CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
What? I asked, unable to comprehend what she was telling me. We had just seen Daphne. She had seemed to be in perfect health to me.
It happens sometimes with the elderly, Maia said, patting me on my right shoulder. They can die suddenly and without warning.
Nothing about Daphne had ever seemed old to me. She d moved and worked like a much younger woman. I glanced over at Io and my heart broke for her. She was going to be so devastated when she awoke. I knew how much she looked up to Daphne, how much she had learned from her.
Are the rest of you hurt? Antiope asked.
All three of us shook our heads.
Then come with me. We need to know exactly what happened.
I briefly hesitated. Suri would be upset that her arms were exposed, but there was nothing I could do. The healers had to be able to access the wound.
We went with Antiope and Maia to the battle master s office in the gymnasium and it was just how I would have pictured it. Clean and pristine looking, but with weapons hanging upon every available inch of the walls.
Start at the beginning and tell us everything that occurred, Antiope said after we d all sat down.
Between Zalira, Ahyana, and me, we told them the whole story of all that had transpired within the last twenty-four hours.
When we finished, it didn t seem like the battle master believed us. Terawolves are extinct, she said.
Suri s arm would beg to differ, I responded more sharply than I d intended.
Zalira joined in with her own sarcasm. We probably should have told them they weren t real when they were trying to eat us.
I expected them to scold or lecture us for our rudeness.
But they didn t.
What does this mean? Maia asked Antiope as if we weren t even in the room.
I don t know, and we can t even ask the high priestess. I got the feeling that Antiope wasn t often at a loss like this.
Why can t you ask her? Ahyana asked.
Theano became very ill this afternoon and has been confined to her bed.
Hadn t Maia said that Daphne had died this afternoon? Was that timing coincidental? It had to be. How could one event affect another? My mind felt hazy. The exhaustion had finally set in now that we were back and had shared everything that was important to tell them.
We all left out the part about the red dirt.
You three need to go back to your room and sleep. Tell no one of what you saw tonight, Antiope instructed. I will tell Suri and Io the same thing when they wake up.
Again, I was left with a wealth of questions that I knew wouldn t be answered. And even worse? Two sisters who might be in danger of never waking up again.
The next morning we were awoken by Nysa. She stood with Artemisia and the remaining members of her adelphia in our room. One of the acolytes who had been killed in the attack on the temple had been part of Artemisia s sisterhood. I wondered if they blamed me for it. I gripped my xiphos under my pillow, not sure what was happening.
Get up, Nysa said. Yesterday before she fell ill, Theano said one of her keys had been stolen. It opens the treasury vault. Nothing is missing from the vault and we intend for it to stay that way. She ordered me to conduct a search. We haven t found it so far and since you were the only ones who were gone yesterday . . .
Her voice trailed off, but her implication was clear. She was sure we had it.
And if she had searched us yesterday, she would have been right.
But now it was lying in a forest south of Troas.
Artemisia smirked at us as she tore apart our room. They ripped open bedding, our pillows, and went through all our clothing, our pouches, our knapsacks. We had to sit quietly while everything we owned was tossed into the middle of the room or destroyed.
I was relieved that the book had been stolen. Without a doubt, they would have discovered it and I would have had no explanation.
It s not here, Artemisia practically growled. She had expected to find the key.
I was so glad that I d gotten rid of it. Of course it isn t, I said.
She heard the secret in my voice, knew I had done something, but she had no way to prove it. The bitter and angry frustration was etched clearly into her features.
I stood up as she stalked over to me. If she wanted a fight, I was ready to provide her with one. She would probably be able to take me easily, given my left shoulder, but I would get in a few good hits before someone pried us apart.
You will make a mistake, she said to me in a low voice. And when you do, I will be there to expose you. You will lose.
Lose what?
And I will make certain that you are removed from this temple. You have cost me a sister. You defile this place with your very presence and you put us all in danger, she hissed at me.
I couldn t even defend myself. She was right. I m sorry about your sister.
My pity seemed to just infuriate her further and she drew her sword.
Artemisia! Nysa called out. Let s go.
The women left, with Artemisia glaring at me the entire way, and Zalira sighed. Look at this mess.
We should get it cleaned up before Suri and Io get back, Ahyana said, and I envied the easy optimism she seemed to have.
Kunguru flew into the window and Ahyana immediately rebuked him. There you are, naughty boy! Where have you been? Terawolves tried to eat us. We could have used you as our warning system.
He cawed at her in response and came over to give her a drachma. She shook her head and took the silver coin. She usually kept them in a small wooden box by her bed, but Artemisia had dumped all the contents onto the floor.
I went over to help her clean it up while Zalira started putting our bedding back into place.
Io entered our room a few minutes later, shocking everyone.
We all rushed over to hug her.
Are you all right? I asked.
I m fine. I didn t get nearly as much venom in me as Suri did. She will be recovering for a while longer, she said. What happened in here?
Nysa, Artemisia, and her adelphia came to look for the treasury key, I said.
Did they find it? she asked. There were dark bags under her eyes and fading red streaks around her mouth, and the purple-and-black finger bruises on her neck had started to turn yellow and green.
She looked like she d been beaten up. She went over to sit on her bed and I was glad that Zalira had put that one back together first.
No. I got rid of it in the forest on our way to the spring, I said.
Io nodded, looking relieved. Good.
Ahyana went to sit next to her, taking her hand. Did you hear?
About Daphne? Tears instantly formed and began to slide down her cheeks. She sniffled. I still can t believe that it s true. It doesn t seem real. We just saw her yesterday and she was fine. In perfect health.
It can happen suddenly, I said, echoing Maia s words. I m really sorry. I know how close you were to her.
Zalira and Ahyana also told her they were sorry, with Ahyana hugging Io tightly.
After the festival we were supposed to go out to a nearby farm to help with their olive trees. I don t know if that s still going to happen. I m going to miss her so much, Io said.
We stayed silent for a long while, out of respect for Daphne and for Io s loss. Then I couldn t help myself-I had to ask the question that had been plaguing me. Did anyone else think it was strange that Theano fell ill at the same time Daphne died?
You think the two events are connected? Zalira attempted to clarify.
I think it s a possibility. It seems too strange not to be.
To what end? Ahyana asked. Do you think someone was trying to hurt them and it caused Daphne to die while Theano only became sick?
I shrugged. None of us know what happened yesterday. But who would attack them both?
Zalira crossed her arms over her chest. I think the more important question is why so many of these things are happening all at once. It feels like something is coming and each new thing brings us closer to a cataclysmic event.
I knew what she meant. I had felt that way ever since I d stepped foot into Ilion.
Time was counting down, but I had no idea what would happen when it ran out completely.
The next couple of days were filled with so much activity that there wasn t much chance for us to speculate as to the wild series of events we had been living through. There was endless cleaning that had to be done to prepare for the festival.
Some of the older priestesses made some noise about canceling the festival, given Theano s condition, but they were quickly overruled. The festival was too important to forgo for any one person.
Antiope was elected to the vacant leadership position left by Daphne s death. I had expected that there would be a funeral for Daphne, but they didn t have one. She was quietly buried in the earth with no fanfare.
She was born of a woman, and to a woman she returns, Maia said. To the bosom of the goddess of the earth.
Suri recovered quickly, and I figured it had to be due in part to Io staying down in the infirmary as much as she could to help concoct possible remedies. Combined with the antivenin, they seemed to work. We were all thrilled to have our sister returned to us, healthy and whole.
I wondered if she had the same red, fading streaks on her arm that Io had on her face, but Suri had returned to covering her arms. If my sisters had noticed her other scars, they didn t say so.
While I kept expecting Antiope or Maia to make an announcement about what we d discovered at the headwater of the spring, nothing was said. And we were expected to go about our business pretending that we hadn t been attacked by creatures straight from a nightmare.
During my tutorial with Maia, I thought about what Ahyana had brought up-that someone at the temple might know about the red dirt. When Maia mentioned the ocean during a story she was sharing, I interrupted her to tell her a bit about my voyage over, where we d been attacked by pirates and how they d spread the red dirt.
Have you ever heard of anything like that? I asked. No one was more knowledgeable than Maia.
No. That seems very strange.
Another dead end. I was getting tired of running into those, especially when I d spent the past year training to avoid them.
I also hadn t dreamed of Jason the last two nights. Part of me thought I was just so exhausted in every way imaginable that my body was trying to recuperate, putting me into a sleep so deep that I didn t dream.
It didn t feel that way, though. It was more like he was being kept from me deliberately.
And I didn t like it.
We had to help in the kitchens before the festival began because so much food was being prepared for our guests.
Io described what would happen during the celebration. There will be a parade that will start at the docks and make its way here. It will be led by the living goddess, the young woman selected by the people of Troas to be at the head of the procession. She will be given the honor of bringing a new tunic and veil for the statue.
She then explained about all the women of the city who would join in, carrying baskets filled with fruits and flowers, trays with wine and honey, incense burners that would fill the air with the scent of irises, olive branches to be offered as a sacrifice.
They will wear irises in wreaths on their heads, their hair unbound, their feet unshod. They will sing and dance as they approach, great hymns to the goddess.
Don t forget the horses, Ahyana said.
Io smiled. Oh, yes. There will be five white horses in the parade, representing the goddess s daughter. They re her sacred animal.
That made me less interested in the horses. After the terawolves, I d had my fill of sacred animals. And there won t be any men involved at all? I asked.
No, this is a festival solely for women. Men who try to watch usually meet a bloody end, she said. I wondered who administered that punishment. Probably Antiope. Along the way the procession will stop and dig five furrows into the ground to ensure fertility for next season.
Five being sacred to the goddess.
She nodded. It also has to do with the myth that the goddess lay with a mortal man in a recently plowed field with five furrows. Iasion was his name, if I recall correctly. He impregnated the goddess with a mortal child who became the first high priestess of her temple.
Which is why some men talk about plowing women in a very crude way, Zalira said with a shake of her head.
I was curious as to why the goddess could take lovers and have children, but her priestesses were not permitted to do so.
There will be a great bonfire in the courtyard, where sacrifices can be made, Zalira added. After the fire burns out, those ashes are collected to sprinkle onto the fields for planting, as they will ensure a good harvest.
And the wine! Ahyana said, her eyes dancing. There will be so much honeyed wine. The purest, sweetest thing you ve ever tasted.
Which none of you should drink because they add a mixture that includes pomegranate juice, saffron, and wild orchid powder to it, Io said with a wag of her finger.
What does that do? I asked, and my sisters laughed while Suri smiled.
It gives the women a very strong desire to return to their homes and increase their own fertility with their husbands, Ahyana said with a wink.
Does that actually work? I asked.
Io just rolled her eyes at me. Of course it does. A great number of children will be born nine months from now. Seemingly embarrassed, she directed the conversation to a more neutral topic.
The rest of the afternoon flew past and it was time for us to gather in the courtyard. Everyone had been given a new tunic in honor of the celebration. I supposed that I wouldn t receive one but Maia surprised me by handing me a light green tunic to match with my sisters .
Just for tonight, she said. I understood the message-I was to resume wearing my black tunic when Theano came back to rule over us.
We waited in silence and heard the far-off sounds of the processional.
It has begun! Ahyana said with undisguised glee.
Everything had been so difficult lately that I was looking forward to a night of revelry.
I couldn t wait to see what they were all so excited about.