Chapter 5: The WifeAs she left Kerkylas’ house, Sappho’s footsteps took her not back home, but to the Temple of Hera. She wanted to send a prayer to the goddess to protect the soul of her lost student, and to feel the comfort of the fabric woven by another woman close to her heart.
As she walked up the temple’s steps, she recognized one of the beggars resting against one of the temple’s outdoor columns. Sappho’s heart fluttered, then dropped.
“Anactoria?” she breathed.
A tear-stained face stared up at her. “Sapph,” she replied sheepishly.
Sappho knelt beside her, placing a hand upon her cloaked shoulder. “Tori, my love, what happened?”
Anactoria fell into her arms and wept. As Sappho held her, her lover’s cloak fell open, revealing the damage. The last time she visited the temple, her
