Truth and Sparta Read Online Free PDF Page A

perhaps they were more
alike than she’d realized.
    She felt his
weight come off her as he sat back, then stood up. Chara sat up as
well, again not clearly knowing what was expected of her. It hadn’t
been so bad; she was neither injured nor bruised. She still didn’t
want to look at him, but she knew he was straightening his tunic.
He would walk away soon.
    “ Come to my house tomorrow evening,” he said. Chara looked up
at him then. There was no derision in his features, just calm
certainty. She hadn’t expected him to say that; she’d thought this
was over and she had come away unharmed, but he seemingly had other
plans. He wanted her to come to him tomorrow and she knew he would
want to do this again. She tried to find some way to protest.
“Don’t make me come find you,” he said and Chara’s protest died in
her throat.
    She recognized
the threat. He would come find her, and her family would have to
pay for her defiance as well as her. There was nothing she could
do, she had to comply. She nodded while moving to sit on her lower
legs. She neatly pushed her tunic down to cover her thighs and
waited there until he left. He stood still for a while and she
wondered if there was something else he wanted, but then he turned
and walked away. Chara only looked up at him when his back was
turned—the powerful man with broad shoulders. There was something
very surreal in what had just happened.
    She wasn’t
sure of the implications of it, or what the impact would be on her
future. The Spartan had an interest in her, and for more than just
this time it seemed.
     

Chapter
5
     
     
    Chara didn’t
know how to feel, she actually felt a bit numb as she walked back
to her father’s small house. She knew she had been imposed upon.
She also knew that such things happened—it was the reality of how
things were and had been for centuries.
    Knowing that
her father and brother were aware of it made it much worse. If it
had happened when she was alone, she would probably never tell
anyone. She feared her father’s opinion now more than any distress
she felt with the actual act itself.
    Her position
was even more precarious now. Her father could reject her and no
one would blame him if he did. Chastity was expected from girls who
lived in their father’s house and he could choose to be done with
her, throw her out. She hated the uncertainty of her own situation.
This was twice now in a very short time period that she had to
confront her father and the verdict that he would bestow on her.
She had no control over it, just like she had no control over the
Spartan and what he did to her. Such an act, which was short in
actual duration, could have very long and permanent consequences
for her.
    She didn’t
know what she would do if her father threw her out. Actually, she
had some idea; she would have to turn to the Spartan for support,
or to find some other Spartan to serve. She would much rather stay
with her family than have to serve someone. Working the fields was
desperately hard, but it was better than being a servant; although
the servants obviously felt they had the better bargain than the
slaves in the fields. They were all slaves in the end, better to
not have to face them every day.
    She took a
deep breath and walked the path that led home. She could see her
father outside, tending to the ox. He didn’t turn to face her, just
kept working. She knew he was aware of her presence, she could see
tension in his shoulders.
    “ Bring some water for the beast,” he finally said. Chara nodded
and turned to find a bucket for the stream. She went immediately to
do as he bid. He wasn’t going to reject her it seemed, which was
good. She reached the stream and tossed the bucket into the clear
flowing water. She wanted to stay there for a while, away from the
unpleasantness at home, but she couldn’t; she had to face the
consequences at home. Now was not the time to be
cowardly.
    Her father was
still there when she returned with