Read The Mysteries, A Novel of Ancient Eleusis Page 11

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  Melaina heard the Hierophant's booming voice echoing down the hall. She crept closer. He and Aeschylus were at each other's throats over the evacuation, again. Aeschylus had been at Artemisium with the Greek fleet and claimed better judgment of the situation. "All Attica is deserted. Why not Eleusis?"

  "Evacuate the town if you wish, but not the sacred quarter or temple of Demeter," was the Hierophant's steadfast response. "Delphi stood its ground even when the Persians entered the nearby sanctuary of Athena Pronaia. Apollo defended his own, hurling boulders until the Persians panicked and fled. Even Kallias, though he pulled all his possessions from Athens, hasn't stripped his home here. We're still gathering the harvest. We'll continue stockpiling fruit and grain until Xerxes is on our doorstep. We'll never survive if we lose the entire crop."

  "You're working for Xerxes. He'll take it all."

  "You talk of Xerxes pillaging and burning all in his path, but refugees passing through Eleusis tell me a different story. Xerxes is showing considerable restraint in Boeotia and Attica. I've heard scattered reports of burned temples, Brauron is definitely one, but most still stand. Even looting is sporadic. And Xerxes hasn't burned Athens."

  Melaina heard Aeschylus storm out, and ran to the hilltop to watch him catch a boat to Salamis to rejoin the fleet. She felt uneasy herself, having experienced Persian wrath firsthand.