Truth and Sparta (17 page)

She lost all
sense of exploring when he kissed her and just existed in the kiss,
wanting more. Her legs parted and welcomed him, increasing the
friction further down. He rolled his hips slightly shooting
sensations up her body that made her gasp. She couldn’t help but
respond in kind. Her thought of going slow were disintegrating by
the second. She brought her knees up bringing their bodies even
closer.

She could hear
his breath growing unsteady and he moaned as she ran her hand over
the strong curves of his backside pressing him to her. His eyes had
grown glassy and unfocused. He was just as captivated by the
sensations they was creating as she was. She felt a sense of pride
at being the one who brought him to such a state, to undo him this
way.

He moved back
slightly and she could feel that he was coming inside her, pushing
in smoothly as her body yielded to him, stretching and accepting.
She knew she wanted this more than anything else in the world at
that particular moment. It felt like everything was as it should be
and that nothing in the world that was wrong. Her body pulsed
around him and she marvelled at the sense of fullness and
completion.

He pulled back
and drove into her again. The sensations assaulted her, but she
could do nothing but want more. Her body started convulsing around
him as he drove into her yet again, heightening the sensation to
almost unbearable pleasure. She never wanted this to stop. Her body
seemed to explode anew each time he came into her fully.

He leaned back
on his arms and pushed into her harder. Chara felt the power in his
body as he moved and she tried to meet every one of his thrusts.
His movements became more erratic and she knew he was close to his
release. He brought his hand down to her hip and thrust hard into
her a last time, stayed deep inside her. Her own convulsions drew
on his, heightening the feeling of raw energy flowing between
them.

Chara welcomed
him to her as he sank down, struggling to get enough air. She held
him tight to her as they both recovered. Their coupling had never
been this intense before. She didn’t know what had changed, but
something had. Maybe it was the fact that this would end and that
he was a sacrifice that she would ultimately have to make.

She’d found
someone who could make her feel things she had not believed
possible and she was fairly sure it was not something she would
have with another. But they made an impossible couple. It was a
horrible feeling knowing that only she knew it.

He rolled onto
his back.

“
I missed you,” he said. “I seem to miss you whenever I go now.
I am sorry you’ve had a difficult time lately. I am sorry I wasn’t
here to help you.”

“
Was there something you could have done?”

“
I don’t know,” he said closing his eyes. “I don’t know what
happened.”

“
Nothing would justify what happened to him.”

There was a
moment of uncomfortable silence. “Are you staying long?” she
asked.

“
I have to go down and find out what is required next. I don’t
know where I am supposed to go next. Hopefully we will have some
time to rest. I expect the Assembly will be happy with the news of
our victory after the events of the previous year. It may take some
time for them to make up their minds on the next course of action.
There are divisions in the Assembly from what I hear.” He turned
and pulled Chara to him, his body wrapping around hers and his chin
snuggling into the crook of her neck.

“
Hopefully, there will be some time to spend at home,” he
said.

There was a
duality to Chara’s thoughts, she wanted more of this, but she also
knew it was a risk. She had much to do and him being here would
make it harder. She tried to wipe it all from her mind. She would
have enough time to worry about it later.

Chara stood in
the early dawn at the agreed point along the coastline where she
would meet the ship. She’d sent word out to those who were coming
that this is where they needed to meet. She stressed that everyone
had to travel on their own as they could not be spotted travelling
as a group, and not to refer to her by name, instead to refer to
her as Lynx, which was Doros’ favorite animal—quiet and speedy, a
cat that snuck unseen around with better eyesight to spot danger
than any creature that ever lived. Chara hoped taking the name
would give her some of its strengths—she would need them.

When she got
to the coast after sleeping some ways inland, she noted that there
were much more people than she’d expected. The dawn came and she
could see the ship coming along the horizon.

She walked
through the group of waiting people, glad to note that the woman
who had first beseeched her to take her boy was there with her
children. They had their meagre belongings wrapped in a cloth. She
spotted another boy standing on his own. He was young—couldn’t be
more than thirteen.

“
Are you here alone?”

“
Yes.”

“
Are your parents joining you later?”

“
No parents,” he said. “They died a while back. Their cart fell
into a ravine.”

“
I’m sorry. Attica is very nice. There is lots of
land.”

“
I’m not going.”

“
Then why are you here?”

“
I only came to see if it’s true.”

“
Well, there is a ship,” she said. “You can go if you want
to.”

“
There is someone I need to bring.”

“
You know of others who want to come?”

“
A few.”

“
Then the ship will return for you,” she said. “Bring your
people down just beyond that point,” she said pointing toward a
peninsula that could be seen further down the coast. “It will come
in there in four days. Can you do that?”

He nodded.

“
How many can you bring?”

“
I don’t know. How many do you want?”

“
Everyone,” she said with a smile. She could see the boy
gauging her. “If you find people, I will bring the ship. But you
must be careful, if the Spartans catch you, or me, they will show
no mercy.”

He smiled.
“They never catch anything,” he said proudly indicating that he’d
gotten away with deceiving them in the past. She dreaded to think
what his life would be like living as an orphan here. Surely
someone would have taken him in, but then a boy of his age probably
wouldn’t have sought out a family to take him. He reminded her of
Doros a few years ago, just starting to exert himself in the world.
She should be trying to convince him to board the ship and sail to
safety, but she could see that he was adamant on going back for
someone. She wondered who.

“
Four days,” she repeated and went to speak to Della’s parents.
She asked them to convey messages to Della for her on her
activities and that Della needed to organize places for these
people with Klenias. She gave them a hug and wished them a good
journey.

She knew that
there were more people than the boat could carry, but she would
make sure that Della’s parents went on the ship along with the
widow she’d seen before. She asked them to assist the woman get her
children on board.

She recognized
the man responsible for the ship as it came close to the shore. It
couldn’t come in all the way to the pebble beach, so they would
have to work out some ways of getting them all on board. Those who
could swim could do so.

A small raft
carried the man into shore along with a couple of men. He sought
her out amongst the crowd.

“
We can’t take them all,” he said.

“
How quickly can you come back?”

“
Perhaps at dusk tomorrow if the wind stays strong.”

“
Then come back, they will wait. There will be another group
beyond that point in four days. If there are too many make two
runs. Then let’s meet again in another four days, perhaps north of
here.”

“
There is a bay north of here, about three hours walk—it would
be a good spot,” he said. “We rested there yesterday.”

“
Then we will meet there.” She was surprised how readily she
could make agreement with this man. She expected him to make things
more difficult, but he didn’t challenge any of her orders. Although
she knew it was the administrator’s orders they were following and
she suspected that he had informed these sailors to do anything she
wanted. It was a very odd feeling, giving orders. If she thought
about it, she would likely feel self-conscious about it, but she
didn’t have the time right now. As it was, she was too worried
about these people who had placed their trust in her—placed their
lives in her hands.

They started
ferrying people the short distance between the beach and the ship.
She watched as Della’s parents lifted young children up the side of
the ship while the sailors grabbed them. She felt such pride as she
saw her people work together in near silence. She felt immense
pride that she’d done this, formulated a plan that would get them a
better life—a life they deserved. It only bolstered her
resolve.

When she
looked around, the boy she had spoken to was gone. He’d snuck away
and she hadn’t even gotten her name. Perhaps it was best that she
didn’t know—the less they knew the better. Names were not
necessary.

“
They cannot take all this time,” she said to the waiting
group, “but they will return tomorrow evening. If you stay here
till tomorrow they will be back for you.” A family nodded and
walked away. “Don’t light any fires if you can avoid it,” she
called after then. Parties reluctantly joined the group as they
stood back.

Chara walked
north before returning to her village. She walked past a number of
villages and spoke to the people she came across as she went. She
told them that she was taking people Attica. Some were eyeing her
suspiciously while others mentioned that they’d heard rumors. She
told them a point and a time where she would transport anyone who
wanted to pursue the safety and the opportunities in Attica.

She
specifically targeted people who work in the fields, because there
were much less chances of them being affiliated with the Spartans.
Everyone seemed to know the people who were divided in their
loyalty, but she specifically mentioned that there were people who
should not be told and they seemed to know what she was talking
about.

She’d come to
realize that the information flows that had distressed her so much
before could also be used to spread the word in the districts she
visited. These people knew their neighbors and the villages around
them, and they would be more effective in passing the word than
her. She trusted them to do so.

She knew it
was impossible to keep such a large secret forever, but if they
were careful, they could delay the knowledge getting into the wrong
hands. She was pleased to learn that while people had heard of her,
they didn’t know her name as they had heard that someone from her
village was taking people north. They had dismissed it as mere
rumors.

Nicias went
straight to Chara’s house when he rode back from visiting his
commanders in Sparta. He came across her harvesting her family
fields by herself. She was going to have trouble on her own, he
thought as he looked across the large field. There was a mule
standing by waiting for direction.

“
A very big field to work on your own,” he said surprising her.
The horse had come so quietly, she hadn’t heard him. Stealth was as
ingrained into him as breathing.

“
I have little choice—my father in not here.”

“
Where is he?”

“
He is still visiting his brother.”

“
During harvest time? Inconsiderate of him to leave you to deal
with the harvest by yourself.”

“
Doros’ death weighs very heavily on him.”

Nicias nodded.
“I can send some of people from the estate to assist you,” he said
after a while.

“
Considering they have no skills for it, it may be more trouble
than it’s worth,” she said with a smile. “But thank you for the
offer. I will manage.”

“
But I might not. I do not wish to spend the next week watching
you harvest this field.”

“
You could always help me.”

“
Me, help you harvest a field!? Use my twenty years of military
training and experience to clear a field,” he said teasingly. “Do
you have any idea what they would say of me if anyone saw me? That
I have gone googly eyes over a girl and lost my pride and manhood
completely.”

Chara blinked.
He wanted to take her away from here, from this. He could protect
her, and keep her from having to do this work. It felt wrong
leaving a slight girl like her with such heavy work.

“
Ugh,” he said and dismounted. “This is not the work for mighty
conquering Spartan warriors, you know—no matter how pretty you
look. They would never stop laughing at me. Give me that
sickle.”

She did and
watched as he leant over and cut a bunch of barley stalks. He was
sure it made for a ridiculous sight, but her smile meant he
couldn’t quite stop. He wasn’t entirely sure how far he would go
for her smiles, but apparently this wasn’t too far.

She joined him
and they cut barley for a while until he’d had enough. He could
feel her watching him as they went. He’d always thought being born
a Helot was a curse on anyone, but being here in the sunny field
with her wasn’t so bad. But that was neither here nor there, he
wasn’t a Helot and he could provide her with a much better life—one
where she would enjoy her life with more leisure. But he did
appreciate her constitution and her willingness to work; it showed
good character and strength.