.”
“I...” Chara started not knowing what to say. The boy looked around 15 and he looked scared out of his wits.
“The Spartans are taking our young men and they’re not coming back.”
This was something Chara hadn’t heard before—then again she had been caught up in her own troubles of late. It was a disturbing development if it was true.
“You have to take him,” the woman continued. Chara could see the sheer desperation in the woman’s face. She started to get down on her knees to beg, but Chara stopped her. First of all, she never wanted to see anyone doing that; second, it would look extremely suspicious to anyone who saw it.
“I am not leaving just at this moment,” Chara said hurriedly. “I will think it over. I hadn’t anticipated taking others...”
“Please, I beg you.”
“I will talk it over with my father,” Chara said. “Where can I find you?” The woman gave her directions to her farm which was quite far away from the village—giving Chara a further spike of concern at how far the news of her activities had travelled. Another young man would not be a bad thing—one more set of hands for the farm. Chara smiled at the woman. “I am sure we can work something out, but I must go now. I will find you as I am about to leave.” The woman clasped her hand in gratitude. Chara left as soon as she could. It felt disturbing to be party to such desperation, particularly as she knew exactly how this woman felt.
Chapter 15
The days passed and Chara started feeling desperate to leave. She felt nervous tension gripping her insides as things were not resolving themselves as quickly as she’d hoped. Della was interested in joining them, but it was a big decision for her to leave everything behind for an unknown future.
Chara’s father seemed ready to go with her even though he still tended to his fields every day as if nothing unusual was about to happen. Doros was still absent most of the time. His reticence was making her angry; he was putting them all at risk by dragging his feet. She decided that she could only wait a little while longer; if he wasn’t going to come, he needed to tell her definitively. Staying longer was just unnecessary levels of risk.
She still desperately wanted Doros to come because there was no future here for him, and whatever activities he was involved with—she knew it would lead to grief. He finally returned and Chara confronted him before he got in through the door.
“We can’t wait much longer, we have to leave. The chances of discovery are heightening every day. What is keeping you?”
“I just have things to do,” he said with annoyance.
“So you are not coming?” she pushed.
He stared at her for a while. “I didn’t say that.”
Chara felt relief because for the first time, he had actually said that he was considering going.
“Then let’s leave tomorrow. We will take Della with us and just go. There is nothing holding us here and everything to leave for. We need to go now.”
“Then go, you don’t need me to hold your hand. There are still some things I have to do, things I have promised…“
“Promised to who?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said with exasperation. Chara hated his attitude, but that was not the important thing to focus on right now.
“You go on with father; I will come when I am ready.”
“It will be noticed that we have up and left.”
“I will deal with it.”
She knew she wouldn’t get any more from him. It was a victory all things considered. He was adamant on doing the things that occupied him so intently and kept him away from the farm where he was needed. She was pretty sure they were things she didn’t want to know about; they were likely plotting something. She put her palms to her forehead, wishing he would just stop. But if he insisted, then they were better off not being here. If he carried on like this—without consulting them—then they might as well be safe in Attica.
She walked out to the fields and told her father than they were leaving in the morning. She had to prepare what was ready of their vegetable crop and to put the chickens in baskets ready for travel; they would take them and the dog with them on the cart. If they were stopped, it would look like they were going to market. They could take very little else with them as it would look odd travelling with the contents of their house—meagre as they were.
She checked in on Della in the afternoon to inform her of their imminent departure—Della would either be there or not. Della was out in the fields so Chara decided she would walk out to get the boy she had promised to take. She knew where the farm was and it would take her a couple of hours to get there, but a promise was a promise.
She still had a lump of cold tension in her chest that wouldn’t shift. She hoped it would start easing when they were finally travelling, but she doubted it—likely it would start letting up when she got past Megara and out of Spartan territory. It wouldn’t be long now, she just had to finish this last task.
She walked down the road that ran near the farm she sought, turning as she heard a noise behind her and was confronted with four Spartans on horseback. She froze where she was. She hadn’t even seen them coming and they were riding at high speed. She would have hidden if she had known they were coming, but she didn’t have the time now.
They rode straight past her, but she could see one of them looking her over with disinterest as they went passed. She’d never seen any of them before and wondered what they were doing out here. She thought back on what the desperate woman had said about them taking Helot men and shuddered. She couldn’t wait to leave this place. She did understand where Doros came from, this was their land and it had been long before the Spartans came here, but even with their numbers they could not take on the highly militarized oppressors. Now that she had come to realize that there were other places to live—better places—staying just seemed foolhardy.
“He will be there in the morning,” the woman confirmed talking about her son. “He will leave well before dawn and be there when you are ready to leave. Thank you, thank you,” she said kissing Chara’s hand. Chara hated to see this level of desperation in a Helot mother, where she had to grasp onto a potential future she had only heard of in passing.
“I will make sure he is cared for,” Chara tried to reassure the woman. “It will be hard work, but it will be rewarding in the end.” She tried to sound confident and she truly did believe it. She wouldn’t perhaps state her belief as bluntly if she didn’t think this wretched woman needed to hear it.
Chara noted a number of younger children inside the small cottage—too young to be away from their mothers. Chara gave the woman a nod and left wishing she could do more for her. That poor woman appeared to be a widow with quite a few young children. Widows weren’t normally considered by anyone and they weren’t subjected to the perils faced by the Helot male population.
Chara could see Della when she reached the village; her friend carried a serious expression signifying that all wasn’t well. Chara feared that Della had decided not to join them.
“The Spartan has returned,” Della said quietly as Chara came near.
“Which Spartan?” Chara said with confusion considering she’d run into four already. She felt dread creep up her insides. Surely it couldn’t be Nicias; the timing would be atrociously bad.
“Your Spartan,” Della confirmed. Chara exhaled a sigh of shock and disappointment, while at the same time bristling at him being referred to as hers. He couldn’t possibly have chosen a worse time to come back. “He has sent one of his servants out to your house. What does that mean?”
“He expects me to come to him,” Chara replied.
Chara saw a look of concern on Della’s face. “I am so sorry.”
Chara nodded absently as she tried to think through what had to be done. The gods were not working in her favor, she was so close to being gone and he shows up at the last minute. It meant that they couldn’t go in the morning. Nicias would notice her departure much sooner than she needed, and that meant they would potentially be tracked down before they cleared Spartan territory. They would have to put it off until he left. Chara cursed her bad luck, but there was nothing for it. She had to make things seem perfectly normal until he was gone again. There could be no suspicions that there was anything out of the ordinary.
Chara exhaled the breath she’d been holding as she got to the gate of the wall surrounding the Menares villa. She hoped the exhalation would clear the tension that was now so sharp it made her muscles ache. It had only built and built in the time she’d been back here. She had to get through this for however long Nicias was here, then they would be free to sneak away.
She was becoming familiar with the faces of the Menares’ servants, but there wasn’t much interaction required. Once let in, she made her way to the room he occupied when he was here.
He was there waiting for her when she walked inside. He’d lain back across the bed—waiting she presumed. It was the first time he was there when she arrived. He got up and smiled when he saw her. Chara felt a frown cross her brow, but she dismissed it immediately. He seemed happy to see her and she had trouble making it correspond with her own emotions.
He came to her, leant over and kissed her. She’d forgotten the taste of his kisses, musky and earthy—pure male. Against her own better judgement, she felt herself relax a little bit even though she knew it was wrong to feel any degree of comfort in his touch or presence. But it was an involuntary reaction—an absurd and perverse one.
The kiss was deep and demanding until he pulled back. He put his hands up to the side of her face, pushing her hair back. He seemed to be surveying her features, memorizing them.
“You are beautiful. Has anyone ever told you that?”
“No,” she replied honestly. He’d called her pretty before, but no one had ever called her beautiful.
“I have been many places and seen many women, but there is something very special about you.”
Chara didn’t know how to react to the statement or what to say in return. These were sentiments that in the scheme of things were unimportant and superfluous, but there was a part of her that soaked up such utterings. She looked into his blue eyes, to see if he was toying with her, but she saw nothing there. She tried to clear her mind, she had to be cold and analytical; she couldn’t listen to stupid sentiments, not now when it was imperative that she keep her wits around her.
“How long are you staying?”
“Just two days,” he said. “Stay with me.”
Again she felt tongue tied. She knew he was asking her to stay with him past the morning. She smiled in response. He always seemed to push the limits of her comfort. She really wanted to ask him why he would want that, but she was too scared to hear the answer. She just wasn’t sure what his intentions were, but the things he’d said last time they’d been together seemed to indicate that he wanted more than just someone to knead his frustrations into.
“So what have you been doing with yourself since I saw you last?”
Chara cleared her throat. “Working. I am a Helot, our lives aren’t that exciting.” She tried to make it sound light.
“Did you miss me?” he said teasingly and ran his finger gently down the bridge of her nose and stepped away from her. She watched him as he walked over to the table and poured two cups of wine. He looked back at her, his golden blond curls falling down around his face. She still couldn’t figure out if he was teasing, because there was part of him that seemed earnest for an answer. She felt a bit like she was at a cross roads and she didn’t know which path was right.
Don’t stir problems, she told herself firmly.
“Yes,” she replied trying not to sound nervous. It was a blatant lie considering she had been working very hard to abscond without him even knowing. She actually felt bad for being so duplicitous, but she saw no alternative.
He sat down on the chair and held out a cup for her to take. She took tentative steps forward and took the cup. His hand reached softly around her wrist when he relinquished the cup to her. He tugged her toward him, into his lap. She sat down as he wanted and she was again reminded how large, warm and strong his body was. He was completely solid and he seemed to take her weight like it was nothing. He reached for her again and kissed her further. She could taste the wine on his lips. There was something deeply beckoning in the kiss, reminding her of the response he’d garnered in her the last she had been with him—feelings she should not have been having.
“Stay with me,” he repeated. Chara realized she hadn’t given him an answer, which also meant that he was asking her and not ordering her. She wanted to pull away; she suddenly felt very uncomfortable, but she couldn’t, she had to stay the course as more than her own life depended on it. She nodded and his mouth grew into a smile that lit up his eyes.
Chapter 16
Chara let Nicias pull her up on the back of his horse. He wanted to go somewhere. It was Chara’s first time on a horse and it was a long way to the ground from this high up. She’d ridden the occasional mule, but this was something else entirely. The horse started moving and she wrapped her arms around Nicias’ waist as the long strides of the horse moved them forward.
He’d lain with her in the morning as well as the previous night. He’d made her body respond powerfully and she couldn’t deny the underlying tension she felt even now being near him. They seemed to fit together so perfectly and he drew responses from her body whether she wanted them or not. She wondered if he was unique in some way, if he was the only one who could make her feel such exquisite sensations.
Now he was leading her somewhere and she wasn’t sure where or for what purpose—he’d said it was a surprise. There was a part of her that wondered how things would go if the situation had been different and she would be staying. She wondered what it would be like to truly be his, to live in his house and to wait for his return each time he goes away. She knew it would be a life of responsibility, but also of greater leisure. She would be responsible for running his estate while he was gone, including directing his servants, being above them in the hierarchy—not quite the station of a wife, but above the others. Chara knew there would be many who would jump at such a life, and an opportunity to elevate their station. Chara didn’t feel that it was right to consider herself better than others, particularly other Helots, but not everyone thought that way.
These thought made her feel very uncomfortable, but there was also something about the idea of being his that was very exciting—not that it was something she would consider choosing because Elphia meant there were no choices. The beautiful baby that carried his blood and some of his features was more important than anything else, and that included the intense feelings when he touched her. Everything she did was for her baby, the wondrous little creature he would never know—it was his loss. On some level she wished he would understand the loss he faced, but she also knew she had to keep her a secret.
They rode for a long time, climbing until they reached a precipice where they could view the land as far as the eye could see. She could see the undulation of the land, the fields and a few small huts in the distance. She could see wind blowing fields of growing crops and the shadows of clouds moving changing patterns across the land.
“I used to come here when I was younger,” he said and
dismounted. He turned and lifted her off the back of the horse and gently lowering her down.
“Did you have time for such exploring?” she asked knowing that he had left the area when he was very young to commence his training, probably too young to go exploring this far away on his own. She also knew that he’d lived with a brutal regiment of training, discipline and deprivation—all the things that the Spartan’s believed molded young boys into strong men and good soldiers.
“Not much, but I snuck away a few times.”
This surprised Chara, she’d never heard of anyone defying the Spartan rules and sneaking away, but then she wasn’t that familiar with their ways. It made her curious about what he was like as a boy. She did have an image in her head because she remembered seeing him in passing once or twice. He’d been older than her and he’d looked serious and unapproachable—a boy that carried his responsibilities with gravity. Now he just looked dangerous—a man capable of inflicting terror in the eyes of enemy soldiers, but she was also starting to see more sides to him. She just couldn’t quite figure out what those other sides consisted of.
“Have you been here before?”
“No,” she answered looking around the spectacular view. They were up high and she could see until the haze of the very far horizon. She wondered if the sea was just past what her eyes could see, but she had no real clue about the land beyond the few places she’d travelled, with the exception of the road to Megara and Athens. “This must be what the birds see.”
He chuckled and sat down. He had a satchel with bread and cheese inside and he tore some for himself and handed it to her. She took the bread and tore a bit off; it was much finer in texture from the barley bread her kind ate. She gathered that it must be made of wheat, the more expensive crop than the barley they had to contend themselves with. It tasted different and it required much less chewing.
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