the earth floor. Sometimes this calmed her back into sleep.
'She must have been tortured. I feel now that your disapproval of seclusion is wise, Cassandra. Lock creatures up in close cages and they will attack each other.'
'Her mother? You think her mother did this to her? Certainly the Queen is a woman of strong passions, but why should she bother to torture this meek daughter, when she had a whole city full of slaves? Besides, she has no scars. She has not been beaten or whipped, Chryse. It is something else. She is full of self-loathing.'
'Is she re-living the death of her father, do you think?'
'No, I have not heard her say one word about her father. It is her mother she hates most bitterly.'
'You knew,' said the Princess Electra, clearly, as though she had been listening. 'Mother, you knew. You knew! And you didn't save me!'
'Didn't save you from what, Electra?' I asked softly, hoping to talk to the undermind.
'Him!' she screamed, stabbing a finger in the air. 'Him, him!'
'Him?' I asked, but she was lost again in a dream.
'Him?' repeated Chryse. 'Does this mean that she isn't a maiden?'
'Surely no one could have⦠not in her mother's palace,' I hesitated.
'She says that mother knew,' Chryse reminded me. 'Perhaps there was a lover. Even in a palace such things are known, sometimes.'
'Possibly, Chryse, but she would not be so wounded if she had voluntarily taken a lover, even a secret one. This sounds like rape.'
'She's over twenty, isn't she? When did you first lie with a man?'
'When I was fourteen, I made the sacrifice and joined the Mother. What about you?'
He leaned into my arms in silence. I could not see his face. I wondered if he was about to disclose the secret which he was clearly keeping about this, but all he said was, 'I was thirteen.'
'But I was in Troy where women are free, and you are a man. This stiff little princess would never have dared to take a lover. I can't believe it. She shrinks from any contact with a man. She believes in all the rules of propriety. Also, she has been watched by that hawk-eyed queen since childhood, so she hasn't a particle of initiative. She must have been given away, or waylaid in some dark place in Mycenae. It has enough dark places.'
'In the women's quarters, with all those guards outside?' objected Chryse, running a hand over his tired face. Exhausted and red-eyed, he was just as beautiful to me, the golden Asclepius-Priest, as he was when he had been alight with joy over my rescue. I remembered coupling with him in the goatherd's hut and suppressed a desire to bind Electra, and drown in his arms. His linen tunic, much stained with travel, had fallen away, revealing his throat and the pure lines of his chest. I dragged my mind away from Dionysos and concentrated on Asclepius. We had a patient and she had to be cared for, which meant we had to get to the bottom of this problem.
'Agamemnon has been away for a long time, since this princess was about eleven, I suppose. Would there be any way for her mother to find her a husband, or is that just the province of Argive fathers?' I asked.
'Her oldest male relative would arrange the marriage, and the princess would have a great dowry. There would be feasts and everyone would know. As far as the world knows, the Princess Electra is a virgin.'
'Ah, yes, the Achaean obsession with virginity. Instruct me, Chryse, I am ignorant. What would happen if the Princess had been raped? For she is behaving as violated women do.'
Chryse was too tired to notice the irony in my voice. 'Happen? She would be dishonoured and the rapist would be fined. Rape is not such a terrible crime in Achaea. A seducer makes the woman fall in love with him and is therefore punished with death. A rapist makes her hate him and therefore her affection remains with her husband, so he is fined.'
'But the victim would be dishonoured?'
'Yes. "Virginity gone, honour gone", that's what the Argives say. It would require a hefty dowry to bribe any man
'She must have been tortured. I feel now that your disapproval of seclusion is wise, Cassandra. Lock creatures up in close cages and they will attack each other.'
'Her mother? You think her mother did this to her? Certainly the Queen is a woman of strong passions, but why should she bother to torture this meek daughter, when she had a whole city full of slaves? Besides, she has no scars. She has not been beaten or whipped, Chryse. It is something else. She is full of self-loathing.'
'Is she re-living the death of her father, do you think?'
'No, I have not heard her say one word about her father. It is her mother she hates most bitterly.'
'You knew,' said the Princess Electra, clearly, as though she had been listening. 'Mother, you knew. You knew! And you didn't save me!'
'Didn't save you from what, Electra?' I asked softly, hoping to talk to the undermind.
'Him!' she screamed, stabbing a finger in the air. 'Him, him!'
'Him?' I asked, but she was lost again in a dream.
'Him?' repeated Chryse. 'Does this mean that she isn't a maiden?'
'Surely no one could have⦠not in her mother's palace,' I hesitated.
'She says that mother knew,' Chryse reminded me. 'Perhaps there was a lover. Even in a palace such things are known, sometimes.'
'Possibly, Chryse, but she would not be so wounded if she had voluntarily taken a lover, even a secret one. This sounds like rape.'
'She's over twenty, isn't she? When did you first lie with a man?'
'When I was fourteen, I made the sacrifice and joined the Mother. What about you?'
He leaned into my arms in silence. I could not see his face. I wondered if he was about to disclose the secret which he was clearly keeping about this, but all he said was, 'I was thirteen.'
'But I was in Troy where women are free, and you are a man. This stiff little princess would never have dared to take a lover. I can't believe it. She shrinks from any contact with a man. She believes in all the rules of propriety. Also, she has been watched by that hawk-eyed queen since childhood, so she hasn't a particle of initiative. She must have been given away, or waylaid in some dark place in Mycenae. It has enough dark places.'
'In the women's quarters, with all those guards outside?' objected Chryse, running a hand over his tired face. Exhausted and red-eyed, he was just as beautiful to me, the golden Asclepius-Priest, as he was when he had been alight with joy over my rescue. I remembered coupling with him in the goatherd's hut and suppressed a desire to bind Electra, and drown in his arms. His linen tunic, much stained with travel, had fallen away, revealing his throat and the pure lines of his chest. I dragged my mind away from Dionysos and concentrated on Asclepius. We had a patient and she had to be cared for, which meant we had to get to the bottom of this problem.
'Agamemnon has been away for a long time, since this princess was about eleven, I suppose. Would there be any way for her mother to find her a husband, or is that just the province of Argive fathers?' I asked.
'Her oldest male relative would arrange the marriage, and the princess would have a great dowry. There would be feasts and everyone would know. As far as the world knows, the Princess Electra is a virgin.'
'Ah, yes, the Achaean obsession with virginity. Instruct me, Chryse, I am ignorant. What would happen if the Princess had been raped? For she is behaving as violated women do.'
Chryse was too tired to notice the irony in my voice. 'Happen? She would be dishonoured and the rapist would be fined. Rape is not such a terrible crime in Achaea. A seducer makes the woman fall in love with him and is therefore punished with death. A rapist makes her hate him and therefore her affection remains with her husband, so he is fined.'
'But the victim would be dishonoured?'
'Yes. "Virginity gone, honour gone", that's what the Argives say. It would require a hefty dowry to bribe any man
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