Truth and Sparta (22 page)

“
Take her back,” the elder said dismissively and men grabbed
her arms again. She could do nothing but just go with
them.

Nicias stood
at the back while the men conferred. There was clear tension
between General Barrias and Elder Saricaristi. Nicias understood
the Generals desire to strike; he understood the reaction to the
deception and the underhanded attack on them, but he felt torn. As
much as he hated her, he didn’t like seeing the fear that shook her
entire body.

He just
couldn’t understand why she’d done this. She’d been so welcoming,
accepting him, reacting to his touch, but it had all been a
deception. Surely she couldn’t have been stupid enough to think she
could get away with it. Or maybe she had such a low opinion of
them—of him—that she thought she would get away with her deception
without them realizing.

He just
couldn’t see how she could be so cold and callous and he hadn’t
seen it. She’d had him completely fooled and she’d ruined his life
as a consequence.

He knew she
was being kept here in this very building. It was the elder’s doing
that she was still alive. He’d thought at one point that he would
see her death, but the elder had delayed it. There was no doubt
that she would die—there was no way around that. He just didn’t
know what kind of death the elder had in mind, obviously something
more than the death the General offered. It made him nervous.

He knew she
deserved to suffer, and it should give him joy to watch, but when
it came down to it—when the sword was swinging—he’d felt panic. He
couldn’t stop it, he knew that the damage to him was bad as it was;
if he were to have any chance of staying a Spartan, he needed to
want her death as much as the General. Her continued existence was
nothing but a threat to him.

But he
couldn’t understand, he’d developed feelings for her, but he didn’t
know if it was something she had concocted through deception and
deceit. But he still suffered for it, having feelings for this
creature that turned out to be as real as mist.

He sought her
out. There were so many things he needed to know, primarily if she
had used him from the start or if her hatred had consumed her to
the point of taking these actions. He needed to know.

“
Why have you done this?” he said when he found her after the
others had left. She was sitting with her arms wrapped around her
legs and her head down. So tightly wrapped, she almost disappeared
into the corner at her back. She looked up when he spoke. Her eyes
were large and bottomless; he had to look away from her. He didn’t
want to look at her, she didn’t look like the cold and traitorous
creature she was. She looked like a lost girl, one he’d cared
for.

She didn’t
answer and he felt anger rise in him. “Why?” he demanded harshly.
“Do you have any idea what you have done?”

“
Of course I do.”

“
Do you have any idea of the position you have put me in? Have
put yourself in? I can’t protect you from this, even if I wanted
to. I cared for you and you betrayed me. Not just betrayal, you’ve
ruined me. What have I done for you to hate me so?”

Chara wondered
if it was best to not say anything at all, to just let him rage at
her.

“
Do you understand that damage you have caused?” he
challenged.

“
Yes, but it was never about you—harming you was not my
intention.”

“
Not your intention,” he repeated. “You have attacked my state,
you have hampered our abilities, attacked us at the very foundation
of our society—the structure in which you live. You have made an
enemy of Sparta. Why would you do this?”

“
Because Sparta made themselves an enemy of my people long ago.
You just see us as slaves, as your playthings, well, we’re not and
I’ve acted in the best interest of my people. That is my duty, to
act in the interest of my people.”

“
At our expense.”

“
Not something you would worry about if it was the other way
around. Spartans murder us with impunity, use us and destroy our
families. How can you be surprised?”

“
Because I thought you cared about me. I understand that you
may have had anger toward us, but you were deceitful, you lied to
my face.”

“
Your peers killed my brother.”

“
So you seek to destroy a whole state in vengeance?”

“
I don’t care about Sparta. I did this for my people—you have
told us for centuries that we are not Spartans, so why are you
surprised when we don’t think we are either? There is absolutely no
reason for us to show any loyalty. What happens to your people as a
consequence is inconsequential. Our lack of loyalty is bought and
paid for in blood—my brother’s blood. My people know there is a
better life to be had—why would we stay when we can go—be free? You
think that being under your heel, taking your beatings and your
violence is a privilege. It’s not and we’ve found a way out, so
we’re taking it. Why in the world should we stay?”

“
I never beat you. In fact, we were doing something quite the
opposite. Then again, I am not sure what you were doing—laughing at
me? You are twisted with bitterness,” he accused.

“
You take and give nothing, and then you expect us to be happy
with the bargain?”

“
I gave you all I had,” he said stepping closer to make his
point. “I let you in my house, into my bed.”

“
You stole me into your bed,” she hissed back. “You gave me no
choice, or did you conveniently forget that?”

The anger in
her surprised him. It didn’t correspond with his experiences.
They’d been awkward at first, perhaps he’d been forceful at the
start—all relationships started that way. But it had changed, it
had morphed into something else—something he’d thought had meaning.
It turns out he had been very mistaken.

“
You deceived me,” he repeated. “I trusted you.”

She returned
to her position in the corners and put her head down. He could see
that she didn’t want to deal with him anymore. Her words stated
clearly that he’d been a fool, and he could only concede the truth
of it. He knew the Helots were deceitful, that they hated them—he’d
been stupid to believe she would care for him. She had just played
her part so well; he’d lost sight of the true nature of things.

“
I didn’t intend to hurt you,” she finally said as he was about
to leave. “But when it came down to it, it was you or it was
them—and I chose them.”

“
And you will suffer for it.”

“
I know. It was an outcome I always knew would
come.”

He looked at
her for a moment. His heart told him to trust her honesty, but he
knew better. She was manipulating him now like she’d always had. He
wanted to shake her—there was still part of him that felt like he
didn’t have the truth. Perhaps it was only wishful thinking as he
remembered the sweetness of their time together, how her body
responded to him, how she held him—and her laugh. It had felt so
real, but it had all been fake. Even now there was something in him
that wanted at least some little part of it had been true.

The whole
future he’d planned had all fallen apart. In truth, he didn’t know
if he had a future. If he was exiled, he would have to become a
mercenary somewhere—never to truly have a home. It had been all
he’d wanted and he’d sought it with her, and paid dearly for the
terrible choice in partner he’d made.

He left, but
he didn’t know where to go. He would feel the eyes of his
compatriots judging him wherever he went. He wanted to be alone, to
find some way of getting this mess sorted in his head, but he had
nowhere to go. He couldn’t leave, it would equal to giving up his
citizenship.

He found a
quiet spot in the city where he sat and waited, for what he wasn’t
sure. The fact that Chara was still alive robbed him of any peace.
He didn’t know how long she had, but there were still unanswered
questions in his mind—questions he would likely never have
answered.

There was
nothing for Chara to do but to worry for her own fate. Chara was
lost in her own thought when a head peaked around the corner. Chara
could tell that the girl was a servant by her dress. She didn’t say
anything but looked around like she was expecting someone to catch
her. She walked in complete silence and left a small bottle and a
piece of bread on the floor in front of Chara. She retreated as
quickly as she’d come.

Chara grabbed
the little bottle and gulped down the water inside. It was heavenly
on her throat. She wished it’d occurred to her to thank the girl,
but it had happened so fast. She chewed the bread as fast as she
could, just in case someone would come along and notice that a
person had given her provisions. She didn’t want to get the girl in
trouble. She was left with the simple ceramic bottle. The space she
was in had nothing but the walls and the floor. There was nowhere
to hide the bottle. She decided to place the bottle in the corner
of the only window to the outside. She had to reach as high as she
could to place the bottle up on its ledge.

Then she
returned to her heavy thoughts. She could hear the activity in the
marketplace outside, vendors were calling for customers and people
were talking. She would listen to them to distract herself. It was
the opposite of the quiet and deserted Assembly building she was
in. The prisoner bay had five iron rings attached to the wall for
unfortunates awaiting to be taken in front of the Assembly. She
knew it met on the full moon and she didn’t have any idea how long
it would be until they met. She would try to seek out the moon
through the window once it was dark—if she was still alive by then.
The Spartans weren’t feeding her and there might be a chance that
she died of thirst before she ever made it to an Assembly meeting.
Maybe that was their intention, she didn’t know.

The day passed
and the evening came, settling darkness throughout the building.
The noise in the square died down; although there were still people
crossing the square, their noises amplified by the large vacant
space, echoing across the walls.

She heard a
group of men coming and could see the light of a lamp coming into
the passageway as they entered the building. She felt her breath
hitch as they came to the alcove she was restrained to. Two of them
came for her, roughly undoing her chains and taking her into the
large Assembly hall again. Trays around the room were stacked with
wood and lit, sending a mellow light around the center of the
hall.

The men were
standing around her again; there were more elders this time, seven
of them. Nicias appeared from behind her to stand back behind the
group of men. He was joined by his father, who eyed her with
disdain. She got the impression that Nicias didn’t want to be here,
but had been required to attend. The General was there as well,
still eyeing her with intense hatred.

She didn’t get
any indication of what their decision had been, and they were still
preparing themselves for whatever forum this was.

“
You are to reverse your actions,” the General
stated.

“
What do you mean reverse?” she said with confusion.

“
Our harvest has suffered by your actions and you will inform
the Helots that have left that they must return.”

Chara looked
at the man with incredulity.

“
You do this and you will live,” he added, but she could see
that it gave him no pleasure to impart that bit of
information.

“
And you thought this would be something I would agree
to?”

The General
stepped to her and smacked her hard across the cheek making her
lose her balance and fell to the floor.

“
General,” one of the elders gently warned. “Let’s not knock
her unconscious, I don’t want to be here all night.”

“
No!” she said strongly, sitting up. “If you want to eat you
better get in the fields yourself.”

The General
moved for her again and she went to protect herself from the blow.
“You defy me you little whore and I will go out and kill every
Helot in the land.” He kneeled down to her, “I would love to,” he
said quietly.

“
Then you will starve,” Chara spat, staring up at him, refusing
to back down from the intimidation. She knew they were spiteful
enough to kill as a consequence for defiance, but that spite now
hurt them as well. “Each person you kill, there will be less
harvest next year. If you kill all of us, there will be no one to
feed you. What do you expect me to do, go over to Attica and tell
people they have to come back or you will start killing people? It
is the reason they left in the first place, they are hardly going
to come rushing back because you behave in exactly the same manner
as what made them quit this land. And why in the world would I do
that? My father is gone, my brother is dead—you have nothing but
strangers to use against me, and none of them will outweigh the
benefit to the people staying in Attica. Your violence will just
add further incentive to anyone who hasn’t left.”

He hit her
again, catching her in the ear and causing high pitched ringing
inside her head. She stayed on the ground trying to figure out
where the blood she could taste was coming from.

“
You better find some way of convincing them then,” he said
bitterly and stood back.

She shook her
head.

“
The girl is determined to die,” one of the elders said.
“You’ll not convince her, Barrias.” The elders stepped away to
confer amongst each other. Chara could feel the hatred emanating
from the General. He wanted her dead and it might be in her best
interest to provoke him. She stared at him defiantly. She could see
that he was itching to bare his sword.