Living The Greek Life

Chapter 1

There are only two days left until the annual celebration of Athena's Panathenaic festival. According to law, everyday should be a celebration of all the Gods but Athena the goddess of wisdom and victory is most important for the people of the city of Athens. People are running around trying to get their cloaks hemmed and altered in time for the festival.

Alexandra on the other hand, after waking up two hours before sunrise, is tending to her father, Josiah. While her father is not anywhere near his elder years, his "aches" and "pains" are too much to bear for the lazy man.

"Alexaaaaaandra! My bread is too cold! Make another batch you bastard child" he yells at the girl from across the room. Alexandra would usually try to heat the bread up on the scolding coals in their furnace but lately her father has been extra agitated so the risk of being beaten again isn't worth it.

"Yes majesty" she is forced to say as she shuffles out of the room.

2 hours and a burned finger later, Alexandra returns with freshly baked bread. This is just a mere scrape in comparison to her collection of scars and bruises.

The young girl's mother had been murdered when she was only 5 years old, and while no one knows who did it, rumors were she had wanted to leave Josiah when it happened.

In times like this it helped to think of her mother. While the memories were vague, Alexandra couldn't forget her mother's smooth olive skin and green eyes which matched her own.

She still had a few of her mothers togas but they were locked away in her father's chest and she didn't dare ask him for them. Not yet.

The shouts from her disgruntled father snapped her out of her paradise. She quickly prepared the rest of his meal and whisked off to get dressed.

Her clothes were getting a bit tight but they were clean and that's all that mattered at the moment.

After staining her lips with bright red lamb's blood, she exits from her bunk and grabs her basket.

"NOW WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!" a voice boomed.

"To the market majesty I wanted to make you a cloak in time for the festival" Alexandra barely spit out.

"You don't need to show your face anywhere, why are you trying to make me a laughing stock child!"

After a few moments of humiliated silence, Alexandra proceeds to move towards the door.

All of a sudden her hair is yanked back and the girl loses her balance and tumbles to the floor. Josiah grabs the basket away and throws it into the furnace. "I SAID, WHERE. DO. YOU. THINK. YOU'RE. GOING."

Alexandra scrambled to her feet and ran into her room sobbing and cursing Athena for the love she never received