Read Online Breakdown by Sarah Mussi - Free Book Online Page B

getting back to the people. If he executes me he’ll lose a lucrative deal with the General. Both things will undermine him. He motions Kaylem away. Struggles to reassert control.
    â€˜Don’t think you can weave your magic on anyone else round here.’ He waves his hand at the crowd. ‘You got to save it up. You get me?’
    â€˜No, I don’t get you,’ I say.
    â€˜You got to save it up for someone special.’ He says the ‘someone special’ all low and sexy.
    Kaylem lets out a long guffaw. ‘And you thought I was rough.’
    Tarquin makes to stand up. I don’t know if he was going to do something, but before he’s even on his knees Nailey’s got hold of him.
    Careem calls one of his women over. You can tell he wants to be rid of me as quickly as possible. ‘You and Dena get her cleaned up. Check in the haul. We got a few clothes that’ll do. Choose something revealing. She’s going to the Governor General as soon as she’s ready.’
    The Governor General. Aristaeus.
    Nan told me the whole story.
    â€˜Nobody reads the Greek myths any more. If they did they’d know that the death of the bees was a punishment because Aristaeus desired Eurydice – and she belonged to another. She belonged to Orpheus.
    â€˜To understand the story you must understand the symbols.
    â€˜Aristaeus is mankind – greedy, ready to take what is not his own – and Eurydice is nature, bounteous, beautiful beyond compare.
    â€˜The bees died because of mankind’s greed. It was a penalty for our misuse of the natural world. Man’s excesses upset the balance of nature, brought death, brought starvation.
    â€˜Wasted populations.’

    I am transported back to my childhood, Nan and me and Dad’s books and the mythical beauty of Greek islands, where vines clung to sunny walls and turquoise seas lapped on golden beaches  … 
    Not wasted wilderness outside the door.
    And I remember her warnings.
    â€˜Eurydice was beautiful beyond the dreams of mortal men. None could see her and not desire her.
    â€˜She was beautiful, Melissa. But not more beautiful than you.
    â€˜And Aristaeus caused her death. Caused her to dwell forever in the underworld.
    â€˜Do not let the General see you, Melissa. He is an abomination. He is an Aristaeus. He uses all his power to scour the country for young girls. And he will drag you down into the dark.
    â€˜Old tales tell old truths.
    â€˜Only Orpheus can lead you back from the underworld, only he can save you once the General has seen you. You must find your Orpheus, Melissa, before the General finds you.
    â€˜To be so beautiful is a blessing and a curse.’

14

    I grit my teeth as Dena, a woman with pock marks and greasy hair, douses me in icy water. Two others take rags and gritty soap. They scrub me raw.
    I cower, shiver. ‘I can do it myself.’
    Kaylem is standing there, watching, laughing. ‘Careem’s orders.’
    â€˜
Let me do it
,’ I hiss at Dena.
    â€˜Or-ders,’ reminds Kaylem. He leers at me, enjoys my nakedness.
    There’s no way I can cover myself.
You’ll pay for this
, I think.
    â€˜
Please
,’ I say to Dena. I think even she finds Kaylem revolting. She motions for the others to stop. ‘Dry yourself,’ she says.
    She throws me a cloth. I shiver. I cover up, rub myself quickly. My skin tingles as I try to get some warmth into me.
    â€˜Could I drink some water?’ I ask, my teeth chattering.
    I stand there, shivering, the towel barely stretching round me.
    Dena steps back and looks at me. ‘Get the clothes.’ She scoops water from one of the buckets and passes it to me.
    As I sip the water, they sort through the clothes. It seems they have a supply of dresses reserved for those to be sent to the General.
    Dena’s not satisfied. ‘The dark green dress.’
    One of them goes out and returns with a dress. It’s