Something strange happened when she reached the village. The smell of hot supper seeped into the humid air and already some of the villagers began to light doorlamps as they gathered inside for their evening meal. Melantriche thought she might pluck up the courage to ask Apollo where he might go now—and a very small part of her wanted very much to ask him if he might join her and her friends for supper—but when she looked to her side, there was no one there. Perplexed, she glanced around, but he was gone. She felt a pang of disappointment, but oh well. He was probably bored with their walk and went off to some much nicer place to do some very exciting, godly things. Figures. Well, he could've at least said goodbye...
Ah, whatever. She'd gotten used to his curt nature, and not even that could dim her current mood. Still amazed, she lifted the leg that had been broken minutes ago, but now wasn't. He had healed her. But why? She was sure that he hated her. Maybe she was wrong. Oh, how lovely would that be, if she had been wrong? If maybe, even if he didn't like her as much as she liked him, he at least felt a little bit of mutualism. That would be the most perfect blessing of all... no, she was getting ahead of herself, like always. After all, gods didn't think in the same way humans did. They had no motives, only whims, and that was a sound enough judgment for them. How else could one explain his actions? Rescuing her, then bedding her, then ignoring her, then rescuing her again, to castigating her and then—this. It was too mind boggling to even think about. Then don't, she scolded herself. After all, you can't rationalize the way milk turns to cream and butter. Yes, for now all she could think of was the way her tummy now rumbled and the face Karana and Brisa would have when they found her completely and utterly well. With that happy thought, she jogged gloriously through the field.
Due to Melantriche's light mood, she was feeling rather playful when she reached the house. The window slats were slightly ajar, so she climbed over the bushes and pushed her face through. There was Karana inside, throwing wood chucks into the stove and Brisa sitting at the table with the other girl—the black one—which Melantriche had not yet been properly acquainted to. Yet, after today's events, she decided she was going to change that starting now. "Boo!" And the 2 little girls jumped out of their seats. Melantriche laughed at their astounded faces and ran to the front, entering through the real door this time. Karana stood there, looking as white as a sheet. "Come on, don't make such a serious face. I was only fooling around."
"I—well! I think I've got a right to!" Karana's expression quickly recovering into a perturbed one. "We were so worried about you!"
"Why?" Melantriche's gaze wandered to Brisa's, who suddenly looked a bit guilty. "Oh, right."
"Hey, Melanie's walking!" The girl cried suddenly, pointing at her leg. Melantriche knew she was just trying the dodge the subject of gossip, but she grinned anyways and started to dance around foolishly on her tiptoes.
"Yes, isn't it fantastic? As you can see, Lord Apollo was quite hospitable to me."
"Hey, stop that! You'll knock something over!" Melantriche stopped, but at her falter the 2 girls began, mimicking Melantriche's funny dance with vigor and giggling high pitched squeals. Karana sighed heavily, but there was no mistaking the smile in her eyes. "Well, that's one of my problems solved, I guess."
"Yes, but I'll still hold onto this cane." Melantriche tossed the crutch lightly between both hands. "It's very handy, and I really do treasure it now."
"Huh, now you're making me wish I put some real effort into the thing. It's not so special, just some old tree branch I smoothed up. Hey, since you're so dandy now, set the table. You 2 rascals, behave yourselves or no dessert!" The black girl stopped her antics to gawk at Karana.
"There's dessert?!"
"Yeah Magnolia, it's called doing the dishes!" Everyone erupted into laughter, and Melantriche couldn't help but smile as she laid out several plates onto the table. The supper had been a simple helping of fish, beans and hot pita rolls. Melantriche ate with more appetite than she'd ever felt she'd had, and discovered some things had changed. Brisa was much more talkative than she'd ever been in Melantriche's presence, inquiring more about how she had spent the remainder of her day with Apollo. "Did you kiss?"
"Brisa!" Karana scolded. Then the girl, Magnolia, who had crumbs on her face that Karana had to wipe off with a napkin, giggled, "they totally kissed." Melantriche just smiled and shook her head. Then the dishes were done, and only then did Karana reveal that there actually was dessert: cold yogurt with walnuts that one of their neighbors made a surplus of and felt like sharing. They drizzled the treat with honey and the girls gobbled the whole thing up. It wasn't long after that that they began to yawn off and both eventually slipped off to bed. All of this, Melantriche found, felt so warm, yet so natural, like a heart beating. She sighed. Just when did this house start feeling like home?
For a while after. Melantriche and Karana still sat at the table sipping hot tea and conversing. "Actually, you've managed to solve 2 of my problems. Well, you caused them, but you've still lifted a lot from my mind." Melantriche frowned.
"About what?"
"I never trust what gods say. Politics, gods... they're basically the same thing. I was feeling pretty anxious for a while because I thought Lord Apollo would start reigning terror on you. I think I would've fought him head on if he tried anything." Melantriche swallowed her tea with a little thunk in her throat. It probably wouldn't be wise if she told her about the little exchange she and Apollo had had the night after the... incident. "Well, I guess I can rest easy now. You're sure he didn't try anything today?"
"You worry too much. Everything was fine. He was... tangible." Karana raised her eyebrows.
"Tangible?"
"As in, he was relatable." Melantriche reiterated, remembering the brief time she had spent walking with him. "He was... personal, like I could sympathize with him. It was nice."
"Hm. That's suspicious. You probably should keep up you're guard."
"I know, but I can't help feeling glad. I just feel like... things are going to be ok. We'll be ok." Karana took a long sip of her tea, silent for a minute. Finished, she stood up and stretched.
"Well, I'm no prophet, but if you're right, then I don't think it'll hurt to catch some shuteye now, would it?"
"You can go on ahead. I can lock up." Karana nodded to no one in particular as she put her cup in the basin and left the room. Then it was quiet. Melantriche savored that quiet, listening to the cicadas and the crickets and sometimes a faint yell outside. For a long time before she finally went to bed she took small swallows from the remainder of her drink as she stared into the single golden lamp that lit the room.
~*~
The next day Melantriche began putting her cane to good use. True, it could no longer be used as a crutch, but it seemed like a terrible waste to just throw the thing away, so now with the sun overhead and warming the fields, she found herself raising it over her head every 5 seconds, whooping and herding sheep. At first it didn't seem like such a difficult task, but the herd assigned to her was a rather big one, and sometimes she'd look behind her only to find there were some stragglers wandering off. These sheep didn't listen so good, she found quickly. The weather growing more and more hot, sweat ran in beads down Melantriche's face. She heard a shrill little baa, swirled around and saw a small lamb caught in a cluster of brambles. Groaning loudly, she crawled back down the trail, untangled the poor little creature, then swung it over her shoulders like a bag. Come on, she was Melantriche of Athens, a woman who had defied the gods and lived! Surely she could manage even a flock of sheep if she put some welly into it. Huffing, she climbed up the trail and whooped some more, knowing at this rate, it was going to take her hours to reach the other side of the mountain...
An eternity later they reached a large meadow filled with green grass and wildflowers. A wide shallow stream ran over the edge of the meadow where they arrived. Thank the gods! Untangling the lamb from her shoulders, she dropped her stick, plopped down and allowed the sheep to graze. She kneeled over the stream and stuck a hand in it. Blissfully cool. Overjoyed, she cupped her palms and splashed some water onto her face, neck and arms. Oh, it was heaven. When she finally felt temperate, she took many sips from the stream, too tired and hot to think about what that one woman who accompanied her to the fishing village was telling her... what was it? Boil the water before you drink it? Ah, whatever. She fell onto her back into the cool grass and closed her eyes. What a nice day. She didn't have to return the flock for at least a few more hours. If only she could take a nap...
"Hey, no sleeping on the job." She jackknifed into a sitting position and whirled her head around. Standing above her was Apollo with light twinkling in his eyes. More heat flushed up her neck.
"Oh you! Always sneaking up on me!"
"I only just got here."
"Me too. Oh, but I wasn't sleeping." He shrugged and say down a little ways away, close enough for them to almost seem like friends. Pulling a turtle-shelled lyre out of virtually nowhere, he ran a finger over the strings, causing them to make the most delightful noise Melantriche had ever heard. The music and the scenery, the docility of the sheep, made for a blissful scene. She couldn't help but bask in it for a long time.
"Why are you still lugging that thing around?"
"This?" She cast a glance at her crutch. "Well, I just thought... it would be a shame to just throw it away, don't you think?"
"It doesn't quite make a good shepherd's crook, either, girl."
"Oh." She gave it a good look and remembered that yes, many of the shepherd crooks she'd seen so far were shaped like dull fishing hooks. She flushed. How embarrassing! She was probably the most stupid person on the island. Well... she unhooked the knife from her belt—a long sharp one that had been given to her by Karana after the incident. Just in case.—perhaps if she whittled it down it would still be serviceable for now. Not that she'd ever used a knife for anything other than cooking...
"You know, there's no point in me hanging around if you don't feel like talking." Melantriche gaped at him. Well, her bad if she didn't know what he wanted! And anyways, what was there to talk about?
"S-sorry, I was just thinking."
"Funny. You don't seem the type that thinks a lot." Her ears burned as she scraped the stick a little harder.
"Well... I just can't think of anything to say." She paused. "If I may ask... where'd you disappear off to yesterday?"
"Can't remember. Nothing important, I'd wager."
"Oh. That must be weird. Maybe you went to the beach." He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Why the beach?"
"Oh, I don't know. I just think... well, if I felt like going someplace it would be the beach."
"But you've never been to the beach." She couldn't help but be a little flustered at his bluntness. Most people she spoke to were more talkative, and now she felt like she were grasping for strings.
"Yes, that's true but—how do you know I've never been to the beach?"
"I've never met an Athenian woman who saw the beach. I figured it was a possibility." She forced a laugh and paused to survey the sheep. She sighed.
"It must be awful nice, though, to go anywhere you please at the flick of a hand." A little bit of silence settled through both of them. Then Apollo said,
"Are you thinking of someone far away?" Melantriche shot a look at him, speechless and hot in the face. An amused smile passed his face. "You needn't be so shy about it. I know you were betrothed a while back."
"Well," Melantriche blurted, "I wouldn't say I was betrothed but..."
"Perhaps you shouldn't think about him anymore, then."
"Why?"
"Because he's married now."
"Ow!" She'd been whittling off pieces of the crutch to make it have a hooked end, but suddenly her thumb was bleeding a vertical cut from her nail to her knuckle. Apollo tsked and sat closer to her, his warm hand igniting fire in hers and he took it and leveled it with his face to survey the damage.
"You truly are quite clumsy, aren't you." He mused to himself, meanwhile Melantriche felt a part of her going sour. So Belenis has married. She remembered him confessing his passionate love to her, and to recall, she'd only been gone maybe a month or so. "Of course, why he married the woman he did is truly a mystery to me," Apollo remarked, as if reading her thoughts. "One of those Spartan outcasts, not that lovely to look at... if anything, he could've married for status or wealth. Mortals never really fail to surprise me."
"I don't really care." Melantriche muttered, then was shocked at her own audacity. She mirrored Apollo's mildly surprised eyes. "What I mean is, I never wanted to marry him. Not really. He was... fishy." Apollo was silent, frozen even, then did the most unexpected thing next to saying the word "fishy". He lifted Melantriche's wounded thumb to his lips and suckled it. Appalled, Melantriche yelped, yanking her hand away without thinking and the god threw his head back with laughter. Melantriche could only gape as he slowly brought his emotions back under reign. He was grinning.
"Indeed. Mortals are funny creatures. Nevertheless they're foolish." He stood up, his frazzled hair, the wisps against his beautiful skin looking glorious in the late afternoon sun. He walked over the hill, past the trees, and Melantriche didn't bother following, knowing that even if she gave chase he would be gone already. A long minute passed and she sat there completely still, until she was sure no one else was around. She stared at her finger, healed as if there had been no injury to begin with. Deep warmth blossoming inside her, she pressed the thumb to her mouth and suckled it. Secretly she basked in the idea of this being an indirect kiss, till she realized that if she were looking at herself from a distance she'd realized how utterly crazy she looked.
~*~
Lying in her bed, never had she felt so content. Arriving home she worked the cane late into the night until it resembled something of a passable crook. She'd bathed, ate and slept healthily, and the image of Apollo ducking her finger was burned into her memory as she slept in a soft warm bed. Yes, she didn't care if Belenis had married. To hell with him! He was far from her mind now, surely as she was from his, and wedded to some Spartan reject while she was here, the center of attention of a god, which was something she was actually beginning to believe.
There's no alarm clock quite like someone putting their hand over your mouth.
A/n: Thank you to IndigoTheWretched for following my story endlessly (despite me taking constant breaks lol sorry love) and giving me lots of helpful reviews! I see everyone's comments and I love all of you for still following this story even though it's incredibly slow burn!