Chapter 13 : Ancient Mycenae

Bethany struggled to get as comfortable as she could in the cell. The cells were obviously only intended to hold one. She'd been pushed in with a Japanese girl. The two of them had barely enough space to curl up on the floor at the same time. Clegg had kept them shackled and gagged. The only times that they had any freedom at all was when they were fed.

It had been a long day. Bethany wondered how many more there would be before they were killed or before? What?

This day they'd been told they had to learn how to behave. She guessed that meant Clegg had something else in mind for them. Alexander had delighted in training them to stand or kneel to order. His methods were simple. All of the girls now bore the welts from the strap and canes that he used to reinforce his instructions.

Bethany fell into a fitful sleep, slumped against the bars of the cell, brought back to consciousness from time to time by the pull of the chain around her neck.

Suddenly she was standing in a large room. In the centre, a fire burned in a hearth. Thin wisps of smoke climbed towards a vent in the roof. The walls were plastered and brightly painted. In a small room to one side she could see painted figures of a colossal bull attended by men and women each carrying what she took to be offerings. With a shock she recognised it. This was Pylos, Nestor's palace on the mainland; the great central room, the megaron. How could she be here?

She looked down at herself, surprised to see that she was dressed as the women in the wall painting. Her flounced skirt was ankle length, swinging just clear of the floor, the tight waistcoat with its short sleeves stiff as she tried to move. She realised her breasts were bare, that her hair was braided and dressed hanging down in a long tail from the back of her head.

Two figures appeared in the doorway; warriors, clutching great figure eight shields as tall as themselves, wearing domed helmets covered with boar's tusks. As they lowered their shields, Bethany saw that they were both naked except for a leather codpiece and soft leather boots. The two men's skin was as bronzed as the short swords that they carried. It was Alexander and Stephanos.

"Be - tha — noi," the warrior Alexander greeted her holding his sword aloft. She nodded in acknowledgement of her name.

"The offering," the warrior Stephanos said pointing with his sword to a decorated kylix standing on the floor at Bethany's side. She hadn't seen it before but bent to pick it up, delighting in the intricate octopus design and the scent of oil and herbs from the two handled bowl.

Alexander led the way from the megaron. Bethany followed holding the kylix aloft, Stephanos behind her, stepping slowly through the palace. At a small stone altar the party stopped. "The offering, Be- tha — noi," Stephanos said again, pointing to the altar.