Donjeta Meets the Prince

They lashed me for seventeen days before I would submit; before I would bow to them on their hard deck; before I would speak their barbaric tongue, say my name, sing their songs in a pleasing voice. They lashed me until I couldn't stand it, until I broke. A girl can only take so much, even a princess, even a daughter of the steppe, a horsewoman, a warrior, an Amazon.

Two sailors with rotting teeth dragged me from under the rear deck of the hollow ship. They pushed me up next to the captain, who stood tall, staring out over the calm sea.

"Take a look at your new home, girl."

He pointed ahead to a rocky island jutting up from the water. I saw tall gray hills speckled with tufts of green and wrapped around a small harbor. I saw a white beach and the hints of a town beyond.

I looked. I didn't speak. So this was Ithaca.

The crew sat at their oars facing me -- hard men, strong men, ugly men. Their faces were scared and broken. They wore beards to the last. They leered at me, 'specially the one, Eukleides. They all leered, but he leered more than the others.

He called out between hard pulls on his oar, "Cap'n! Give us a go with her. We're an hour hard rowing from that harbor."

The other men laughed and nodded their heads.

"Stay to your oar Eukleides. She's for the prince, and he expects her unsullied."

"Ha! She's been sullied many times, I bet."

More laughter. He continued.

"And why should that beardless boy get one so beautiful? We risked the uncertain sea! We should get a taste!"

Another answered him. "Forget it Eukleides. The prince has offered a fortune for her. I'll not trade my share for a mere roll with a girl."

The captain looked away from them.

"Stay near me girl."

He didn't need to remind me again. I stayed near.

Panicked shouts came from the front of the ship.

"Hard astern! At your oars!"

The ship lurched as fifty oars bit the water at once, pushing back. The crew groaned, their muscles tense. They stood, getting leverage. Several oars sheared from the strain.

I grabbed the rail to keep from falling. The captain leapt from the deck, landing on the wooden plank that ran the length of the ship. He ran down between the rowers, his voice bellowing.

"Stand to it! Another stroke!"

The ship slowed near to a stop. The captain reached the bow.

"By the gods! Why have we stopped?"

"Sandbar, Cap'n!"

The captain peered over the front into the blue water. I remained at the stern, alone, but not for long. In the confusion, Eukleides climbed up.

"So missy, are you still chaste?"

He wore a knife on his belt, stuffed into a leather sheath, unbuckled. He was big, slow, and stupid. It would be easy -- but would I live? I couldn't fight the whole crew.

He grabbed me and pushed me to my knees. He yanked up my coarse wool tunic. He thrust his hands between my legs, tearing aside the undergarments I had tied around myself. His fingers explored.

"Ha! You're no virgin! The prince won't even know we had you."

I was a virgin, but no girl kept her maidenhead long, who rides all day on a horse. A voice cried out.

"Hands off her!"

The captain stomped his feet across the deck, and I heard the smack. Eukleides staggered back.

"She's for the prince. Keep that bulge in your tunic at bay."

I glanced up. He indeed had a bulge. I smiled as it wilted under the sharp gaze of the captain. He looked at me with venom -- and I had another mortal enemy. Would I meet him again, I wondered? Would he be my death? I stood. The captain shoved him off the deck.

"Back to your oar!"

The captain came close. Again, I stayed near.

"A fair wind to enter the harbor. The gods smile on us."

Indeed the wind had picked up. We had carefully rounded the sandbar, and the lookout announced deep water ahead.

They got busy pulling in and setting their oars, untying and tying lines, stepping the mast, setting the spar, and unfurling the sail. The wind caught, and we sped toward the harbor.

The captain called out.

"Wash her and change her garments. See that she's covered and the lash marks don't show, until we get our payment and are gone from this forsaken land."

Two sailors grabbed me, stripping my tunic and tossing it aside. A bucket of fresh water was dumped on me, and they roughly scrubbed me with sweet smelling oil. Then another bucket for my hair and more oil. A long linen tunic was brought from below and tossed to me.

"Put it on. Tie and clip it around your waist. You best look pleasing. If the prince rejects you --"

The captain paused and gave me a look. We both knew what happened if the prince rejected me.

I put on the tunic. I attached the clips and bunched the fabric around my waist. I knew the men would find the shape pleasing. I looked at the captain. He smiled back.

"Yes, you are indeed lovely, beautiful even -- but for your strange eyes, but even they hold a dark allure. You'll stir the prince's heart, my dear. Yes you will."

He kept looking at me, until he noticed the crew doing likewise. He turned and shouted at them. They got back to work.

We pulled into the harbor, a white beach with a city beyond. Five large ships were dragged onto the sand, tied down tight. A dozen boats sat near. A crowd came to meet us, and the crew leapt into the surf, all together pulling the heavy ship onto the beach, tossing lines and lashing to poles set in the rock beyond the sand.

A plank was laid, and the captain ambled down joining the crowd of townspeople. Names were exchanged. Claims were made. I peered over the side of the ship. The townspeople looked up trying to catch a glimpse -- of me. They sent for the prince. The captain returned.

"Be ready. Smile at him. It's now or never girl. This one moment decides your life."

The prince came, and after making him wait only a moment -- the captain had a well developed sense of timing -- I was led down the plank. The prince was tall with long curls surrounding a fair face and deep eyes. His expression seemed passive, even indolent, but when he saw me he looked. He quickly masked his expression, but I'd seen it -- the look.

The captain had too.

"A fortune you promised for a beautiful maiden of the east. I have brought one such."

The prince let his eyes pass over me, a brief dismissive glance. He walked around me. He fingered my hair and tunic.

"She's not so beautiful. Any girl from rocky Ithaca is her match, even the women who tend to our goats."

Thus the negotiation began. Refreshments were brought, and benches were set for the prince and the captain to sit. I remained standing. It took an hour for the prince to admit my beauty, another to agree to a high price, then two more to make the particulars. Midway, I sat in the sand.

At a certain point they agreed. I saw it on their faces. Like a sudden recognition, they knew the measure of the other. Hands were clasped, the deal struck, and more wine was brought.

And the price: four dozen amphorae of dark wine from Achaea; twenty large spools of a fine purple linen, woven there on Ithaca; five cases, each as heavy as two men can lift, of bronze ingots forged in Argos; a smaller chest, filled with objects of gold and silver, plates, goblets, forks, and a small ornamental knife, each carefully inspected by the captain -- he gave a long, deep smile as he handled each one; and the final item, an even smaller chest no bigger than two fists, filled with myrrh.

It was a princely sum -- from a prince. I smiled at the pun. The prince saw my smile and returned it. He took my hand.

"Welcome to Ithaca, my dear. What's your name?"

"Donjeta."

"Well Donjeta, you should call me Telemachus, and you're indeed beautiful. I shall send this captain forth with my pleasure, and my blessing. May the gods smile on his journey. We will perform a sacrifice here to ensure their favor. I will give a bull and two heifers, the pride of my herd, rich and succulent, and we will roast them on this beach. Today is declared a holiday."

And so it was. The prince's assistants swept into motion, preparing the feast.

"Now, my lovely Donjeta, let us return to my house while my servants prepare the meal. I have such sweet things to show you."

So I followed the prince, and that day I became a slave.

We walked through the town, with its sandy streets and its worked stone houses. His was the largest, set well up the side of the hill. He walked quickly up the slope with long strides. I kept up.