Chapter Eleven – Bandits in the Hills

They rode on for what Kali felt like was forever. As the moon peeked out from behind the clouds again, Kali could see they were approaching a dip in the valley. As the horse slowly made its way downhill, Kali could see a band of men huddled around a large fire right at the bottom. It was a perfect place to camp out for the night, hidden from view and sheltered from the cold wind. They had to be bandits. Why else would they be hiding in the valley?
“Woohoo!” a yell came from the group as they saw the horse approaching.
They drew nearer and her kidnapper jumped off the horse and tied it to a tree where five other horses were tied up and feeding from a stack of wheat. Three were stacked up with supplies and the other two just had saddles and reins.
“Erebos, we thought you’d never get here!” a stocky man said, patting her kidnapper on the shoulder.
“Had to have a stop on the way,” Erebos said, jerking his head in Kali’s direction.
“Hey, pretty!” the stocky man said. “Who’s first?”
“She’s not for you, Gregorios,” Erebos said, holding the man back. “She’s for Haemon.”
“Haemon always gets the pretty ones,” Gregorios muttered, scratching his pock-marked cheek.
“And so I should,” a tall man said, walking up towards them. “I am your master. If you do not like it, you know you can leave.”
“No, master, of course not, forever grateful master,” Gregorios said quickly, bowing and backing off towards the fire.
“What have you bought for me, Erebos?” Haemon said, passing him by as he walked towards Kali.
“A pretty maiden all alone in the land,” Erebos smiled. “She is different, yes?”
“Certainly different,” Haemon agreed, stroking Kali’s hair. She flinched as his hand travelled down the length. “Bring her into my tent.”
Haemon walked away and Erebos looked at Kali.
“Come on then, girl,” he said to Kali, untying her from the saddle but not untying her hands. He jerked his head back towards the one tent there. “The master wants you.”

He pulled Kali by her wrists past the fire and she felt its warmth for a fleeting moment. She counted six men huddled around it and wondered briefly why they didn’t have a horse each. Erebos pulled her into the tent. It was quite big, with blankets and soft cushions scattered all over the ground. Haemon sat in the centre with a slave girl sat either side of him. Another was preparing food at the side. Erebos pushed Kali onto the ground and she fell on her knees.
“You will be subservient for master, yes?” Erebos said.
Kali didn’t say anything. She just looked up and stared at Haemon. She decided that he was handsome for a bandit. Not that she knew any but he certainly wasn’t like her scar-faced kidnapper or the acne-ridden Gregorios.
“She is not Greek,” Haemon observed. “Her hair is very light.”
“Yes, master,” Erebos agreed.
“Do you understand me?” Haemon said to Kali.
“Yes,” Kali said.
“Ah, and where are you from?”
Kali hesitated. “A kingdom far away.”
“A kingdom?” Haemon raised an eyebrow. “You are a subject from Darius?”
Kali shook her head. Of course she did know of Darius, king of Persia. But then she also knew that if Darius was on the throne at this time then the Persians would be trying to take over Greece and that would make her an enemy.
“So where is this kingdom? Does it have a name?”
“The United Kingdom is far north,” Kali replied. “But I’m not quite sure how I got here.”
“Hmm,” Haemon said, stroking the trimmed beard on his chin.
“Maybe she is a spy, master,” Erebos whispered. “The Persians are twisters of words.”
“Have you searched her supplies?” Haemon asked.
“No, master,” Erebos replied.
“Search them and see if you can find anything that says where she’s from.”
Erebos turned and disappeared quickly out of the tent.
“But I’ve just told you,” Kali protested, “I’m not Persian, I’m from the north.”
“But you do not know how you got here?” Haemon said, laughing at her.
“There was a bright light and I landed in Athens,” Kali replied truthfully. “I simply have no idea how that happened but I’ve been walking all day… and carrying that heavy bag of stuff… and I need to get to Delphi… and I’m a long way from home and…”
Kali didn’t know why. Maybe it was because she needed the sleep. Maybe it was because of the prolonged exposure to the sun she’d had over the last two days. Maybe it was because she was terrified of this hostage situation and her knees were really beginning to hurt being on the scratchy blanket. Whatever it was, she was feeling highly emotional and was going to cry at any minute.
Erebos rushed in. “Just a robe, some blankets and half-consumed food and drink,” he said, slightly out of breath. “Probably picked it up in Athens.”
“Thank you, Erebos,” Haemon said. “That will be all.”
Erebos bowed and left.

Haemon took a good long hard look at Kali, stroking his beard and musing something. He got up and walked around her, his eyes staring right through her. He wandered round to the front and finally spoke.
“I want to believe you,” he said. “And I don’t doubt for one minute that you are not Persian, for I have never seen a woman with such light hair before. It certainly is remarkable.” He reached out to touch it again. This time Kali didn’t flinch. His touch was gentle and was not threatening. “I would normally torture anyone I suspected to be a spy but I don’t want to ruin that wonderfully pale skin and it certainly would be a great loss if I was to dispose of you.”
Kali’s bottom lip trembled slightly. This man was speaking about her like he could just extinguish her being with a click of his fingers. And she didn’t doubt it for one second. He was powerful and had a private army of bandits waiting outside. Even though she was terrified of what might happen to her, she felt his presence holding a sway over her. She would never dare try and escape in fear of what might happen if she was caught.
Haemon saw her lip trembling and held a finger gently to it. “I will not harm you, as so long as you do as I ask.”
Kali nodded.
“Erebos!” Haemon called out.
Erebos came running in and bowed. “Yes, master?”
“Take Dione and Arête,” Haemon ordered. The two slave girls sat either side of him stood up immediately at the sound of their names. “They are to be shared with the men. We are to celebrate for having such a mysterious and beautiful woman in our presence.”
Erebos bowed again and left, taking the girls with him. There was a shout from outside followed by cheering.
“They will not disturb us,” Haemon said, taking Kali’s tied hands and raising her up onto her feet. He led her to the edge of the tent and tied her hands behind her around a tent pole. He then bent down and tied her feet as well.
“You must be thirsty,” he said, and clapped his hands. “Eurydice, some water!”

The slave girl preparing the food stood up and brought a jug of water, bowing as she presented it to Haemon. He took the jug and poured some onto Kali’s face. She opened her mouth, twisting her head around to lap up all the water she could.
Haemon put the jug down and sat himself among the cushions. Eurydice knelt by her master and fed him meat, bread and olives. He would open his mouth slightly and she would carefully tear the food up into small pieces and deposit them onto his tongue. Occasionally he would pick up a piece to give to her, his fingers lingering on her lips. She handed him a cup and he leant back, sipping the wine and staring at Kali.
“You have a name?” he asked her.
“Kali,” she replied.
“Kali,” he repeated, letting the syllables float around his mouth. “That is an unusual name.”
“It’s Indian,” she said before stopping herself.
“Indian?” he asked. “And what is that?”
“It means it’s from India, an Eastern country, far beyond the borders of Persia,” she replied. “My ancestors are from there.”
“I have no knowledge of any country beyond Persia. How do you know this?”
“I have travelled to many countries in the world.”
“How do you have ancestors from the east if you are from the north?”
“They travelled north many years ago and settled there.”
“Interesting.”

Eurydice was now clearing their meal away and Haemon pointed at Kali, holding out the plate that held the meat. It had barely any scraps left on it, mostly bone and sinew. Eurydice bowed and took the plate from him, taking it to Kali. She grabbed what meat was left on the plate and held out the palm of her hand to the hostage. Kali bent as far down as she could and ate off Eurydice’s hand. Kali could see Haemon out of the corner of her eye while she strained to reach the meat. He was smiling broadly and enjoying watching his victim suffer.

Eurydice pulled her hand away and carried the dishes outside. Moments later she came back, the dishes dripping with water, and she dried them with the corner of her robe. She washed her hands in a bowl and brought the bowl to Haemon so he could wash his hands too. He dipped them and rubbed them dry on Eurydice’s robe. He then took the bowl from her and pulled the pin on her robe from her shoulder. The robe came off and he stood up behind her, lifted his own robe, and entered her. Kali closed her eyes and turned her head. She heard some grunts and then it was all over.

“Kali, you will look upon me,” she heard Haemon say.
She opened her eyes and saw him still clothed and reclining in the arms of a naked Eurydice.
“You will tell a story from your country, your kingdom.”
Kali started to think hard. She didn’t know any stories, not ones that would interest Haemon anyway. The only really good one she could think of was the one her Indian grandparents used to tell her all the time, the Slayer of Raktabija. It was about the Hindu goddess Kalika, or Kali, whom she was named after. Would it harm things if she mentioned a goddess he was unfamiliar with?
“I will tell the tale about the goddess Kali,” she ventured.
“You are named for a goddess? But of course! Only one so beautiful would be a goddess.”
“Would it not be sacrilegious or blasphemous to you if I spoke of a deity who was not from Greece?”
“There are many gods for many people. I believe that they are all the same but we name them differently. It is normal for you to have your own names for the gods.”
Kali was impressed by Haemon’s tolerance.
“Very well,” she started.
Haemon smiled and settled down, closing his eyes to soak up the story.

“Kali was a powerful goddess in the country of my origin. Some mistake her for the demon goddess and rightfully so, for Kali is associated with death and destruction. She is a figure of darkness, of violence and of annihilation.

“There was once a powerful demon by the name of Raktabija. He was a curse upon the country and was fought off bravely by Durga and the Matrikas, a band of seven dangerous goddess with inauspicious qualities. But no matter how many ways they killed him, with no matter what weapon, the demon would snub these wounds by cloning himself from every drop of blood that was spilt by them. Very soon the battlefield was filled with Raktabija and his clones, a massive battalion of duplicates.

“Durga called upon Kali to help in their battle and the goddess sprung forth from Durga’s forehead, brandishing a sword and noose, filling the sky with her thunderous cries. Kali was a fearful creature, her eyes bright red and her flesh emaciated, her mouth gaping wide and ready to feed. She killed Raktabija by sucking out the blood from his body and swallowing it. She then ate the clones of Raktabija until there was nothing left of the demon.

“Kali was pleased by her actions and in victory, danced upon all the dead bodies of those killed in the action.”

Haemon opened his eyes and smiled at Kali.
“I liked the tale,” he said, “but your description of the goddess does not do any justice to the woman named after her.”
“It’s a popular tale and one of the most famous.”
“I do not doubt it. Come, sleep a while. The dawn will be coming soon and we must leave here.”
“Where are we going?”
“As far away from Delphi as we can.”

Haemon called for Dione and Arête, and the two slave girls returned to the tent. The three girls positioned themselves around Haemon and all four were asleep in minutes, drowsy with all the wine they had consumed.
Kali couldn’t sleep. Every time she nearly did drift off she would wake up with a jerk. She was completely unable to sleep standing up. Her wrists were beginning to hurt and she desperately wanted to shift her feet around, but the rope was bound too tightly.

Her mind was racing with thoughts. They were going to travel in completely the opposite direction from where she wanted to go. Why did they want to flee from Delphi? They had probably stolen some stuff from there, she decided. That meant that she couldn’t have been much further from her original destination. But she was in no position to protest. She would simply have to go along and hope that they would head back towards Athens. Now Tony had lost her and it was unlikely he could find her again, all she needed was to get back to that chest and go home. Tony was probably already there, hoping that she’d be able to come back. He was stuck too without her. She just hoped he wouldn’t do anything stupid like trying to rescue her. The army of bandits outside wouldn’t hesitate for a second to run him through with their swords. Tony wouldn’t stand a chance.