Outside the safety of the tent, a horse whinnied and heavy boots hit the packed dirt. Footsteps, accompanied by heavy breathing, grew gradually louder until the newcomer was just outside the tent. The cover was ripped open and a woman in full armor was revealed, a large sword in her right hand, the length of the blade soaked with blood. She dropped the sword and her helmet and practically collapsed on the nearest blanket.
One of the two original inhabitants of the tent moved to replace the cover to hide the entrance to the tent, then smoothed her dress and gave the armored woman a look that seemed to be a mixture of sympathy, fear, and curiosity.
"So," she spoke. "How was it?"
"Well, I didn't die, thank Zeus," the armored woman replied. She began slowly removing the pieces of her armor while the other woman gathered them into a small pile. As she removed her armor, bloody wounds were revealed, and she sucked in a pained breath. "At least, not yet."
"Maya," the third inhabitant, a small girl, finally spoke, addressing the warrior, "did you find my pater?"
Maya's expression hardened. "We can discuss that later. Thione, can we talk?"
The other woman nodded towards the girl, who stood and ducked out of the tent. Thione moved closer to Maya, bandages and salve in hand. As she set about patching up Maya's wounds, she hummed softly.
"Thione." Maya made took in a sharp breath as she tied off the bandage on her upper arm. "Thione, I found Calista's pater."
Thione's eyes widened. "Is that good news or bad news?"
"Terrible." Maya pursed her lips. "Ow!"
"Sorry!"
"Fuck. Sh... shit. I—okay, okay, listen." She bit her lip and tilted her head back. "Her pater is a general."
"And?"
"A Persian general."
"Oh." Thione's fists clenched on the bandage. "By the gods, when I get my hands on that piece of shit, lousy ex—"
"Thione! By Zeus, keep it down. She can't know this, not yet."
"When? When can she know? You're going to hide this from her like she hasn't been searching for him since we picked her up off the streets? Fuck you, Maya, she deserves to know."
"And when you tell her, or when I tell her, what'll happen? It won't change the fact that he could be commanding the next wave of Persians. It won't change the fact that I or any of the soldiers I fight alongside might kill him. It won't change the fact that he's already killed dozens, maybe hundreds, maybe thousands of our brothers and sisters in combat. It won't change the fact that her pater is a monster."
"He's not—"
Thione was cut off by Calista's voice. "Thione? Maya? It's starting to rain, can I come back in?"
"Yeah." Thione sat back, tying off Maya's last bandage as Calista reentered the tent and wrapped a blanket around herself. Maya sat up, but Thione forced her back down and pushed a cloth into her hand. "Maya, your nose is bleeding, sit back, by Athena!"
Maya held the cloth up to her nose to stem the blood and glared over at Thione, who ignored the look and brought bread out of a basket.
"I was going to suggest some fresh rabbit or fowl, but considering it's raining, bread will have to do." She passed the bread around but didn't eat; rather, she watched Maya set aside the bloody cloth and accept the bread. Instead of eating it, though, she split it in half and studied the crumbs that dropped onto the blanket under her.
"So..." Calista looked up from her bread with an expression that could melt stone.
"Calista..." Maya tore her bread into smaller pieces. "It's not something you want to hear."
"So you found him?"
Maya bit her lip. "I did."
"He's not—was he—"
"He's alive. I'm not saying more than that."
Calista's eyes moved to Thione.
"He's a Persian general." Thione's mouth was pressed into a tight line.
Maya closed her eyes and leaned back, and Calista frowned. "But you know where he is?"
"I—yes," Maya answered. "He's under the legion camping north of here."
"Walking into his camp would be dangerous."
"No shit," Maya laughed. "Wait, you want to get back to him? You want us to somehow get you in?"
"If you could then this would be over."
"Calista..." Thione sighed. "How in Athena's name will we be able to do that without any of us being speared through?"
"And you do understand that your pater very well could be killed by one of us? Or he could lead the soldiers that kill me? Calista, this is a huge problem. If we send you with a messenger, they'll think we kidnapped you. If you sneak in, they might not hear you out and could—I don't want to put you in danger. Can't we escort you back to your mater?"
"No!" At both women's surprised look, she added quietly, "She's a bad person. I don't care if my pater kills Spartans. It's still better than that witch."
"Okay, I get it," Thione amended. "And we'll do our very best to reunite you with your pater. But promise you won't do anything stupid, okay? Maya is right, you need to be safe."
"I know, I know. I can wait. Just don't send me back to my mater."
"Don't worry," Maya said. "I'll talk to the polemarch tomorrow."
"Thank you," Calista said, laying down. "Maya, can you tell me about the fighting today?"
"Sure." Maya resumed the shredding of her bread while Thione finally bit into her slice. "We started the day with an ambush. A scout saw a few soldiers heading around the mountain, possibly to look for an alternate route to surprise us with, or to look for fresh food. We intercepted them halfway and took them all down. And, we only lost one soldier in the fight.
"Someone must've found the bodies because a much larger attack started after that. They rushed through our outpost around noon. Most of us were still in our armor, but some had removed their helmets or breastplates and ended up at the shores of the Styx. We lost good soldiers. Thank Zeus we won that fight. We are Spartans, after all. They may have had numbers but we more than compensated with strength and endurance. The battle was over in an hour and now that camp of Persians is completely wiped out. Their army is massive, though. We hardly put a dent in their numbers."
Maya had nothing else to report, but when she looked over at Calista, she was fast asleep. Thione retrieved another piece of bread from the basket and gave it to Maya. "Here, eat this one. You need the strength to fight again tomorrow."
She accepted it and chewed on the bread thoughtfully as Thione blew out the candle and laid down. After finishing the slice, she, too laid down and allowed Hypnos to lull her into the realm of dreams.
