Chapter Twenty-Three
From the very next day, I obeyed Hirtus, shifting the wet skins from one place to another and looking longingly at those who were given the task of running a light fleshing knife through sinew and fat.
“I am grateful he has given you that task. It was my least favorite,” Eleni said.
Just as with Morsimus’s attack on me, no one had mentioned the beating she endured all those days ago, other than to say how strong she looked now.
Strong was not the word I would have used.
Her face remained marbled with yellow and green, and though I had not noticed it on the day, he had knocked two teeth from her jaw.
Yet somehow her smile still beamed. I, on the other hand, struggled to even speak, given the constant burning in my arms.
I had known I was weak before I arrived in Ninniya but had assumed all the work in the tannery had strengthened me. If it did, I could not feel the effects. By the second day of lifting wet skins, my muscles felt raw.
“I want to see you fire the bow and arrow,” Eleni said as she stepped back to give me room to pick up a skin. “Damaris was in awe of you.”
“I do not see why. She was very good herself.”
“Not as good as you. Do not worry. She is not the jealous type. But I think she would like it if you helped her. She struggles to bond with people, and I think you two could become firm friends.”
I tried not to scoff, for I had never seen anyone less keen to form a friendship than Damaris.
But Eleni was not deterred. “Perhaps when we finish here, you could talk with her at the river.”
“I cannot today,” I said truthfully. “I am going back to see the horses with Aina and Iphinone. Though you are welcome to join us.”
Eleni shook her head. “No, I will leave the beasts to you and Iphinone, though I will ask Damaris if she wishes to join you. I am sure she will be grateful for the invitation.”
I had not meant to invite Damaris, but there was no manner in which I could now revoke the unspoken offer.
During the hottest months, the horses kept to the deep waters of the river, their four hooves far sturdier on the rocky bed than my two inexperienced feet could ever be.
And while Myrina promptly trotted out to greet Aina, Erebus did not show me the same affinity.
So I had remained on the bank, staring at him as he stood out of reach.
With the temperatures cooling, I had hoped to find him on the grass. I had no desire for Damaris to come and witness my likely humiliation or, worse still, disturb the horses’ peace. Unfortunately, as the women finished bathing, she approached me.
“Thank you for the invitation,” she said. There was no smile to occupy her words. If anything, she looked displeased.
“We should leave swiftly,” I said as Iphinone and Aina also made their way toward me. “Aina, I assume you know where the horses are?”
“Still close to the water, I suspect,” she said. “There is an area of land where the hill and trees protect them from the breeze. That is where they will be.”
“Then lead the way.”
While Iphinone and I had shared comfortable silences before, both on our previous walks and at work in the tannery, Damaris’s presence added an uneasiness to the journey.
I felt her gaze upon me constantly, a pressure needling into my skull, even when I walked at her side.
If her intent in coming was to bond with Iphinone and myself, she would at some point be required to speak.
Finally she did so, though her choice of topic was entirely unexpected.
“You brought a slave with you,” she said, staring at me intently. “I have seen her in the village. She buys meat and bread from Kallista at the tavern.”
Was this an accusation? I had a slave and therefore was no better than the men who treated us the same way? Phile had slaves. Did Damaris judge Phile too?
“I brought Melitta with us to save her,” I said, indignant. “No one would buy her at her age, and Morsimus would never have freed her. This was the kindest thing I could do.”
Damaris nodded once. “I thought as much.”
Wordlessly, she reached across and squeezed my hand. Unsure how to respond, I kept my eyes forward and continued to walk until Aina’s voice broke the quiet.
“She has come to see me. Look!”
Immediately, Damaris released my hand.
Aina was correct. Myrina had clearly spotted us and was trotting toward Aina.
“See, Mother? She likes me riding her. I cannot disappoint her. Please.”
A reluctant smile graced Iphinone’s face. “I do not know why you still ask,” she said. “You will ride regardless of what I say.”
Grinning wildly, Aina mounted the horse. Though rather than galloping away, she walked sedately beside us as we made our way to the rest of the herd.
Despite the cooler air, the horses were still in the river, and once again, Erebus was at the center of his herd.
“I will go in the water,” I said quietly, almost to myself. “If he will not come to me, I have no choice. I will have to go into the water to meet him.”
“Your heart is still set on Erebus?” Iphinone said. “You know, there are others you could ride more easily.”
“I’m not sure if I even want to ride,” I said honestly. “I just want him. In whatever way he will come to me.”
“Well, try not to get bitten this time. Or kicked either.”
The water was deeper than I expected, with a sharp drop-off and a rocky bed that threatened to trip me several times, but I kept my eyes on Erebus. Whether it was arrogance or not, I was certain he recognized me.
My heart was beating a hundred times faster than it should, yet I did not slow my pace.
He knew it was him I was coming to see, and he waited.
The water was up to my thighs, icy and swift, yet still I did not stop.
Instead, I continued forward until I was right beside him.
With my heart filling my chest, I looked him dead in the eye and pressed my hand against his flank.
“I am here, Erebus. I am here.”
Tears stung my eyes, but for the first time in a great many years, they were tears of joy.
As they ran down my face, I pressed my forehead against the muscles of the horse’s neck.
Erebus jolted slightly before relaxing into the pressure of my touch.
I would never stake a claim on a wild animal; I would never be so arrogant.
But something passed between us in that moment, and though he was not mine, I was his. Was this love? Possibly.
It was only when a sharp wind caused the water to splash up my robe and I stepped back that the moment broke. But there was no sadness in my heart, for I knew that what we had formed that day was lasting.
When I finally left him, Aina, Iphinone, and Damaris were standing on the riverbank, eyes wide.
“You did it!” Aina squeezed me tightly. “He will let you ride him, I am certain. I could see it in his eyes. Could you, Mother?”
“I am not quite ready to ride yet,” I said. Though when I turned to Damaris and caught her eye, I became aware of a sensation in my face—a tightening across my cheeks. Never before had I smiled to the point of pain.
“Once again, you have impressed everyone.” Damaris spoke with the same coolness as always, yet now I saw the warmth in her eyes, a warmth she struggled to show. “Where do you find your boldness?”
“Boldness? That was sheer brazen stupidity,” Iphinone laughed.
Aina’s chatter as we walked back was as incessant as always, though her pace was notably slower. Every so often, she would stop and readjust her robe, only to do the same again a moment later.
“It really hurts,” she said finally, letting out an exasperated cry.
Iphinone only shrugged. “I do not know what you wish me to say. Of course it hurts. You are not meant to ride a horse in such a manner. I will put some lotion on when we return home. That will soothe the skin a little.”
“What has happened?” I asked, for I could not see an injury.
Iphinone rolled her eyes. “The horse’s hair rubs against her skin. The rash it leaves is uncomfortable, but I do not know what she expects me to do. If she wishes to ride, she must deal with the consequences.”
“Could she not wear something to prevent it? A cloth, perhaps.”
“Like a blanket across the horse’s back? It would surely fall off.”
I thought of my bruised forearm and the makeshift guard that Melitta had sewn for me and was certain that she could fashion a garment to ease Aina’s pain.
It would be seen as barbaric, of course.
Not the type of garment any respectable man or woman would wear, but I suspected Aina would like the gift even more for that.
And perhaps, when Erebus was more comfortable with me, she could make one for me as well.