Parallel Lives, Theo of Thebes

Part 5, Inside Athens

With a jolt, Theo found himself approaching the gates of the city Linus and the donkey by his side. He turned to Linus, speaking softly. 

"Is there anything I should expect here? Anything I need to do?" Linus returned a small grin and shook his head. "Little you'll need to do at the gates young Theo, they'll simply check us for contraband and ask the reason for our visit. 

I'm here to sell my wares and you were accompanying me on the road. What you'll have to consider is what you'll do once inside."

Theo nodded to himself, and wondered at Linus' words. He had been so caught up in the spirit of things since meeting Linus, that he hadn't really considered what he would do once they arrived in Athens. 

To him, the journey had been more important than the destination it seemed. "Now there is a new journey to be found." he assured himself. He resolved that once he was inside, he wouldn't be a burden to Linus. He may visit his stall, or wave on the street, but this was a lifetime's opportunity to try something new, something unexpected.

The queue leading to the gate was moving at pace, but the sheer volume of travellers was making it feel decidedly slow. 

Each traveller had passed without incident, so the fortunes seemed good. Finally, Linus approached the guard and motioned back to his donkey. "This here's my mule, she's all my wares atop her. Herbs, poultices, and the like. 

That one over there is my company for the road. Helps to set up camp, and it always feels safer to have a young man with you on your travels when you're my age." he gave an earnest and toothy smile. 

The guard looked over to Theo, and the young man shrugged.
"I've heard enough. In you go you two." the guard motioned to the pair, and they headed beyond the gate, and to the inside of the walled city.

"I thought you said the walls were gone?"
"I never said they were gone, Theo. I said the long walls were gone. They had connected Athens to nearby port cities, and extended her influence beyond the polis proper. That is why the Spartans ordered them destroyed. 

To limit the power Athens could project on her neighbours."
Theo nodded, his hand stroking his chin. "I see. I'm beginning to understand this place a bit better, even if much of it is still alien to me. 

Thank you, Linus. You've been a great help."
Linus smiled ruefully, both proud he had guided this strange traveller here, and filled with a little sorrow that their time together was to end. With the way Theo was speaking, it couldn't mean anything else, though he supposed the messenger had a higher task to attend to. They shared a handshake before parting, and Theo was on his way.

Where Theo was on his way to, precisely, he could not say. He had a feeling he was supposed to do something in Athens, but beyond that, he was not too sure. 

He turned through the twisting streets, the haphazard layout of the place catching his attention, and found the orderly look of the acropolis atop the hill completely at odds with the chaos of the lower town, where it seemed buildings had been set down wherever one might fit them. He even saw a few homes that seemed to bend with the corners. 

An odd sight, and just thinking about them made him a little dizzy. Thoroughly convinced of the merits of being lost, the young man continued to make turns hither and thither, hoping that somehow this would lead him to a place or encounter of note. 

It was then that his leg snagged on something, and he tripped face first onto the dusty pavement. Theo groaned and winced as he rose, before noticing an old man who had been resting against the wall, now stirred, swearing and cursing in every way he could think of at Theo's unobservant ways. He had apparently been sitting there all along, when some brute, namely Theo, walked right onto him and tripped on his legs as he rested.

"My apologies sir, I did not mean to offend." Theo offered an apologetic bow, and the man, still sitting on the street, laughed. "Barbaric coordination offset by courtly manner, now aren't you a sight to behold? Who are you, boy?"

"I am Theo, sir, and you?"

"Call me Nicodemus. I am master of these parts. You would do well to remember it."

"I will do so, on both counts. Does that mean this establishment is yours?" Theo gestured to the building behind him, and across from Nicodemus. A series of tables and stools dotted the inside, with most occupied by men drinking. 

"The place seems an inn, and I am in need of lodgings."
For his part, Nicodemus burst out laughing. For some time, Theo was unable to get a response from him, before eventually the beggar spoke, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. 

"I, young Theo am master of these parts." he gestured to a small patch of pavement around him, that was slightly less dusty, and the wall he leaned upon. "Not those parts." he said, pointing to the inn. I am decidedly homeless, and a cripple to boot. 

The reason I am tolerated here is my friend and patron Epaminondas resides in that inn, a guest from Thebes, and he pays for my food each day, as he is of noble virtue, and would consider himself a failure if he spent more on himself than he does on me. I do quite like him, even if he is no citizen, as I am.

Theo cast his gaze over Nicodemus, cross referencing what he had heard from the man with the way he was presented. His skin was like baked clay, and it was obvious he had little recourse for shelter and the like. His arms were bare, and bore several puncture scars, as if he had been skewered by something a long time ago. 

His tunic, torn and threadbare as it was, revealed scars too on his chest, though there were some drawn out lines from a slash or cut, but curiously none on the back. All the old damage was concentrated on the front of his arms and chest, not the rear.