The Deviant Path to Olympus

Chapter 2

"Knock it off, the sooner we go the better."

Shida walked over to the nearby ruined temple to pick up her belongings. It was mercenary gear. Tools she'd collected on her way to the city. Shida's chainmail was much smaller than Ezra's, but it provided a level of flexibility that gave her more speed than Ezra could attain. Shida's swords were also smaller than Ezra's, proving that Shida preferred small quick succession attacks than long thrusts from the heavy battleaxe Ezra used.

Shida asked, "is he at the stables this time, or at the Artemis shrine?"

"Neither, he's at the mess hall."

"Mess hall? Since when could he afford that."

"He's not paying, the Spartan citizens invited him to dine with them."

Shida raised an eyebrow. Ezra added, "apparently they like hearing him talk."

"Sarcastically or non-sarcastically?"

"Take a wild guess."

"That poor thing."

Ezra and Shida walked across the streets before reaching the mess hall. The city was unnaturally clean. It was public duty for citizens to clean up their own trash, nothing defiled the streets as they walked towards the mesh hall. It was like the community itself was responsible for maintaining their own law and order.

The sight was a stark contrast from all the Persian cities they'd seen before reaching Sparta. Although the city lacked the architecture they were used to seeing in Persia, Sparta was very nearly a crimeless city.

Not only that, they saw no old men, no sick children, and no impoverished people littering the streets. It was surreal. Like they'd stepped into another world, a world where citizens made it their duty to remove all forms of indecency. It was also unnerving. They were beginning to understand why the other greek cities praised Sparta so much.

They reached the mess hall at the edge of the city. The mess hall was practically barracks, and was simply a dining hall where veteran citizens could socialize before going about their civic duties. Upon reaching the entrance, they were stopped by guards. "For citizens only."

Ezra didn't hesitate, she placed a gold coin in the guard's hand as a bribe, "here you go, let's not waste more time here." Ezra almost stepped passed them, but the guards pushed Ezra back.

The Spartan soldier took the coin and dropped it to the ground in front of her. "Your wealth isn't the issue ma'am, the issue is that you're neither a Spartan citizen nor an entertainer."

"Entertainer?" Ezra raised an eyebrow, "do we look like entertainers? I know for a fact a Persian ambassador is in there. Look at our armor. We're here as bodyguards to the ambassador."

"Bodyguards?" The Soldier raised an eyebrow. "You girls look as dainty as flowers, now I know someone set you both up to this."

Ezra gritted her teeth. Shida walked up to the guard, and whispered something seductively into his ears. The Spartan's eyes widened and said, "oh my, why right this way then."

The guard moved to the side. Ezra raised an eyebrow as she followed Shida into the mess hall.

"What did you say?" Ezra asked her.

"That we're a very special type of entertainment," Shida gave a wink as Ezra paled.

Inside the hall, the dining place had become lively with noise. Spartan citizens laughed and danced as they discussed among their peers subjects such as philosophy and politics. The tunic wearing men were mostly old men, veteran soldiers who had earned the right of seniority in the mess hall.