God Was Busy

Chapter 6

A pimply adolescent boy's face popped inside, his chiton hung through his body as if wrapped around a skeleton, his prominent cheekbones almost hid his small eyes filled with sympathy.

"Hello," after an awkward pause and no reply from me he said, "I was sent here to escort you to master Hermes,".

We went along a broad passage, and then turned right, through an oak door, and down a flight of stairs, and up a corresponding flight to another door. he knocked a few times but no one answered, he popped in his head as before only this time I was on his side. Then he flung it open, standing aside to let me pass, and I came to an anteroom.

"Master Hermes Abernathy," the boy said respectfully to a middle-aged man with a broad face, a sagging belly, and short, stubby fingers, each with a precious ring, who at this moment appears hollering something unintelligible. He was drunk. Very.

"What is it, Damon?" said a woman with orange hair that didn't match her dark eyebrows and maple leaf tiara, her hair was brushed back and twisted into a psyche knot, just above her nape as the fashion had been for some time now. So considerable time, in fact, that it was already unnoticeably ceasing to be the fashion.

"A new one," Damon said, and that was all left of my identity, another one among the sea of many slaves.

Just then, the man who was supposed to decide my future staggered in front of us. "What is it?" he said in a slurred voice. Then he vomited all over the beautiful tiles and fell into the mess.

Both Damon and the woman responded by helping him up but he was beyond help. Then the man spoke again. I thought he was speaking to me and I opened my mouth, though I had no idea what I was going to say. But then he kept on talking, words bubbling from his mouth like the last breath of a drowning man. I understood none of it.

"Aoife... Aoife," He called twice but before he could say anything further, he fell unconscious near the feet of the woman.

Though the woman was wearing a clean chiton, far better than mine, somehow, I could tell she was a slave too.

Aoife moved her head in disapproval, hopped in her pointy sandals around the pool of vomit, and fled as far as she could get. And said "take him to his room,"

Damon followed the instructions without a moment of hesitation as if this was part of the routine.

Unsure what to do I followed Aoife, she looked at me and said, "Let's have you ready, shall we?"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing,"

"We don't want to disgust the Gods,"

"Count your blessings girl, not everyone gets the chance to take shower in the bath that has been blessed by the Gods"

"Yes, I am lucky because I got to be a slave in the palace," I said without even trying to hide bitterness from my tone.

She ignored my remark and got undressed only leaving der perizoma and strophion, I did the same.

Standing there, on the slippery tiles under my feet, I washed the humiliation and regret out of me. I never feel so much myself as when I'm in the water. I felt myself growing pure again. I said to myself: humiliation is washing away. people's judgmental stares is washing away; hunger is washing away and nothing matters anymore. I rose and fell with the waves of the blessed water washing all worries into something pure.

Then clean, or as clean as I would ever be again, I stood, waist-deep, feeling the swell of waves lift me onto my toes, and set me down. Finally, when I stepped out at last and wrapped myself in a piece of cloth, I felt pure as a baby.

"Who taught you how to swim?" she said in a louder voice.

"My father,"

"Normally the slave women don't know how to swim"

"I am not a slave"

"Relax." she smiled, then ordered me to wear a full-length Chiton and new sandals, and instructed me to walk. Which was a struggle in this dress. It kept tangling around my shoes so I hitched it up, Aoife swooped down on me like a hawk, smacking my hands, and yelled, "Don't touch the dress!"

When I finally conquered walking, there was still sitting with an uncomfortable posture—apparently, I have a tendency to duck my head, any eye contact was to be avoided in all costs and never use any hand gestures, but the most difficult part was smiling. Smiling was mostly about smiling more. Aoife made me say a hundred banal phrases starting with a smile while smiling, or ending with a smile. Till the muscles in my cheeks twitched from overuse.

She braided my hair and applied Kohl to my eyes. It was astonishing the way she carried the black powder beyond the outer corner of the lid and gave it a little upward flick. Then she fastened my cinctures the same way she did hers, "There, there" she seemed to be talking to me but all I was thinking was how unjust this was. Why was I expected to hop around like some trained dog trying to please people I hate?

Aoife took three steps back and admired her work. "Excellent! You look like a human now!" and then laughed as she placed a maple leaf tiara, same as hers, on my head. "I made you a princess from a slave,"

That reminded me how my father would call me a princess, then he would hold me in his strong arms and fly me in the endless spirals of waltz.

"No, no," Aoife said, confusing me "no darling you cannot glare like that,"

"I thought we are here to serve them not entertain them"

"This palace is heaven on earth, we need to blend as a part of the heaven,"

"They will not let you stay a second if they disapprove of you then you'll have to work as a laborer," Aoife said with a sigh. "Don't forget the rules,"

"What rules?"

"Never dare to talk to Gods and if you have any request talk to someone in authority they will convey your message,"

"Or what?" I said, "They will execute me?"

Aoife continued as if she hadn't heard me "when they cross you bow down and stare at your feet, learn to bend your body to them, it is for your own good,"

"I am staying here for a month," I shrugged.

"Such a naive little thing you are, no one leaves the palace without the will of Gods," she said "Let's eat now" she turned towards the door, I kicked off my sandals and stomped down, and followed her to the huge kitchen, hiking my Chiton up again. "You will see".