Clarestes. Chapters 26 to 30.

Chapter 26 - ”That was da most awesomest story ever!”

It was a day of festival and rest for the people of the City of Aggripos. Clarestes and Mera were there, as they had spent the last two days selling their farm’s fare. Now they had time for leisure so they strolled its streets among the happy celebrating denizens. Soon they came upon a crowd present in the street. When they neared, they saw the crowd had gathered to watch two actors in performance.

Clarestes and Mera joined the group and began to watch as well. The group laughed and cheered the actors on, and most of them were obviously enjoying themselves.

After a time Clarestes whispered to Mera, “They are depicting a scene from a popular play. It was written by a man named Lamenides. Lamenides is Aggripian and he is considered by many to be this city’s best playwright, ever. Indeed, many of his plays are so liked and admired that they have been performed in other cities in Greece as well.”

Mera watched the scene for a time with a furrowed brow. Clarestes quietly explained the main plot points of the play to Mera, so that she could better understand the scene the actors were playing out now.

But still Mera’s face was one of...blankness. As the actors wrapped up the scene, the crowd cheered and clapped enthusiastically.

Clarestes did these things as well. Mera clapped out of politeness.

As the actors began another scene from the play, Clarestes asked Mera if she wanted to stay and watch it as well.

She shrugged her shoulders and said low, “If you do, I will.”

Clarestes motioned to her and they continued on up the street.

“You did not like that?” he asked.

“Not really,” she said.

“Why not?” asked Clarestes as he and most everyone else had enjoyed it immensely.

Mera’s lips came to a point and her left eye closed as she searched for the why. Eventually she said, “I thought it was stupid, like something an juvenile might daydream about. And I thought it...not plausible. People who prize each other do not act that way. And the jokes weren’t that funny. Your jokes are funnier and more clever, and as you know, most of your jokes aren’t very funny or clever at all.”

Clarestes laughed heartily at this and Mera smiled, as she knew no one ever thought any of her jokes were funny or clever in the least. Except for Clarestes, he always laughed at all of them.

Soon they came upon and entered Agrippos’s expansive, open, main plaza. There, another drama was being performed, but this was a play of a different nature.

It was a puppet show.

Near the puppets’ stage many children raptly watched, sitting on the granite covered ground. Standing some distance behind them were their parents, but most of them watched in a distracted fashion as they talked among themselves.

Currently the puppets were shouting and screeching as they comically fought and struck each other. The puppets’ masters were very skillful and all the children, and even some of the adults, laughed at this.

Mera’s eyebrows knit when she heard the children laughing at this violence, and her face became grave.

Clarestes asked her if she wanted to leave, but she surprised him by saying, “No, not yet.”

As the play continued, the puppets ceased fighting. They began to sing and dance together. This was also very funny and deftly done. Mera tilted her head to the side as she watched and listened. Soon she wanted to view this nearer, so she approached the stage until she stood just behind the children.

“Hey, down in front, tree-woman,” cried a man jokingly from among the adults.

Mera turned to look at the man and Clarestes feared an incident. But any potential strife was averted when a small girl in the very back of, and a little apart from the sitting children (which made her the closest child to Mera), said to Mera, “Hey!”

Mera now turned to look at her. The first thing Mera saw was that the small, young girl’s face was permanently and deeply scarred by the Pocking Disease, and perhaps that was why she sat a little apart from the other children and in the very rear. The little girl whispered to Mera, “You’re toooo tall! They can’t seeee! You should sid down,” she finished as she helpfully pointed to the ground.

“May I sit next to you?” Mera asked the girl.

“Sure,” the small girl answered.

Still standing among the adults, Clarestes’s heart swelled proud as he watched Mera sit down cross legged right next to the young girl. He watched as they talked low to each other, as they watched the puppets bob and bounce, singing and dancing.

The girl cast a sideways glance at Mera and she said quietly, “You are sooo pretty.”

Mera answered, “You are prettier and more beautiful than I.”

The girl shot Mera a confused look of hurt. She said, “No, I’m not. I’m ugly...”

In a whispered-shout Mera cried with aghast, “Do not say that! That face of yours is beautiful and to deny that is ingratitude to the gods! Where I come from, the touch of the Pocks upon one’s face is a sign of strength and is admired. Most die from the hard Pocks, but you did not. My people believe and say that strength is beauty. And here now, I believe and say the same as well. You are beautiful.”

After a time the girl said to Mera, “Thank you.”

Mera said, “And thank you for letting me sit close to you. To sit next to one so beautiful and strong as you is good for my reputation. And also, if I were not sitting next to you, I would perhaps be sitting alone.”

Then they both watched the puppet show more. Mera’s face showed puzzlement.

The girl noticed this and she asked, “Do you want me to catch you up wid what’s going on?”

Mera smiled and she said, “Yes, if you would, for I am lost.”

The girl began to explain what occurred at the beginning of the show. She told Mera who the puppets were, and their names, and what they were like, and what they wanted. Mera smiled, for she gathered now that this small girl was very smart, and so this girl reminded her of Clarestes. Soon Mera smiled widely as this Greek girl explained the story, and soon she understood clearly what she was witnessing

The children in front of them shifted. The young girl craned her neck, as now she could not see the puppets any longer. Mera, from her sitting position, picked the girl up and put her on her shoulders, as she held the girl’s skinny legs in front of her so she’d be safe from falling.

From afar, it was obvious to Clarestes that both were particularly enjoying the dancing and singing of the puppets as they too both bobbed in time and together to the beat of the song. Clarestes’ eyebrows raised as he noticed, for the first time, that the song was quite tuneful. As he listened more to the song’s words, he realized that it’s message was surprisingly thoughtful and moving, even though the song’s words were so simple and plain that even a young child could understand them.

Then that song and dance was done and the puppets erupted into fighting again, and one of the two puppet characters that had fallen in love with another, was slain. Clarestes could see Mera’s body’s slump a little at this, so he began to circle around the crowd, so that he could eventually see her face.

The children were also affected by this puppet’s death, but none was more so than Mera. When Clarestes had finally moved around enough to be able to view her face, he saw she was moved to tears. Then he corrected himself as he noticed that the girl Mera had upon her shoulders, she was equally moved and tearful as well. He smiled and scanned the rest of the children, and while most were saddened and watched quietly, he could not find any who were crying. Only Mera and this girl had been affected this deeply by what they saw.

The one puppet character mourned sadly over the fallen puppet for a time. Then he announced and vowed loudly for all to hear that he would go to the underworld and fetch his love back. And then he proceeded to do so.

Many comic moments followed, as this silly but brave puppet blumbled and tripped his way down and into the underworld. He said and did many outrageous things while falling down time and time again, which made some of the adults laugh and most of the children as well. But now Mera and this girl were in a different place emotionally than everyone else. Clarestes saw that those two laughed not, but instead watched silently and intently, as they did not want to miss a word.

Eventually the puppet character confronted very Hades himself and he defeated Hades by using a mixture of some of the most seemingly silliest and ridiculous of means, while also using some deceitful tricks that Clarestes thought were actually rather clever. The adults and children clapped and cheered alike as he retrieved his love back from the underworld and they returned to Gaia above. There once again, the two puppets who were in love danced and sang a new song together under Apollo’s light. And then the show was done.

The children and most of the adults gave much applause, but as that was dying down Mera stood with the girl still upon her shoulders. The girl raised her arms above her head as high as they could go and she cried, “Yes! Woohoo! Endeedus did it! He got Algrillia back!”

And then Mera cried in her clear and strong voice the same things as well. Her praiseful, joyous voice rang in the air beautifully, and it carried a very long way through the city of Agrippos.

Now surely a crowd would have laughed at and mocked such a strong response from an adult to a mere children’s puppet show. But Mera’s cry was so unearthly, it struck the crowd as something of the gods. And so when the last of her cry died away, all were silent from the power and wonder of it.

And because everyone was still and silent, some could hear as the girl said to Mera, ”That was da most awesomest story ever!”

Clarestes heard Mera respond to her, “I have never seen a more touching tale as well.”

Mera put the girl down upon the ground and they said goodbyes to each other. Then the girl scampered over to her smiling mother (who had watched them both as closely as Clarestes had) and into her arms.

As Clarestes neared Mera, he smiled broadly and he asked her, “I am guessing that show pleased you more?”

Mera smiled very wide and her eyes danced. “Yes! That was amazing!” she said.

Clarestes laughed and he asked, “Well, why do you think that was better than the play we saw earlier this day?”

Mera answered instantly, “Because this one rang true. That is exactly how a person acts when he prizes another!”

Then Mera’s nose crinkled and her eyes squinted as she looked at Clarestes. She was elated by this puppets’ play, yet he seemed...strange. She saw tears in his eyes and so she asked him, “Are you crying?!”

Clarestes chuckled as he wiped a tear from his eye. “No,” he said unconvincingly.

“Why in Gaia are you shedding tears now?” she asked.

Clarestes said with a smile upon his face, “I am crying because of you.”

Mera’s face pinched and she asked, “What have I done wrong?”

Clarestes smiled and said, “You have not done anything wrong. All you have done here was the right thing to be done.”

Mera shook her head and she said, “You are so weird. That makes no sense. Why would you be crying about that?”

Clarestes smiled and said, “Many people cry from joy...or because of being prideful...or appreciative...of the beautiful actions done by...one they hold dear...”

Mera thought about this for a moment. Then she threw up her hands while shaking her head in confusion. “I have never seen a Thracian Amazon wept from happiness. I do not understand this.” She signed and said, “Just when I think I have a handle on things around here, you all confuse me. I will never, never understand you, or you greeks!”


As Mera and Clarestes made to depart, a man came out from beneath the stage from where the puppets had been given life. He called to them, “You two, please, wait!”

Clarestes was concerned that he had been recognized and feared that this man would “out” him as Clarestes the Bold. Being identified as such, he cringed knowing he might be mobbed with admirers, or haters for that matter.

But Clarestes was soon relieved, for as the man approached, it became apparent that he wanted to speak with Mera and not him.

He asked her, “Was that you who cried aloud?”

Mera did not know what he was speaking of. Clarestes smiled and he said, “Yes, that was she.”

The man said, “I am glad that show pleased you such, for I wrote it and helped perform it. I have to admit, I believe it to be the best thing I’ve ever written. I know for certain it is my most favorite thing I’ve ever written.”

Mera smiled broadly at this. She started to ask him questions about it. As the man answered her questions, an intrigued expression came over his face, and he started to look at Mera with great curiosity and puzzlement.

Eventually he said, “It is strange the questions you ask of me. I am a writer of plays and have written many. But this play, which I wrote a short time ago, was the first play I’ve ever written with the blessed aid of the muses. All the other plays I wrote, they came to me, from me. But with this one, some of it came to me in my sleeping mind’s dreams.” He did not speak for some time. Eventually he said, “The parts that the muses bestowed upon me as I slept, those are the parts that you’ve asked me about.”

Mera nodded at this and she was not surprised. Clarestes, however, was chilled from this. He asked the man, “What is your name?”

The man looked around and he said low, “I will tell you, but please do not call me out to those still present. Right now I have not been recognized by any as yet, and this pleases me. My name is Lamenides.”

Clarestes eyebrows raised in shock and he was taken aback. But Mera merely nodded her head, and again, she was not surprised by this at all.


For the rest of that day and the next, Clarestes and Mera strolled Aggripos. Mera seemed indifferent to the city, other than to be appalled at it's poorest denizens. And she did not find any enjoyment in shopping and such.

Clarestes realized this, and he also realized Mera was not complaining about anything for his benefit.

As evening drew near, he said to her, "I think I have had my fill of Aggripos for now. What do you say to tomorrow morning we leave for home?"

Mera knew that he was doing this for her. In the past she might have become angry at his "lie" - of tiring of the city. But she did not feel angry now, so she said, "Yes, I can tell you grow bored and uneasy with this crowded city and its people, and you wish to be back on the quiet farm, with the animals you so dearly love and miss..."

Clarestes went to say something, but Mera smiled and she said, "We will leave tomorrow morning as you say."

And then she told him, "Thank you."


Chapter 27 - “Clarestes, you are stronger than I.”


One day Clarestes and Mera cleared rocks from a field. Mera struggled and cursed roundly as she flipped an extremely large stone end over end until she reached the wall they were building from said stones. She bent down and picked it up, but she was only able to get it a little off the ground before her aching muscles failed her and she set it back down.

Clarestes came over to help, but she angrily pushed him back. She bent down to pick the stone up again. She strained in attempting to lift it, but she was spent and could not even budge the rock this time.

Clarestes noted how sweaty, dirty and exhausted she looked. He was afraid for her well being. He knew clearing rocks from a field was dangerous work, doing so while exhausted or angry made it much more so. He had been trying for some time to get her to quit for the day, but she had vehemently dismissed him each time he made the suggestion. He wanted to suggest such again now, but he was afraid that yet another attempt from him would only make her madder.

It was the water bucket yoke incident all over again, he mused gloomily. He vowed to himself that he would not become angry with her, but nor would he witness again the sad sight of blood running down her leg, or see her otherwise wounded or injured.

“We have cleared far more than I expected this day. It is time for us to cease,” he said, hoping that by including himself in stopping working would succeed this time.

Mera straightened up and pushed her sweaty, dirty hair from her face as she looked at him. He too was dirty and sweaty, but not as much as she. He looked like he had more work in him. Her eyes narrowed, her anger grew, and she said, “You want to stop because you are fretting like a mother about me.”

“Well yes, maybe I am,” he said. “Your mother, by your own words, was a horrible person and a terrible mother. Enjoy and get used to the fact that now someone worries upon you. This is not urgent, or even important. This field holds not a dying crop that cries out for water,” he continued as he motioned about the field. “These rocks will be here safe and sound for years if we deem.”

“Well, you can quit and go home and spin wool or make dinner like a slave woman, but I’m going to continue to clear rocks!” she yelled.

By then she had become furious, almost to the point of hysteria. Nevertheless, he looked her in the eye and said, “No, you are not.”

“No one tells me what to do! Ever again!” Just try to stop me!” she shouted as she bent down to pick up the rock again.

He put his foot upon the stone and when she looked up at him he was shaking his head no.

She stood up and she said coldly, “Remove your foot or we come to blows.”

He kept his foot upon the rock. She struck out at him, but he caught her wrist. She cried out and struck out at him with her other hand, but he caught that as well. She was surprised that he was able to hold her fast and so easily. She was about to kick him, but Clarestes, anticipating this, pushed and bent her wrists down until she was brought to her knees.

She looked up at him in shock and she screamed, “Release me!” She struggled frantically against him and he grew afraid she would hurt herself or him by doing so.

“No!” he cried as he held her fast. “You are taxed and spent. So much so that normally you could easily break my grip, yet now I hold you fast. Cease with your childish thrashings. We, both of us, are done here today.”

Mera struggled for a time, but it was true what Clarestes said. She could not budge him or break his hold, so she ceased her fruitless struggles.

“Are you done trying to strike me?” he asked.

Mera nodded her head.

Clarestes said, “And you agree we are done here. We move no more stones today.”

Mera said, “Yes, I agree.”

Clarestes released Mera’s wrists and she stood. He took a step back in fear as she arose. She laughed at this. He watched her for a time and then he too, sensing she was done, laughed a little at himself.

Mera looked at Clarestes as if seeing him anew. She noted again he looked ready to do more work. She knew in her heart she was indeed exhausted and had little left. Her eyebrows rose and she said with mixed feelings of shame and admiration, “I did not know this till now. You are stronger than me.”

Clarestes shook his head in disagreement. He said, “I have been doing this task of moving, rolling, lifting, placing and clearing these fields of rocks with my father since I was a boy.”

Mera smiled. “You still are a boy,” she said as he was a little younger than she.

Clarestes rolled his eyes and he said, “I have never heard that one from you before.”

Mera’s smile vanished and she became reflective. She said, “You are stronger than I. I have never met anyone stronger than me, other than Ares. Your strength today, which I could not match, threatened and intimidated me.”

Clarestes looked aside and shook his head. He said, “I understand the cause of your anger now, but I disagree that I am stronger than you. You are not yet acclimated to the work. There is much to it. There is technique to it. Where you set your feet, to always bend at the knees, how you hold your back and where to place your hands upon each stone. The task looks simple, but with all labor, it is more complicated than it looks.”

“But you showed me all that beforehand,” she retorted.

“Showing is one thing, doing is another. You’ll see what I mean after weeks of doing this. You can’t learn it all at the beginning. And your body, your muscles, they will harden to this task too. This is but your first day doing this. In time you will be able to move, lift, and place larger stones, and more of them.”

Mera replied, “Maybe, but still now I know you are stronger than I am.”

Clarestes again shook his head. He said, “I do not believe that I am, and honestly, I am not bothered or care if I am or not.”

Mera smiled at his indifference to his strength, and as he went to gather their things to depart, she said, “Hold, boy.”

Clarestes turned and looked at her questioningly.

“I said I would not move another stone this day, but you did not,” she said.

Clarestes was silent. He did not like where this was going.

“You say you are not stronger than me? Can you pick up and set this rock that I could not?”

Clarestes said, “Mera, this is ridiculous. We should…”

She interrupted him saying, “You claim you are not stronger than I. Are you being truthful? Other than when you claimed to have not owned another water bucket yoke, I have not known you to lie to me, and this is important to me.”

Clarestes rolled his eyes and he said, “I am being truthful. I do not believe I am stronger than you, but presently I am not as tired as you. Please, let us be done and…”

“Can you lift and set this stone?” she asked.

Clarestes was silent for a time. Then he sighed and said, “I believe I can, yes.”

Mera smiled. She was excited at the prospect of seeing this feat of strength. She said, “Do it.”

Clarestes still shook his head no, so she said, “Lift and place that stone upon the wall.” Her eyes had a gleeful gleam in them. She said, “Please Clarestes, I want to witness this.”

Clarestes breathed out audibly in resignation. He walked to the stone. He set his feet, bent his knees, and placed his hands below it. He breathed in, strained mightily, and lifted the rock off the ground.

Mera’s eyes lit up, but almost immediately she was disappointed as he groaned when setting the stone back down again. He saw none of her emotion in her eyes as he was looking at the stone.

“You see? This is exactly what I mean. It is as much knowledge as strength. I had my hands in the wrong place, for this stone is deceptive and its weight lies more to the left than it appears. And the right side of this stone is wet and slippery, so I want my hold upon it to be further under it. Because of this I need to reset my feet differently,” he said as he did all of these things.

Immediately after making these adjustments he strained again and lifted the massive stone. His face went rosy and his arms and legs bulged from its weight, yet in one smooth motion he raised it to place it high in its new spot upon the wall.

And again he missed the admiration and pleasure that returned to Mera’s eyes for he spent some time tweaking and setting the stone to make sure it would stay in place.

When he finally turned to view Mera, she was looking at him with a smile on her face. A smile that was almost shy, or maybe spoke of a girl impressed.

“Clarestes, you are stronger than I,” she announced.

Clarestes shook his head as he regathered his breath. He pointed to the stone and he said adamantly, “In a turn of the moon you will be able to do such. I would wager on it.”

It was Mera’s turn to shake her head no, but she said nothing as she sensed if she pressed this he might become angry. As she had said before, other than her father, she had never met anyone stronger than her, but now she did not feel threatened by this. Quite the contrary, she felt something warm and pleasurable about this. It was a feeling she had not felt before and she could not place her finger upon it. But it felt good and she did not not want to annoy or anger Clarestes, so she just smiled at him in his confidence in her.

They gathered together their things from the field and headed home. Clarestes said, “I am greatly ashamed I put my hands upon you too.”

Mera wanted to joke and say, “You can put your hands upon me any time you want!” But she thought the better of this and instead she said, “I know, you were such a bully! Telling me want to do and all!”

Clarestes froze as Mera said this and he could not even look at her.

She whistled and he looked at her. She said, “Apology accepted, even though you did nothing wrong.” He smiled a little at her in relief.

Then they walked the rest of the way home in silence. They walked home side by side, Mera noted. As they always did.


Chapter 28 - “I knew it! You think I’m beautiful! You want me so bad!”


That evening Mera spent some time sneaking looks at Clarestes as he prepared their dinner. And she thought about him. Of how generous he had been to her, and of how here with him, she was happy and safe for the first time in her life.

As she watched Clarestes she was also reminded that he always made their meals. He had made and cooked all of their food every day, without complaint, just as he was doing now.

When finished, he gave Mera her plate and sat down across from her. He thanked the gods and goddesses for their food and then he began to eat. She did not touch her food. He took note and asked, “Is it not to your liking?”

His head snapped up at her answer. “You are to my liking,” she said. He was so shocked by this he blushed, his fork frozen in his hand and his mouth agape.

She giggled at him. She said, “You have prepared all the food for us since I arrived here. I knew nothing of how to make food before I came here, and still I know nothing. Will you teach me how to cook? So that I may help?”

Clarestes smiled and he said, “My knowledge is limited, but yes, I will teach you all of what my mother taught me that I still remember.”

Mera nodded her head and she began to eat her food. She said, “This is super delicious. As it always is. I do not think your skill in cooking is limited. In fact, I don’t think you are limited in any way at all.”

Clarestes was being thrown off by Mera’s warm behavior. He murmured his thanks to her and his face went red again.

Now she saw this. She smiled hugely and she teased, “Are you blushing?”

Clarestes’ mortification deepened, so naturally his face only grew more crimson.

Mera giggled without relent. She was feeling so silly and playful, and she loved it. She could not resist, she was having so much fun, and so she asked, “Clarestes, oh Clarestes? Why are you blushing? Why, in Hades, are you blushing? It can’t possibly be because I complimented your cooking?” Her smile widened as far as it could go and she said, “You think I’m beautiful don’t you? You want me!” And at this she giggled and laughed until she shook.

Clarestes face clouded and he said sadly, “You tease me meanly. I do not think this is funny.”

Mera continued to laugh, but then her eyes squinted in resolve. She had made up her mind to try and get what she had wanted for so long.

With her foot she rolled one of the rocks away from the common room’s fire’s ring. Clarestes looked at her perplexedly, but he said nothing. Mera, fighting the urge to burst out laughing, rolled another stone away from the ring with her foot.

Clareates bit this time and he asked, “What are you doing?”

Mera giggled and said, “I am breaking my vow to you. I’m defying you.”

Clarestes merely looked at her without understanding.

“Don’t you remember what happened earlier today? You don’t remember my promise to you to not to move another stone this day? Well here I am this same day, moving stones right in front of your face.”

Clarestes looked at her and he laughed.

“Is that all you’re going to do? Just laugh and let me get away with it?”

Clarestes asked, “Well, what should I do?”

“Obviously I need to be punished.”

Clarestes laughed at this and then he returned to eating his food.

Mera looked upon him for a time. She said with a different tone in her voice, “I think you should do to me tonight what you did to me today.”

Again Clarestes was frozen in mid bite, his hand still and his mouth open. But Mera was not laughing and he did not blush. Mera said, “I think tonight, you should join me in bed, hold me fast and pin me down and teach me yet another lesson.”

She knew not what to expect at her invite, but she was shocked by his response. Clarestes answered immediately, “I would never do that to you.”

Mera’s eyes lowered and her being was crushingly saddened. She didn’t know if Clarestes would take her up on her offer, but his immediate and fervent rejection wounded her. She was quiet for a time and mortified. She pretended to scratch an itch on her face, but really she was covering the scar on her cheek. Finally she managed, “Well you can’t blame a girl for trying.”

Clarestes smiled, but that smile vanished quickly and he said, “I would never do that to you, because that is what your father wrongly did to you. But as far as joining you in bed goes, I desire that very much and more than you know.”

Mera’s face lit up beautifully. She started to laugh. Instantly as she was feeling giddy again. She removed her hand from her face to point her finger at him as she said accusingly, “I knew it! You think I’m beautiful! You want me so bad!”

Clarestes laughed at Mera. She was acting so unlike herself, he would have normally assumed she was drunk, but he knew this day she had had nothing to drink. It made him happy to see her so uncharacteristically joyous. His own heart was gladdened and so he said, “It is true. I do think you’re beautiful. I do want you so bad. And more than that, I have fallen in love with you.”

Mera’s laughter stopped immediately as she was surprised by this admission. It sent a strange strong heat through her body which was exciting and elating. Clarestes words were making her head spin and she needed to gain some control. She desired so badly to answer him truthfully and cry out to him, “I love you too,” but she was no fool and she knew such an admission would be like a death sentence. So instead she said, “Whoa, whoa, boy. Let’s make sure we are on the same page here. Tonight, we aren’t getting married, we are merely going to go at it hard, numerous times. Are we clear and good with that?” she asked as she giggled at her own crass lewdness.

Clarestes’ face held a small smile on it for a time, and then he broke out into the silliest laughter she ever heard him utter. Finally, when he was able to recover enough to answer, he said, “Am I good with that? Am I good with that?! Great Zeus, of course I am!” But then he looked questioningly at her and he said, “Are you absolutely sure you want to do this? I mean we are related. You are my half aunt after all.”

Mera said, “I am but two years older than you, so it is hard for me to think of myself as your aunt. But yes, it bothers me, that we share some of the same blood. Does this bother you?”

Clarestes smiled and he said, “We Greeks are of a different mind on this. Close relations are forbidden, but I think we are perhaps just far apart by our standards. But I do not care if we are not. It is you I desire, and if what we do is wrong in the eyes of others, so be it. You think of me as the best man to walk Gaia? Well tonight, I will prove you wrong. We will be bad together, and it will not bother me at all!”

Mera listened to this bold statement from Clarestes in shock. Then she laughed, for it was decided. And after that deed of closeness, at least for one night she would not have to sleep alone. For the first time in her life she would not sleep alone. She would sleep so close to the best man on Gaia. Clarestes was right, ethics of it be damned. She needed to be had by him and then feel him next to her afterwards.

She knew she would never find another man that she wished this from. No other man would ever do.


Chapter 29 - “I was whipped for being me, you know how I am.”


Clarestes awoke the next morning and slid out of bed so as to not wake Mera. He went outside and attended to the animals. When he finally returned inside, she had still not arisen, so he quietly began to make their morning’s meal.

By the time he completed this task, Mera still had not left her bed. Clarestes smiled at her quirkiness. She was amazingly diligent and out worked him on the farm everyday, but she was a late riser and had difficulty getting out of bed.

He cracked the bedroom door to check upon her and was about to close it and let her be, but then he heard she was awake and stirring.

He opened the door and entered. She smiled at him as she stretched languidly. “I am so lazy,” she chided herself. “I bet you’ve already pastured the animals.”

“Yes, and food awaits us as well, if you are ready.”

“I am so sorry. This bed feels so good. As does my down there,” she said as she motioned to her down there.

Clarestes chuckled, puffed out his chest, and said, “That’s right it does!”

Mera laughed and she then groaned. “I do not want to get up. I just want to lay here and continue to feel good all over.”

Clarestes’ brow furrowed, then cleared. “Then do that more,” he said. “Stay in bed all day if you wish.”

Mera laughed and said, “That is the strangest thing I’ve ever heard. I never even thought of that.” She laughed more and rolled over. “It is a strange idea, but one I will consider.”

Clarestes was laughing too, but then his laughing stopped abruptly. He took a step to close upon her. He touched the top of her back. He asked, “What is this?”

Mera’s body tightened and she drew the bed sheet over the upper part of her back that had been accidently exposed. She said nothing.

Clarestes asked, “What were those marks upon your back?”

Mera lay very still. She eventually said, “I was trying to hide those from you…”

“Well you achieved your goal for I never saw them before, not even last night.” He sat down on the bed and tried to pull the sheet down but Mera instantly clamped down upon the sheet and it did not budge.

Clarestes by now had guessed what they were. He said, “Mera, let me see.”

To anyone else Mera would have said, “I told you you you need not see them,” or perhaps, “Fuck off,” but Clarestes did not get this. Mera was often surprised how he could speak volumes in a handful of words. The gentleness, measure and tone of his request all but said - I know what is upon your back, you need not be ashamed of them, and I wish to see them as I want to see the extent of the damage done.

Mera, in great fear, let go of the sheet and Clarestes pulled it down. Her back was laced by many whip marks. None of them looked recent, all were scars of some time and so he knew they were permanent. They were gruesome and his heart ached at the sight of them.

Then to Mera he did a strange thing. He ran his fingers over them very gently for a time. Mera, at first, stiffened in shame and shock at this. Then, to her surprise, she discovered this felt good. “How did this happen?” he asked quietly.

“You know my upbringing. They were doled out for my infractions.”

“When?” he asked.

“At numerous times during my life, but mostly as a girl.”

Clarestes groaned in disgust and although Mera knew he did so about the act and not the scars themselves, she pulled the sheet up back over them.

He was quiet for a time and then he began again to stroke her back above the sheet. Mera stiffened at this, but then she relaxed into it as his touch was very soothing.

“Who doled out the lashings?” he asked.

Mera said, “Various people, but mostly my mother.”

“What in Gaia for?”

Mera sputtered her lips and she said, “Well, let’s see. For backtalk, for stealing food, for lying, for telling the truth when I was told to lie, for disobeying commands, for insubordination, for besting my betters...I can’t remember them all. When I was a young girl sometimes I knew not why I was being whipped. I was whipped for being me, you know how I am.”

“That is not funny,” said Clarestes.

Mera rolled over so she could look him in the eyes. “Once I was whipped by my mother for not waking and rising quickly enough in the morning.”

Clarestes’ face squeezed in aghast at this. Mera smiled at his concern and she said, “It is very lax around here. You let me lounge around in bed until I feel like getting up. That shit does not fly in Amazonian Thrace. They are all rules there, and those rules are enforced with malice and caprice. Here, you have none. You ask little and demand nothing of me. At first I was scornful of that. Then later I was confused by that. Now I appreciate it, and am grateful for it.” On impulse she reached up and touched his face and this surprised even her as she knew not why she did it.

But Clarestes’ face was one of concern and she misread his look as one of...disapproval. And so her hand dropped and she turned back over. “You think I am ugly now,” she said.

“No!” said Clarestes instantly and louder than he wanted. “No,” he said more quietly and again, to Mera, his one word spoke volumes.

“As this land and home are yours now, you may stay in bed here everyday as long as you wish,” he said.

“Yeah, I know,” she said, chuckling. “You let me do whatever I want around here. But I am just about ready to get up now.”

They were quiet for some time as Clarestes ran his fingers over the sheet upon her.

Then he lifted the sheet from the other end to bare her buttocks to him.

Mera stiffened again and asked, “Are you looking for scars there as well.”

“No,” said Clarestes. “I did not see your back last night, but this I saw.”

“Then why are you looking at my butt now?”

“Well, because it is absolutely superb,” said Clarestes. Mera laughed at this because to her, this was exactly the right thing to say. Clarestes began to touch Mera more and one thing led to another, and the food that Clarestes prepared for them to eat that morning was not eaten by them until the afternoon of that day. And Mera ate it in bed because Clarestes brought it to her there. So Mera spent a day in bed, which is something she had never done, not even when she was a girl and was gravely sick, or injured. It was, as she said, a first for her. And when she finally got out of bed as twilight was falling the first thing she did was kneel upon the floor next to it, and give thanks to the gods and goddesses for Clarestes, who in her mind, was the one who let her do it.


Chapter 30 - “You are still a dick.”


In a turn of the moon’s time Clarestes and Mera were walking their stone walls, he on one side and she on the other. They were looking for stones that had fallen astray and placing them back upon the walls. To Mera this task was very pleasant. The work felt good, but was not overly tiring as the fallen stones they picked up were far enough apart that they could rest between each. The birds were singing and Apollo shined upon them gently. She chatted gayly to Clarestes about this and that. Sometime ago she had become more talkative with him and at first this had bothered her, her inane prattle to him. But he seemed to not mind in the least. Indeed most times when she blathered on, he had a smile upon his face. So she had stopped worrying about her babbling and shared with him what she wanted. And that was what she was doing this day, just sharing her thoughts with him, until she came to another fallen stone. She stopped talking mid sentence.

She stared sullenly at the fallen stone on her side of the wall. She said accusingly to Clarestes, “You did this on purpose. This stone didn’t fall from its place. You pulled it off some time ago.” The stone she was looking at was the same stone that one month before she could not lift.

Here the wall was plied so high that she could only see Clarestes face, but she thought he shrugged his shoulders, and he smiled.

“You are such a dick,” she said as her mood soured further. She was disappointed and saddened that he would humiliate her so.

“Lift that stone and place it back,” was all he said.

She felt afraid. It was so big. She didn’t want to fail in front of him and she did not think she could do it. “You are a dick,” she said again.

“Listen, you know what to do. Square your feet up. Bend at the knees and hold your back straight. Take your breath in before you lift and let it out slowly as you move the stone up. Look now before you lift it, to where you want to set the stone when it is aloft. Feel the stone first for your best handholds.”

Mera just stared at Clarestes for a time as if he betrayed her. “I can not do it.”

Clarestes crouched and then leapt over the wall to join Mera and this made her smile because he looked like a beast as he did such. He took her shoulders and spun her to face the stone. He kicked her feet apart to give her a lifting stance and then he grabbed her hips and pushed them down.

He came around the other side of the stone and he likewise crouched down. But he squatted down, not to help, but to look her in the eyes. “Any day now,” he said.

“You are a dick,” Mera said, but then she focused on the stone. She felt it for the best hand holds. She adjusted her feet, bent at her knees, locked her back straight, and she breathed in deeply. Then she lifted the stone.

It was very heavy and she strained mightily under its weight, but as she lifted it she heard Clarestes growl with animal appreciation and this encouraged her. She dug deeper. Upwards the stone went until she placed it where it belonged.

Clarestes once again growled with pleasure as he smiled broadly. Mera, when she had finally got enough breath back to speak, said to him, “You are still a dick.”

Clarestes smiled at Mera and he said, “I am not stronger than you.” He kissed her very softly, which surprised her. Then he crouched down and bounded back over to his side of the wall.