No one had bothered to build Kirrha great again in two centuries. The once sturdy gates were slowly chipping away and splattered with dirt. This was a stark contrast to the polished lion heads of Castalian Spring, and Helene for the first time felt underwhelmed. Eudoxia knocked on the gate and turned her face upwards. A snoring guard was startled awake in the rectangular watchtower, recognized the seer, and gave the order to open the gates begrudgingly.

The way was clear, and so they entered the port. Not even the salty sea air could cover the stench that attacked their senses. Narrow streets snaked through to blind alleys and hovels were carved inside rock formations. The paths were muddy. A group of children didn’t mind that, as they drew marks on the road and splashed around them in some kind of a pattern. In a nearby corner some men were huddled around a couple of fighting roosters, cheering them on with great noise.

"Barbaric," Eudoxia muttered and took Helene by hand, leading her to more open areas. "I almost cannot believe this was a strong and beautiful city once."

"What happened?"

"Two centuries ago Kirrha was the one that controlled the access to our temple. They would let the people with most riches walk the Sacred Way, and on their path the pilgrims were robbed of everything. It was very organized, and begun happening so often that it no longer could be ignored. People had to take action, there was no other choice."

A small dog with a chicken leg in its mouth sprinted between Helene’s legs and away. Soon there appeared a huffing and cursing, sweaty little man. He lost sight of the mutt and in a fit of frustration kicked over a basket near a squatting beggar. Eudoxia hastened their pace.

"A cult arose, to protect the pilgrims. They asked for the aid of Delphi and the oracle cursed Kirrha in the name of Apollo. Their children, women, and livestock would be deformed, crops would fail, and every soul that inhabited Kirrha would be eradicated." Was there really no other option? Surely not every tenant was responsible. So many innocent lives were lost. Eudoxia expected some sign of shock from Helene, but as none followed, she continued: "The war known as the First Sacred War begun, and it went on for ten years. A Tyrant of Sicyon surrounded the port with his navy, but the fortifications of Kirrha were strong."

They briskly passed a large kiln, behind of which shattering ceramics and loud quarreling were heard.

"Tyrant was riding a horse when its hoof went through the ground. The horse broke its leg, but a water pipe was found. A doctor had the great idea of poisoning the water with hellebore. Everyone who drank from the water, became crippled with diarrhea. Kirrha was done, everyone slaughtered."

"What of the horse?" Helene asked. Poor beast, it had nothing to do with these nasty people.

"The horse? Ah, here we are." Eudoxia was relieved to hear the heaves of the sailors. The waves of the sea drowned some of the more discordant sounds of this town. Eudoxia truly believed that the town was still cursed. Kind spirits were rarer than anywhere, but at least the sailors and fishermen lived most of their lives outside the damned place.

"Lead me to the man in charge of the ship," Eudoxia whispered. One of the two was almost ready to sail and this time Helene hurried her mother to the docks. While four other men were finishing loading the vessel, a very thin man, crisped in the sun was yelling orders. This must be a man in charge of something, Helene thought and greeted him. Sharp grey eyes locked on to her.

"What do ya want you little mouse?" he snarled.

Eudoxia faced the man and put five drachmas into his hand. "Passage to Corinth for me and the slave."

"And where’s yer husband, snow-eye? Is he gonna come hack off poor Nereus’ arm for stealing his wife?"

"I’m from the temple of Delphi. No husbands," Eudoxia answered, her lips pressed into a thin line. "That should be enough."

The captain snorted: "Hear the councilwoman! I’m gonna need three more ’a these."

Eudoxia snatched one coin from his open hand. "Now you get four drachmas. Be happy that I do not curse you for your insolence."

"Aye!" the seaman chortled. "Welcome on board, mighty Queen of Sheba!" He grabbed Helene by her shoulder and snarled in her ear: "You little twerp can help whichever of these sorry louts decide to cook," and pushed her so that she fell on the deck. Eudoxia heard the thud and silently besought Poseidon to throw this man overboard if he ever touched her daughter again.

The captain detached the bridge after him and yelled: "Time to get to work, mongrels. It’s a long way to Corinth and we’re scouring the gulf until we get every last runt of a fish in our traps!" With that, the ship set sail, as did their second vessel, a much smaller boat.

The idea was to scare the fish towards the ship with circling and making lots of noise on the small boat. In addition to that, the crew on the ship had all manners of gear: from linen thread hanging from long reeds with little weights and cork tied around the hook, to a labyrinth-like apparition made from nets and poles. Helene eaves-dropped in horror on one of the fishermen explaining Eudoxia how the nets trapped mainly fish but also other sea life to what he called a "death pen". She imagined a cute fish family just swimming happily along the bottom of the gulf when suddenly their child got tangled up in the death pen and drowned. This made her most anxious to get on land when they had barely a moment ago left the port.

There was no one she could turn to, now that she had to pretend to be a slave. She noticed one of the crewmen was a young boy, a little taller than him, and tried to make friends with him.

"Hi, I’m Helene," she whispered to the boy as she moved next to him. As he didn’t respond, Helene thought he didn’t hear her, and whispered a little louder: "Hi."

The boy glimpsed at her with deep brown eyes and shushed: "We’re not allowed to talk. It scares the fishes."

As soon as he had uttered this the fisherman hollered: "Shut up, slaves, or you’ll get the reed." This was met with brass laughter from all except Eudoxia who faced the sea and tried to appear indifferent. There was a new feeling boiling down in Helene’s gut. It scorched her mind and turned it red like the fish bait in the wooden cask next to her.

"I would see you in the death pen," she mumbled.

Unfortunately, the bulkiest of the fishermen heard it. "What did you say, slave?" He walked up to her in his sweaty exomis and threatened: "Say it to my face, you little ant."

"I would see you caught in the death pen and dragged under the sea until you entered the Underworld." All horror was gone from Helene’s eyes and replaced with pure disgust as she continued: "You would make a fine feast for the nymph of these waters." The intense back-talk was so unexpected that the big fisherman just stared at her, dumbfounded.

A trickle of blood dropped from his nose to the sweat-splotched garment. The fisherman jumped and screamed: "Nympholeptic! She is frenzied. Did you see that? She just cursed me. Oh, Poseidon, forgive me for I have neglected your service!"

Shocked by the turn of events Eudoxia grabbed Helene by the arm and laughed forcibly. "You fool, she is not nympholeptic, she is a fresh barbarian from the north. Look at the mark in her face." Eudoxia dragged Helene in front of the crew and showed her around. All except the hurt fisherman burst in laughter, louder than ever until captain Nereus hissed that they have for sure scared all the fish now, and if anyone uttered another word until a net full of fish was brought on the deck, they would indeed be tossed into the gulf.

Eudoxia sighed in relief and let go of Helene. Colour had drained from Helene’s face as she slumped into a corner, next to the traps. The only thing that raced in her mind was: Did I really do that?

Next Chapter: Chapter 19: A Hunter is Born