‘Come over here.’ The eunuch led her to the nearest basin and without further ado splashed water onto her hair and body. ‘The water has been in the sun all day. See? It is warm.’
Chloe nodded as she began to wash away the stains of the journey. The eunuch walked to the wall, bending down and grabbing a ceramic jug before reaching for a horsehair brush. He tipped oil from the jug over the hairs on the brush.
‘Lift your arms,’ he said.
As she complied, the eunuch started to scrub. His strokes were practiced and neither harsh nor soft, the oil lubricating the brush and foaming as he worked. Chloe turned when he asked and when she inhaled she realized the oil was scented; she recognized rosemary and lavender.
He finished by scrubbing her hair and then completed the ritual by upending a ewer over her head.
‘Dry yourself,’ he said, taking one of the piled cloths and handing it to her. ‘Now come with me.’
‘My clothes—’
‘—Will be burned,’ he said matter-of-factly.
Reaching the doorway and pulling the curtain to the side, he frowned when he saw she wasn’t following.
‘Did you not hear me, girl? You are in the women’s quarters. Your lack of clothing will cause no comment.’
With a sigh, Chloe followed the eunuch back into the interior, dark and cool compared to the courtyard. He led her to one of the side doors and, entering, she saw a large room so expansive that if she threw a stone she wouldn’t strike the far end. Frescos of flowers and naked children decorated the surface of every wall. Woven mats covered the floors. Latticed screens divided the area into a multitude of corner spaces, each having a bed pallet and chest. Young female slaves scurried past carrying jugs and baskets. Despite the eunuch’s earlier words, they all looked at her curiously. She fought not to cover herself with her arms.
Then a slim boy with short dark hair entered from a hidden doorway at the room’s far end, obscured by the screens. He was young, barely out of his teens, and held the handle of a jug in one hand.
Chloe stopped in her tracks. Her eyes shifted to the left and right, but there was nowhere she could hide.
‘Master,’ the young man bowed to the tall eunuch. ‘Her place is ready.’ He spoke with a soft, lisping voice. ‘By the tulips, in the far corner.’ He pointed to a place across the room.
‘Good,’ the eunuch said. ‘Come and see me when your work is done.’
‘Of course, master.’ He bowed again.
Chloe felt better when he’d gone, though she wondered if he was also a eunuch. She supposed he must be, to be allowed in the women’s quarters. He was obviously a slave. It disturbed her that anyone could maim a slave, and one so young.
She was led to a bed pallet no different from any others. The other pallets around her were empty; she had the place to herself. The eunuch pointed to the chest. ‘Clothing inside. Dress yourself.’
He turned to depart, and even as she opened the chest and pulled out the first chiton she found, throwing it over her nakedness, Chloe reached out to touch his arm.
‘What is to become of me?’
Behind the question, she was wondering how she might escape.
‘You are a woman,’ he said. ‘Your place is here. Women are to be kept hidden.’
‘Hidden?’
‘Your attributes are beauty and the ability to bear children. You need to be secluded. Unlike men, you have no skills.’
‘Wait,’ Chloe said, biting her lip in desperation. The prospect of spending her life in this place filled her with horror. Without freedom of movement, and the ability to learn about this city, she would have no chance whatsoever to get away. ‘I have skills.’
He shrugged. ‘It is no business of mine.’ He glanced at the white chiton she’d draped over herself like a bed sheet. ‘You know how to clothe yourself?’
‘Of course.’ She scowled.
‘Good,’ he said. ‘I have my duties.’
He stalked away.
Her heart filled with trepidation, she began to dress.
Chloe sat on a wooden bench in a waiting room. Her thick, near-black hair was now combed until it shone, falling from her shoulders to her waist. Her copper amulet was gone, offered to the Oracle, but she still wore the chain of burnished red metal around her neck. Copper pins held the white chiton draped around her.
The youth had summoned her, handing her to a palace guard at the arched entrance to the women’s quarters. She had been waiting for what felt like an eternity. Sweat beaded on her brow, though it was cool in the palace’s interior.
Chloe knew she was about to meet the sun king.
The waiting room had guards at both ends. She could hear a rough, booming voice in the opposite direction to the way she had come. Finally, the guard on that side beckoned.