Chapter 3

A Letter for the King

BEFORE HE WAS elected magistrate, Syphon was a regular attendee at the Temple of Hermes. He would offer prayers and sacrifices—usually in the form of gold—and he would ask the God of Trade to smile upon his business enterprises. Since he had quadrupled the family fortune since entering the grain trade under his father's tutelage, Syphon felt that his prayers had been more than answered. These blessings culminated in a marriage to the eldest daughter of one of the kingdom's foremost owners of farmland property. In short, Syphon was the definitive example of a successful merchant, and becoming a magistrate in the city government had only enhanced his prestige.

But although his government position now required him to attend ceremonies at the Temple of Poseidon, Syphon always kept faith with the God of Trade. Whenever he had a misgiving about a business deal or a colleague's trustworthiness, it was to the god Hermes he prayed to for guidance and insight. He received it too, in the form of intuitions and sudden realisations that served to direct Syphon's actions. He believed that his faith in these intuitions was one of the reasons for his success.

He also prayed to Hermes for advice on women, and the guidance he got was very clear: 'Women want trades that are to their maximum advantage.' When he applied this to his wife, its truth seemed almost painfully apparent. Zoravelina's strategy as a wife was to extract as much as she could, while giving back as little as possible. In the first years of their marriage, she had got away with it too. But once Syphon realised that she only gave him loving after he had done something that pleased her, he made a point of never doing anything she wanted. 'If I have to earn your affection,' he thought, 'I'd rather do without it.'

This principle of maximum advantage applied to Hypergamy as well. She wanted Syphon to arrange an audience with the king and, in return, she would give him … absolutely nothing. That was the trade she wanted. And Syphon could either be a fool who lets a woman take advantage of him, or a man who stands up for himself. He had learned when young that being laughed at by girls was much worse than being hated by them, so whenever Hypergamy came to the andron to ask about her audience with the king, he would make some excuse and accept the hatred in her eyes. They both knew this was a war between what she wanted and what he wanted, and only one of them could win. It was a matter of principle now.

Then, one morning, the situation changed.

The city administration of Iolcos was split into four magistracies, each responsible for some aspect of city life and each one answerable to the king. Every two weeks, the magistrates from each magistracy would go to the palace for a meeting, basically to keep their monarch informed. On this particular morning, it was the turn of the Third Magistracy—responsible for trade, the port, and foreign relations—to go to the palace meeting room. The king sat at the head of the great table and the six magistrates, including Syphon, made their reports. King Pelias was a somewhat humourless man in his thirties who listened in near silence, although when he did ask a question, it was usually pertinent. But he hated long meetings and after less than an hour, it was all over for two more weeks. The magistrates gathered up their papyrus documents while the king rose to go back to the royal residence with his bodyguard.

'Oh, Syphon,' said the king. 'Perhaps you would care to walk with us?'

This was code for 'I want a word with you!' and there were exchanges of glances across the table. But everyone acted as though everything was normal and Syphon responded:

'It would be my honour, Your Majesty.'

Syphon accompanied King Pelias down the corridor and out onto the palace grounds, the royal bodyguard following a discreet distance behind. The sun was shining and the king smiled up at it. The two men were about the same age and they were both married to younger women. In fact, Queen Valissa was pregnant with her third child, after having produced two healthy boys. With that in mind, Syphon ventured to say:

'I trust that the queen is in good health, Your Majesty?'

'She is, thank you,' said the king. 'I will let her know that you enquired after her health.'

'Thank you, Your Majesty.'

'Actually, it's on account of her that I wanted to talk to you.'

'Your Majesty?'

They had reached the steps to the palace residence. King Pelias simply walked right past, continuing on the path around the great courtyard. Syphon walked with him, his heart thumping hard.

'The queen has heard a rumour,' said the king, 'that for the past two months, there has been a Phoenician princess staying at your house. Is that true?'

'Ah, no, Your Majesty,' said Syphon. 'But I can explain how that rumour came about.'

The king put on his listening face as they walked. Syphon licked his lips and began.

'A couple of months ago, Your Majesty, a lady did arrive on a Greek ship from Byblos. But she is not Phoenician and she is not a princess. In fact, she claims to be a citizen of Iolcos.'

'And is she?'

'There is no way of knowing, Your Majesty. She claims to have been captured by pirates as a child and sold as a slave in Aegyptus. Then, somehow or other, she ended up in the court of King Eshmun of Byblos.'

'That's quite the story.'

'Yes, Your Majesty.'

'And speaking of King Eshmun, I heard that this lady carries a letter from him.'

'Yes, Your Majesty.'

The king stopped and turned to face him. His expression was neutral and, when he spoke, his voice was mild.

'A letter addressed to me,' he said.

Syphon could literally feel his face tingle as the blood drained from it. It took all his self-control to keep his voice even and professional.

'I was concerned about the authenticity of the letter, Your Majesty.'

'As you should be,' said the king. 'But if it is authentic, we should send some sort of response to King Eshmun, wouldn't you agree?'

'Of course, Your Majesty.'

'So…?'

'I will arrange for this woman to be presented to you, Your Majesty.'

'That won't be necessary. I just want the letter.'

'I will bring it to you immediately.'

'Tomorrow will be soon enough. Thank you for the walk, Syphon.'

'Your Majesty.'

Syphon bowed his head. The king answered with a nod, then turned and walked back the way he had come, strolling past the bodyguard who turned and followed, always staying the same distance behind. Syphon realised he was sweating and he scowled up at the sun. Then he straightened his toga and walked in the opposite direction, heading for the way out.

Zoravelina dug her heels into the mattress, pressed the side of her face against the muscle of a firm, tanned thigh and groaned softly. It was her first experience of a position Hypergamy called dya matka'dhani, which roughly translated as 'mutual oral pleasure'. Zoravelina was lying on her back and right above her face was Hypergamy's glistening pink vulva, although Zoravelina had yet to touch it. Hypergamy's tongue and fingers were working miracles on the other side of those glorious, tanned buttocks, and Zoravelina was riding the waves of delicious sensation. She felt the expert tongue on her clit, the tension building and building, and when Hypergamy's fingers fluttered against the inner walls of her vagina, she lost all control.

The orgasm hit like a thunderbolt. Zoravelina screamed into the flesh of Hypergamy's thigh, pressing it against her face to muffle the sound. Her body shook, her legs twitched, and she felt Hypergamy hold down her bucking hips by main force. Ye gods … and to think that she had nearly told Yiorgos to send this woman away! Any doubts about Hypergamy's sexual prowess had long since evaporated.

The waves of pleasure slowed and gently came to rest. Zoravelina's breathing returned to normal. She felt Hypergamy relax and settle down, using one of Zoravelina's own thighs as a pillow. This is wonderful, thought Zoravelina. The mornings when her husband was at work and the children at their lessons was now officially her favourite time of day.

She opened her eyes. Hypergamy's pink vulva in its thatch of pubic hair was still hovering above her head and Zoravelina felt a pang of conscience. The truth was, she still wasn't sure how she felt about being so close to another woman's vagina. She loved being naked with Hypergamy, loved the kissing and touching, and she adored the orgasms … but even when she was fingering her lover, Zoravelina would always watch Hypergamy's face, never looking downwards. Even now, as she looked at the small pink folds of her lover's vaginal opening, Zoravelina felt strangely detached. She had no desire to be closer to it than she already was.

'Are you okay?' said a voice from the other side of the tanned hips and buttocks.

'I'm fine … fine…'

'Don't lie to me, Zora.'

'I'm not lying.'

The whole bed seemed to lurch and the tanned bottom disappeared. In a flurry of limbs, Hypergamy turned around and then Zoravelina felt the breath being pushed out of her as the other woman climbed on top. Instead of a pink vulva, Zoravelina found herself looking at a pair of fierce green eyes.

'I'm going to just say it,' said Hypergamy. 'Why won't you put your tongue inside me?'

Zoravelina stared. She opened her mouth, then realised she didn't know what to say. Hypergamy tilted her head and leaned on the other woman's chest with both arms.

'And there was me thinking I was this amazingly beautiful woman,' she said.

'You are!' said Zoravelina. 'You're the most—'

She was silenced by a hand over her mouth. Hypergamy lowered her head so that their noses were almost touching.

'Listen, my darling,' she said. 'I don't want to pressure you into doing something that you don't want to do. But neither do I want to pretend that something doesn't hurt when it does. And this hurts, Zoravelina. This hurts.'

Hypergamy held her gaze, then slowly removed her hand. Zoravelina looked miserable.

'What should I do?' she said.

'I don't know,' said Hypergamy. 'I have to ask the Goddess about this.'

'Do you mean, Aphrodite?'

'Who else?'

Zoravelina looked troubled and opened her mouth to speak, but something in the other woman's eyes silenced her. Hypergamy frowned down at her lover. She stroked Zoravelina's forehead and cheek as she considered what to say.

'I want to love you,' said Hypergamy. 'I want to strip you bare, right down to your soul, and see all the things that you're trying to hide. All your guilt, all your shame, everything that stands between you and me. And when I find those things, I will kiss them and love them and maybe even fuck them. And I will do it over and over, until you realise that there is nothing about you which is not beautiful, nothing about you I cannot love. By the gods, Zoravelina, I wish you could see into my heart.'

Zoravelina's expression changed yet again, a tear running down the side of her face. Hypergamy lowered herself and Zoravelina opened her mouth for the kiss, looping her arms around the woman on top. As they kissed, Zoravelina felt like a spoiled child pushing away the asparagus on her plate. What was wrong with her? How could she refuse anything to this woman? Zoravelina decided that the moment the kissing was over, she would ignore her distaste and put her mouth between Hypergamy's beautiful legs.

She never got the chance. Hypergamy suddenly pushed herself bolt upright, head raised, eyes open, like a cat alert to danger. Zoravelina blinked.

'Hypergamy, what—?'

'Shh.'

Zoravelina went quiet. Hypergamy leapt off the bed and ran to the door. She opened it a crack and listened. Zoravelina sat up, her heart thumping. She saw Hypergamy flinch and quickly close the door. Her eyes were wide in alarm.

'Your husband's home.'

'What?!'

Zoravelina leapt from the bed. Meanwhile, Hypergamy grabbed the lady's gown and was holding it ready.

'You need to get out of here!' said Zoravelina.

'No, you need to get downstairs. Come on! I can always come down later.'

There was no time to argue. Zoravelina put on the gown and allowed Hypergamy to do up the laces as she started tidying her hair.

Syphon barrelled into the house the instant Yiorgos opened the door. Still holding his scroll-carrier, he rounded on the manservant, demanding to see his wife. Yiorgos nodded but hesitated, as it was the usual routine to pick up the master's toga after he shrugged it off. Syphon glared at the manservant.

'What are you waiting for, man?!' he shouted. 'Go find her!'

'Yes, sir.'

Syphon glowered at the manservant's disappearing back as he shrugged off his toga which fell to the floor. But no sooner had one servant left then another appeared. It was Sophia, looking agitated and wringing her hands.

'Sir…' she began.

'Not now!'

'But, sir, the children are—'

'I said, not now!'

'But sir, they heard your voice and they want to—'

'Are they at lessons or not?'

'Yes, sir, they are.'

'Then go to the lessons and leave me alone! Go!'

The nurse bobbed and scurried off under his furious glare. Clenching his jaw, he went through the man's wing of the house, marched into the andron and tossed the scroll-carrier onto a couch. He looked around at the marble floor, the expensive furniture, the sculpture of Heracles strangling the Nemean Lion. Yes, this was a suitable space to upbraid his wife, to let her know how monstrously she had fucked up. He was going to remind her who had the authority in this house. But the longer he paced the room, the more that feeling of authority seeped away. What was taking her so long? Syphon was on the point of marching out to find his wife, when he heard her voice outside talking to Yiorgos. A moment later, Zoravelina walked into the room. Syphon blinked at her appearance.

'Are you sick?' he said.

'I beg your pardon?'

'Your face is all red!'

'I was taking the sun in the garden. What is it, Syphon?'

The man clenched his teeth. He did not like her tone.

'Are you trying to sabotage my career?' he demanded. 'Do you want to see me ruined? Don't you like all this luxury I provide?'

'What are you talking about?'

'You have embarrassed me with the king!'

'What? How?'

'All your stupid socialising! All those "ladies' suppers"! All your gatherings at the women's temple!'

'Syphon, if you mean ceremonies at the Temple of Hera, a woman in my position is expected to attend!'

'Yes, but by taking Hypergamy, you've started tongues wagging! Didn't it occur to you that some of your so-called friends might also be friends with the queen?'

Zoravelina's expression slowly changed as the pieces began falling together. A picture was forming and the more it was revealed, the more she smiled.

'So the king has heard about Hypergamy?' she said.

'Pah!' said Syphon. 'Do you think the king gives a shit about some random woman?'

'Says the man who's been trying to—'

'Don't you see the position you've put me in?!' he bellowed.

Zoravelina looked at the man. Oh, she saw it, all right. He had kept news of Hypergamy's arrival from the king and now the king had found out on his own. He no doubt wanted to know what the fuck Syphon thought he was playing at. It was delicious! And the best part was, it was all Syphon's own fault!

'I'm talking to you, woman!' he shouted.

His face was almost purple with rage and the tendons stood out on his neck. His hands waved alarmingly as he pointed and gesticulated, and it wouldn't take much for one of those swipes to be directed at her. Syphon had never hit his wife, but neither had Zoravelina tested his self-control to its limits. And although she was dying to gloat, she found herself saying:

'How can I help?'

Syphon stared at her. It was as though she had spoken in another language. Zoravelina frowned, wondering whether her facial expression was perhaps not consistent with what she was saying. She tried again.

'Is it the letter?' she said.

'What?'

'You said that the king doesn't care about Hypergamy. So is it the letter from King Eshmun that he wants to see?'

'Yes.'

Syphon's face had lost some of its dangerous flush, but his breathing was still laboured. Zoravelina looked at the wall as she spoke, so the man didn't think she was criticising him.

'Does he think you've been withholding it from him?' she said.

'I don't know. Probably.'

'That's bad.'

'Damn right, that's bad!'

'All right…'

Zoravelina turned to face the man, her hands clasped before her.

'Then let Hypergamy have her audience with the king.'

'The king doesn't want to see her,' said Syphon. 'He just wants the letter.'

'Hypergamy will never give it to you.'

'No, but she'll give it to you.'

'Syphon … I can't do that!'

'You just said, "How can I help?" Well, that's how!'

He gave her a determined glare. Zoravelina turned away in frustration and found herself staring at the sculpture of Heracles and the Nemean Lion. It was so typical of her husband to take something so ugly—a man killing an animal—and then use it as background decoration! What was wrong with men that they considered such things objects of beauty? Zoravelina closed her eyes and tried to push it from her mind.

'How much time do I have?' she said.

'The king wants the letter tomorrow.'

'Then may I make a suggestion?'

She heard Syphon huff impatiently.

'Spit it out then, woman!'

'Take Hypergamy to the palace with you.'

'I've already told you! The king doesn't want to see her!'

'Then she'll have to wait outside. But if you tell the king that she's there to pay her respects, he might change his mind.'

'I'd be disobeying a royal command!'

'No, you wouldn't. You'd be … giving him options he hadn't thought of himself. Isn't that what a good advisor does?'

As soon as Zoravelina left the room, Hypergamy straightened out the bed and tried to eradicate the signs of lovemaking. Then she put on her robe, grabbed her things and slipped out of one room and into another. She refilled her water bowl from the jug, washed herself and dressed in one of the classic Greek gowns Zoravelina had bought for her. She arranged her hair and left the room, going quietly down the wooden steps from the balcony level. Walking around that wing of the house, she passed two servant girls busy with tidying the atrium. Hypergamy coughed to make sure she was seen, then she headed out to the garden of orange trees.

Up to now, she had been acting with a sense of urgency, knowing that Yiorgos might appear at any moment to tell her the master of the house wanted to see her. But as she walked in the shade of the orange trees, she began to relax. She found her way to the small statue of the naked woman and she sat down with her back against a tree, gazing at it in quiet contemplation. There were the vague sounds of voices in the distance, the occasional horse and cart passing outside the perimeter wall. None of it mattered. She was safe here, among the trees and shrubs, under the watchful gaze of the Goddess. Hypergamy gave thanks for being alerted to Syphon's presence, comforted by the feeling that so long as she did her part, the Goddess would do hers.

Time crawled past. Hypergamy sat, drifting in and out of her thoughts. Then, beyond her magical green circle of protection, she heard a voice calling. She ignored it at first, but then she recognised her own name being called. It was Zoravelina. Hypergamy called back, but stayed seated by the tree, legs stretched out, ankles crossed. After a few moments, she saw the glimpse of a blue dress through the shrubs and then the woman herself came into view. Her expression was grim.

Hypergamy was up and on her feet, walking towards her. Before Zoravelina could say a word, Hypergamy had taken her in her arms and was hugging her. Zoravelina embraced the other woman, holding her as though these were their last moments together.

'Oh, Hypergamy…' she said.

'Shh … it's okay.'

The two women looked at each other, holding one another's arms. Hypergamy leaned in and kissed her. Zoravelina accepted the kiss, albeit reluctantly. She let go and looked nervously around, frowning at the statue of the woman as though it might be an informant.

'We need to be more careful,' said Zoravelina.

'If you say so.'

'How can you be so calm? That statue is not Aphrodite, you know!'

'She is to me.'

'Well, it's not! And if you knew the fight I had with Syphon when I bought it! Waste of money, he called it—'

'Come on, Zora, let's walk.'

Hypergamy took Zoravelina's arm and began to lead her along the path. Zoravelina seemed to resist at first, but women walking arm-in-arm was a common sight in Iolcos and she eventually relented. Finally, she seemed to relax enough for Hypergamy to ask what had happened.

'Well,' said Zoravelina, 'it looks like you might finally have your audience with the king.'

'Was that why Syphon was here?'

'Yes.'

'I see.'

Zoravelina frowned.

'You don't sound very happy,' she said.

'Don't I?' Hypergamy ran her fingers over the skin of Zoravelina's arm. 'Maybe it's because I have something more important now.'

'Don't say things like that.'

There was sadness in her voice and Hypergamy turned to see tears in the other woman's eyes. She stopped and drew her into a second hug. As before, Zoravelina clung to her, pressing her body close. Then she broke away and took a step backwards. When she spoke, she was unable to look Hypergamy in the eye.

'Listen, my husband will be taking you to the palace tomorrow.'

'All right.'

'The king said he only wanted to see the letter. But if he knows you're there too, I think he might see you.'

'Okay.'

'I'm sorry, Hypergamy. I wish I could guarantee that you would actually see the king.'

'Zora, my darling, it's fine. I understand.'

Hypergamy went up to the other woman and took her hands. Zoravelina looked upset about something. Hypergamy tried to get the other woman to look her in the face.

'Zora, what is it?'

'Oh, it's just … I don't know…'

'Tell me.'

Zoravelina visibly steeled herself before speaking.

'It was Syphon,' she said. 'He frightened me. I've seen him angry before, but never like this.'

'Oh, my poor darling…'

'The crazy thing is, he knows it's his fault! I can see that he knows it! He should never have tried to coerce you into sex in the first place!'

'No, of course not.'

'And now he's been caught and he's angry. And I mean really angry. And it doesn't make sense! I've seen Syphon suffer misfortune before—things which were not his fault—and he's never been as angry as this!'

Zoravelina looked at Hypergamy with an anguished expression.

'Why is that, Hypergamy? Why?'

'I don't know, my darling. I don't know.'

Hypergamy drew Zoravelina into another hug, but she was troubled. A horrible thought had occurred to her and, as she hugged the other woman, she could feel her heart sinking into her stomach.

After leaving the house to return to work, Syphon had dropped in on one of the men overseeing his grain supply business. During a short meeting, he learned that two big shipments had been paid for, orders were high, and the value of his operations had increased. The tariff and distribution advantages that he could secure through his government position were paying dividends. There was almost nothing but good news on that front.

Yet it tasted like ash in his mouth. As Syphon went about his day, he couldn't shake the feeling that the women in his life were laughing at him. He knew Hypergamy considered herself too good for him, as did his own wife. All his hard work, achievements and wealth meant nothing to them.

Syphon was still in a bad mood when he arrived home late. Yiorgos opened the door and gathered up his toga from the floor, nodding in confirmation when Syphon told him to bring a jug of wine to the andron.

'There is one thing, sir,' said Yiorgos. 'The lady Hypergamy asked if she could have a private word with you.'

Hypergamy was the last person Syphon wanted to see. Still, if the king did ask her to join the meeting, Syphon had some thoughts about what she should say. Probably best to go through it now.

'Very well,' said Syphon. 'But bring my wine first.'

'Yes, sir.'

Syphon was sitting on his couch, his legs stretched out and his wine half drunk, when Hypergamy arrived. She was wearing the same kind of light blue gown his wife usually wore and, he had to admit, she looked elegant and beautiful. He swirled his wine and pulled a face as he looked at her.

'Come to gloat?' he said.

'No,' said Hypergamy. 'I've come to tell you that I'll give you what you want.'

Syphon was suddenly alert.

'And what would that be?' he said.

'Don't insult my intelligence.'

Hypergamy went to one of the couches and took a seat without asking permission. She sat on the edge with her back straight and hands clasped, facing the man.

'I have a condition,' she said.

Syphon sat up straight. All right, he thought. Let's play it your way.

'What condition?' he said.

'Over the past weeks,' said Hypergamy, 'I've grown very close to Zoravelina. And after I leave this house, I would like to continue a friendship with her. So my condition is that whatever passes between us is kept secret from her. The fact that you sleep with other women hurts her very much, and I would hate her to know that I'm one of them.'

'She doesn't care.'

'You are mistaken, sir!'

Hypergamy glared at the man, her rage and disbelief stamped on her face. Syphon found himself avoiding that gaze and he frowned and took a mouthful of wine. He forced a sigh and tried to affect a casual tone.

'If you come to my room,' he said, 'how would we prevent her from knowing?'

'I understand that you are seeing the king in the morning,' she said. 'Afterwards, you could take me somewhere else. I'm sure you know places where we could have a few hours of privacy.'

'You've got this all worked out, haven't you?'

'I have given this some thought, yes.'

'In that case, tell me: why are you doing this?'

Hypergamy frowned, pretending to be puzzled.

'I thought that was the unspoken agreement?' she said. 'You get me an audience with the king, and I go to bed with you?'

'Yes, but you already have your audience. You won!'

'I didn't "win". I merely asserted the right not to have sex with a man I don't want to have sex with.'

'So why have you changed your mind?'

'Because you don't see it that way! You see this as a battle of wills in which I won and you lost … and, in my judgement, you are not the kind of man who is gracious in defeat. You are going to resent this, year after year, but you won't punish me. You'll punish your wife. And to see that lovely woman with a black-and-blue face is more than I can stand!'

'Hey! I have never hit my wife!'

'Then I'm sure you'll find some other way to wipe the smile off her face. Am I right?'

Her voice was shaking and her eyes welled with tears. Syphon was troubled, but he kept his face stony and his voice casual.

'You really don't think much of me, do you?' he said.

'You're a hypocrite and I detest hypocrisy.'

'How am I a hypocrite?'

'Because if your daughter grew up and married a man who treated her the way you treat your wife, you'd kill him. You would fucking kill him.'

Hypergamy rose to her feet and looked down on him.

'Good night, sir,' she said.

And she turned and left the room.