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Authors: Margaret George
Tags: Fiction, Historical
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me—I flung myself overboard. In the instant when I hung, poised, above that blue surface, I felt both terror and victory. And now the water was rushing up at me, and I struck its unforgiving face with a hard force. My body sliced into it and I plunged into the depths, hurtling down so fast that I struck the bottom and bounced up again. All this time I had not breathed, and then my head was shooting out above the surface again, and I took a great, gasping lungful of air.
I was flailing about, my arms completely ineffectual. I sank again, then somehow got my head out so I could breathe. I could not feel anything solid beneath my feet. Then my swirling arms succeeded in keeping me on the surface, and instantaneously I sensed how to coordinate my legs so they could assist in buoying me up.
“You’re about as graceful as a hippo on land,” teased Mardian. “Stop thrashing so much! You’re going to attract sea monsters!”
“You know there aren’t sea monsters!” said Olympos. But I saw his dark eyes watching me carefully.
I was able to paddle around without worry of sinking. The water had been unexpectedly vanquished as an enemy. Now it was just something warm and tidal. I felt lightheaded with relief and surprise. Surprise that the dreaded moment had come at last and I had survived it, and surprise at how easily it had happened.
As the sun was setting, we returned to the dock and tied up the boat. Our wet clothes clung to us, and now I could see the beginning of the differentiation between Mardian and other males. Olympos, at almost fifteen, was more compact and muscled; Mardian had shot up, but his limbs—both arms and legs—seemed disproportionately long. And he did not have the beginning of the musculature that was revealed on Olympos; Mardian’s shoulders remained thin and slight.
Olympos returned to his home in the Greek section of the city, thanking us for the outing. Behind us the sun was setting, and Mardian and I sat on the harbor steps.
The sun made a shining red path across the gentle waves, and the ships at anchor were reflected in the flaming reflection.
“You never swam before, did you?” Mardian asked quietly.
“No,” I admitted. “But I had meant to learn. It was time.” I hugged my knees and rested my head on them. My wet clothes were chilling me a bit, but they would soon dry.
“It is no accident that you did not know how to swim,” he persisted. I wished he would stop. “You must have gone out of your way to avoid it.”
He saw too much! I merely shrugged. “I had no one to go out with,” I said lightly. “My older sisters were too grown up, my younger one too far behind me.”
“Oh, I imagine you could have found a way. If you had wanted to.” He paused. “It seems that you find a way to do whatever you wish.” There was admiration in his voice. “How did you dare just to jump in like that? Weren’t you afraid you would sink?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “But I had no choice. It was the only way.”
“Then you must have wanted to,” he insisted. “Because you didn’t have to. By the way, you did very well. The first time I tried to swim, I sank three times!”
“I wanted to, because I had to,” I said. “My mother drowned out here—in this very harbor.”
He lost his color. “I knew—she had died. I did not know how. I am sorry.”
“I was with her.”
He lost still more color. “And you…remember?”
“Only colors, tastes, noises. And the loss. And that water caused it.”
“Why did you not tell Olympos? He would never have forced—”
“I know that. But the truth is…how much longer could I live in Alexandria, a sea-city, unable to venture out onto the water?”
He bowed his head, choosing his words carefully. “May all the gods preserve our city in that glory,” he finally said. “In her independence.”
“May my father the King return and take command.” There—I had said the forbidden words. Was anyone listening? “In the
I was flailing about, my arms completely ineffectual. I sank again, then somehow got my head out so I could breathe. I could not feel anything solid beneath my feet. Then my swirling arms succeeded in keeping me on the surface, and instantaneously I sensed how to coordinate my legs so they could assist in buoying me up.
“You’re about as graceful as a hippo on land,” teased Mardian. “Stop thrashing so much! You’re going to attract sea monsters!”
“You know there aren’t sea monsters!” said Olympos. But I saw his dark eyes watching me carefully.
I was able to paddle around without worry of sinking. The water had been unexpectedly vanquished as an enemy. Now it was just something warm and tidal. I felt lightheaded with relief and surprise. Surprise that the dreaded moment had come at last and I had survived it, and surprise at how easily it had happened.
As the sun was setting, we returned to the dock and tied up the boat. Our wet clothes clung to us, and now I could see the beginning of the differentiation between Mardian and other males. Olympos, at almost fifteen, was more compact and muscled; Mardian had shot up, but his limbs—both arms and legs—seemed disproportionately long. And he did not have the beginning of the musculature that was revealed on Olympos; Mardian’s shoulders remained thin and slight.
Olympos returned to his home in the Greek section of the city, thanking us for the outing. Behind us the sun was setting, and Mardian and I sat on the harbor steps.
The sun made a shining red path across the gentle waves, and the ships at anchor were reflected in the flaming reflection.
“You never swam before, did you?” Mardian asked quietly.
“No,” I admitted. “But I had meant to learn. It was time.” I hugged my knees and rested my head on them. My wet clothes were chilling me a bit, but they would soon dry.
“It is no accident that you did not know how to swim,” he persisted. I wished he would stop. “You must have gone out of your way to avoid it.”
He saw too much! I merely shrugged. “I had no one to go out with,” I said lightly. “My older sisters were too grown up, my younger one too far behind me.”
“Oh, I imagine you could have found a way. If you had wanted to.” He paused. “It seems that you find a way to do whatever you wish.” There was admiration in his voice. “How did you dare just to jump in like that? Weren’t you afraid you would sink?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “But I had no choice. It was the only way.”
“Then you must have wanted to,” he insisted. “Because you didn’t have to. By the way, you did very well. The first time I tried to swim, I sank three times!”
“I wanted to, because I had to,” I said. “My mother drowned out here—in this very harbor.”
He lost his color. “I knew—she had died. I did not know how. I am sorry.”
“I was with her.”
He lost still more color. “And you…remember?”
“Only colors, tastes, noises. And the loss. And that water caused it.”
“Why did you not tell Olympos? He would never have forced—”
“I know that. But the truth is…how much longer could I live in Alexandria, a sea-city, unable to venture out onto the water?”
He bowed his head, choosing his words carefully. “May all the gods preserve our city in that glory,” he finally said. “In her independence.”
“May my father the King return and take command.” There—I had said the forbidden words. Was anyone listening? “In the
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