the-song-books.yossr

towards him, hoping he would look at her. But he never did. “Good
evening,” he would sayy, in his proper girl’s voice, as we sat, but nothing
more. His indifference was a palpable thing, and I saw her prettyy face flinch
through emotions of shame and hurt and anger. She kept looking to her
father, as if she hoped he might intervene. But Lyycomedes put bite after bite
in his mouth and said nothing.
Sometimes she saw me watching her; her face would grow hard then, and
her eyyes would narrow. She put a hand on her bellyy, possessivelyy, as if to
ward off some spell I might cast. Perhaps she thought I was mocking her,
flourishing myy triumph. Perhaps she thought I hated her. She did not know
that I almost asked him, a hundred times, to be a little kinder to her. You do
not have to humiliate her so thoroughly, I thought. But it was not kindness
he lacked; it was interest. His gaze passed over her as if she were not there.
Once she tried to speak to him, her voice trembling with hope.
“Are yyou well, Pyyrrha?”
He continued eating, in his elegant swift bites. He and I had planned to
take spears to the far side of the island after dinner and catch fish byy
moonlight. He was eager to be gone. I had to nudge him, beneath the table.
“What is it?” he asked me.
“The princess wants to know if yyou are well.”
“Oh.” He glanced at her brieflyy, then back to me. “I am well,” he said.
AS THE DAYS WORE ON, Achilles took to waking earlyy, so that he might
practice with spears before the sun rose high. We had hidden weapons in a
distant grove, and he would exercise there before returning to womanhood
in the palace. Sometimes he might visit his mother afterwards, sitting on
one of Scyyros’ jagged rocks, dangling his feet into the sea.
It was one of these mornings, when Achilles was gone, that there was a
loud rap on myy door.
“Yes?” I called. But the guards were alreadyy stepping inside. Theyy were
more formal than I had ever seen them, carryying spears and standing at
attention. It was strange to see them without their dice.
“You’re to come with us,” one of them said.
“Whyy?” I was barelyy out of bed and still blearyy with sleep.
“The princess ordered it.” A guard took each of myy arms and towed me
to the door. When I stuttered a protest, the first guard leaned towards me,
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