Earthrumbler

Chapter Six: The Mark

Pounding footsteps jostled me from my stupor. My body had been strung up like linen since my whipping. Besides labored breathing, I hadn’t moved.

“Hey, girly.” A rumble of laughter emerged from behind me. “They did quite a number on you, eh?” A thick hand scraped down my back. I groaned. “Yeah, thought so.” The chains jangled; his body heat radiated onto me.

When the cuffs around my wrists loosened, I collapsed to the floor. I yanked the blindfold off. The dim light of the cell did nothing to hurt my eyes. In the bucket of old water, I dunked the blindfold and started to swipe blindly at my legs. They stung with every touch. To keep from howling in pain, I bit down on my arm.

The Cyclops still stood over me, eyeing me curiously. “Your silly human rituals confuse me. Why waste good water?”

With a peek up, I explained, “It’s so the wounds don’t get infected. If it were to be infected, I might have to cut my leg off. The thought worries me.”

“Would you need to cut your back off too?” When I furrowed my brow at this, he offered, “I could clean it for you.” With two stumpy fingers, he pinched the cloth from my hands and swiped it against my back. “Could I get a closer look to your back?”

“Ah…” I hesitated.

He held his hand in front of my face and gestured to the wooden ring on his finger. “This is for Lareskita. As you humans say, we are in love. I do not see the attraction of human women, especially ones yet to mature.”

My cheeks burned. Yet to mature? I lifted my shirt over my shoulders. When he swabbed at the cuts, I bit into my collar. I imagined that it was Dill swiping at the horrid stripes across my back. “Why are you here? Poseidon cares little if I get an infection.”

 “He wanted me to see if you’d awakened. He’s busied himself with heating away the imperfections of his trident.” He paused. “Usually, he leaves his prisoners to rot and if he would care to see them suffer, he lets Cyclopes do his dirty work. Tell me what makes a small human girl so special to him.” He dipped the bloody cloth in the water. When my face tensed, he said, “I’ll get you a fresh one if you answer me.”

“My mother is a goddess. He thinks that my torture will draw her down here.”

He laughed. “His Lord wouldn’t be so far off the mark then. My people cannot speak more highly of the original mother, Gaia. Kronos sought to punish a Cyclops who had disrespected him. She accepted his punishment with grace, a branding of his wrongdoing seared onto her back. The pain grew so intense that the earth itself bore the same scars, bursting and burning with heat. Your people call them volcanoes. All Cyclops mothers try to live as selflessly.”

I nodded. “You have my apologies. I didn’t catch your name.”

“Alph to you.” Without another word, he swabbed at my back. “Your mother is her lady Pallas Athene, isn’t she?” As I nodded, he exhaled. “After her…birth, so to speak, her own father banished her from Olympus. Do you know who raised her?” He brushed his fingers through my hair. “Lord Poseidon’s own son. He wept when she fled after what she’d done, after she killed Pallas. He lost both of them. The hurt on the Lord’s face, seeing his son so distraught… it was if he’d lost his own son. They still do not communicate beyond formalities. Tragedy, if I’ve ever heard it.”

“He blames her.” I winced. “There is more to the sea than I ever suspected. Family scandals, and Cyclopes rebellions—”

Alph wrapped his hands around my shoulders and shoved me against the wall of my cell. “Who told you anything? Where did you hear that? Where?” His voice rose as he slammed me once more. “Who? I want an answer!”