Infinite Sacrifice by L.E. Waters Page B

sakes, but we still cannot
repair the disconnect I caused. I find out through Nereus that
Theodon has finally joined the Citizens’ Army. Nereus says he’s
already winning great acclaim and respect. All Ophira and I have is
Kali, and we enjoy her separately. She’s torn between us, but it
becomes normal for her. Leander leaves for war again as soon as
Arcen is buried: not in a hero’s grave, but a regular civilian’s
grave, given his cowardice.
    A few months later, Nereus is found
dead in his sleep by one of his household helots. We place him in
his boat and send him adrift with his sails flying—to finally float
indefinitely. I keep the knife he gave me on me daily, still
wrapped in my sandal straps in memory of him. His household is
passed down to me, his only surviving relative. I now am in charge
of three households, an almost unheard of feat.
    We watch Kali grow, and her looks
start to change. Her nose becomes slightly eagle-shaped, and her
lips lose their deep color. Her hair is wispy, and her shape is
long and lanky. I’d hoped her beauty would attract a man who would
overlook her mixed breeding, but now I see her fading. Every week,
I get in my cart and force Kali to come with me to the oracle of
Helen where we pray for Helen to bestow her beauty on her. Each
time, we make our way to the temple on the mountaintop, past the
statues lining the steep path, and climb the stairs to the columned
circle. The air is hard to breathe so high up; I nearly faint when
I bow before the oracle. I hold Kali’s hand as we recite our
prayer, and when she drinks from the temple spring, I notice Ophira
has given Kali her powerful medallion to wear. We do this for a
year, and sure enough, she blossoms once again. Her muscle tone
builds up to give her curves where there were none; her hair turns
a bright strawberry-blonde, flowing thickly over her shoulders, and
her eyes flash unusual amber.
    She’s not allowed to go to the
festivals, being a mothax, but every time I go into the city, I
bring her with me to be seen. I see how all of the men and women
notice her. I watch from the house as Ophira teaches her to dance
in the fields below. Kali’s almost as graceful as she is; they look
like two sirens flittering between the bushes and trees. I worry
every day that passes is one day closer to her being sent away. I
pray to Hades to take Leander's life. I think if he never comes
back, no one will know she is still with me. Leander survives, to
my regret. He comes home again up the dirt road on his warhorse. He
aged, though, much older than my forty-five years. War took a toll
on him, and he’s walking stiffer and slower for it.
    He comes into the house without
even acknowledging me, throws down his feathered helmet, and
declares, “I have decided to wife-share with Nicholas. She has
produced four fine sons, all fine specimens, all excelling in agoge
even though they’re still young. He’s agreed to share her as long
as I promise my household to the future child, and I’m agreeing to
this.”
    I was expecting this one day and am
ready for it. “If you are asking me for my permission, you can have
it, but there is a price.”
    He looks curious but wary. “What
price?”
    “Kali can stay,
and when it comes time, I get to decide who I leave my households to.” He
nods in agreement, but I continue, “You will also live in your
house until you’re dead, and then you can give it to whomever you
want.”
    Even though it’s beneficial for a
woman to own three households, it’s important only if you have
someone to give them to. Kali’s all I have left, and she can own a
household only through marriage. He picks up his helmet, walks out
to his horse, and rides out on my dirt road for the last time.
Neither of us even cared enough to say good-bye. I feel free from
the worry of Leander sending Kali away. Ophira seems to understand
what happened after Leander never comes back, even though she knows
the army has returned. She seems a