priestess of Hekate and maiden and She Who Meets would lay a powerful curse on any who took you to wife, willing or unwilling.'
I resumed pounding the herb so I did not have to look at her. It was time to tell Trioda of Aegialeus' plans, but I was hot with shame that I had endured his hands on my maiden body.
'I would never be willing. It is my half-brother who wants this, he touched me, Trioda, when I went to the king. He wishes for Aetes' death, Mistress.'
'Yes, yes, it is against all nature,' she said dismissively, unshocked, as though she already knew of my brother's assault on me and his revolting proposal. 'The seed of Aetes is death to women, and his son is Thanatos' own cousin.
'But listen, Medea. There is your sister, Chalkiope. She is proved fertile, she is a widow, and she had four strong sons. A man who took her would be assured of heirs even if she bore no more children. He would have kinship and kingdom, according to the laws. Butâ¦'
'But?' The sun was streaming through the window of the little temple. It was a bare building, wooden, with a tree leaning on either side and leaf litter on the floor for the serpents of the mother. Kore and Scylla lay asleep on the broad steps in the autumn sunshine, twitching occasionally. Trioda and I were working at the big table. Bunches of herbs hung from the roof and baskets contained other ingredients. The big bronze cauldron was simmering on a brazier, beside the copper pot in which we seethe the infusions which cause women to miscarry. No woman in Hekate's kingdom carries a child to term unwilling. Unlike Achaea, a child of rape will not live in Colchis, to give legitimacy to an unholy act.
Along the wall were shelves of scrolls, the accumulated wisdom of the priestesses. I hoped that one day I would write one myself, and the scroll 'Medea' would join the others to be read by a new priestess in a hundred years' time, who might use my compound of feverfew, foxglove and willow bark to save another king's life.
Trioda was looking at me quizzically. I collected my wits and repeated, 'But?'
'But the union which can bring this about is not to be considered.'
I puzzled the sentence out. 'You mean that brothers and sisters cannot marry.'
'In the Black Land, this was the case,' Trioda said, stirring the cauldron. I dropped into it my now very well-mashed foxglove. The decoction was green, for we had added willow bark for the pain.
'Brothers and sisters marry?'
'They do. The king marries his daughter, sometimes, and frequently Pharaoh marries his sister. They are matrilineal, daughter, as we are. The possession of the princess confers the kingship.'
'But the marriage confers no power on the princess,' I reasoned. She gave me the spoon and I took over the stirring. One stirs a decoction for good in a sunwise direction, a poison widdershens, against the sun. This was a healing brew, so I made sure that the spoon always moved to the right.
'No, daughter, that is true. Since the advent of men we have lost all power but knowledge. You have seen the way the people defer to the priestesses of Hekate. They fear us, and fear is the beginning of power. But kingship we have not; nor will we have it again until the world changes. Now, as to your half-brother, avoid him. If he pursues you, daughter, remember your power. How many poisons do you know, Medea?'
'Fifty-three, Mistress,' I said proudly.
'And rituals?'
'The seven blessing and the seven cursing, Mistress. And you promised to teach me the Grove Path.'
'So I did. We will go there after this potion is completed, daughter. Make your heart hard, Medea. I fear some stroke of Ate. Even Hekate cannot always control Fate. We will go and ask the question of the serpent. It is time, in any case, that you met her. You will take over her care when Hekate gathers me to her bosom. I would not leave you unprovided, acolyte. Women have no place in the men's world, ruled by Ammon and the Sun. But in the dark, in secret places, we are
I resumed pounding the herb so I did not have to look at her. It was time to tell Trioda of Aegialeus' plans, but I was hot with shame that I had endured his hands on my maiden body.
'I would never be willing. It is my half-brother who wants this, he touched me, Trioda, when I went to the king. He wishes for Aetes' death, Mistress.'
'Yes, yes, it is against all nature,' she said dismissively, unshocked, as though she already knew of my brother's assault on me and his revolting proposal. 'The seed of Aetes is death to women, and his son is Thanatos' own cousin.
'But listen, Medea. There is your sister, Chalkiope. She is proved fertile, she is a widow, and she had four strong sons. A man who took her would be assured of heirs even if she bore no more children. He would have kinship and kingdom, according to the laws. Butâ¦'
'But?' The sun was streaming through the window of the little temple. It was a bare building, wooden, with a tree leaning on either side and leaf litter on the floor for the serpents of the mother. Kore and Scylla lay asleep on the broad steps in the autumn sunshine, twitching occasionally. Trioda and I were working at the big table. Bunches of herbs hung from the roof and baskets contained other ingredients. The big bronze cauldron was simmering on a brazier, beside the copper pot in which we seethe the infusions which cause women to miscarry. No woman in Hekate's kingdom carries a child to term unwilling. Unlike Achaea, a child of rape will not live in Colchis, to give legitimacy to an unholy act.
Along the wall were shelves of scrolls, the accumulated wisdom of the priestesses. I hoped that one day I would write one myself, and the scroll 'Medea' would join the others to be read by a new priestess in a hundred years' time, who might use my compound of feverfew, foxglove and willow bark to save another king's life.
Trioda was looking at me quizzically. I collected my wits and repeated, 'But?'
'But the union which can bring this about is not to be considered.'
I puzzled the sentence out. 'You mean that brothers and sisters cannot marry.'
'In the Black Land, this was the case,' Trioda said, stirring the cauldron. I dropped into it my now very well-mashed foxglove. The decoction was green, for we had added willow bark for the pain.
'Brothers and sisters marry?'
'They do. The king marries his daughter, sometimes, and frequently Pharaoh marries his sister. They are matrilineal, daughter, as we are. The possession of the princess confers the kingship.'
'But the marriage confers no power on the princess,' I reasoned. She gave me the spoon and I took over the stirring. One stirs a decoction for good in a sunwise direction, a poison widdershens, against the sun. This was a healing brew, so I made sure that the spoon always moved to the right.
'No, daughter, that is true. Since the advent of men we have lost all power but knowledge. You have seen the way the people defer to the priestesses of Hekate. They fear us, and fear is the beginning of power. But kingship we have not; nor will we have it again until the world changes. Now, as to your half-brother, avoid him. If he pursues you, daughter, remember your power. How many poisons do you know, Medea?'
'Fifty-three, Mistress,' I said proudly.
'And rituals?'
'The seven blessing and the seven cursing, Mistress. And you promised to teach me the Grove Path.'
'So I did. We will go there after this potion is completed, daughter. Make your heart hard, Medea. I fear some stroke of Ate. Even Hekate cannot always control Fate. We will go and ask the question of the serpent. It is time, in any case, that you met her. You will take over her care when Hekate gathers me to her bosom. I would not leave you unprovided, acolyte. Women have no place in the men's world, ruled by Ammon and the Sun. But in the dark, in secret places, we are
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