Infinite 01 - Infinite Sacrifice

mother gets a wet nurse, but I can see there is something about nursing that attaches a baby so. I can tell Ophira resents how he seems to want me whenever she picks him up.
    One day Ophira comes to me and says, “I think we should start giving Theodon brothed maza now.”
    “He is too young for food yet,” I snap, a little too quickly.
    “Alcina, do you want him to grow up and think of you as his mother? Because that’s what will happen!”
    I don’t say anything.
    “You need him to think of me as his mother, or we’ll both get killed for this.”
    The words hang in the air for a stale moment until I hear its honesty. “I understand. We will start feeding him maza.”
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    The boys are in the field playing with the scattering greyhounds, and I go call them in for dinner. A frail boy with freckles darts by.
    I grab him by the arm and tickle him. “Come in for dinner. Where’s Theodon?”
    He points behind a tree and leaves to go clean up inside. I smile, seeing part of a sandal behind the tree trunk.
    I tiptoe off to the tree and jump out. “Whaaaaa!”
    Theodon screams and runs across the field with me in pursuit, his copper-colored hair shining and bouncing in the light. He’s shirtless with a wrap around his waist, and even though he’s only seven, he has the muscles of a ten-year-old. I finally catch him and roll on the ground with him. He throws his head back and giggles, showing the small space between his teeth I love so much. We sit down to sausages and hard-boiled eggs, our small family of four. Leander will come in for a few nights at a time, but this is the way we all liked it best. Today is a little sad, though, since it’s our last day before sending Arcen away to agoge and I secretly hope it’ll make him stronger. He seemed to wither as Theodon flourishes. Theodon wins every race, every match, and every game. Arcen doesn’t excel at anything. I hope the severe conditions of agoge will give him the motivation to thrive. Maybe the heavy competition and relentless drills will give him strength. Maybe the deprivation of needs and starvation will make him hungry to steal and fight. I’m sure he has it in him to be strong. The worst thing a son can do is fail agoge or to be accused of cowardliness.
    In the morning, I pack his bag with the scanty things they let him bring. Arcen sits on his straw mattress, fiddling with a piece of straw he plucked out, tears hitting his hands.
    Pulling his chin in the air, I demand, “Spartan men do not cry!”
    He begins a high-pitched whine and cries, “But I’m scared. I don’t want to go.”
    I slap his face hard. “You’re no longer a boy! Today you’re a man, and you’ve had your last cry! Cry again and you’ll be flogged for it!”
    I grab his arm up and yank him through the house. Theodon’s standing with Ophira outside the front door.
    I take him by the shoulders and look into his wounded eyes. “You must listen to your commanders and be strong. Show no weakness. Make me and your father proud.”
    Arcen delicately reaches up for the bag, still sniveling, and drops it to his side as he walks off into the city alone. He tries to look brave by walking fast but ends up looking more pathetic with all the rocks he trips on. He looks back once when he reaches the apex of the hill and I can tell he’s crying again. My shoulders drop and I turn to see beautiful Theodon standing there, watching his best friend go off to the place he so wishes he could go too.
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    I become Theodon’s best friend while Ophira is busy doing housework. Theodon follows me all over the farm watching me manage the helots. When all my work is done, he’s standing there, holding our bows and arrows, ready to go boar hunting. He catches his first boar at nine. Everything he tries, he masters. Even though it’s not customary to school your helots, I teach him all the reading and writing a Spartan citizen should know. I never expect him to work like a helot, and I can tell the others don’t accept him for it.
    One night, home after a long sea voyage, Nereus comes to visit for a dinner of black broth. I go out to greet him as he’s pulling Zale with all his weight toward the stables. I throw an apple in the stables and the horse drags Nereus with him in pursuit. Theodon loves to hear his embellished stories of the perils of sea travel. Nereus will get louder and louder while the story climaxes,