“I will give you a ship,” he said finally. “You can use it as you please, but if you lose it, I will be seriously displeased.”
Chara hitched her breath, the implications of having an actual ship at her disposal reverberated through her mind. It meant that they didn’t have to work through the towns where there were soldiers, spies and other persons they needed to worry about. Chara thanked him succinctly. Although she wasn’t all that worried about losing the ship as it was more likely she would be dead if anything went wrong, but she wasn’t about to say that in case he changed his mind.
The administrator waved her away after giving her yet another note. “Show it to the clerk, he will arrange your passage to the port.” For the second time, she clasped on tightly to a note from this man that provided her with a means of success and of implementing her mad plan.
Chara sailed from Piraeus on the next tide. The ship she’d been given was not large, but it was fast, or so the sailors told her. She had nothing to judge by. It was a merchant ship, but built for speed. Chara suspected it was a naval ship built to look like a merchant ship, but she wasn’t about to argue.
The winds were in her favor as she sailed back. She hated the idea of travelling further away from Elphia and her new home in Archernae, but it gave her comfort knowing that none of her family were in danger—they were all safe and would remain so no matter how this turned out.
She couldn’t believe her own success. She had a ship and it was hers to direct—she could ferry people back and forth as she needed to. There was still danger and the coming and going of a ship could be noticeable, but there were many deserted places along the coastline that they could utilize—away from prying eyes. She had so much planning to do, she had to get control of her mind.
They sailed her to the closest piece of coast to her village. It would still be a day’s walk or more to get back, but she was less worried now. She could manage to explain short absences to Nicias if she had to, but she hoped she would make it back in advance of his arrival. Surely they wouldn’t have left Megara the moment the Athenians withdrew.
There was a part of her that was excited to see him again. She knew it was a paradoxical notion, but she both wanted and feared him at the same time. She’d tried to convince herself that it was only for the purpose of keeping appearances, but she also knew it went deeper than that and it was not a good thing because it would end badly in one way or another.
Chapter 20
Chara felt ridiculous telling a crew of sailors what to do, but she managed to communicate that they were to meet up in a week along a specific part of the coast. Then they rowed her into shore and she walked home from there.
Her house was cold when she got there; it had that cold feeling like there hadn’t been a person there for a while—like it knew it had been abandoned. She went out and sat by Doros’ grave and prayed to the gods to support her in this venture. She wished she could talk to Della at the moment, but she was managing things back in Archernae. She would have to send a message to Della to deal with Klenias when the ship sailed in a week. The whole week seemed to stretch out before her.
She had no idea if Nicias was back. He might have sent someone for her already and they would have found the house empty. She could still explain that, so she wasn’t overly worried.
She walked into the village and spoke to Panos. She told him about the empty farms in Attica and that her parents were very happy with theirs. She could see that he was thinking about it. She also saw some of the boys that she’d left behind. A few had returned to their farms, while others had taken her at her word and stayed. She tasked a few of them with informing the other boys that they were meeting along the coast early in the morning in a week’s time.
She returned home and slept for a little while. She’d slept on the ship, but badly. The relentless movement of the vessel woke her constantly.
A knock on her door woke her. She saw one of the Menares servants when she opened it.
“He wishes to see you,” the man said haughtily.
Chara felt like telling the man off for thinking he was better than her, but she bit her tongue. In the scheme of things this man was not important; in fact he was probably more of a threat than anyone. There was a good chance that someone might tell one of these treasonous Helots about her activities and he would then run and tell his master. Men like him were loyal to the Spartans in the hope that they would be freed one day. It was the shining hope they used to control this class of people.
Although she knew that the demarcation between her class and his was large—which was the thing that would hopefully keep him from understanding her activities and plans. He saw himself as too good to mingle with the common slaves. Still she had no idea how far news had travelled about her; it was what she wanted, she wanted as many people as possible to know and to decide to come, but it also presented danger. She needed to protect her name, she needed a name that people could refer to, but that didn’t highlight her identity. She would think of something.
Nicias was sitting watching the fire as she arrived. He looked over and smiled when she walked in the room. He held out his hand and she walked over to him, sitting down on his lap. He placed his arms around her and held her for a moment. She closed her eyes and just relaxed in his embrace.
He smelled lovely, musky, clean and male. He’d bathed away all the dirt and sweat from his activities, she noted. She placed her head at the crook of his neck. She couldn’t help but feel all the tension from her own activities slowly drain away. Whatever they were outside of this room—or however this thing started—while they were here, they could just be two people who needed the comfort of the other. She’d never intended for feel comforted by his presence, it was something that had snuck up on her.
His hand was stroking her thigh, sending heat through her body.
“How have you been?” he asked.
“Not the best.”
“Oh? What has happened?” he asked, stiffening. Chara noted that he wasn’t aware of what had happened to her brother.
“My brother was killed.”
“How?”
“By sword.”
Nicias was quiet, watching her. Her words would have told him exactly who had killed him.
“I am sorry,” he said and held her tighter. “You must be very upset.”
“My father is distraught. He has left—sought out his brother,”—partially it was true. Chara felt a twinge of guilt lying to him, but then equally she didn’t for her brother.
“You are alone?”
“Yes, but let’s leave the world and its trouble outside this room. I don’t wish to talk of troubles I’d sooner forget.”
“Then we shall forget,” he said and kissed her. Chara let herself yield to him as he kissed her slowly and sweetly. Chara sighed as she let the sweetness of it suffuse her mind. His hand travelled up to her neck stroking down it, furthering the sensations that lulled any unpleasant tension out of her.
She had been thrust into the position of being the strong one, the one who constantly fought to enact this impossible plan, who constantly analysed what needed to be done. That fact that she had made it this far meant she could not stop now. It was scary and it was taxing and she desperately needed to lay that burden to the side for a minute and just breathe without its constant pressure.
She knew things weren’t perfect, that she shouldn’t take comfort from him, but it was comfort desperately needed. There was no use wishing he was a Helot and they could share this burden; it was just not how things were. As it happened, they were enemies, and she was deceiving him, but for a short time while they were here, they could just put that to aside for a little while and just be in each other’s’ company.
His hand travelled down further and cupped her breast. She felt the sensation of it shoot lower, filling her with heat as his kiss grew deeper and more demanding. Chara moved around until she straddled him and could feel his strong, powerful body along her own. She wanted h
im—needed him to make her feel the way only he seemed to be able to. She ran her hands along the hard muscles along the sides of his abdomen and hips.
When the kiss broke, she explored further the skin along his jaw and down his neck. His tunic wouldn’t let her explore as she wanted. She wanted to roam her hands over his warm skin—feel every contour. Instead she just seemed to get caught in his eyes. They drew her and held her there. They were blue like the sky after rain.
There was a voice of alarm somewhere in the back of her head, but she wasn’t listening. His eyes were just mesmerising and she couldn’t tear herself away. He smiled and she felt her heart constrict. She moved her body closer and placed her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and tried to get control of the situation.
“Are you alright?” he asked and she nodded. He stroked her along her back and she felt the touches radiating throughout her body.
He rose gently, bringing her with him. She knew he was taking her to the bed and she looked forward to being free of the confines of the chair, maybe even the confines of her thoughts. Something had changed, she felt things more keenly. She also started to realize how badly she’d wanted to see him again. She hadn’t quite understood until now. The idea of never seeing him again actually hurt.
He laid her back and stood back, stripping himself off his tunic and she watched as he did—revealing his magnificent body. She still couldn’t understand that someone like him wanted her as much as he did. He just watched her intently for a moment before moving onto the bed placing his knee by her thigh, weighing the mattress down.
Chara sat up and pulled her own tunic over her head, she wanted nothing between them. She wanted to feel all of him and she was awarded when he lay down on her and she could feel his skin touching hers with no barriers at all. It sent delicious shivers down her entire body, pooling in her center. She wasn’t going to rush tonight, she was going to explore. Her hands started on his back and she ran her hands over the muscles, felt them move as he leant down and kissed her again.
She lost all sense of exploring when he kissed her and just existed in the kiss, wanting more. Her legs parted and welcomed him, increasing the friction further down. He rolled his hips slightly shooting sensations up her body that made her gasp. She couldn’t help but respond in kind. Her thought of going slow were disintegrating by the second. She brought her knees up bringing their bodies even closer.
She could hear his breath growing unsteady and he moaned as she ran her hand over the strong curves of his backside pressing him to her. His eyes had grown glassy and unfocused. He was just as captivated by the sensations they was creating as she was. She felt a sense of pride at being the one who brought him to such a state, to undo him this way.
He moved back slightly and she could feel that he was coming inside her, pushing in smoothly as her body yielded to him, stretching and accepting. She knew she wanted this more than anything else in the world at that particular moment. It felt like everything was as it should be and that nothing in the world that was wrong. Her body pulsed around him and she marvelled at the sense of fullness and completion.
He pulled back and drove into her again. The sensations assaulted her, but she could do nothing but want more. Her body started convulsing around him as he drove into her yet again, heightening the sensation to almost unbearable pleasure. She never wanted this to stop. Her body seemed to explode anew each time he came into her fully.
He leaned back on his arms and pushed into her harder. Chara felt the power in his body as he moved and she tried to meet every one of his thrusts. His movements became more erratic and she knew he was close to his release. He brought his hand down to her hip and thrust hard into her a last time, stayed deep inside her. Her own convulsions drew on his, heightening the feeling of raw energy flowing between them.
Chara welcomed him to her as he sank down, struggling to get enough air. She held him tight to her as they both recovered. Their coupling had never been this intense before. She didn’t know what had changed, but something had. Maybe it was the fact that this would end and that he was a sacrifice that she would ultimately have to make.
She’d found someone who could make her feel things she had not believed possible and she was fairly sure it was not something she would have with another. But they made an impossible couple. It was a horrible feeling knowing that only she knew it.
He rolled onto his back.
“I missed you,” he said. “I seem to miss you whenever I go now. I am sorry you’ve had a difficult time lately. I am sorry I wasn’t here to help you.”
“Was there something you could have done?”
“I don’t know,” he said closing his eyes. “I don’t know what happened.”
“Nothing would justify what happened to him.”
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. “Are you staying long?” she asked.
“I have to go down and find out what is required next. I don’t know where I am supposed to go next. Hopefully we will have some time to rest. I expect the Assembly will be happy with the news of our victory after the events of the previous year. It may take some time for them to make up their minds on the next course of action. There are divisions in the Assembly from what I hear.” He turned and pulled Chara to him, his body wrapping around hers and his chin snuggling into the crook of her neck.
“Hopefully, there will be some time to spend at home,” he said.
There was a duality to Chara’s thoughts, she wanted more of this, but she also knew it was a risk. She had much to do and him being here would make it harder. She tried to wipe it all from her mind. She would have enough time to worry about it later.
Chapter 21
Chara stood in the early dawn at the agreed point along the coastline where she would meet the ship. She’d sent word out to those who were coming that this is where they needed to meet. She stressed that everyone had to travel on their own as they could not be spotted travelling as a group, and not to refer to her by name, instead to refer to her as Lynx, which was Doros’ favorite animal—quiet and speedy, a cat that snuck unseen around with better eyesight to spot danger than any creature that ever lived. Chara hoped taking the name would give her some of its strengths—she would need them.
When she got to the coast after sleeping some ways inland, she noted that there were much more people than she’d expected. The dawn came and she could see the ship coming along the horizon.
She walked through the group of waiting people, glad to note that the woman who had first beseeched her to take her boy was there with her children. They had their meagre belongings wrapped in a cloth. She spotted another boy standing on his own. He was young—couldn’t be more than thirteen.
“Are you here alone?”
“Yes.”
“Are your parents joining you later?”
“No parents,” he said. “They died a while back. Their cart fell into a ravine.”
“I’m sorry. Attica is very nice. There is lots of land.”
“I’m not going.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I only came to see if it’s true.”
“Well, there is a ship,” she said. “You can go if you want to.”
“There is someone I need to bring.”
“You know of others who want to come?”
“A few.”
“Then the ship will return for you,” she said. “Bring your people down just beyond that point,” she said pointing toward a peninsula that could be seen further down the coast. “It will come in there in four days. Can you do that?”
He nodded.
“How many can you bring?”
“I don’t know. How many do you want?”
“Everyone,” she said with a smile. She could see the boy gauging her. “If you find people, I will bring the ship. But you must be careful, if the Spartans catch you, or me, they will show no mercy.”
He smiled. “They never catch anything,” he said proudly indicating that he�
��d gotten away with deceiving them in the past. She dreaded to think what his life would be like living as an orphan here. Surely someone would have taken him in, but then a boy of his age probably wouldn’t have sought out a family to take him. He reminded her of Doros a few years ago, just starting to exert himself in the world. She should be trying to convince him to board the ship and sail to safety, but she could see that he was adamant on going back for someone. She wondered who.
“Four days,” she repeated and went to speak to Della’s parents. She asked them to convey messages to Della for her on her activities and that Della needed to organize places for these people with Klenias. She gave them a hug and wished them a good journey.
She knew that there were more people than the boat could carry, but she would make sure that Della’s parents went on the ship along with the widow she’d seen before. She asked them to assist the woman get her children on board.
She recognized the man responsible for the ship as it came close to the shore. It couldn’t come in all the way to the pebble beach, so they would have to work out some ways of getting them all on board. Those who could swim could do so.
A small raft carried the man into shore along with a couple of men. He sought her out amongst the crowd.
“We can’t take them all,” he said.
“How quickly can you come back?”
“Perhaps at dusk tomorrow if the wind stays strong.”
“Then come back, they will wait. There will be another group beyond that point in four days. If there are too many make two runs. Then let’s meet again in another four days, perhaps north of here.”
“There is a bay north of here, about three hours walk—it would be a good spot,” he said. “We rested there yesterday.”
“Then we will meet there.” She was surprised how readily she could make agreement with this man. She expected him to make things more difficult, but he didn’t challenge any of her orders. Although she knew it was the administrator’s orders they were following and she suspected that he had informed these sailors to do anything she wanted. It was a very odd feeling, giving orders. If she thought about it, she would likely feel self-conscious about it, but she didn’t have the time right now. As it was, she was too worried about these people who had placed their trust in her—placed their lives in her hands.
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