Everyone in the ceremonial hall is in an utter panic. Cosmas unsuccessfully tries to calm down Phoebe, who clutches his arm as she shrieks in terror. Her father, Solon, shouts for his servants to search the area for his younger daughter while Euclid gestures for his own attendants to secure the hall. Aspasia and Polydora, mother of Phoebe and Karme`, take charge like brave battle commanders and begin shepherding the other girls and women from the hall. Not keen to be swept along with them, I stoop down to the ground as though I have dropped something. Ever observant, Medusa follows my lead (despite being puzzled) and we both examine the small pile of clothes left behind by Karme`.

A few unusual facts soon become apparent to me as I gaze upon the abandoned material. The absence of slashes on Karme`'s dress indicate that the garment was not ripped off her body. This fact rules out my theory about the poor girl being dragged away at blade point. Such an abduction seems unlikely anyway in a room with so many individuals packed closely together…

Medusa interrupts my musings with a nudge in the side. Transferring my gaze to her, I see that she is holding up with the very tips of her fingers an object I recognize to be a rag that girls and women wear during their monthly blood flows. A frown works its way across my face as I survey the rag. One thing I have learned in my brief time among mortals is that "bleeding" women are kept in even stricter isolation than usual- they cannot even venture out into their courtyards to take the air because all men (even the male servants) regard them as dangerous during this time. It is as though the men believe the women will instantly become hideous deadly monsters the moment the monthly flow comes upon them. Such a strange and almost laughable supposition.

But none of this explains why Karme` would be present at the wedding when it is clear she has been bleeding. Had Polydora been aware of her younger daughter's condition, she would certainly have confined Karme' to the gynaikon until the bleeding had passed. Unless, of course, Polydora did not know and Karme` had only just experienced her first blood flow ever.

But Medusa and I are noticed by one of the roaming male attendants and are sent from the hall before we can examine any further evidence.

AMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMA

"What do you suppose happened to Karme`?" Medusa whispers to me as she detangles my straggling hair from its coiled clasp. We are ensconced in a room adjacent to the ceremonial hall where the men are doubtless still puzzling out Karme`'s disappearance.

It is apparent that the other women are thinking of the said disaster as much as Medusa and me. In one corner sit the old crones- a few fortunate great-grandmothers and their comparatively younger daughters or daughters-in-law. They sit in a concentrated cluster and cluck at poor Karme`'s dwindling chances of making a respectable marriage should she manage to emerge unscathed from her misadventure. On the opposite side of the room sit the maidens and younger children of both sexes. The older girls giggle and chatter away while the younger children play a game with some discarded flower petals. No doubt the maidens are pondering the identity of Karme`'s abductor and discussing how handsome or ugly he is likely to be. Perhaps they are even fantasizing how "romantic" their own abductions or weddings will be. If so, Aphrodite has much to answer for!

Although the matrons and mothers are nearest to us in the vicinity, they are too deep in domestic conversation to hear my reply to Medusa's earlier question. Both Medusa and I agree that it is ludicrous for Karme` to have absconded with a lover- she is but a child of eleven, despite her blood flow. I never liked being without answers when I was a goddess and I like it even less so as a mortal. My aunt Hestia says that I was born with a natural desire to know the answers to every problem, a trait I inherited from my long-gone mother. The few facts surrounding Karme`'s disappearance so cloud my usually clear mind that it makes me angry with myself.

"Could Karme` not just have run off somewhere on a whim?" I ask now in great frustration, wincing slightly as Medusa finishes untangling a particularly stubborn knot from my scalp. The feeling of a hard and toothed object against my head indicates that Medusa has now begun combing out my hair.

"If so, why would she leave her clothes behind?" I can feel the frown on Medusa's face as she answers my question with a question of her own. "Karme` was so excited about being one of the maidens in Phoebe's bridal party. She practically talked of nothing else last night, remember?"

Belatedly, I recall Karme`'s high delight from the night before. How she had chattered happily about the lovely garments she would wear, the oils she would use to adorn her skin, the way she would conduct herself in the choral dances after the ceremony. Anyone who did not know better might have thought that it was she, not her older sister Phoebe, who would be married to Cosmas! Nothing about this situation makes the least bit of sense and it causes my head to pound. I give up trying to puzzle out the meaning to this riddle and lean my head back against Medusa's shoulder. Instead of pushing me away, my mortal friend snakes her arm around my upper body and draws me backwards until I am settled against her side. While I nestle my head on her shoulder, Medusa strokes my hair gently until I fall asleep and then must be carried to bed once we females are released from the room.