Phaedra By Laura Shepperson EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Authors: Laura Shepperson
- Publish Date: 10 January 2023
- Language: English
- Genre: Ancient Historical Fiction
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Pages: 321 pages
- Price: Free
Phaedra
I was eight years old when I first heard about my mother’s reputation,
although I didn’t understand what I was hearing then. We were outside the
palace, and I was trailing behind Ariadne and Mother. Even at eleven or
twelve, Ariadne was already as tall as most women, and I dawdled behind,
watching their legs move in time, their long auburn hair swish back and
forth, and I longed for the time when I would be as lithe and elegant as they
were. That time never came.
I cannot recall now where we were going. I do remember that my
father was away, and we were surrounded by soldiers and guards, men with
long spears who wouldn’t even look at me out here in the open, although
when we were in the palace they would often smile at me, offer me a sweet
if my mother wasn’t looking, and tell me about the little girls they had left
at home. They never told Ariadne such things, even though she was far
prettier than me. Ariadne turned back and glared at me. “Keep up,
Phaedra.”
My mother paused and turned. It was uncanny how much they
resembled one another, their hazel eyes shining in the sun, their skin tanned
and glowing, as though my sister was not my mother’s daughter, but her
own self again, preserved in time. Perhaps that was the first time I realized
that all the growing in the world was never going to turn pale, plump little
me into a beauty like my mother and my sister.
“Phaedra, you are walking very slowly. Do you need one of the guards
to carry you back to the palace?” I’m sure Mother said it out of concern, but
even now I can feel the bolt of humiliation that shot through me at the
thought of being carried through the palace gates like a sack of grain,
bundled up in the arms of a guard. Ariadne snickered. I shook my head,
resolute.
“No, Mama.”
“Then do keep up, please.”
She turned around again and began to walk once more. But the
distraction had been enough to attract some peasants, working in a field,
who came to stare at us, their jaws slack. I wasn’t afraid. What could
peasants do to us? We were surrounded by no less than eight armed men,
every one of whom had placed his right hand on his sword or spear. We
were royalty. Nothing could touch us.
And then one of the peasants called out something. I didn’t understand
what he’d said—I’d never heard the word before. My mother stumbled, her
usually sure feet missing their mark. I frowned, bemused. From behind it
seemed as though she had reacted to what he’d said, been hurt by it even,
but surely that couldn’t be possible. I ran to her side and saw her face,
white, and Ariadne, clutching her other arm, stared back at me with
confusion.
“Show some respect to your queen,” one of the soldiers called, and
slammed his spear into the ground, raising a cloud of dust that made me
cough and splutter. My mother blinked a couple of times, then slowly drew
herself back up to her full height.
“Leave them, please. We do not quarrel with peasants.”
For More Read Download This Book
For More Read Download This Book
EPUB