City of gods - Hellenica Read Online Free PDF Page B

and didn’t seem particularly interested in her; he focused entirely on driving the boat. Saoirse saw her island drop into the background and started to panic.
    “Where are we going?” she asked the man. “And who are you?”
    “Please,” he said, “be quiet, and all will be explained.”
    “I need to know who you are,” demanded Saoirse.
    The man looked at her and stopped the boat. He pointed in the direction of the island. Saoirse could see that flames were coming from the center and spreading out towards the beach.
    “Your Isle of Elysia is no more,” he said. “Now, please be quiet . All will be explained later.”
    Saoirse sensed that he was telling the truth but noticed that he wasn’t headed inland; he was headed out towards the ocean. She could see a small island in the distance, about an hour away.
    “Just tell me, are we going there?” she asked.
    The man nodded and increased the speed on the boat. Saoirse looked back; the flames had spread to most of Elysia, and looked like they were going to engulf the whole island soon. She turned around and saw something dangling from her Danna’s neck. She looked closer and found that it was a glowing lip plate.
    /***/
    An hour later, the boat came to a dock in the second island. It was manned by two tall women who grabbed the rope and moored the boat quickly.              
    “Bring the girl to the President right away,” said one. “Interrupt her if need be.”
    The guards beckoned Saoirse forth and together they traveled forward. They walked for ten minutes on paved roads and came to a city at the center of the island. Saoirse noticed that every single person she met seemed to have a crisp, soldierly look to them. She also noticed that every single person here was a woman. This wasn’t Elysia though, and these women were not Hetaerae. These women, even the young girls, were warriors .
    The group approached a building. They were moving at a brisk pace, but they were not forcing Saoirse to walk with them; it was clear that she wasn’t a prisoner. The building they approached was grand, broad and gilded, and its edges were very square. They went inside and immediately came to a security checkpoint. Two guards asked them to surrender all their arms, and the women around Saoirse handed over at least twenty weapons. They went through some sort of electronic detector. After a few moments it beeped, and the security guards waved them forward.
    The inside of the building was sterile, holding long hallways and endless office suites. As they walked past, Saoirse realized that once again, this building was almost exclusively female. Occasionally Saoirse would notice a man attending a meeting, but this building clearly belonged to women.
    They came to another security checkpoint and they were frisked by two more female guards. One guard found Saoirse’s lip plate and took both it and the Danna’s lip plate.
    “These will be returned to you after you leave,” said the guard.
    They went through several detectors and entered a different-looking zone of the building; it was cleaner, whiter and held less rooms. They were heading down to an office at the end of the hallway with a strange regal seal. They stopped at the doorway, and one of the guards pressed a button.
    “Do as we do, Saoirse,” said one of the females next to her. Saoirse’s Danna was now in the back of their group, following as well.
    The door opened automatically to reveal a grand office with a large chair that faced the other way. Next to the chair was a dark-skinned woman with glowing eyes. This woman appeared to be in conversation with whoever was in the chair.
    “President Hippolyta,” said the guard, “may I present Saoirse Frost, of the former Isle of Elysia.”
    The chair turned around to show a woman who looked to be seventy years old, clearly once beautiful, but now grey and wrinkled with age. The whole group, including Saoirse’s Danna, knelt in the President’s presence.