Not The Rescue She Expected

The sun was high and bright, glittering off the waves like a thousand tiny diamonds, the gulls and sea birds soared far overhead, cawing softly to each other, the waves lapped about the rocks with a childlike enthusiasm, and the young, scantily clad woman chained to the rocks sighed heavily.

The ghost next to her frowned. ‘You’re not like the other sacrifices, you know.’

‘I’m sorry,’ the young woman said. ‘Would you prefer it if I cried and screamed and begged to be released?’

‘Well, no, I guess not. It’s just incredibly disconcerting, having you huff and sulk like that.’

‘Sorry. It’s just… well, it’s all rather pointless, isn’t it?’

‘No! A sacrifice a year keeps the monster sated. It leaves our city alone, isn’t that worth it?’

‘I don’t mean this.’ The woman tried to wave her arms at the sea, only to rattle her chains helpless. She sighed again, then turned and tried to wave at the sprawling city at the top of the cliffs. ‘I mean all that.’

‘The… what?’

‘Everything up there. It’s all meaningless to us isn’t it? We’re not really a part of it.’

‘Well I’m dead, so I don’t really expect to be-’

‘I mean women. We’re not really a part of it.’

The ghost blinked. ‘Aren’t we? But we run the homes, make the children, look after the men-’

‘And nothing more! But we could be so much more; great thinkers, great planners, great warriors. Instead we get stuck giving birth to endless children, until we’re old and grey and then we just become part of the furniture, expected to always be there but not actually do anything. At least being sacrificed you get to be remembered for something other than your family.’

The ghost blinked as sea spray danced through her form. ‘Are you saying you want to be eaten by a giant sea monster?’

The woman shrugged. ‘It’s not like life has much better to offer.’

‘Huh. I’ve never heard that one before. Don’t you have a lover, a fancier, someone who’ll come and try and rescue you, someone who is worth living for?’

‘Probably. I mean, they’ll probably come and save me, I’m not sure they’re worth living for.’ The woman sighed another deep, heartfelt sigh. ‘All of the nobles’ sons swore that they would when my name was drawn, but let’s be realistic. They wouldn’t all fit on this rock, would they? And some of them are definitively too cowardly to.’

‘Nobles’ sons?’ The ghost looked the woman up and down, at last noticing that her thin, form hugging and utterly drenched dress was actually made of the finest silk, and spotting the diamonds that had been woven into her hair, probably not as an extra present to the monster. She squinted at the latest sacrifice. ‘You’re the king’s daughter, aren’t you?’

‘Yes. And that’s all I’ll ever be, until I become the king’s wife, or the king’s mother. I don’t exist outside of the men in my life.’

‘But… you still exist. People still know you, and respect you. By Olympus, most men don’t get the sort of recognition you’re asking for. Don’t you realise how lucky you have it, and now you want to throw it all away out of spite?’

‘But I am so much more than that! I’ve been taught by the best scholars, the best wise men- and women- in all the kingdom. I’ve had a better education than most of the men in the palace, even the ones making the decisions. But I’m not allowed to use it. If I have an idea, or make a suggestion, I get told it’s not my business, not my world, go away and weave something. Gods, if I ever see another weaving loom in my life I’ll burn Olympus down!’

The ghost listened to this tirade in silence, then went over to a nearby rock and sat, pointedly folding her arms as she glared at the sacrifice. Sitting on the rock itself was unnecessary; years of experimentation had told her she could sit on thin air, being nothing other than an echo of herself, but she always found that doing innately alive things got through to the sacrifices more. They tended to get less distracted at least, and panicked a little less, though that wasn’t an issue with this one.

It took a few moments for the woman to come out of her self-pity enough to notice the ghost’s glare, and then she flushed in a way that made the ghost realise why all the nobles’ sons swore to save her.

‘I’ve offended you, haven’t I?’ the princess said sheepishly.

‘Yes, to be honest. You have an extremely privileged position, but you’re not Hera so it’s not good enough for you. And it’s not just that it’s not good enough for you, but you actually think that dying would be better! Do you have any idea of the hardship that everyone else has to go through, and you’re so spoilt that you think you have it rough?’

‘I am still chained to this rock, you know.’

‘But I bet your father offered to send someone else, didn’t he?’ When the princess blushed again the ghost laughed. ‘Knew it. But, oh no, you had to be the martyr, didn’t you? Had to suffer, and look gorgeous while doing it.’

‘Hey, I’m standing up for what I believe in, okay!? Women should be allowed to do more, to help, to lead.’

‘And how does you dying help that cause? By Athena, most of us don’t have the brains to lead. Most of the men don’t! There’s a reason why there’s a ruling class and a lower class. How about starting with something a little more fundamental, like not have poor girls be dragged off and fed to a sea monster just because their father tried to claim justice from the king?’

‘That’s not how it works. There’s a lottery, it’s entirely random.’

‘It is now. Now that you know it works, feeding one girl a year to the monster. As soon as you knew it worked you made it even and fair. But that first time? My time? They had no idea if it would work. They just tried it because my father was causing them too many problems. I was collateral damage in an argument about cow prices.’

The princess stared open mouthed for long enough that the ghost shifted and started muttering to herself. But as soon as the princess tried to speak, the sea around them began bubbling.

‘What’s happening?’ the princess called, her voice breaking a little.

‘It’s coming. The sea monster. I… I am sorry.’

‘But-’

Then it burst from the sea. Towering over them, dripping salt water and sodden chunks of bloody gore, it posed against the sun. As soon as the sea had settled the smell hit them; rotting meat and stale water, all infused with the deep sun-baked smell of seaweed. It wobbled and waved in what the ghost knew was the first of it’s many dances as it circled it’s prey, sizing her up and making sure she was adequate. Of course the princess didn’t know, and when the monster dived into the sea again she screamed, right from the base of her soul.

She didn’t actually expect to get this far, the ghost realised. She thought she’d be saved by now, even if she didn’t want to accept that herself. Poor thing. The ghost couldn’t help feeling pity for the misguided girl. Her heart had been in the right place after all, even if her world view was so naive it was crippling.

‘It’s alright,’ the ghost said when the noise of the rushing water had died down. ‘You still have a few minutes before it- before the end. There’s still time for one of your nobles to come and rescue you.’

‘I don’t want to be rescued,’ the princess said, although she had lost the conviction in her voice. ‘I don’t want to live in a world where no one sees me for who I am. I’m clever, but I would get exactly the same respect if I was an idiot. It’s the position they respect, not me. By Athena, you could replace me with a stuffed doll and no one would notice the difference. Nothing would change in my life.’

The ghost ground her spectral teeth, but then caught a noise on the edge of her hearing. Metal on metal, the unmistakable sound of someone climbing in armour.

‘Someone’s coming.’

The princess looked up despite herself, a flash of hope in her eyes before she squeezed them shut. ‘I don’t care. I don’t want to be a doll in someone else’s epic.’

‘That’s fine for you,’ the ghost snapped, ‘but if they rescue you, just go with them. They’re risking everything to be out here, the least you could do is make it mean something. And the ghosts of heroes are always so stroppy, it’s Hades trying to share this rock with them. Find some other to kill yourself later if you really must.’

The princess glared at her, but the ghost just glared back.

The monster rose up again and this time was greeting with a challenging cry. A young man, covered head to toe in armour so big for him that it rattled, finally pulled himself up over the edge of the rock, and carefully drew his sword. He brandished this at the monster a few times, though it only noticed when the light of the sun reflected of it and caught it in the eye. It snapped at him and dived again, leaving the man to give another self-satisfied shout.

The princess sighed the most condescending sigh the ghost had ever heard, and she finally wondered after all these long years if it was possible for her to touch the living. What she wouldn’t give to slap this woman. Instead she gathered herself and tried one last time.

‘Just go with him. Get him to rescue you, and leave the monster. Regroup and attack another day, with more people.’

‘But he’s an idiot.’

‘A brave idiot, who’s willing to die to protect you! That has to stand for something, doesn’t it?’

‘He’s willing to die for a chance at becoming king.’

An idea hit the ghost. ‘Then use him. If he’s such an idiot, wrap him around your finger. Talk through him. Rule through him.’ The ghost smirked as the princess’ eyes went wide. ‘What, do you really think every other queen has just stayed silent? That’s how it works.’ At least, that was how the ghost had seen her grandmother work it. But if it could work for a poor farmer’s wife, why couldn’t it work for a queen, someone who had proper education and all that? ‘Play the system,’ she said, ‘and make it work for you. Even if it’s not all the glory you might’ve wanted, you can still be someone. You can still change things.’

For one heart-chilling moment she thought the princess would refuse again. Then the water started bubbling and the princess’ resolve snapped.

‘Get over here and save me!’ she screamed at her would-be rescuer. ‘We can flank it, all it’s armour is at the front, the back is a blind spot and incredibly vulnerable!’

The man turned and blinked. ‘Huh?’

‘Just save me!’

‘Ah, right!’ With a big, dopey grin he blundered across the rocks.

‘I guess anyone with an imagination wouldn’t be down here, would he?’ the princess said as she watched the poor man slip and slide his way over.

‘Probably not. But don’t forget, brains don’t decide a person. You can be perfectly nice and a complete idiot.’

‘And very smart and utterly unlikeable?’

‘Exactly.’ The ghost grinned at the princess, and she grinned back. ‘Good luck.’

‘Thank you,’ the princess said. Now that she had dropped her haughtiness and sombreness, she looked small and oh so young. The ghost wondered if the princess was actually younger than she had been when she’d been sacrificed, and whether she’d been too hard on her. ‘Thank you for saving me.’

‘At least I could help someone.’

The princess nodded, then gritted her teeth and forced a smile. ‘Staying to watch our fight?’

‘Definitely.’

The rescuer’s sword came crashing down onto the chains, shattering the ancient and weather beaten links in one bludgeoning blow. The princess pulled herself free and snatched up the man’s dagger, giving him orders as she did. When she next turned, the ghost wasn’t visible. But the princess knew she was still there. So she put on the best show she could, and fought for that poor soul of the first sacrifice.

And the ghost watched, and cheered, and cried. And before the sun had set, the ghost was finally released from her solemn duty upon the rock.