Chapter Seventy-Three
As we walked, Hirtus offered me a drink from his flask. Despite my own still being a third full, I took it from him and drank a mouthful gratefully.
“As Iphinone has been this way, I assume she told you what happened?” I asked.
“Do you mean has she told us of the women arriving in Ninniya seeking sanctuary or that you waged war against their men by riding on horseback to meet them as though you were gods yourselves?”
“I do not think any of us considered ourselves gods. Though we were greatly blessed by them. Did she tell you of Themiscyra too?”
“A little. I sensed she did not wish to discuss it at length.”
I nodded, feeling no need to respond.
“It has not been a time of great ease,” I admitted. “There have been other deaths too. I like to think that we saved more than would have died at their husbands’ hands, but I cannot know for sure.”
“These women knew the risks,” Hirtus replied, skirting my comment. “Aina knew the risks. You cannot hold yourself responsible for every act of the gods. All you can do is honor the dead now that they have passed.”
Beyond my women and the life Hirtus now lived, one question remained burning within me, pressing on my heart. It had been the first question I had wanted to ask him, and I could no longer keep it to myself.
“Phile?”
Hirtus’s eyes glazed before he blinked the sheen away and spoke. “She passed two moons ago.”
“Two moons?” I frowned in confusion, for I had expected to have lost her long before then.
“We met someone on our travels,” Hirtus said. “Someone I had heard of. A woman who knew how to brew tonics. She said she was trained by Hecate herself. Whether that is true or not, I cannot say, but her gifts gave Phile that extra time. And she remained strong until the end.”
“That is why you wished her to leave with you? So you could see this woman?” I asked, wondering if it had been Phile’s plan too, to visit this acolyte of Hecate.
“It was one of the reasons. But in the end, the illness was too much for her. She passed in peace though.”
A wave of grief washed over me. “She was a good woman,” I said, my voice thick with tears.
“The best,” Hirtus replied, his own voice breaking.
“Good enough for Elysium.”
I said the words to comfort Hirtus, yet they held the truth.
Phile had changed and saved lives. She was a hero among the women of Ninniya and those of Oreia, for it was her actions that had laid the foundations for their freedom.
If the gods were half as just as they claimed to be, Phile had found her place in Elysium.
For a moment, we stood in silence, each lost in our own thoughts.
“Come, Otrera. Let us talk.”
For the first time, I took Hirtus’s hand, and together we continued our walk.
“So is this likely to recur? You bringing boys to me?”
“I would like to say this will be the only time, but I cannot guarantee it. The home we are building by ourselves is to be a sanctuary for women. A continuation of what we achieved in Ninniya. Would that be a problem?”
“For me? No. Not at all. You are building something for yourself, and so are we. The boys have named us the Gargareans.”
“The Gargareans.” I smiled at the name, for it suited them. “And you have no fixed home? No place you have settled?”
“I do not believe that is the way the earth was intended for us. Animals move for the weather, for the food. It makes sense for us to do the same. But it is a shame you have come this time of year. Summer is always arid wherever we go. In spring, we choose the places that are most alive with life.”
“Then I shall return at springtime.”
“With more boys?” he chuckled.
“Perhaps.”
I had forgotten the ease with which he and I could speak, or perhaps it was the ease with which he spoke. The paternal presence was for me. Now it shone a light on all the young men here.
“I should help the women.” A sudden awkwardness came over me. “We need to hunt. Our rations are running short.”
“Do not be foolish. We have plenty.”
“Are you certain?”
“I am, though I suspect some of my men would like to try their hands at riding your horses in return.”
Hirtus cast his attention to where one of the older men was standing with his hand out tentatively to a horse.
Though I would not have thought it possible, this man was taller than Hirtus, and I suspected his feet would touch the ground should he sit on horseback.
Yet I wished to see it, for humor’s sake if nothing else.
I could not help but smile at his childlike curiosity until my eyes swept past him to another face.
One that was staring at me. One whom I had done all I could to push from my mind.
But he was there, and there was no escaping him.
His gaze was enough to cause my pulse to rise, and though I tried to disguise that from Hirtus, he was aware my attention had shifted.
“I believe you have some other reunions to make,” Hirtus said, the smile twisting on his lips. “I shall leave you. Consider the camp your home. We have plenty of mattresses upon which you can sleep. If you require a bed of your own, that is.”