Volume 6: The Meeting of Two Heroes, Chapter 11: Conspiracy and the Marriage Festival

Stasippus and Nicostratus looked at each other, both stunned. Nicostratus turned back to gaze at the group still arguing in the small pavilion, and the feeling in his heart was naturally quite different from before.

He turned, looked at Stesicondas walking ahead, pulled Stasippus aside, and asked in a low voice, "Who exactly is this man? You show him such respect."

"He is the vice dean of the medical school hospital in the Daonia School... well... the deputy director. Not only is he highly skilled in medicine, but his knowledge is also extremely profound!" Stasippus praised in a low voice.

"Highly skilled in medicine? Compared to you?" Nicostratus cared not about the other's official position, only about his actual medical ability.

"I can't compare to him at all. The gap is like that between a child and an adult. Once you see the patients he has treated and hear his lectures, you'll understand," Stasippus said sincerely.

Nicostratus was utterly stunned. He felt his own medical skill was about the same as Stasippus's. Could this unremarkable middle-aged man really be that impressive?!

...

Night. A village outside Thurii. In one of the village houses, Tlatos had finished dinner and had his wife pour a cup of wine. He sat alone in the courtyard, sipping it slowly while looking up at the stars in contemplation, occasionally watching a slave clean farm tools in the yard, while the sound of his son reciting aloud came from the oil-lit house inside...

What a pleasant life this was! Tlatos recalled himself a few years ago and couldn't help feeling fortunate that he had made the right choice. Betraying Croton—even now he still felt a twinge of guilt about it—but he had done many things for Croton, for Myron, including risking his life to lurk near Clampetia, obtaining important intelligence, and making significant contributions to help Croton assist Trina in repelling the Bruttians... Yet his life had always been hard. It was only after being turned by Aristelas, and after Davos defeated Croton and fulfilled his promise to safely bring back Tlatos's wife and children, that he began his life in Thurii. On the one hand, under Davos's arrangement, he formally joined the mountain reconnaissance battalion, accumulating military merits; on the other hand, he secretly worked for Aristelas, serving the magistrate.

Not until last year did he finally become a formal Daonian citizen, obtaining the 'allotment' that every Greek dreams of. At the same time, his child also entered the Daonia School to study, and the family bought two slaves to handle the farm work... All this happy life came from making one right choice.

Thinking this, he felt he should pray to Hades. You see, at first he was often troubled by guilt, even unable to sleep at night. Eventually, following Aristilas's advice, he went to the Confession Chamber in the Temple of Hades and only then gradually found release.

Just as he was devoutly reciting the Hymn to Hades in his mind, there came a knock on the door, a very rhythmic one.

"Who is it?" Tlatos rushed to the door and said in a low voice.

"Tlatos, it's me!" A low voice came from outside, especially clear in the silent night.

It was Aristelas's voice! Tlatos was startled. Usually, Aristelas, as his superior, always called him to his residence to report on situations and assign tasks. He had never personally come to Tlatos's home, let alone at night.

He quickly opened the door. By the moonlight, Aristelas's thin, tall figure appeared before him.

Aristelas looked seriously once over the courtyard behind Tlatos, then walked in quietly.

Tlatos hurriedly closed the door softly and made an excuse to send the slaves to rest.

Aristelas stood silently in a corner of the courtyard. The courtyard wall and the tall willow tree blocked the moonlight, shrouding his figure completely in darkness.

Having arranged matters, Tlatos hurried over to receive his orders.

Aristelas did not waste words and said directly in a low voice: "The lord has ordered that the matter you are responsible for can begin."

Tlatos's heart tightened again. The 'lord' that Aristelas referred to could only be the first man of Daonia, the one he both feared and felt grateful toward.

Then he became excited: "Chief, where should we start to make it work best?!"

The two whispered together for a while.

After seeing Aristelas leave, Tlatos could hardly contain his excitement. He suddenly clapped his hands together. *Slap!* The clear sound in the night drew a call from his wife inside the house: "Tlatos?!"

"It's nothing! You go to sleep first!" Tlatos quickly comforted her, while admonishing himself: Calm down! Calm down! Although this was a chance to render great service, the matter was of great importance and involved many people, either powerful or very wealthy. He had to be cautious... Think it over carefully... think... were there any loopholes in the entire implementation process?

So Tlatos, with his hands behind his back, paced and pondered, turning over the courtyard for most of the night...

The next morning, the sky was azure, the temperature pleasant—perfect weather for an outing.

The residents of Thurii rose early, washed and ate, placed fresh flowers before their doors, and sprinkled clean water on the streets. Then the men dressed neatly, and the women adorned themselves beautifully. In pairs and groups, they hurried toward the east gate.

The Temple of Hera in Thurii had begun construction two years ago, mainly because the Daonia Marriage Festival was becoming grander and more influential. Yet Thurii City had no Temple of Hera. Before each Marriage Festival, they had to invite Hera's priestess from Heraclea, and the festival venue could only be in Victory Square, which was somewhat incongruous and hardly fitting for the center of the Daonia Alliance. Therefore, in response to public need and the city's development, the Senate approved the construction of the Temple of Hera.

But the cost of building the temple did not come from the state treasury, which was already stretched thin funding various infrastructures. It came from the generous donations of Magistrate Davos. Following his example, many senators and merchants subsequently donated, enabling the Temple of Hera to be completed after over a year of construction.

The choice of location for the Temple of Hera had also been carefully considered. After the Bruttian War, the Daonian political situation stabilized. Following several years of rapid development, the number of citizens in Thurii had soared, leaving insufficient open space within the city to accommodate a new temple complex. Therefore, it had to be built outside the city. This was also why the Senate had put the issue of expanding Thurii outward onto the agenda.

The Daonians broke from the Greek tradition of building temples on high ground, constructing the Temple of Hera on the banks of the Crati River outside the city, on the flat land between Thurii and its port.

In the morning, Daonian citizens gathered from all directions at the Temple of Hera to participate in this annual festival.

The sun in the sky had not yet begun to radiate its brilliance, but the area outside the Temple of Hera was already a sea of people, putting great pressure on the patrol responsible for maintaining order.

Moreover, since nearly five hundred engaged couples had come this year to receive blessings, the two auxiliary temples on either side in front of the great Temple of Hera—those of the Season Goddess Oya and the Rainbow Goddess Iris—were packed to overflowing with the brides and grooms.

Just as the citizens on the temple square were being tormented by the crowding and noise to the point of exhaustion, they faintly heard the sound of bells from the southwest, from within Thurii City. Then, one strong peal after another—they knew it was the giant bell of the Temple of Hades, cast from four tons of bronze, sounding nine times.

"One! Two! Three!..." The citizens joined in unison, counting along with the bell to nine. (In folk tradition, Hades' birthday is the ninth day of the ninth month, so Daonia not only moved the annual Festival of Hades to September ninth, but also on major festivals, the Temple of Hades bell rings nine times.)

The festival was about to begin! The Daonian citizens perked up. As for why the Temple of Hades, dedicated to the Lord of the Underworld, could announce the start of the festival of the Queen of the Gods Hera, the Daonians no longer bothered to question this and had grown accustomed to it. Over five years, thanks to the unremitting efforts of Pleisinas and his subordinates, the Daonians had long regarded Hades as the protector god of the alliance, the giver of Daonia's stability and prosperity!

The citizens began to stir, for they saw troupes of musicians holding lyres, flutes, bronze trumpets, skin drums... lining up neatly on the steps before the temple. A dozen female acolytes in pure white robes walked out from inside the temple and stood before the platform.

As the pleasant music began, the clamor died down. The female acolytes started to chant in unison, but this was not a hymn to the goddess Hera; rather, it was to her daughter, Hebe, the goddess of youth. Hence this newly composed hymn was lively and cheerful.

As the song rose, from another sanctuary beside the temple—the Temple of Hebe—several dozen young maidens stepped out with light dance steps, leaping into the square. They danced gracefully to the beautiful music, frequently changing formations and poses.

Ever since the spectacular, majestic dramatic dance at the inauguration ceremony of the Temple of Hades had shaken the Daonian citizens, a new art form had been born, and the priests of each temple had made it an essential ritual for divine festivals.

Watching the maidens' joyful dance in the square and listening to the slightly strong rhythm of the music, many women outside could not help starting to sway their hips...

After a Hymn to Hebe, the maidens withdrew, while the female acolytes on the temple platform emitted a soft, resonant harmony, like the sound of heaven.

The citizens stood on tiptoe, gazing toward the temple. They knew: the main figure should appear now!

A woman walked out from the temple, dressed in a simple white robe, wearing a crown of pomegranate branches, and holding a torch lit from the eternal oil lamp inside the temple. Her bearing was solemn, her movements composed. Her delicate face had no trace of imperfection. She seemed to be the embodiment of that statue of Hera, exquisitely carved by a master craftsman in all her grace and dignity, so holy that no one dared to harbor any feeling of profanation.