“Eurycleia would never enter your bedchamber without permission, and besides, I am yourhandmaid. There are a hundred different reasons why I could be in here.”
She arched a brow, staring at the furs barely covering my body. “Dressed likethat?”
I shrugged. “I could improvise a lie.”
Despite herself, Penelope smiled, though it vanished almost immediately. “If anything were to happen to you—”
“It won’t. We’ll be careful.”
“Melantho—”
I kissed her then, soft and slow, silencing her doubts. Warmthpooled in my core as Penelope’s hands gripped my hips, pulling me closer.
A knock came from Penelope’s door, and we recoiled from each other instantly, as if the sound had forcibly thrown us apart.
“It is all right,” Penelope said as panic gulped inside me. “Melantho? Listen to me. It is all right.”
Our eyes met, and I found comfort in the steadiness of her gaze.
“Who would be knocking at this time?”
“I do not know,” she admitted.
I moved to the corner of the room, hiding in the shadows as Penelope disappeared through the door, closing it quickly behind her. Muffled voices came from outside, too low to make out.
A few minutes passed before Penelope returned.
“Is everything all right?”
“An urgent council meeting has been called,” she said.
“Why?”
She shook her head. “I assume to do with the war. Perhaps there has been more news.”
“Are you worried?”
“Not until I am given reason to be.”
As I helped her dress, I began to feel the harsh edges of reality creeping in around us.
“What is it?” she asked, studying my face.
“When we step out that door, we step back into the real world.”
Penelope took my hands in hers, squeezing gently. “We never left it, Melantho.Thisis real, all of it.” She brushed a kiss against my lips. “I will return soon. Wait for me?”
“Always.”
41
Penelope did not return.
As the morning wore on, I began to grow restless.
“You’ve been pacing like a caged beast all day,” Thratta said to me as she sharpened her knives at the table. “What troubles you?”
“Nothing,” I lied.
