Plaything of the Gods Ch. 01

I had to admit not all of the stories the older warriors told were lies. She was beautiful. She had dark blonde, slightly curly hair that fell past her shoulders, blue eyes and a small smile on her lips. Her dress looked comfortable and simple, but managed to accentuate her slender form and ample bust without being indecent. She made a small bow to convey friendliness, and then spoke in a clear voice.

"High priestess Leda has heard of your desire to leave. She regrets this and says the temple would invite you to stay longer, but she knows your duties call you. She says, however, that Aphrodite would seem a bad hostess if you did not stay a little longer. She urges you to at least take a bath and another meal in our temple, so you can depart when the hottest part of the day is over."

Though she conveyed the words of her high priestess, there was a hint of eagerness in her voice, and her eyes inspected me thoroughly while she spoke. I knew I could not refuse her offer without insulting Aphrodite, and so quickly agreed with it. I suddenly realizing I had not bathed or shaved for a while and I had worn these spare clothes since I woke yesterday. I suddenly felt embarrassed when I asked her where I could find the baths.

A smile was still on her lips as she told me she'd take me to them. I followed her through the side door, feeling slightly embarrassed and out of place in the presence of such a beautiful woman. My companion was rather talkative as she led me to the baths.

She told me they rarely had visitors here. Not many people came, only a few traders moved trough the mountains. No servant of Ares has been seen in this region for a long time. I tried to make conversation as I asked how many people served Aphrodite in this temple, and she told me nearly fifty served under high priestess Leda. As we neared the baths, she told me they had a hot spring nearby, and several pipes led the water to here, so they didn't need to waste fire for a hot bath. The hot spring and fertile grounds surrounding it was probably the reason a temple had been founded this far into the mountains.

I knew she would have told me more if we hadn't reached our destination. She told me I could use the water, soap and towel, and to call if I needed anything. She looked right at me when she said that, and I was relieved when I closed the door behind me, for her beauty and gaze made me uncomfortable.

There were actually several pools of warm water in the baths, allowing multiple people to wash at once, but I was the only one there at the moment. I took off my dirty clothes and eased myself in one of the pools. I chose one that was comfortably warm, yet not so warm it would hurt my burnt skin.

I immediately relaxed in the warm, soothing water, and for a moment discarded my worries. I quickly cleaned the worst dirt off my body with the soap, and could not resist just relaxing in the warm water for a while. While I lay there, the worries of the world outside seem to lessen for a moment and even the death of Akakios and my worry for the rest of my Brothers didn't seem so sharp and urgent while lying there. I was almost afraid I would doze off, when I suddenly snapped awake.

The bright water had turned black. As I hurriedly climbed out of the water, I fanatically started looking for the source of the pollution. The pollution didn't come from the water supply of pool: it was currently shut off. The pollution came from me. A dark fluid seemed to drip down my arms; it covered my chest and dripped down my legs.

I watched in horror, and after I didn't wake up from slapping myself rather painfully in the face, I new I had offended some God to deserve this punishment. I fanatically prayed to Aphrodite for forgiveness for whatever offense I had given her, while the dark fluid seemed to come from every part of my skin.

I heard the voice of the girl who brought me to the baths, asking if I needed anything. I didn't answer, but instead decided to cower away, afraid to be seen like this. The girl entered, looked at the naked young man in the corner of the room, and then ran off.

I didn't know where she went, but tried to use the towel to clear away the liquid. It helped somewhat, as I tried to think what I should do. I never heard stories of the God punishing a man like this, but I knew there was no other explanation. I wanted to run away, but I knew that as a servant of Ares I could never live with the shame. I used the towel to clean my face and part of my chest from the liquid, when Charé entered.

She looked at me as if she saw me for the first time, and then sternly told me to take the towel and follow her. I wrapped it around myself, knowing I left footprints of black water behind me. I noticed, too, that more liquid seemed to ooze from the wound on my arm then from the rest of my body.

Charé set a fast pace, and I silently followed her trough the corridors. She somehow knew what to do with me, and I wondered if I would be killed in the main hall to clean the temple from my bad influence. She led me to a small room next to the main hall, however, and looked at me.

"You are a servant of Ares, are you not?"

"Yes, but I never, I don't know..." I stuttered.

"The Goddess Aphrodite asks for your service. You will be initiated." She told me.

Her face was avoided of emotion, but I heard in her voice even she struggled to say those words. I looked at her with a blank look.

"That's impossible. I'm sworn to Ares."

I lifted my right forearm to prove it. The symbol with the crossed swords was branded into my flesh after the initiation into his ranks. I was his, to serve him for a lifetime. Only a priest-commander could expel someone if Ares ordered so, and to be expelled from the service of your God was the worst thing that could happen to a man, the ultimate punishment.

The old woman nodded to my words.

"Our high priestess foresaw such a thing, even if she didn't understand it then. The cleansing of your body is the indication the message she received from Aphrodite is correct. You are to be initiated."

"I don't understand. I cannot belong to two Gods."

The woman sighed.

"I don't understand it either. If someone is initiated into the service of Aphrodite, she uses her powers to cleanse their body. I saw the same liquid be drained from my body before my initiation, and yet... something strange is going on. The high priestess has been restless ever since you arrived, and predicted something would happen. She says you are to be initiated, and I think you have no choice but to obey the command of the Goddess."

I nodded. The highest priest of a temple had a more direct connection to the God they served then other mortals. If they voiced the will of their Gods, their words were laws.

"This... liquid. It is not a curse?"

"No. It is Aphrodite's way of cleansing your body. Use the towel to wipe it off, and then put on this."

She pointed at a pair of folded clothes, and then turned around to leave the room. I almost yelled.

"Wait! Can't you tell me more of this? What happens?"

She shook her head.

"You know every initiation is secret. I can't talk to you about it. You must wear the ceremonial cloth, and then wait until you are summoned for the ritual.

"I thought only women could serve Aphrodite"

"No, sometimes she calls on men too, but this is rare. This entire situation is very rare, possibly unique. Try to clear your head and master yourself for the ceremony. I cannot say more."

With that, Charé left. I used the towel to clean all of the liquid. Somehow, I could now easily wipe it off me with the towel. Where I whipped the liquid off, my skin seemed as new. The skin that had been exposed to the sun was no longer red and painful, but it was now pink and whole. The wound on my arm had oozed more of the black fluid then the rest of my body, but it was now only a thin line. I looked at it, and realized it would probably not even leave a scar. I inspected an old scar on my wrist where I had cut myself when training with a sharp sword many years ago. The scar was still there, but it had faded. The black liquid healed as well as cleansed, apparently. I didn't know what the cleansing of the body meant, but I felt it had to do with more then just healing my wounds.

I decided to think on it later, and inspected the clothes Charé had pointed at. The ceremonial cloth appeared to be simple underclothes and a soft dress. The dress was simple in form, yet richly decorated with gold. I had seen priests wear dresses like this at certain ceremonies, and I knew the warriors of Ares would laugh to see me in it. Still, I put it on.

The room seems to be used only for situations like this, bare except for several tapestries on the wall and candles in the corners of the room. I sat down on the carpet in the middle of the room and waited there, facing the door. I waited, my mind wandering at what would happen to me.

**************

After I had been picked by Ares to be his servant, I was brought along with all the other boys that had been picked that year, and we were prepared for the initiation. We were separated and I was shaved bald, washed and then put to wait in a room like this.

When my name was called, I was lead to a great hall, the main temple of Ares in Thebe. There, before a statue of the God of War, I had to battle another recruit. Protected by nothing more then a loincloth and some bindings wrapped around my hands, I had entered the first real battle of my life.

The boy I was fighting was just slightly older but a lot bigger then me. He looked stronger, but I had often wrestled with my two brothers when I lived with my parents. I knew how to hurt someone, how to pin someone down and immobilize someone. I receive several nasty punches and kicks while I tried to fight him, so instead, I tried to close the distance between us and wrestle him. I used every trick I knew on the bigger boy, but he used the difference in weight between us effectively.

I finally managed to get him down and twisted his arm so he couldn't move. I knew he couldn't escape from the hold and told him to surrender. Fired up by the heat of the battle, he moved anyway. Even as I felt his arm leave its socket, he was freed from the hold and I saw his other fist connected with my face.

I clearly remembered the pure hatred in his eyes as he used his arm to beat me. I knew he would have beaten me senseless if he could have used his other arm to pin me down. But his shoulder was dislocated, and even though he still tried to use his arm, I could use my greater flexibility to avoid his merciless blows for one second, and then kick him. I now attacked him with my nails, teeth, elbows, fists, knees and feet, hitting him wherever I could until I somehow managed to come out on top.

For one moment I thought he knew I had won and slackened my grip on him to claim my victory. It was all he needed to aim a punch at my face with his functioning hand.

His hit should have knocked me out, but it didn't. Instead, it pushed me over the edge. I had never decided to kill him. I had only tried to pin him down and to have him surrender. He probably knew better than I that there was no surrender in that arena. As his one blow hit my face, all my thoughts were gone. I only wanted to hit him with all the strength my young body had.

The warriors watching the initiation had to drag me off him. If one of the two initiates surrendered, he would then be ceremonially killed with a sword by his victor. I never got a chance to do that. I only stopped resisting the warriors that dragged me away from the arena when I realized they had dragged me off a dead body. I had smashed in his skull.

**************

I turned my thoughts away from the initiation and calmed myself. Patience was a virtue every warrior had to learn. It was taught during training and trough guard duties, and soon enough I had cleared my head and stared at the door. Still, I did not completely relax, and immediately sprung to my feet once the door opened.

The initiation had begun.