Oracles of Delphi - Chapters 1 - 6

"No," Theron answered. "What little blood there is comes from the viper, and there are no signs of any external wound." 

"Can we not turn her over? There is straw in her hair, and-" 

"We dare not move her until the priests arrive. We don't want to incur their wrath before we've even met them."  

Menandros, who had been pacing back and forth, stopped and stared. "What kind of man would do a thing like this?" 

"As a playwright you should know mankind has made a regular practice of doing 'things like this,'" Theron said. "Murder is, unfortunately, all too common among men," Theron said. 

"No, I mean who could desecrate a sacred altar like this?" 

"Menandros, please," Theron cast a quick glance at Aithera who had lifted the woman's hair and was bent over attempting to examine the back of her head, "a young woman is dead." 

"Yes, yes, I know. It is unfortunate, terrible even, but the sacred theater and this holy altar have been defiled. Who would risk the wrath of the gods in such a brazen way?" 

"Someone who does not fear them," Aithera said, looking up. 

"Even men who fear the gods are capable of killing their fellow man," Theron said. 

"Whoever did this might as well have killed me!" Menandros said as he set about pacing again. "Do you realize the pilgrimage season is almost upon us? When word gets out there's been a murder in the Sacred Precinct, we'll have to re-sanctify the altar. The whole theater. Possibly the whole Precinct. Not since the last Sacred War have we seen death within these walls. My actors won't perform here without a purification ceremony. Theron," Menandros stopped and clutched his friend's arm. "No one will come to a theater of the dead."  

"I'm certain Apollon's priests will be more than happy to put on a grand show of re-sanctifying your theater. We should be more concerned about who this woman is and how she ended up here," Theron admonished, turning as Praxis reentered the theater. Praxis had arrived just after Aithera found the body, and Theron immediately sent him to alert the guards from the Amphiktyonik League, the association of city states with administrative authority over the holy site, and to find Philon and Kleomon, the senior priests of the Sacred Precinct and Temple of Apollon.  

Praxis had been Aithera's father's slave for as long as she could remember and had always been treated more like a son than a servant. He had been groomed to serve as overseer of Lysandros' estate and bodyguard for Aithera whenever she traveled. Although she had inherited him upon her father's death, Aithera considered him a part of her family. But their relationship had changed since her father's death and she did not understand why-or what to do about it. 

Now, with his broad chest heaving with exertion, he took his place back at Aithera's side."The priests are on their way and Heraklios, the head of the Amphiktyonik League here, won't be far behind them," Praxis said. As he caught his breath, he watched Aithera examining the woman's head and gave her a dark look. "Don't tell me you are-" 

"I asked her to look," Theron interrupted.  

"Look for what?" Menandros said.  

"For anything that might tell us how this woman died." 

"Have you lost your senses, Theron? Why are you asking her-a woman?" Menandros turned to his, hopefully, future benefactress. "No offense, my dear, but what can you possibly know about such matters?" 

Praxis crossed his arms and looked down disapprovingly at her. She ignored him, dropped the dead woman's hair, and stood to face Menandros. She was used to being underestimated-not by her father or Praxis or Theron-but by everyone else, including her new husband. "Theron was my tutor, but he was not my only teacher," she said. "I have long been fascinated by the human body, and, while we were in Egypt one winter, he arranged for me to study with a priest of Amun-Ra. I observed the mummification process and learned to make assessments as to cause of death. I even participated in dissections, or what Theron calls autopsias." Under normal circumstances, she would not discuss her interest in human anatomy in front of anyone but Praxis and Theron, but Theron had assured her that Menandros was perfectly safe. She stifled a smile and wondered what compromising information Theron had on his old friend that he could be trusted so implicitly.