Infinite 01 - Infinite Sacrifice

when I see a troop of young men run down the valley driven by their leaders on chariots. Leander’s leading the sandal-less pack of bare-chested men. The residing priestess chooses her favorite male dancer and bequeaths him a prize sickle as Leander and the others are allowed to drink from the river before the rite begins. I can’t help but cross my fingers for him to do well. The leaders leave their chariots and take out their whips tied to their kilts. Each powerful man chooses his position among the steps carefully as the doomed lot gathers in racing position at the foot of the steps. The priestess brings her hands up in front of Artemis and claps them together to start the competition.
    The men dart to reach the cheeses closest to them as the whips crack hard against every back. Some men recoil to grab the sting of ripped flesh as others, like Leander, ignore the pain to reach a wheel of cheese. Leander’s whipped again as he descends the steps to lay down his offering of cheese but only grimaces and spins to his left to climb ten more steps to another wheel. Other men are not faring so well; at least two are badly bleeding from wounds that tore around their backs to slice their necks or chests. They stand hesitant at the steps, trying to pick an opportune time to attempt another try, but the leaders are watching them out of the corners of their eyes as they whip the stronger boys piling up their cheeses.
    One of the weaker men makes a move to go behind, but the leader spins around with a crack so loud it sounds like thunder over our heads. The man screams in agony and falls upon the steps. A splatter of blood sprays the crowd when the whip is brought back. The leader spits in his direction, waiting for him to try to get up once again. Leander makes his way to the top step to the last wheel under the priestess’s foot and receives two whips on either side of him before making it back to his pile. With all the cheese snatched, the priestess brings her hands together again, but not before the fallen man receives one last punishing sting. Pride wells up within me as Leander is chosen as the winner and allowed to present the cheeses to his goddess. The rowdy crowd cheers, and I try to make my way toward him in the chaotic crowd as the men wash their blood off in the river.
    “Leander!” I cry, and I catch a quick glimpse from him as he climbs back out on the banks. He looks away, though, and assembles behind his leader who ties up his whip and lashes his chariot forward. The red tiger-striped backs of men disappear over the mountain as they leave their fallen disgrace back upon the steps; no one dares to help him. It will be a miracle if he makes it back to his men that night.

Chapter 4
    It’s amazing what you cling to when you’re given very little. Those moments in the barn and later in the darkness of our bedroom, I made a love story. I made his rare appearance, quick movements, and few words into a fantasy, yet every time was like the first. Since I’m pregnant, we’re officially married, but we will not move in together until he turns thirty, when he’ll be given a household by the military. The bigger my stomach grows, the less he wants to meet me, and after four meetings, he tells me to send notice when the baby arrives.
    My mother had prepared me for this life. Spartan men belong to the state. They’re sent away to school at seven, suffer agoge until twenty, live with their military group until thirty, and from thirty to sixty, they’re at the beck and call of the military. If something comes up and the army needs reinforcements, they’re forced to join until the campaign is over. However, I’m just as content to be in control and with Ophira.
    At about nine months, I have a terrible dream:
    I hold a large melon, the size of a horse head. I drop it, and it splatters into many pieces. A huge pig comes at once to eat the melon, and I try to shoo the pig away. I’m protecting two seeds, but the pig pushes me over, eats the smaller seed, and then jumps off the cliff I’m standing on. I watch as it plummets down into the dark chasm squealing like a baby.
    I wake up crying and think for an instant I wet the bed. I feel my stomach tightening, and I call for Ophira.
    She comes running. “I’ll go get Leander.”
    But I yell to her as she opens the door to my bedroom. “No Ophira! Stay here!”
    “He told me to fetch him at once.” She stands there confused.
    “I don’t want them throwing my