Then a slim boy with short dark hair entered from a hidden doorway at the room’s far end, obscured by the screens. He was young, barely out of his teens, and held the handle of a jug in one hand.

Chloe stopped in her tracks. Her eyes shifted to the left and right, but there was nowhere she could hide.

‘Master,’ the young man bowed to the tall eunuch. ‘Her place is ready.’ He spoke with a soft, lisping voice. ‘By the tulips, in the far corner.’ He pointed to a place across the room.

‘Good,’ the eunuch said. ‘Come and see me when your work is done.’

‘Of course, master.’ He bowed again.

Chloe felt better when he’d gone, though she wondered if he was also a eunuch. She supposed he must be, to be allowed in the women’s quarters. He was obviously a slave. It disturbed her that anyone could maim a slave, and one so young.

She was led to a bed pallet no different from any others. The other pallets around her were empty; she had the place to herself. The eunuch pointed to the chest. ‘Clothing inside. Dress yourself.’

He turned to depart, and even as she opened the chest and pulled out the first chiton she found, throwing it over her nakedness, Chloe reached out to touch his arm.

‘What is to become of me?’

Behind the question, she was wondering how she might escape.

‘You are a woman,’ he said. ‘Your place is here. Women are to be kept hidden.’

‘Hidden?’

‘Your attributes are beauty and the ability to bear children. You need to be secluded. Unlike men, you have no skills.’

‘Wait,’ Chloe said, biting her lip in desperation. The prospect of spending her life in this place filled her with horror. Without freedom of movement, and the ability to learn about this city, she would have no chance whatsoever to get away. ‘I have skills.’

He shrugged. ‘It is no business of mine.’ He glanced at the white chiton she’d draped over herself like a bed sheet. ‘You know how to clothe yourself?’

‘Of course.’ She scowled.

‘Good,’ he said. ‘I have my duties.’

He stalked away.

Her heart filled with trepidation, she began to dress.

Chloe sat on a wooden bench in a waiting room. Her thick, near-black hair was now combed until it shone, falling from her shoulders to her waist. Her copper amulet was gone, offered to the Oracle, but she still wore the chain of burnished red metal around her neck. Copper pins held the white chiton draped around her.

The youth had summoned her, handing her to a palace guard at the arched entrance to the women’s quarters. She had been waiting for what felt like an eternity. Sweat beaded on her brow, though it was cool in the palace’s interior.

Chloe knew she was about to meet the sun king.