The Firebrand

CHAPTER 11

Since the raid at spring planting, Khryse had fallen into a deep depression; he neglected his assigned duties in the temple, spending much of his time standing near the high rampart which looked down on the Akhaian camp below.

"Please go and tell him to come down," Charis said to Kassandra. "He likes you; perhaps you can persuade him that life is not over."

"It is not liking he has for me," Kassandra remonstrated, but she did feel compassion for the troubled man, and later that day she joined Khryse on the high place.

"The evening meal is prepared," she said, "and they await you."

"Thank you, Kassandra, but I am not hungry," he said. He had not bathed nor shaved since the raid; he looked unkempt and dirty, and smelled of strange herbs. "How can I eat and sleep in comfort when my child has been taken? I cannot bear to think of my poor little girl down among those savage soldiers."

"You cannot improve her lot by fasting and neglecting your person," Kassandra pointed out fastidiously. "Or is it that you think that seeing you in this condition will soften the hearts of the Akhaians?"

"No, but it might soften the heart of some God," he said, surprising her with the sincerity in his voice.

"Do you really believe that?"

"Perhaps not," he said, sighing so heavily that the sound seemed ripped from the very depths of his body. "But I have no heart for food or rest when she is there…'

"She has certainly not been given to the soldiers," Kassandra said. "She will be a cherished prize for one of the leaders, perhaps even for Agamemnon himself."

"Do you think that is any comfort to me?" He sounded dis-pairing; Kassandra would have tried to speak comfort but a surge of darkness rippled before her eyes and for a moment she did not know where she was or what she had been saying.

"Why did I guard her maidenhood so carefully all those years only to bring her here? I might as well have sold her to a brothel keeper!"

Now Kassandra was angry.

"No; you sold her to Apollo Sunlord, in return for a life of comfort for yourself. As for the girl, if maidenhood dwells not in the soul it is useless to guard the body. If you wish for Apollo's protection, or for revenge, I cannot advise you. I can say only that he is unlikely to intervene when you have made yourself worthless to us all. If you want his help—or his mercy - you must first serve him well; you cannot bargain with a God."

She stared over the rampart at the thick sea-fog obscuring the Akhaian ships below. It had come to where she hated to look on the sea because of that dark fringe of ships against the ocean's edge. Khryse turned on her with such fury that for a moment she thought he would strike her; then he restrained himself, visibly sinking back into his apathy.

"You are right," he said slowly. "I will go to the evening meal -but first I will go and bathe and restore myself to the proper appearance for a priest of the Sunlord."

She said softly, "This is wise, my brother," and saw something kindled in his eyes that she would rather not have seen; cursing herself for her momentary impulse of sympathy, she went on her way.

Early the next morning there was a sound at her door, and when she went to answer it, she found one of the youngest priests, who were used as messengers within the Sunlord's house.

"You are the daughter of Priam?" he asked respectfully. "You are wanted at once in the room at the gatehouse; a man there says he is your uncle and must have speech with you at once."

Kassandra wrapped herself in her cloak, wondering what - or who - it could possibly be. She did not know any of her father's brothers and certainly Hecuba had none. Too late she began to wonder if it was a trick of some sort, and when, within the room, she had a glimpse of three men in Argive cloaks, she started back, ready to call out for help.

"It is I, Kassandra," said a familiar voice, and the man pulled back the hood concealing his face.

"Odysseus!" she exclaimed.

"Not so loud, my girl; you will get us all killed!" he implored. "I must see your father—and as things are now, I could not land among these Akhaians and walk through them up toward the gates of Troy for a parley; they'd have lynched me. My ship lies hidden in a cove I discovered when I was among pirates; I stole in last night under the cover of the fog, and I must speak with Priam and see if there is still any honorable way to avert this war. I thought perhaps, here in this temple, some way could be contrived."

"But you cannot just go out at the front gate and down to the palace either," she said. "I am sure there are Akhaian eyes and ears in the market and even here in the Sunlord's house; pilgrims, spies in the guise of petitioners. You would be recognized at once. Let me see first if I can contrive something. For you, I am sure, my father will waive the vow he has sworn, to make no civil parley with any Argive. But who are your companions?"

"Take off your cloak, Akhilles," Odysseus said, and the young man at his side put back his hood. He was not particularly tall, but had the heavily muscled shoulders of a wrestler, his fair hair was still worn long about his shoulders - he was not yet old enough to be shorn in manhood's rites. The hair was cloudy fair, almost silvery; the face had strongly marked features, fierce, but it was the eyes to which Kassandra returned. The steely eyes of a bird of prey.

He said to Odysseus, "You promised to take me to this war, with my soldiers; you promised, and now you talk of avoiding it—as if there was anything honorable about the avoiding of war. That is girl's talk, not man's talk, and I have already heard too much of that!"

"Be quiet, Akhilles," said the other young man, who was taller, and slightly built, with the long smooth muscles of a runner or a gymnast. He was a few years older than Akhilles, about twenty. "There is more to war than honor or glory; and certainly whatever Odysseus can do is guided by the Gods. If you want war, there has never been any shortage of it in any man's life. We don't need to rush to destruction - but isn't it just like you, to go into war for the fun of it!" He smiled at Kassandra and said, "That's how this wily old pirate—" he smiled affectiontely at Odysseus, "got him to come here in the first place."

"How dare you say wily, Patroklos!" said Odysseus in an offended tone. "Hera, Mother of Wisdom, was my guide at every step. Let me tell you about it, Kassandra."

"With pleasure," she said, "but you must all be hungry and weary. Let me call for breakfast, and you can tell me while we eat."

She summoned servants and had bread brought, and olive oil and wine, and Odysseus told his tale.

"When Menelaus summoned us all to keep our vow to fight for Helen," he said, "I foresaw this war, and so did others; Thetis, priestess of Zeus Thunderer—"

"My mother," Akhilles interrupted under his breath.

"Thetis sought to know from prophecy what would befall her son, and the prophecy stated—"

"I am weary of prophecies and old wives' tales," Akhilles muttered. "They are moonshine. I love my mother, but she is no more than an idiot, like all women, when it comes to war."

"Akhilles, if you will stop interrupting me, we will have this tale done," said Odysseus, dipping his bread calmly into the oil. "Thetis, who is almost as wise as Earth Mother, read the omens and was told that if her precious son fought in this war he could be killed - which takes no more of sight than forecasting snow on Mount Ida in winter. Therefore she thought to help him escape his fate, dressed him in women's garments and concealed him among the many daughters of King Lycomedes of Scyros—"

"And a pretty maiden he must have been!" exclaimed Patroklos. "With those shoulders of his! I'd have liked to see that darling with his hair curled and done in ribbons—"

Akhilles gave his friend a great thump between the shoulder blades that sent him to his knees. He growled, "Well, you've had your laugh, my friend; mention it again and you can go laugh at it in Hades! Not even you can say that to me!"

"Don't quarrel, boys," Odysseus said with unusual mildness. "It's but a sorry joke that parts sworn friends. Be that as it may, I too sought for omens and my Goddess told me that it was Akhilles's fate to join in this war; but I thought perhaps he had been made cowardly by his woman's rearing, so I gathered up many gifts for the daughters of the King, and I spilled them all out - dresses and silks and ribbons; but among them I concealed a sword and a shield, and while the other girls were squabbling over all the pretty things, Akhilles grabbed at the sword; and so of course I brought him away."

Kassandra laughed.

"Bravo, Odysseus," she said, "but your test was not entirely sure; I too have borne weapons - I rode with the Amazons - and if I had been among that king's daughters, I would have done exactly the same. One need not be a hero to be desperately weary of the gossip of women's quarters." z

Akhilles laughed with contempt.

"Penthesilea said once," she observed,"that only those who hate and fear war are wise enough to wage it."

"A woman," said Akhilles scornfully. "What would a woman know of war?"

"As much as you," Kassandra began, but Odysseus, looking very tired, interrupted.

"Will you help us, Kassandra?"

"Gladly," she said. "Let me go and warn my father to be ready to meet with you tonight."

"You are a good girl," said Odysseus, embracing her, and she flung her arms around the old man and kissed his leathery cheek. Then, a little surprised at her own boldness, she said, "Well, you said you were my uncle—they will be expecting it."

Patroklos said, chuckling, "I will be your uncle too, if you will kiss me like that, Kassandra."

Akhilles scowled and Kassandra blushed. She said, "Odysseus is an old friend; I have known him since I was a little girl. I do not kiss any man younger than my father."

Odysseus said, "Forget it, Patroklos; she is sworn a virgin of Apollo. I know you, when you see her brother Paris you will forget her; they are as alike as two birds on a bush."

"A man with her beauty? I would wish to see that," said Patroklos, and Akhilles said angrily, "Oh, is that one Paris? The pretty coward?"

"Coward? Paris?" demanded Kassandra.

"I saw him on the wall yesterday when Odysseus landed me with my soldiers," he said, "before I slipped away at night to join Odysseus where the boat lay hidden. I said then: these Trojans are cowards; they stand on the wall like women, and shoot with arrows so that they need not come within range of our swords."

All Kassandra could think of to say to this was, "The bow is the chosen weapon of Apollo."

"It is still the weapon of a coward," said Akhilles, and she thought: That is simply how he sees the world, all in terms of fighting and honor. Maybe, if he lived long enough, he might grow out of that. But men who see the world that way do not live long enough to learn better. It is almost a pity; but perhaps the world is better without such men.

Kassandra's visitors were waiting for her to speak; so she summoned a messenger, and suggested that they should remain hidden during the heat of the day; then under cover of night she would lead them to the palace and to Priam.

"This goes against me," Akhilles said,"slinking about in disguise. I am not afraid of all the Trojans ever whelped, or any of Priam's horde of sons and soldiers; I will fight them all the way down to the palace and back."

"You young fool," said Patroklos with affection, touching his shoulder. No one doubts your courage; but why waste yourself on that when you can await the great battle and challenge any or all of the leaders of Priam's armies? There is enough fighting ahead of you, Akhilles, and plenty of fighting to go round. Don't be so impatient."

He smiled and put his arm through his friend's.

Kassandra thought: Can this be the greatest of warriors, a child proud of his new toy sword and shiny armor?

And does the survival of Troy and of our world depend on this mad child?

She closed the door and left them inside the room, admonishing them to stay hidden. The sun was high and Kassandra threw a shawl over her head before she went down the hill to the palace. Seldom had she deliberately sought the presence of her father, and she could count on the fingers of one hand the times she had been alone with him and not part of a family gathering.

Odysseus would not believe this, she thought, but I who am Priam's daughter find it harder to gain access to his presence than Odysseus himself would.

She finally went to an old steward who told her that her father was reviewing the weapons issued to the soldiers, since the Akhaians had not chosen to raid today.

"After that, "Princess, he will go to the bath with his older sons, and then he will probably drink wine in his rooms; I am certain, if you went to him then he would be willing to speak with you."

She spent the intervening hours in Creusa's room, playing with the baby. Creusa warned her of the hour the men usually returned, and she went along to her father's suite, half hoping ~ and half dreading - to find her mother there. She would find it difficult to explain her errand to Hecuba, who would not believe it suitable for a woman to have any active voice in this war. Although if this city does fall to the Akhaians, she will suffer as much as any and more than most, she thought in despair.

Kassandra found her father alone in his suite with his armorer, who was showing him some new javelins, and he broke off to look at her with displeasure.

"What are you doing here, Kassandra? If you wanted to speak with me you should have told your mother and I would have seen you in the women's quarters."

She did not bother to protest.

"Be that as it may, Father, now that I am here, will you hear me? Would you speak with Odysseus if it would help to prevent this war?"

"To do that, I would speak with Agamemnon himself," said Priam. "But among the ships of the Akhaians, I have not seen that of Odysseus."

"No, it is hidden in a secret cove," Kassandra said, "and Odysseus is in the Temple of the Sunlord, and he wishes to speak with you tonight. May I bring him and Akhilles here tonight to the palace at the dinner hour?"

"What, Akhilles too? Do you have Agamemnon, and Menelaus hiding behind your skirt ready to swarm upon us in treachery?"

"No, Father; only Odysseus and Akhilles; because Odysseus is to present Akhilles to the Akhaian leaders tomorrow but he wished to parley with you first because of your old friendship."

"True; he has been a good friend over many years," Priam said thoughtfully. "Let him come, and Akhilles and his friend too - I have heard he never takes any step without his friend."

"I will tell them, Father," Kassandra promised, and quickly made her escape before Priam could ask more questions or change his mind. She did not bother to inform her mother or any of the palace women - there was always more than enough for a dozen extra mouths at the main meal, and the very thought of entertaining Akhilles would frighten the palace women.

She returned to the Sunlord's house quite weary and had only time to change into her finest robes and to put the lapis lazuli necklace Odysseus had given her about her neck, before she went to the room where she had left her guests. Patroklos smiled at her in a friendly way, but Akhilles was restlessly pacing the floor and Odysseus looked distressed and impatient.

"I told you, Akhilles. We cannot simply charge into Priam's house, we would not get past his guards. Even if we managed to force our way in we would not then be received courteously as ambassadors; and this is crucial to our mission. Trust Kassandra, she will make a way for us."

"I trust no woman," Akhilles said sullenly. "For all I know this may be a trap while she summons the Trojan guards to take us."

"I tell you she is well disposed to us, for here she is," Odysseus said. "How went your day, Kassandra?"

"Well enough." She did not elaborate. "My father will receive the three of you as guests at the dinner hour." And now, she thought, the problem was to get them from here to Priam's great hall without encountering the spies who might be in the city.

"You must all wear the cloaks of priests of Apollo Sunlord," she said. "None would think anything of it, or question why - or whether - Priam had summoned you."

A great cloak was brought for Odysseus; in it he looked wholly unlike himself. Akhilles grumbled a bit about wrapping himself in the disguise -"As if I were afraid of any Trojan from a simple priest to Hector's self!"

"Gods on high! Does the man think of nothing else?" Kassandra demanded.

Odysseus said, "Enough, Akhilles; when I brought you on this mission you swore on your sacred lineage to be guided by me in all things, and now I bid you disguise yourself. Keep that promise."

Grumbling, Akhilles wrapped the cloak around his body, and Patroklos pulled it up over his head.

"They would know you in a moment by your hair. Cover it, now," he urged, draping the third cloak round his shoulders and drawing it up to conceal his face. "But do the Sunlord's priests really go about covered like this in this weather, Lady Kassandra? They will think we have all fallen ill with toothache!"

She could not help laughing. "Who cares what they think? The priests do what seems right in their own eyes; they may think you arc about some intrigue, but they will ask no questions, and certainly they will not demand that we show our faces. And that is all that matters. Come this way; we will go out by a little-used door, the better to support the notion that three priests are on some errand they don't wish known."

Akhilles was still grumbling under his breath, but Kassandra paid no attention. Swiftly she led them downward, under cover of the deepening twilight; it was still early enough in the year that the light did not linger long.

Torches flamed on the lower steps of the palace, and the great hall was ablaze with light. Priam sat on his high seat at the high table; but he came down a few steps and welcomed the three men ceremoniously. Kassandra he ignored; she slipped into her usual seat next to Hecuba where she could see and hear well.

Her mother patted her hand.

"I did not know we were to have you here this night," she whispered. "Is that Akhilles? He is handsome for an Akhaian, but then my mother used to say that handsome is as handsome does. Is he as young as he looks, or is it only that he's cleanshaven and looks boyish?"

"I don't know, Mother; but I'd say he's just too young for manhood rites; sixteen perhaps, or seventeen at most."

"And this pretty boy is the greatest of their warriors?"

"So they say; I haven't seen him fight, but I'm told he is possessed by their War-God when he fights," Kassandra murmured.

Odysseus came to kiss Hecuba's hand in homage.

"And all your daughters more beautiful than ever," he remarked. "Is the beautiful Helen not at table this night?"

"She is still in bed after childbirth," Hecuba told him. "And she does not really like to dine with men."

"Ah, that is a loss to us all," Odysseus said. "But if she wishes to keep to her own people's customs, I suppose it must be allowed to her. Had she a son then?"

"Oh, yes, the finest of boys, not big, but strong and healthy; a credit to any grandmother," Hecuba said, almost purring.

Odyssus smiled and said, "If I had known, I'd have had a present for the little one. But perhaps the business we do tonight, if it comes out as we wish, will be a better present to all our sons than any string of beads." He bowed and resumed his seat as the serving women began to pass the wine and trays of food.

Custom demanded that a guest's hunger must first be satisfied; only when the roasted kid and poultry from the spit and broiled fish, the great wheels of bread and the fruits with honey had been cleared away and the household and guests were toying with nuts and wine did Priam turn purposefully to Odysseus and say, "It is always my pleasure to have you a guest at my table, Odysseus, but tonight I understand you did not come here only to share my food. What other purpose brings you here, with your friends from the Argive country and the islands?"

Akhilles had eaten hungrily, but was restless; when he had finished he had risen and was walking aimlessly about the hall examining some ancient weapons hanging on the walls. He seemed especially intrigued by a great double-bladed axe with a handle twice the length of a tall man. He looked as if he was eager to take it down and try it.

"Is this a real axe which would be wielded in battle, or is it a remnant of the Titans, Lord Priam?"

Kassandra had been told fanciful tales of Titan warfare when she was a child, in which such weapons had played a part; she had always wondered if they were true, but had never dared to ask. She supposed it would take an Akhilles to ask such a question of her father and get an answer.

"I do not know," he said. "For its size it might well be a relic of the warfare against the Titans, but I cannot say it is or is not." ,

"It is not a weapon, at least not for battle between mortals or even Titans," said Hecuba firmly. "It is a ritual object from the House of the Double Axe in the country of the Minoans, brought here after the great temple fell into the sea. There are such axes no longer than my little finger; but there are many of this size, and even, I was told, larger. No one now knows their true purpose, not even in Knossos; but once I was told that the priests used them for sacrifice, when a bull's head must be struck off at a single blow."

Akhilles looked calculatingly at the length of the great axe, as if trying to decide whether it could be hefted in that way; for the shaft was at least twice his own height.

"That temple must have had some rare big priests," he said, "if not Titans, then Cyclopeans. I do not think even your Hector could strike off the head of a sacrifice, man or bull, with such an axe."

Hector came down from his seat and joined Akhilles looking up at the weapon.

"I have always wanted to try and see if I could do just that," he said, "but when I was a youngster I was told it would be sacrilege to handle it. Now I am grown—and if there is a God to be offended, I know not who he is; I am tempted to try my strength at it." He glanced up at Priam for permission. "May we, Father?"

"I see no harm in it," the King said. "No God has forbidden it; if it is sacred to any God, he lies in his sunken temple a hundred fathoms below the ocean, and even if he should take offense, I doubt he could or would punish you now. Do what you wish."

Hecuba opened her mouth indignantly. "This is sacrilege; the blade is sacred to Earth Mother," she said, but not loud enough for Priam to hear, or Hector.

Hector dragged a bench over below the great axe; it took him three tries, even with his mightily muscled arms, to lift it off its hooks. He grasped it at the center of the long handle and sprang down from the bench, holding it with both hands and whirling it above his head in the open space.

Akhilles leaped forward, but Hector cried, "Get back! Clear the floor!" The blade revolved around his head faster and faster; he cried out, "Bring on your bull for sacrifice!" then slowly let it sink to the ground.

"My turn," Akhilles cried.

"Don't be foolish," Hector said sharply. "I am sure you are strong, boy, but you will rupture yourself or crack your sinews even trying to lift it; you are our guest and I wouldn't have you hurt."

"How dare you say "boy" to me in that tone, Trojan? I will make any wager you like that I am stronger than you, and whatever you can lift I can lift," Akhilles cried, grasping the axe-handle; but where Hector had had to lower it from above his head, Akhilles had to lift it up from the floor. Patroklos came and admonished him in a low voice, but Akhilles thrust him angrily away. His hands were large for his size; he clenched them round the handle and gripped hard, thrusting upward. He heaved, the veins standing out in his forehead; stopped, spit on his hands to get a better grip and heaved mightily upward again. Slowly the axe came up, till he held it balanced at arms' length over his head; then he began to spin it in the air, till it was making great sweeping circles, with a rushing sound. A cheer went up at the high table; all of Priam's sons joined in, and Hector generously led the applause.

"What God gifted you with such strength as that?" Hector asked, and without waiting for an answer he said, "I doubt it not you are stronger than I! I wish I might face you sometime in a peaceful wrestling bout; I would rather be your friend than your enemy, Akhaian."

Akhilles's lip curled in a snarling smile, but Odysseus interrupted and said, "It was for this I brought these young men hither tonight, Priam. If Akhilles does not enter this combat, then you can still make peace with the Akhaians. So the oracles have said."

"I too would rather have you as friend than enemy," said Priam. "Must we fight, then, young man? I will make you an offer; you shall marry any one of my daughters you choose, and you shall be heir to this city on an equal footing with Hector; when I die, the people shall choose freely between you and Hector as King. Come, will you avoid this terrible war as my son and heir? For if you do not join them, the Akhaians will go home."

"Even Agamemnon? Even Menelaus?" asked Hecuba.

"Menelaus knows Helen does not want him," Paris said quietly. "He will yield to fate and to Aphrodite, knowing it is the will of the Goddess of Love."

"And Agamemnon has had evil omens," said Odysseus. "He will fight if the Gods will it, but at Aulis where his fleet lay becalmed, they persuaded him to offer his eldest daughter as a sacrifice for the winds. She was his favourite; he feels the price was too high and his wife has never forgiven him. I think he would be glad to withdraw from this war, if he could do so without loss of face. This prophecy about Akhilles would give him a perfect excuse, and we can have peace. And Akhilles will rule Troy with Hector rather than both of them being killed in battle."

Akhilles said angrily, "I do not fear being killed in battle; but perhaps there would be more renown to be won as King of Troy. As for your daughters, King Priam—" He broke off and sought with his eyes for Kassandra, "What about that one?"

Kassandra opened her mouth to protest; but Priam said, "That one is not mine to give in marriage; she is sworn a virgin of Apollo and the Sunlord has claimed her; would you contend with Apollo?"

"By no means," said Akhilles with a pious shudder. He looked again at the bench where the women sat ranged, and walked toward them; he bowed to Andromache.

"This one surely is the most beautiful."

Hector broke in with a shout, "No, she is my wife and the mother of my son!"

Akhilles's mouth drew back in his peculiar lipless grin. "I will fight you for her," he offered.

Hector said, "By no means. She is the daughter of the Queen of Colchis."

"Come, come," said Odysseus uneasily. "This war began over one stolen wife; we can't carry it on with another one. Akhilles, choose one of Priam's virgin daughters, one who is free to marry. Polyxena, who is as beautiful as the Spartan Queen—"

"The offer was not a fair one," Akhilles said spitefully. "I chose not once but twice and was told I could not have either of the ones I wanted. Hector, why will you not fight me fairly for your wife?"

-

Hector chuckled and said, "I will fight you for anything reasonable, whenever you say, but I will not put up my wife in any bargain whatever; she has not deserved that of me."

"So much for Priam's fine offers," said Akhilles with a snarl of rage. "Forget it, then; I shall fight you on the battlefield, and when I have taken the city, I will take your wife."

Hector stepped forward with a menacing gesture.

"Over my dead body!"

"Well, yes; that was the idea," Akhilles said. "And I am sure she would rather have me than you."

Andromache leaned forward and whispered to Hector, who smiled and gently patted her shoulder, saying, "Should that day come, Akhilles, I cannot prevent you. But that battle will be a long time in coming."

"It is ordained by the Gods," said Akhilles,"that if I join in this war, Troy will fall."

Priam said, "Then you refuse me, Akhilles?"

Akhilles snarled, "I do; I would rather be your enemy than your ally, old man, and I will take this city myself and rule it without your help, or Hector's - and with one, two or three of your daughters if I choose."

"My sister Kassandra is a prophetess," Hector said, "and I dare say she can make a better prophecy than any of yours." He turned to Kassandra and said, "Will this bantam rooster take the city, Sister, in Apollo's name?"

Kassandra felt a spiking anger at Hector for drawing all eyes to her this way. She said, "Thus say the Gods: Akhilles will win renown before Troy, but let him beware. Akhilles, when you leave Troy this night you will never enter it again, nor will you rule it."

Now all pretense of courtesy was gone from Akhilles's snarling face.

"Oh, we have prophetesses too," he growled. "For the smallest coin they will give you a dozen prophecies, doom or triumph, whichever you choose; my own mother is as good a prophetess as any, and I'll listen to her prophecy before any Trojan woman of Apollo." He dragged his sword from his sheath and cried, "Here and now, if you wish, Hector, I'll have you off the throne of Troy; why waste time with the war?"

Patroklos grabbed his arms and struggled to pin them behind his back. "Your host is sacred!" he reproached.

And Hector strode forward, saying, "I would fight him here - and now if he wished it; but he is my father's guest."

Priam growled, "Take him out of here, Odysseus; I received him at your request."

Odysseus came to embrace Priam and said, "Forgive me, old friend, that I brought this wild man into your hall. I regret this with all my heart."

Hecuba said graciously, "You did your best for all of us, Odysseus. War or no war, you are always welcome here as our guest. I trust the day will come when you may come here again—and not in secret."

He bent again and lifted her hand to his lips.

"Lady Hecuba," he said, "may the Lady Hera bear witness I wish you nothing but good; and if ever a day should come when I may do you a good turn, I pray her She will show me how to do it."

"The Gods grant it may be so," said Hecuba, smiling kindly at him. Kassandra felt a tremor; she wanted to cry out to her mother, but the moment passed. Odysseus drew on his cloak; Akhilles and Patroklos were already striding from the hall, Hector glaring at them both. Kassandra stood shuddering, for it seemed that the torchlight had become the colour of blood, and blood surrounded Akhilles's fair hair like a halo.

Priam beckoned Kassandra as the Akhaians passed from the hall.

"I received these guests," he said in a tone of angry reproof, "because you asked me. You are not now an Amazon; never again presume to speak to me on such matters."

Kassandra bowed her head. It seemed to her that the smell of blood and carrion flowed out from her father and that he and she stood ankle deep in blood. How was it that he neither saw nor smelled the blood? Besides he had bidden her never speak again to him about the war.

Never. Not while I live. Or after.