She inhaled a delicate breath, then, to my surprise, returned to her work.
I dared to look at her again, watching the quiet focus etched acrossher face, the steadiness of her strong fingers. I could tell she was plotting her next move, leashing her panic with plans for a solution. It made my heart lift to see her mind spark into action.
“How did you learn of this?” she asked.
“Eurymachus told me.” I watched as she absorbed my words, their unspoken meaning taking root.
“And why did Eurymachus tellyou?”
Still, Penelope was focused on the loom, and I was grateful she could not see the shame staining my eyes as I admitted, “Because I made him believe I was an ally.”
Her face changed then, those beautiful features hardening to keep her emotions sealed in tight.
“How did you manage that?”
“I told him the truth about the shroud.”
Finally, Penelope’s hands halted, falling into a heap on her lap. Her silence was a horrible, suffocating thing, splintered only by the loom’s hanging weights clacking together.
“I’m sorry.” My voice trembled. “We knew this plan had run its course, and I had to gain his trust somehow, to make him believe I was on his side.”
She turned slowly to look at me. “Is that all you did to gain his trust?”
I could do nothing but stare at her.
I knew the truth would hurt Penelope beyond words, but I could not bring myself to lie. Not to her.
“Melantho?” Her voice was filled with such tentative hope. The sound of it almost destroyed me. “Is that all?”
“I…I did it to protect you.”
Penelope closed her eyes. “Please. Please tell me you didn’t.”
I swallowed down a sob. “I had to dosomething. I could not bear it any longer. I had to—”
“I told youneverto sacrifice yourself like that.” Penelope snapped her eyes open, and I saw a fire raging within them.
“Someone had to gain their trust—”
“But why you?”
“Why should it not be me?” I shot back, louder than I intended. But that anger was swelling inside me now, fed by my pain, byherpain. “What I am to you doesn’t make me better than the others. I am still a slave, no matter what you feel for me.”
“Nobody should be forced to give themselves up like that.”
“No, they should not. But this is the world we live in, and this is the only weapon I know how to wield, and I was willing to do that foryou. For Telemachus. For Hippodamia and Autonoë and Actoris and Skaris and Eurynome. For our home.”
Penelope opened her mouth to argue, but all that escaped her was a shaky breath.
“They’re going to kill him,” she breathed.
“They won’t,” I said, shifting closer to her. “We know their plan now. We can stop this. We can save Telemachus. That is why I did this. Don’t you see?”
She shook her head, twin tears streaming down her cheeks. “I did not ask for this. I would never have asked you for this.”
“I know. It was my choice, Penelope. Ihadto do something, and I knew I could handle this—”
“What ifIcannot handle it?” she choked out, the words escaping her in breathless gulps. “I cannot bear to think of it, of him with you…like that.”
