Helena P. Schrader

Spartan Slave, Spartan Queen

During the Second Messenian War, two women, one beautiful and one ugly are captured and enslaved by the Spartans.

Niobe's beauty is so great she is the cherished concubine of the Messenian leader Aristomenes -- until the Spartan "Scourge of Messenia," Agesandros, captures Aristomenes' palace. Niobe finds herself a slave, and the spoils of the Spartan prince Anaxilas.

Unlike the beautiful and coveted Niobe, Mika is so disfigured by warts that her own uncles sell her into slavery. She becomes the spoils not of a prince but of Agesandros' squire, Leon, a slave himself. He sends her back to serve his master's wife, Alethea, in Sparta.

This book picks up where Are They Singing in Sparta? ended. It revolves around unrequited love on all sides, and is a reflection on what beauty is and how it affects human interactions -- with a surprise ending.