Chapter 139
Like a human sigh, Atalanta’s breath scattered lightly. Even though the sounds of war still echoed in the distance, the spot where Leuce hid felt like a world apart.
[Are you hurt anywhere?]
[No! It doesn’t hurt! I wiped away all the blood on my clothes.]
[So brave. Do you have food?]
[Yes! Lots! Mother packed the basket full!]
[Oh, so it was only figs you were missing after all.]
[Leuce… The figs were so good, I just kept eating them. Now I regret it.]
The lioness rested her chin on her paws and, so the child wouldn’t get bored, began to share a few old stories—things she’d never seen in this life herself.
Stories of the plains of old Karhama and the rising and setting sun, of tall and short-necked animals, birds with long, massive beaks, oxen as huge as monsters, and the old elephant who once saved her as a child.
She told Leuce how elephants leave their herd to die alone on the plain, and how house cats do the same, hiding away in the garden at the end of their lives.
And in this life, she told her how Pherenike Vassilios was the one who saved her.
The child listened to the lion’s every story with fascination, just as her mother had done when she was young. Curling up beneath the goddess’s statue, the great lioness remembered what it was like to be a small cat, lying down beside a little girl and drifting off to sleep.
It was when the hourglass had been flipped for the eleventh time that sounds of people could be heard outside.
Light footsteps crossed the grass in front of the sanctuary—likely women, Atalanta guessed. She quietly slipped into the narrow space behind the goddess’s statue to hide.
[Who is it?]
[I don’t know yet.]
[If they see you, they’ll run away scared, won’t they? You are a lion.]
[I’m already hidden.]
[Coward!]
Leuce’s soft giggle sounded in Atalanta’s mind.
[Stay quiet, Leuce. Don’t make a sound. Not a single sound.]
[Atalanta, why are you hiding? Lions are much stronger than people.]
[If they run away, they’ll just come back with more people.]
[So what? You could fight them off again.]
[Once is fine, but twice is too risky.]
“…She can’t possibly be here.”
As Atalanta expected, it was women who entered the sanctuary.
“Still, Lady Ino told us to check one more time. Just do as she says.”
“Didn’t Lord Theophanis say Kybellaune was brought from here? Why would the princess be here now if she wasn’t then? And Poppy…”
“Do you really think Poppy kidnapped her? She’s so timid.”
“You never know what people are capable of. If she knew Lord Paetusa would invade and was promised her family’s safety, maybe she’d do anything.”
“I don’t want to think like that. I just hope, wherever they are—maybe an old hut in the Geda Grove—they’re just hiding and sleeping, like before…”
“Your Highness, are you here?”
“Princess Leuce!”
The women walked in a line along the narrow sanctuary, opening the chests lining the walls one by one. But those were all filled with ritual items—nowhere for a child to hide.
[I know all their voices. I want to go out now.]
[No.]
[They’re all good people.]
[You promised your mother, remember? You’d stay put until you flipped the hourglass twenty times.]
[They all like Leuce. They’d probably give me more figs…]
[You’ll get all the figs you want later. I promise. When we get to Paetusa, there’s a fig tree bigger than any you’ve ever seen…]
“Your Highness!”
“Are you inside?”
The footsteps drew closer. It’s okay, it’s okay… Atalanta soothed the child, staying perfectly still in her hiding place. She didn’t want to cause trouble, but she also didn’t want to frighten these poor women.
But unfortunately, the sanctuary wasn’t a perfect hiding spot. If anyone walked all the way to the end, they’d spot the big lioness behind the statue. Atalanta closed her eyes, began preparing herself. Her heart pounded in her chest and up into her ears. Any moment now…
[Atalanta, Atalanta, Atalanta.]
[…Such a fuss. Once is enough.]
[Are you sure I really can’t go out?]
[No.]
[Okay.]
[You’re better than your mother.]
A maid was only a couple of steps away now. One more, maybe two, and she’d reach the end… The lioness lowered her head, eyes wide.
Then, suddenly—
“Aaah!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Here, here, there’s—there’s—”
A scream burst from behind the altar as one of the maids stumbled backward in fright. Atalanta simply stared at the empty air before her.
The woman who should have seen the lion ended up running off without ever spotting her, as if a divine hand had shielded her eyes.
“Why is there—why is there blood here…?”
“There’s some here too.”
“…Probably from the animal sacrifice.”
“But the altar’s so clean.”
“Could something have happened when Kybellaune was here earlier?”
“Could she really have—could she really have sided with the Paetusa…?”
“Shut it, Nessa. Don’t even think of such blasphemy.”
“Right. This is a sanctuary.”
“But that old man who yelled at us earlier…”
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