CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Waiting for me? I asked, not understanding what she meant.
Io nodded and then stood. I am to take you on a tour of the temple grounds and then there will be a ceremony for you because it s the fifth day.
She didn t clarify what she d meant when she said they d been waiting for me and instead began to speak about something different. I felt like I was struggling to keep up, my questions overwhelming me.
The fifth day of what? I knew for a fact it was not the fifth day of the month.
The fifth day since you arrived.
I sat straight up in my bed and realized that I wasn t in any physical pain. I tested all of my limbs, holding my arms out in front of me, pressing my fingers against my ribs. Had I really been here for five days?
Do you have healers with magic? I asked. My grandmother s book had mentioned life mages with a special type of magic that could mend bones, stop bleeding, or wipe away any sickness.
There hasn t been someone with that sort of ability in a very long time, she said.
Perhaps the mages had drained too much power from their shards?
Daphne tended to you, which is why you feel better. You most likely met her the night you arrived. She s an older woman and wears her hair in one long braid? Io said as she offered me her hand. She is a master of potions and remedies. She always knows the best ways to combine various plants and herbs to help others. She s teaching me how to do it, too.
I waved her extended hand away. I didn t need any assistance. I was more than capable of standing up on my own. I noticed that I was wearing a black tunic, but it seemed different from the one I d been given initially.
My feet hit the ground with a thud, like I d almost forgotten how to walk. I quickly leaned against the bed as Io tried to hide her smile, but she didn t succeed. It took a few seconds, but I regained control of my legs. She pointed at a pair of leather sandals, and I quickly slid them on and tied the straps around my ankles.
This way, she said as we passed through the open door. Obviously we were just in the infirmary, and it is situated not too far from the dormitories. We walked down a long, covered patio with white marble columns along the outer edge. The dormitories are arranged by age. The older priestesses apparently don t like sharing their sleeping quarters with the newer acolytes.
The inner wall was covered with foreign shields-relics of battles past. I assumed that they were from wars Ilion had won. Were there Locrian shields on display? I didn t see any.
And why would they hang them here in the temple, and not in the barracks?
More questions I wanted answers to. I started to ask about it, but we turned a corner and I couldn t help but let out a small gasp. There were women of various ages everywhere. Dozens of them. Hundreds. And that was just the women within my eyeline.
No wonder so many of them passed on within a short period of time.
And I could feel every single pair of their eyes on me as we headed toward one of the dormitories. I wondered what made them stare. That I was new? The black tunic? The shaved head?
Or that I was a Locrian maiden?
While Io seemed so welcoming, none of the women who glared at me did.
I wished I had my sword with me.
How many Locrian women are here? I asked.
I already knew the answer but a part of me hoped she might respond differently.
None. You are the first to ever make it to the temple.
In a thousand years, the first and only. Another thing I couldn t dwell on-those two thousand girls who had lost their lives for a crime they hadn t committed.
My heart clenched as I again thought of Quynh.
As I avoided the gazes of the women surrounding us, I couldn t help but take in the greenery. Grass in the open areas. Trees overhead, their leaves swaying gently in a breeze while shading the path. Bushes lining the walkways. So much green, so much life.
We entered one of the dormitories and climbed the stairs to the second floor. We walked down a long hallway until we reached the last door on the left. This is our room, Io said as she opened the door and let me in. It was larger than I would have imagined, big enough to fit five beds. We have three sisters that you ll meet later. Your bed is over there, along with your things.
The bed she d pointed to was closest to the window and I rushed over to find my pack. My throwing knives were there, my dagger, the two bags of salt, the tunic that I d borrowed, my sheath, and my xiphos. Everything had been cleaned and polished. If I d been alone, I would have kissed my sword. I d thought I would never see it again.
That s a beautiful weapon. Io s voice was tinged with envy, which seemed strange. Why would an acolyte of the earth goddess care about my xiphos?
Thank you. I debated whether I should put it on or leave it here. I figured I wouldn t have any need of it within the temple complex, and given that it had been waiting for me on my bed for the last five days, I was probably safe to leave it.
There was a pouch with a long strap attached to it. What s this for?
For whatever you d like to carry. Everyone here wears one. I glanced at Io and saw that she had hers about her waist. I find it convenient for keeping snacks for between meals.
When I didn t smile at her jest, she added, You may want to put your bracelet in there. Jewelry is not permitted at the temple.
The idea of taking off Quynh s bracelet made me ill, but it didn t seem that I had much of a choice. The temple priestesses already wanted to throw me out-I wouldn t visibly defy them by breaking their rule.
My stomach rolled and protested as I undid the knot Quynh had made. I quickly put the bracelet into the pouch and then tied the straps around my waist.
Are you ready to see the rest? she asked when I finished, and I nodded.
She showed me the dining hall, which was attached to the kitchens and storage rooms, and it wasn t far from the administrative building. I made a mental note-that might potentially have documents that could prove helpful.
Do you have a library? I asked. That would be the best place for me to start my search. The eye could be anywhere and I needed to gather as much information as I could.
No.
That surprised me. Even my family still had a library, and we d had to sell off most of our books.
Thinking of the palace led my thoughts quickly to Quynh again and that ever-present white-hot pain of losing her, just as sharp and bright as it had been the moment she d dropped.
Would it ever not hurt as much?
My body might have been healed, but my heart had not and I was afraid it never would.
Io was still talking and I forced myself to pay attention. There s no reason for the temple to have a library. No one here can read.
Another stunning revelation. In Locris basic education was given to all women, regardless of rank. Although I probably shouldn t have been surprised that a city that hunted women for sport wouldn t worry too much about whether girls could read.
How long had things been this way? My grandmother had taught me that wisdom had always been passed down through the written word-through the stories told, through songs that were sung, through poems read aloud. If women couldn t read, they couldn t access that information. They would never know what the women before them had done. How they had been heroines and overcome trials and obstacles.
I supposed I couldn t be too outraged over it-my own nation had banned the goddess stories, songs, and poetry entirely.
No women in Ilion can read? Not even the daughters of nobles? I clarified.
The daughters of royals and nobles are not allowed to join the temple.
A loud warning bell sounded inside me. This felt like treading over dangerous ground. Another reason to hide my identity-it might give the priestesses an excuse to expel me. Why not?
I suspect that it s because those kinds of women are expected to make marriages of alliance for their families, but what we re officially told is that the goddess should only be served by those who have lived lives of hardship, who will know what it takes to sacrifice and to serve, and so those raised in homes of luxury don t qualify.
That certainly wasn t true. I d had more than my fair share of obstacles and heartache.
I knew what it meant to sacrifice and serve.
I was closely acquainted with adversity and loss.
Quynh s face rose up in my mind s eye and I had to tamp down my feelings again. I wanted to stuff them into a wooden box where I could close the lid and hide them away. I feared I wouldn t be able to function otherwise.
Io said, There might be some books in the head priestess s office, but she always keeps that locked.
Useful information for a later date. Who had the keys? And how would I get my hands on them?
Over there is the treasury, she said, pointing at a large square building.
Of everything we d viewed so far, that sounded the most promising. Trying to keep my voice even, I asked, Does everyone have access to it?
I bit back a curse word. I sounded so obvious with my intentions. I might as well have asked her if the eye of the goddess was being held in that building and how I could get inside to steal it.
But Io didn t seem to notice. That s always locked as well and only the high priestess, Theano, is allowed to go in.
I thought of my welcoming committee, of the woman who had commanded the others and had tried to throw me out. Is she the one who wears the veil?
Yes.
Does she always wear it?
I ve never seen her without it, Io said. And there s a lot of speculation as to why she has it. Some think she s been disfigured or burned. Some have guessed that she s so beautiful that she hides her face away so the gods will not be jealous of her or try to steal her. Others that Theano is the earth goddess herself and must cover her face so that we won t be incinerated by her glory.
I hoped Theano wasn t the goddess, because I got the distinct impression she wouldn t be very sympathetic to my cause.
Or that it s a rite associated with her office that none of us know about because we re not the high priestess, she finished. But I do know that wearing and keeping the keys of the temple is part of her responsibilities. Something she sometimes shares with the Chosen.
Chosen? I echoed.
The Chosen are the five acolytes who are performing best at the temple, and they re given specific responsibilities. Water bearer, key bearer, washing the statue of the goddess, creating sacred clothes for her, that sort of thing.
There would be so much for me to learn. There was no way I could break into Theano s office or the treasury, given how terrible I was with locks. Demaratus had known what I d be up against and my dismissing lock picking as not important had again come back to bite me. I sighed. I d have to get the keys, to find a way to steal them without anyone noticing.
I didn t know how possible that would be. So if that plan didn t work out, I would have to become one of these Chosen so that I might just be handed the keys I needed. I wondered how much time that would take.
We walked past the front courtyard, the one I d dashed across to reach the steps of the temple. It was full of women, but they were wearing more neutral colors-no green.
Are those all priestesses, too? I asked.
No, those are the women of the city who have come to beg the goddess for favors or to honor her with a sacrifice. It s mostly younger women who wish to be married or to become pregnant, as the goddess oversees both of those things.
I nodded, watching the women as they knelt in prayer and supplication, laying sacrifices of fruits and vegetables at a small stone altar that I hadn t noticed before.
Only priestesses and acolytes may go into the temple proper, but women can enter the courtyard and temple grounds, she said. Men are completely forbidden from all of it.
I opened my mouth to ask why but shut it quickly. I knew why.
My ancestor, Ajax, and what he had done to a temple priestess.
That was also why all the men hunting me had not gone past the archway.
You ve seen all the important buildings, but there s something special I wanted to show you, she said. Come with me.
I trailed along behind her and reached up to brush my fingers across the leaves of the closest tree. I d never felt a leaf before-it was softer than I d imagined, with veins underneath that looked a bit like the ones in my wrists.
And for the briefest of moments, it felt like the leaves were responding to my touch. Calling to me.
Euthalia.
I dropped my hand and put the thought out of my mind, drawing in a shaky breath as I hurried to catch up to Io.