Chapter Nineteen
That night, I stayed in the tannery later than ever before, gazing wistfully at the skin, desperate to take the bow and practice again.
After that first attempt, I was granted yet another go, but it was more difficult the second time.
Blisters had formed on the tips of my fingers, and I had several marks where the string had slapped against the inside of my arm, in one case hard enough to draw blood.
“We will fix a leather piece there when we practice properly.” Hirtus gestured to the guard strapped around his own arm.
“Not tomorrow, for I have travel plans and merchants to meet with. But when I am back, we shall make something that fits you. There is little we can do about your fingers. Bath them in salt. They will harden with time.”
“He has only ever taught one woman to hunt before you.” Althea spoke in whispered excitement as we left the tannery and ambled back toward the villa.
“I assume you mean Phile?”
“Phile? I’m not sure. I mean a woman named Juara. She arrived at the village around the same time as me. I was there the first time she shot too, though she was not as good as you. Better than Damaris but not as good as you.”
So I set the standard now. I was the best. Pride rose within me.
“Did Damaris not wish to train? She is clearly skilled.” I tried to remain humble in my words.
“Hirtus offered, but she declined. She is fearful of her husband, I think.”
I remained silent and chose not to consider that too long. I would not let Morsimus take this from me.
“What happened to Juara? Does she not work at the tannery any longer?”
“No. Her body was found in the river. Her husband wept and said she must have done it herself. That she had been struggling with a wandering womb. But you don’t get bruises on your wrist from that. Nor can it break your jaw.”
At this, we fell silent, and I thought of Eleni with shame. Phile’s plan to distract us had worked better than I could have imagined, but now she was all I could think of. Eleni, Chrysothea, Damaris, Juara.
“Is it like this the whole world over?” Angry tears replaced the pride I had been feeling. “Does every woman suffer at the hands of her husband?”
“Every woman in Ninniya,” Althea replied. “But every woman, I cannot say. I hope not. I hope that somewhere in this world, there is a sanctuary. A place that extends beyond the boundary of a tannery courtyard, where women do not go home in fear. Where they are given power equal to their men.”
“Why equal? Why not greater?” I did not know why I said those words, but I did. Why was equal the best we could hope for? Surely, if the gods were just, there would be some place in the world where we were more.
I left Althea near her door and continued on to my own.
My heart had seized with sadness, but I glanced down at my fingertips and saw a blister, and I felt just a glimmer of the spark return.
Ninniya had already given me more than I could have ever dreamed.
Employment, friendship, and, if Hirtus and Phile were true to their word, something even more incredible.
That was the feeling I fixed in my mind as I pushed open the door over the broken tiles.
I wanted to tell Melitta of my adventures as soon as I found her. I imagined her disapproval and shock, and a smile widened on my face. A smile that faded the instant I saw Morsimus. Standing. Waiting.
Since we had arrived in Ninniya, our lives had fallen into two separate rhythms with which we both seemed content.
I would leave early in the morning and return before dusk to find him lazing in the courtyard.
He would demand my wages, which he used at the tavern.
Whatever scant sum remained, Melitta would keep to purchase food, and she and I would eat after Morsimus disappeared. But here he was.
“You’re late today,” Morsimus said. “I hope nothing is amiss.” He spoke with an inquisitive, almost caring tone, and my skin prickled with warning. Morsimus did not inquire after me or my health or the women I spent my time with.
“No, nothing is amiss, good husband. The skins had been dirtied before we received them, that is all. They took longer than normal to clean.”
“Is that so?”
“It is.” The lie was only a small one and not impossible to believe.
As was our routine, I reached for my purse and handed it to Morsimus, who jangled the coins inside. Normally, that was where the exchange ended. But this time, he tipped the coins into his hand and frowned.
“Where is the rest?”
“The rest? There is no more. This is all I receive.”
“Do not lie to me!” In one swift movement, he tossed the purse into the air. As the coins scattered across the tiles, Morsimus pushed his hand against my throat. “I speak to other men, you know. One husband told me his wife makes nearly a third more than you are giving me.”
Tears stung my eyes as his hand squeezed my windpipe, blocking the air, burning my throat.
“I… I…” I could not choke out words. My head began to spin, no air reaching my lungs.
He had beaten me before, but this…this crushing around my airway felt as though he was going to kill me.
I was going to be the next Althea or Juara, who fired arrows with such great skill, only to wind up in the river.
“Master, please! You are choking her!” A blurred image of Melitta came into my view, tugging at Morsimus’s arm. “Please let her go.”
I wanted to tell her to stop, that it was not worth the fight, but I had no air in my lungs. Then, just before the world went black, the grip around my throat loosened, and I fell to the ground.
“Mistress.” Melitta was at my side, but I shook my head, desperate for her to stay away. I could not protect myself, let alone her. Run. That was what I wanted to say. Run away from him. But by the time my breath finally came again, Morsimus was standing over me.
“Where is the rest?” he whispered.
Swallowing my tears was enough to cause a bolt of pain to shoot around my skull.
When Morsimus spoke again, it was a scream accompanied by a kick in my ribs. “Where is the rest?!”
I dodged the blows the best I could, scrambling on my hands and knees to the courtyard. My favorite area of the house. But when I reached it, I could only whimper.
The entire courtyard had been destroyed. The cushions Melitta had meticulously sewn were torn to shreds. Our amphorae were broken, the shards scattered on the ground. All our hard work, gone.
I coughed and choked and forced myself to think through the dizziness. If I told Morsimus of the money I had left with Phile, it would be the last thing I did. One more grip like that across my throat would end me. I had no choice but to maintain my lie.
“This is everything I am given. Perhaps this wife has been there longer. Perhaps… Perhaps…”
“No!” He struck me again with his heel, causing a bright flashing light to sear my eyes. “You have been hiding my money from me. Deceiving me.”
“No, I swear. This is all Phile gives me.”
The instant I said her name I regretted it, for I saw the fire alight in his eyes.
“This Phile. This woman who treats you like a whore. Makes you work like a dog for a meager scrap of what she gives the other workers. No. I will not see our family name treated in such a way. I will see to it myself.”
I covered my face, expecting another blow, but instead, Morsimus stepped over me. Tears blurred my vision, and I did not realize what was happening until I heard the creak of the door.
Melitta once again rushed to my side. I do not know if it was my strength or hers that I used, but somehow I rose to my feet.
“Mistress, you must sit. I will fetch you water. Herbs. I will help.”
She righted a chair and tried to push me down into it, but I shook her away.
“I must get to her. I must get to Phile before he hurts her.”
“Mistress, you are in no state to go anywhere. Mistress, please. Please!”
Melitta was speaking to me, crying. But I barely heard her words, for though I was gasping and limping with pain, I was already out the door.