Truth and Sparta by Camille Oster Read Free Book Online Page B

returned to normal with Nicias’ departure. Her
absence that evening she’d spent with him was not mentioned by any
of her family, but they must have known what happened.
    Chara didn’t
know if she’d ever see him again. She was somewhat confident that
she would never be attending to him in the same capacity. He would
probably forget all about her as he moved onto wherever they were
going after Pylos.
    Time passed,
but the Spartan engagement at Pylos seemed to stretch out—there was
mention of it in the village. There were never outright discussions
because everyone feared spies recounting their words, but it seemed
that things had not gone in the Spartans’ favor. There were dead
and there were captured they said, and lots of them.
    Chara tried
not to think of Nicias and his fate. She tried to distance herself
from the events that occurred when he was here. She never mentioned
it to anyone, but she had the feeling that they knew. Only Doros
could have told people, she guessed. It didn’t matter, it was over
now.
    She had
thought it was over, until she started to get sick—constant nausea
made her whole life unpleasant. She had suspicions, but she didn’t
want to confront them. She had missed a bleed, but that did happen
to women sometimes, she knew. It had even happened to her once with
great commotion in her husband’s family—their hopes later to be
quashed.
    “ You are carrying the Spartan’s child,” her mother said one
day. Chara didn’t answer, but she knew it was true.
    “ I thought I was barren,” she responded. It hadn’t been an
outcome she had anticipated even when the signs had grown
clear.
    “ It must have been Peracili that was barren.” No one had ever
mentioned that men could be barren, and Chara hadn’t realized that
it could have been his fault. Her mother came over and stroked her
back.
    “ He will take the child,” her mother said after a while. “They
always do.” Chara knew it was true—everyone knew. It was their
policy. They didn’t want more Helot women spawning even stronger
Helots with Spartan blood, continuing to widen the Helot population
while the Spartan one was shrinking.
    “ He might be dead,” Chara responded. She couldn’t in her mind
even conceive of a child yet, much less losing one. She realized
she would be much better off if it was true and he had
perished.
    “ Let’s hope so.”

Chapter
8
     
     
    Pylos had
turned into a nightmare. They’d lost men—not lost on the whole,
trapped—prisoners on an island and hemmed in by the Athenians. The
Gods had not been with them and no one understood why. The enemy
had 400 of their numbers—close to half of them citizens. It left
the Spartan generals uncertain of what to do. They couldn’t fight
and they weren’t prepared to leave, so they were just there
waiting. The rains had started and it was getting colder. They
hadn’t been prepared to stay this long, but they simply couldn’t
afford to lose these men. The prisoners made up a sizeable
proportion of their army and there would be a heavy price to pay
back in Sparta. Not only was this a devastating defeat, but the
Athenians held prisoner the sons of some of the most influential
families in Sparta.
    Nicias had
been lucky, he’d been on the other side of the bay at the time they
were surrounded on the island a short distance off the coast. But
now he was stuck here, not able to leave and not able to do
anything to rescue his compatriots. The greatest fear was that the
Athenians would execute every prisoner they had; although the
Spartan reinforcements lying in wait across the bay was perhaps the
only thing keeping them from doing it. They could not move and
there was no resolution in sight. Winter was coming and the camp
was miserable enough as it was.
    Nicias felt
like he hadn’t been dry for weeks. The whole camp was muddy and
wet. At least, the supply lines from Sparta were established now so
they weren’t hungry like they had been. The Athenians