Chapter eleven: Into the Stone They Pray

Athens was quiet city, or at least it was when Enyo arrived. The heart of Athens was strangely silent. No vendors marked the street, no citizen walked about, and every stall upon the marketplace was empty. She had passed by several homes dotted outside the city itself, but no one had seemed to vacate them; and if they had, they had locked themselves behind doors. As she neared the assembly hall; set in the center square of Athens, Enyo had finally located the city’s citizens. They had all gathered for a ceremony, each individual; man, woman, and child kneeling to the ground as if in prayer. A line of statues, golden in hue, dotted the courtyard from one end to the other and it was, to Enyo’s astonishment, what these people were paying homage to.
The statues themselves were no taller than the average potted plant. What was even stranger was their design in construction. Whoever had carved them had deprived them of a body; save for an intricately carved head; most of which were depicted as bearded men, and a mentula which was housed at the base. The statues had been deprived of arms, legs and a midsection all of which were replaced by a narrow block of granite; the material they had been seemingly formed from, which held no other purpose and appeared as if their artist had grown lazy in his work and simply left them as simply “reproducible busts.” Some statues had been slathered in olive oil with white lilies spread upon the ground around them. Others held garlands of laurel leaves about their necks and others still had been left offerings of gold and silver, nestled about their base. The people spoke no words, but simply continued to kneel in front of them; not a single body moving. The assembly building was kept right around the corner and Enyo, to disturbed to intrude upon their coronation, took the long route behind the marketplace.
The assembly hall was perhaps the largest constructed building in the entire city. It was a tall oblong formation that looked out over the expanse Athens’ main square. A balcony curved out from one side of the building to other for easy access of addressing its people; banners depicting the flag of Greece hanging on either side. The building began and ended in a long stairwell that lied between an expanse of columns-each bearing a potted olive tree. Enyo dismounted and tied Eton on one side of the stairwell. She walked up the steps, her cape billowing in the wind; her golden armor glinting in the sun. She removed her helmet, letting her long dark hair tumble free, and tucked it beneath her arm. Midway up the stairs, she is greeted by the chancellor. He was an aged man, no older than fifty with a bald head and small tuft of gray hair hiding beneath his lower lip. He was dressed in a fine, purple silken gown, bordered in gold around the neck and sleeves. He was accompanied by another man, one not much older than Enyo herself, wearing a hardened expression and bearing the armor of a natural Athenian soldier.
“You must be Enyo” the chancellor said with smile, taking her hand in his.
Enyo nodded.
“My name is Abram, official chancellor of Athens. And this” he said pointing the man next to him “is Alcibiades, my finest general and the man who will lead our army in the battle against Sicily.”
Alcibiades nodded in greeting.
“What about Herite?” Enyo asked.
“He quit” Alcibiades grumped.
“Herite decided that the military was not his specialty. He was a fine general as well, but he resigned and I left that as his own personal decision” Abram said calmly.
“Am I interrupting something? Some form of . . . religious offering?” Enyo asked.
Abram paused trying to determine what she meant.
“Oh” he said with a laugh “You’re referring to the statues I presume?”
Alcibiades snorted.
“Ahh, yes,” Abram continued, “They are known as the Hermai. They are thought to bring good luck and protection in the time of war and danger and some have even claimed to hear them speak. To me, they are nothing more than statues, but if my people find reassurance in their presence, I am not one to tell them otherwise.”
“Reassurance? More like mindless paranoia” Alcibiades grunted.
“You disagree?” Enyo asked, curiously.
“It’s a waste of time. They’ve resorted to praying to statues. You don’t see how ridiculous that makes them?” he asked.
“Alcibiades does well on voicing his opinion to the public about them” Abram added.
“I’m not worried, nor do I care what the public thinks of me. I’ll lead them out of war-they’ll be grateful one day.”
“At any rate, we are here to discuss a peace allegiance” Abram continued, changing the subject. “Kain has sent request for us to take you at your word.”
“Do you truly fear Sicily this much?” Enyo asked, sounding almost surprised.
“Sicily will ally with Persia and provide them a channel for aid and supplies. The people here are terrified. They fear another slave-trade invasion like the one eleven years ago when Sparta . . .” at this he trailed off, fearing offence. He cleared his throat. “But that’s in the past-you’ve proven to be trustworthy allies before and you’re assurance of that will put many minds at ease.”
“If you can drag them away from those bloody statues long enough” Alcibiades retorted, throwing his hand in the air.
“Let them finish their ceremony. If it makes them feel more secure, then so be it” Abram said defensively, turning to face him.
“It’s pathetic.”
“Can I get you anything?” Abram asked, once more returning his focus to Enyo.
“No” she replied.
“Perhaps you’d like to come inside and rest?” he asked hopefully.
“Thank you, but no. If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather wait outside and enjoy the fresh air.”
“Of course” he answered amiably. “Come along Alcibiades, we must begin preparations for the assembly.”
Enyo returned to the bottom of the steps and positioned herself on the second to last one. Eton looked at her and neighed.
“I agree” she said to him. “We should have stayed in Sparta” she said jokingly.
Eton neighed again, nodding his head.
“I know, I know; too late for that now. We’re here; we might as well make the best of it.”
Eton snorted.