BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!!

Suddenly someone banging the door.

“Where are the two blonde ladies who came to your place this morning?” A person shouted.

Petosiris and the ladies took a peek outside from the gap of a window. A large group of people gathered outside, with their torches and weapons.

And one of them shouted, “We know they are the Teleioses by their blonde hair. Bring them out to us so that we can have offspring with them! We want to use them to revive our nation.”

Raising their torches and weapons, those people shouted loudly, calling Petosiris to open the door and hand over the two ladies.

“What? What am I going to do?” Petosiris turned panic.

The ladies were dismayed when they heard what those people had said.

“Please, don’t do such a wicked thing!” Petosiris shouted. “Look, those two blonde ladies are not maidens! They won’t be able to deliver you any offspring! There’s another two maidens here who are not blonde, may be you want to consider taking them instead?”

Disbelieve by what Petosiris just said, the ladies stared at Petosiris.

Agave angrily pulls his tunic by the collar and said, “Who do you mean -maidens-?”

“I’m sorry! I’m nervous, I cannot control what I’m going to say!” Petosiris replied in fear.

“Damn it! You’re insulting me! I’m a Maenad of Dionysus! Teleios of Thebes! How dare you call me a maiden! I’ve attended every orgia festival in respect of my god! How could I still be a maiden?” Agave roared at the old little man.

“But in every festival, you always got yourself too drunk and started to chew on those participants’ part as if those were some loukaniko (sausage)! They were all scared and never touched you! Else you would had have many offspring by now!” Petosiris tried to explain, and Agave was embarrassed. She remembered nothing at all and her servants never told her what happened during the festival after she got into the ceremonial trance. But Agave dislike the feeling of loosing her argument.

“And I’m pretty sure she’s not a maiden too! I saw her -muack-muack-muacks- with that toad in the stable!” Agave continued, pointing her finger towards Matea, who was unsure about what she just said.

“If you do not hand over the blonde ladies to us! We’ll treat you worse than them.” The people outside continued bawling and kicking the door.

“Run! Through the backdoor!” Petosiris grabed Arete and Pryne’s hands and draged them to the backdoor.

The people kept banging the door, and they broke into the place with their torches and weapons.

Agitated by their loud and unreasonable demand, Matea took a bag of coal dust in their workshop and headed toward the people who broke in.

“What are you doing?” Agave asked anxiously.

“Why must other suffer for the sake of your stupid revival of nation?” Matea shouted angrily.

She lifted the bag, splashing the coal dust towards those people. Agave tried to stop her by pushing her down, but the bag of dust already released. The cloud of dust spreading in the air. Their torches ignited the dust and it exploded.

As Agave pushed Matea down, they both avoided the strong impact from that explosion. Some of those people who broke in were blown away by the blast and caught fire.

Some who avoided the blast did not gave up, they swung their kopis sword towards the two. Matea grabbed the spear, and she stabbed the person who attacked them. In fear, they ran out of Petosiris’s place through where they came from. She continued to chases after them.

“No, Mate! They are just people!” Agave took her unfixed thyrsus and runs out of the place to chase after Matea.

The large explosion sound stunned the two blonde ladies and the little old man who just escaped through the backdoor.

“They are still in there! We shouldn’t left them behind!” Arete shouted at Petosiris.

“But, but… it’s an old workshop, the place is full of lignites!” Petosiris replied in fear.

The fire spread to the neighbouring building fast, with multiple small explosions cracking and bursting.

“Tell me, all knowledgable Oracle! Aren’t you supposed to know this will happen?” Pryne yelled at him.

“They already get out of the place from the front door!” Petosiris answered.

“Let’s go find them and stop this!” Arete shouted. She knew Matea well enough, she might burn down the place and kill whoever pissed her off. Arete had learnt the hard way, gaining her trust and under control was not an easy task.

* * *

Original from RoyalRoad.com

Two years ago, the Year of Nero, in the city-state of Syracuse, under the reign of Caesar Nero.

After Arete failure on her first expedition on Thapsos, The survived hastatis had been promoted to regular hoplite. Some of them, knowing the difficulties forward when becoming a hoplite, the tight trainings and possibility of fatalities being at the frontline, had secretly escape from the military camp.

Matea, however, not knowing where her own future lied, had simply followed whatever order given to her. Joining the young freshly graduated military men of Syracuse who were specially selected and hired, they were about to sworn in to their service under Arete’s lead.

The hoplites stood straight, with their chest up, and they loudly swore,

We shall fight while we live,

and we shall not put life before being free,

We shall not desert our leader, alive or dead,

We shall not retreat unless ordered,

and we shall do whatever the generals command,

We shall bury the dead of those who were allied,

and we shall leave no one unburied,

and being victorious in battle over the barbarians

We shall destroy the city of the Persians,

and we shall not raze the city of our allies,

We shall not let people in hunger,

and we shall not keep them from running water,

whether they are friends or foe.

And if we uphold the terms of the oath,

may our city be free of sickness,

and if not, may it become sick.

And may our city be unsacked, and if not, may it be sacked.

And may our land bear fruit, and if not, may it be barren.

And may our women bear children alike to their parents,

and if not, imbecile.

And may cattle bear calves alike to cattle, and if not marred.

Let the gods be my witness,

Ares, Zeus, Demeter, Poseidon and the glorious Athena.

Those men had memorised every lines of the oath. They had been trained for years. But it was very new to Matea. She failed to follow their recitation. The Tagmatarkhis, major of the troops, Peatrus and Arctus noticed that since her mouth was not moving.

“Isn’t that the prisoner we had handed over to Paullus?” Asked Peatrus, and Arctus replied him with a nod.

On their horses, they rode towards her.

“Soldier, didn’t your comrade Paullus taught you about anything? The oath is the bare basic.” Asked Arctus.

“Yes, sir.” Matea replied with a dull tone.

“Then just make the vow! Loudly.” Peatrus ordered.

“Let the glory of the empire goes to the crow…” she spoke loudly, and every one was in silence.

“What profanity is this?” Arete yelled as she rode towards them with Aethon. She was certain that the sentence indeed was a profanity.

“Do you even know what it means?” Asked Arete. She doubted a Persian had a full grasp on a Greek profanity she had spoken.

“Yes… No…” An answer was given. As Arete expected. Matea learnt that from Paullus. She simply remembered it as he sang his song and might not understood what it means.

But Matea did understand part of it, especially those with simpler sentences. Probably he meant the glory of the empire flying high like a crow?

“It’s a profanity, a curse to the empire to be dead at the wrong side of the Styx, wandering, unable to reach the realm of Hades.” Arete explained.

After a moment of silence, Arete continued, “You…” then she look at Arctus.

“Matea, ma’am.” He immediately whispered to Arete. A leader might unable to remember names of over ten thousands of troops. But it was a way to show a leader to be all-knowing.

“Matea, you’ll be under my direct order.” Said Arete.

Arctus and Peatrus were surprised. Was that meant Matea had a promotion to a level peer to them? But they were sure that she wasn’t given any titles or medals to solidify her status within the military, not even a brand new cuirass or a stallion.