Truth and Sparta (24 page)

It changed
that evening. Chara was asleep when she heard steps in the square.
They were not hurried, but neither were they unassured or
uncertain. Chara felt fear rising with every step. She sat up and
watched for the man and she could see a figure lit by the moon’s
light. There was no doubt he was heading for the Assembly building.
Chara stood up, moving the heavy chain in the process which made a
sound that echoed across the empty and dark square.

He stopped at
the base of the steps and looked up at her. Chara’s heart was
beating wildly, but she noted that his stance wasn’t aggressive or
threatening. She hadn’t seen him before. He had not been one of the
men interrogating her. She wondered with a sense of panic if the
General had managed to get his punishment after all, but the man
didn’t move toward her. Then he slowly walked up the steps and came
to stand some distance from her.

“
So you’re the girl that all the fluster is about?” he asked.
His voice didn’t hold anger or threat, but observation. “What is
your name?”

“
Chara,” she replied and felt very aware of his
scrutiny.

“
Chara”, he repeated. “Cherished.”

He turned and
looked out on the square.

“
You are a hero to your people—a curious creature for a
hero.”

“
I’m not a hero.”

“
Perhaps not. A hero is someone who accomplishes extraordinary
feats in battle. But you have done something extraordinary. You
have threatened the foundations of this society all the same. This
is a strong society with proud warriors whose skill has never been
surpassed. We pride ourselves on our strength, our endurance and
resilience.”

“
But you are built on someone else’s foundation.” She wasn’t
sure she should challenge this man, but she really didn’t have
anything to lose. He turned and regarded her for a
moment.

“
You are right,” he admitted. “We are what we are because of
your toil. We are great on the back of your labor.” He stood and
watched the scene before them for a while. “They think I should
kill you.”

Chara realized
that this was a man that made decisions, someone they had appealed
to. She didn’t know enough about Spartan society to know exactly
who he was.

“
But killing you would solidify your message in the eyes of the
Helots. You would forever be the girl that took on Sparta and
won—but that is something for another day. Leadership is a curious
thing, it has extraordinary power and it should never be
underestimated in the fate of a state. A bad leader can destroy a
state with the efficiency of an earthquake.”

“
I am not a leader.”

“
You may not have been elected or born to it, but you have
become one by default.” She could see intelligent eyes sparkle in
the darkness. There might be a veneer of amusement in them, but she
could see the ruthlessness underneath. This man made her very
uncomfortable.

“
That was never my intention.”

He laughed. “I
gather not—all this for a child, I hear,” he said darkly. “It may
not look it on the surface, but you’ve torn this society apart for
a mere child. Mothers, the most vicious things in the world we are
told.”

Chara held her
breath.

“
Some think that if I destroy you, that it will destroy the
trouble you have caused. But leadership doesn’t function such and
these troubles won’t end with you. Our enemy has found our
weakness—one they can keep addressing again and again. So now we
are at an impasse. Your power and skills as a leader versus the
idea you have planted. They are right, the solution lies with
you.”

“
You are wrong, even if I went and told every person who has
left to come back, they’re not going to do so. I was only a means
to an end, I am not the end for them, they will not follow me back
to somewhere where their families are threatened. Leadership isn’t
that powerful.”

“
It is, but perhaps your skills are not that great. But then we
will have you to lead by example and we will see what the people
do.”

“
Which will be completely transparent as I am being manipulated
for the safety of my daughter. If you believe that my people see me
as a leader—which I dispute—then they will look elsewhere
quickly.”

“
To dissolve your integrity as a leader would be beneficial to
me, but it does not solve the greater issue. The ideas you have
caused are still there planted like weeds across the land in every
mind of the Helots.”

“
I only did what I had to and they only left because they had
to.” She saw no reason for hiding the truth from this man. Her fate
rested with him, she was sure of it, but she also knew that he
would see through anything but the truth. Her death was assured, so
why not let them know exactly what was on their minds.

“
So now we negotiate,” he said. “Leader to leader.”

“
I am not in a position to speak for my people.”

“
Is there anyone else here?”

“
Fine,” she said. “Freedom for my people.”

“
You will waste this opportunity by being childish!” he roared.
Birds flew from the square with the sharpness of it. “Take care,
girl,” he said in a cold voice, “this opportunity will never come
again.” He took a step down the stairs.

“
Wait,” she urged. Her mind was racing, trying to get
organized. The task he’d set was a massive one and she wasn’t
prepared for it. She had no council and she didn’t really have any
right, but this opportunity may never come again.

“
The Crypteia must finish,” she said. He stopped his progress
and turned to consider her. “You kill our people, wage war against
us, but you punish us for trying to defend ourselves. There are no
means by which this can be called just.”

“
We need mechanisms for keeping control.”

“
And randomly killing our young men fuels nothing but anger and
resentment. You might have control, but we are no longer staying to
experience it. The Crypteia is coming shortly and it was on the
mind of every single person who boarded my ship. They all had
someone they wanted to protect from you and they all now know there
is a way. You enact the Crypteia this year and it will be at your
peril.”

He stepped
toward her, crowding her space. “Do you seek to threaten me?” She
looked away feeling the intimidation bite, while refusing to cower
to it.

“
It is not a threat—I know what they say to me. They say
nothing to you and they never will, but they do to me. Each year
you will provide them with a powerful incentive to leave, even if
they don’t want to.”

He stepped
back. “How would you suggest we keep control if we don’t give
ourselves the leeway to remove threats?”

“
But your definition of a threat is too broad. You kill boys
barely men—most of whom would never be a threat.”

“
But it is the pool amongst where threats come
from.”

“
Then provide an incentive instead. Surely there must be a way
that we can live together. The people who leave aren’t doing so for
adventure, you have placed them in a position where they must. They
would like to live in harmony, this is where they belong,” she
urged.

“
And what would you suggest?”

“
You know what we want—a true incentive.”

“
As the Romans perhaps, serve Sparta’s army for fifteen years
and you will gain your freedom?” he added. “Or we end up with
skilled and militarized Helots.”

“
You would end up with freemen who have a vested
interest.”

“
And the rest must serve the fields,” he said. “I will consider
the proposal,” he said and turned abruptly.

Chara watched
him go. It had happened so fast, she wasn’t sure she’d gotten all
the concessions she needed, but she knew that she’d covered the
main one—the end of the Crypteia. A path for freedom for young men
would provide a powerful incentive as well if the Spartans chose
it. It would have been a path Doros would have chosen if available.
It left no path for girls, but she would not have found some way of
convincing that man that their servitude deserved freedom.

She tried to
think over what the implications of this pact would be. She could
well imagine that some might be very angry with her for negotiating
on their behalf, but she couldn’t see anyone mourning the loss of
the Crypteia if nothing else was achieved. A path to freedom would
be a powerful unifying tool and it would give the Spartans the
additional men they needed along with less friction in their own
land. It made complete sense to her, but then she wasn’t a
Spartan.

Her hands were
shaking as she watched the man’s retreating back. She recognized
the importance of the opportunity and hoped she’d done as well as
she could have. The idea of a future in Sparta without terror was
tempting, but she had no impractical ideas that it would become a
harmonious place for Helots and Spartans, but it would be better.
Sparta would always be domineering, it was their nature and that
would not change, but the absence of the Crypteia would represent a
vast improvement.

Nicias took
his seat in the Assembly amongst the others who’d chosen to attend.
The hall was full and it was unusually noisy. He watched as his
father entered the hall and searched for him.

“
We will see what occurs today,” his father said as he sat
down. “Hopefully this disaster will be behind us by the end of the
day.”

Nicias knew it
would end today and had prepared himself. He wasn’t sure what had
been decided, but a conclusion had been reached. He knew so because
he’d watched King Pleistoanax approach Chara the previous night.
He’d watched from his spot in the dark from where he watched her
every night, unable to interfere as the king approached. He’d
expected her to be slain, but the king had left her untouched. They
spoke at some length, before the departure of the man Nicias
respected and to whom he had sworn complete loyalty and
obedience.

Nicias hadn’t
mentioned what he’d observed to anyone; it wasn’t his right. But it
was clear that Chara’s fate had passed from the elders to the King
himself and today things would be settled. He was still churning
inside with anguish and unresolved sentiments as she had robbed him
of peace and comfort in his own skin. Even his conflicting emotions
were a betrayal to his state and his own identity. His mind was
still searching for answers, searching for a way to save her, even
though he knew he shouldn’t. His hope was that if there would be a
decision she would be left somewhere and forgotten—where he would
carry her away to the coast and put her on a ship to never return.
It was more than she was due, but it was what he wanted. He wanted
her to live. He could then say goodbye to her and forget. If she
met a brutal end, he knew she would stay in his mind for a long
time.

The King was
not cruel, but he was not merciful either. Not everyone agreed with
his views, but Nicias believed that the gods had blessed their King
with wisdom.

The King made
his entrance and the room quieted. He took his seat and one of the
elders rose.

“
The gods have shown their support for us by the resounding
defeat of Athens at Delium,” the elder said. “It is indeed a
fortunate event.”

The news of
the devastating losses the Athenians had suffered had started
spreading. Nicias had heard about it in the mess, heard that a
messenger had come with the best of news.

The Assembly
went on to argue about the implications. Some wanted to press
forward now when Athens was disorientated and dismayed. Others
challenged the purpose, saying Athens would recover and then they
would reach the point where the war would run on forever with no
one ever truly winning, that they needed to press the advantage for
peace.

The arguments
were heated and went on as Nicias listened intently. He knew he
wanted something other than war, but he was too weary to long for
anything. Perhaps battle would be the best thing. It would distract
him from the thoughts that plagued him mercilessly.

He was
starting to worry that they would not discuss the Helot desertion
and the role that Chara played. He felt a stab of panic when he
considered that her death may already have been delivered which
he’d slept, but he was soon greeted with her appearance. She come
into the chamber seemingly unharmed, her lithe form moving fluidly
as she came to stand at the center of the hall.

He could see
the fear in her and he could see her fight against it as she held
herself strong with her head high, but there was a tremble in her
hands whenever she released her hands’ grasp. Her eyes were large
as she took in the sights of the large chamber. It would be an
intimidating sight for a slight female standing in a room full of
war weary soldiers.

He was proud
of her for not breaking down and crying—or worse begging. Perhaps
she knew such behaviour would garner her little mercy or respect.
From speaking to her, he knew she expected neither.

“
Now to internal matters,” Pleistoanax said after the
discussion on Athens was drawing on. “Before you, you have the
culprit of all the problems regarding Helot desertion.” All eyes
turned to Chara, whose cheeks were taking on a pink color under the
scrutiny. Still she refused to cower. “A threat more insidious than
any we have faced in the past from the Helots, leaving our fields
bare and unworked, robbing our stores and our families of
nourishment. These are the charges before you, girl. How do you
answer?”