Infinite 01 - Infinite Sacrifice

from military service. He still needs another moment to catch his breath, and he reaches up to push his greying hair to the side, flashing a long scar running down his forearm.
    “Nereus, how did you get that scar?”
    Always willing to retell a tale, he needs no encouragement. Rolling up his tunic sleeve slowly, in large cuffs, he exposes the scar that extends to his biceps.
    “I’ve only reached this great age by making one very wise choice.” He never begins with the answer to your question but starts at the beginning of his whole tale. “While Spartans are strongest on foot and earth, I’m a fish in Poseidon’s shining seas. One day, in a great coastal battle, I was commanded to bring my ship to shore and reinforce the footmen. I should have known my place was the sea, but I rushed out like all young men do. I was Heracles himself! As soon as my foot touched soil, I was instantly sliced from shoulder to wrist by a Persian sword.” He traces the thick white line and then looks out to the sea. “I never left Poseidon again, no matter the command. I stayed behind to watch the ships and let others die onshore.”
    “So that is why you spend so little time onshore now, Uncle?”
    He laughs. “If I never had to step foot on land again and could live off the seas indefinitely, you would never see me again.” He lights up with one eye closed and one eye widened and says, “The trick is to know all of Greece’s rocks, shallow spots, and harbors like the insides of your eyelids. Once you do that, there’s nothing to fear.” He pulls back like he entrusted me with the secret of life.
    Finally up the hill, I ask, “Has the rebellion been extinguished?”
    “The hoplites managed to contain the helot rebels in the region of Mount Ithome, in Messenia, but they lacked the strength to defeat them and their vast numbers. We appealed to our allies for help; hopefully, they’ll assist us.”
    I worry about what would happen if the slaves finally revolt and gain power.
    “Did I ever tell you about the time…” He begins his tales again, and I decide it’s a good time to gallop Zale back to her makeshift stables.
    When Nereus realizes he’s cut off and sees the ease with which I control Zale, he calls up between his hands around his mouth, “Hubris, I tell you, hubris!”
    His laughter carries through the crumbled hills.

Chapter 2
    Nereus allows Ophira to live with us. It’s amusing, watching him tell her story after story, since she can’t tell him to stop. I’ll find Nereus following around after her, busy with chores, filling her head with tales. It’s hard to leave once my family’s helots and freed skilled workers finish rebuilding my house, since we’d found a little happiness in our pulled-together family. Nevertheless, I need to be there daily to keep the helots busy. I’d been trained by my mother to run the farm, and I’m now going to have to take over earlier than I ever thought.
    Nereus lays his hands heavily on Ophira’s and my head. “Come back whenever you need company.”
    I would have felt sorry for him to be left, but Nereus is never distressed at being alone. He takes off daily to go fishing in his little boat and can find a way to talk with anyone who crosses his path. Nereus drives his chariot back to my farm, since Ophira can’t ride, and I follow behind on Proauga.
    Ophira takes one look at the rebuilt estate, with its columned terrace looking out on the gardens, livestock, and the barley fields below, and asks, “This all belongs to you?”
    “My father was an accomplished hoplite. Sparta gave him great rewards for his bravery.”
    “They will allow a girl to run this alone?”
    “Women run Sparta while men are away, fighting for more land to occupy and protecting the state. In two years, I’ll most likely be married and will run two households. I’ve been taught everything I need to know.”
    She looks wary of my promise, coming from a world where even their men aren’t given their own households to run.
    “Where do we begin?” She squints up at the imposing size of the house.
    “You’ll make dinner for us tonight.” I clap at two helots leaning on a fence. “You boys!” I offer up Proauga’s reins. “Feed and water my horse, then set her out on the east pasture.”
    ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
    A year drifts by, Ophira and I are content in our little world and my mother would’ve been proud.
    Ophira asks one day while we’re preparing dinner,