*
Two days later, Kallias showed his face for the first time since Eleusis burned. He didn't call Myrrhine to his home, but had come to her, entering the ashes of the cave looking tentative, guilt weighing heavily on his shoulders, and Aeschylus trailing behind. Melaina wasn't with them.
The mere sight of Kallias softened Myrrhine's heart. She'd coveted him for her own bed, and didn't really believe he was a thief, until now. She'd have to make peace with this man if she'd ever get to see her daughter, though she still hated him for what he'd done to the Eumolpids.
"Mardonius tells me you snatched Melaina from his very grip. An act of extraordinary courage."
"The prize was worth the risk," Kallias said.
"That man hiding behind you also tells me that you've finally snatched the Mysteries from the Eumolpids."
He would not meet her eyes and looked away, and Aeschylus stayed in the background.
"Kynegeiros would never have given Melaina to you. We both know that. Rest assured this is not over."
"What does a woman know of battlefield promises? Besides, what's done cannot be undone."
"Twice you've saved Melaina. Kynegeiros would be grateful. I'll not trouble you with a mother's disappointment at being absent from her own daughter's wedding, just a request. I must see her."
"In due time. Divine Justice weighs our fate against Persian greed, and all must seek their rightful place in our salvation."
"You'll not take me to her?" Myrrhine realized now that he'd been gentle with her in the past only because of Melaina.
"Some will fight at Plataea, others to protect Hellas from another attack by sea. Already I'm late to assume command aboard a trireme."
"Return when you have something to offer," she said.
Kallias maintained a silent stare, then relaxed. "Perhaps I have a solution. I maintain a home here in Eleusis. After all, I am the Dadouchos. I'll go this far. You help the generals at Plataea, show them the temple, pray Demeter's allegiance, and I'll see to it that Melaina spends two-thirds of the year here in Eleusis. I'll not stand in her way if she chooses to officiate at the Mysteries."
"As a Eumolpid or a Keyrkes?" she asked. Myrrhine was still angry and not able to force herself to voice acceptance. "The Mysteries are no more," she said. "The oath the generals took has relegated them to the past."
"Your daughter is well," he countered. "If you have words for my wife, I'll relay them."
When she made no reply, he quickly vanished, leaving Aeschylus standing before her.
"Would that the Hierophant had lived," he said.
"No doubt he'd have been able to stop Melaina's marriage and been more sympathetic to your request." She turned her back to him, walked away as she knew no woman should ever treat a man. But she'd done so to Kallias and was beginning to enjoy it.
"This people's republic has sprouted only a few years here in Hellas and is but a young sapling," Aeschylus said to her back. "It's the greatest gift any civilization has ever given humanity. If cut down now, it may disappear forever. Don't let it die on the battlefield at Plataea."
Myrrhine realized that he spoke the truth. She remembered her daughter's love of freedom. Devotion to her daughter changed her mind. She turned toward him. "The Hierophant could never have spoken for Demeter, anyway," she said, "but I can. Yes, I'll do this, Demeter willing."
The Mysteries, A Novel of Ancient Eleusis Page 63