Part 3 (2/2)

They turned and squinted at the towering, marble-skinned woman standing where the old man had been moments before. She wore a pure white chiton that s.h.i.+mmered with an internal brilliance, filling the wood with light and making it difficult for either man to look at her for longer than a few moments at a time. Draped across her shoulders and left arm was a leather shawl edged with golden ta.s.sels, from the centre of which leered the hideous face of a gorgon, its eyes firmly shut but its fanged mouth frozen in a snarl. In her right hand she held a gigantic spear, as tall as two men, and on top of her plaited, golden hair was a bronze helmet, pushed back to reveal a face that was both beautiful and terrifying to behold. Her large grey eyes looked at them with stern expectancy.

Odysseus recognized the G.o.ddess at once. 'Mistress Athena,' he whispered, letting go of Eperitus's leg and pressing his forehead and the palms of his hands to the ground.

Eperitus quickly followed his example.

'King Odysseus of Ithaca, son of Laertes,' she boomed; then, in a much gentler manner, 'stand up and let me look at you. How long's it been since I last saw you?'

'Ten years, my lady,' Odysseus replied, getting slowly to his feet and daring to look up at the G.o.ddess. 'In the temple where you brought Eperitus back from the dead.'

'That long?' she asked, smiling broadly. 'To me it seems like only yesterday we immortals don't count the years as you do. And yet,' she added, turning to Eperitus, 'you seem hardly to have aged at all despite the beard. Doubtless that'll be the effect of my healing you. Are your senses still as sharp, Eperitus?'

'Yes, my lady, although I've become more used to them now.'

'He has the instincts of a boarhound,' Odysseus put in.

'Does he now?' Athena asked, narrowing her eyes at Eperitus. 'A boarhound's first instinct is unswerving loyalty to its master to stay at his side and serve his will before its own. Is that true of you, Eperitus?'

Eperitus looked into the G.o.ddess's eyes and saw his most secret desires reflected back at him. His friends.h.i.+p with Odysseus and his strict sense of honour had kept him at the king's side for ten years, but the peaceful boredom of Ithaca was no place for a warrior. Odysseus had his beloved kingdom and people to care for, and soon his precious Penelope would bear him a child a son to carry on his memory long after Hermes had conducted his soul down to the realm of Hades. But Eperitus had no kingdom or family; his desire had always been to win eternal glory on the battlefield, a legacy to be measured by the bodies of his foes. On clear days, he would often climb to the lookout post on Mount Neriton and cast his gaze over the world, wondering what adventures were calling to him from beyond the hazy horizons. And always his eyes would turn eventually to the north to Alybas, where his father had killed the king and set himself upon the throne. The shame of his father's treachery still stung ten years later, and Eperitus's thoughts had turned more and more to righting the wrong that had been done to seeking out his father and wiping away the stain of dishonour that remained on his family's name.

But that would mean leaving Ithaca and breaking his oath to Odysseus, an oath that he had taken before Athena herself. As Eperitus looked at the G.o.ddess, he was certain she knew about the desires that had been eating away at him. He lowered his gaze.

'I am not a dog, mistress,' he muttered. 'But I have sworn to serve the king, and I remain a man of honour.'

'Good,' Athena said. 'For Odysseus will need you soon, more than he has ever done. A storm is approaching that will shake the world of men to its roots and plunge the whole of Greece into darkness.'

Odysseus, who had been looking inquisitively at Eperitus, now turned to the G.o.ddess. 'Ithaca too?' he asked.

'Yes, my dear Odysseus, even your happy little kingdom. A war is brewing that will wreak death and destruction beyond the imaginings of G.o.ds and men. And when it comes, even your scheming brain and quick wits won't be able to save you or your people from its effects.'

'War?' Odysseus repeated, as if the word were new to him. 'Then is this why you've come to me again, after all this time? To warn me?'

Athena stepped towards him and ran her fingers through his long, auburn hair. 'I've never been apart from you, Odysseus, even if you haven't seen me. But, yes, I have come to warn you. I'm forbidden to say exactly what my father Zeus has in mind, but you will realize soon enough. Remember what the Pythoness told you in the caves below Mount Parna.s.sus: ”As father of your people you will count the harvests on your fingers. But if ever you seek Priam's city, the wide waters will swallow you. For the time it takes a baby to become a man, you will know no home. Then, when friends and fortune have departed from you, you will rise again from the dead.”'

Odysseus lowered his face and frowned, his eyes moving as the thoughts raced through his brain, piecing together the fragments of information that had been scattered before him. Then, after a few moments silence, he looked up at the G.o.ddess. 'A war against Troy the city in my dream,' he said. 'Agamemnon wanted it ten years ago, and no doubt he still does. But if he couldn't unite the Greeks then, how will he do it now? And how can any war last for the time it takes a baby to become a man? What could keep a man from his home and family for twenty years?'

'The same things that men have always fought over,' Athena commented sardonically. 'But you should not try to foresee the future, Odysseus prophecy is not one of your gifts. And remember, the words of the oracle are always enigmatic.'

'But the Pythoness only said these things would happen if Odysseus goes to Troy,' Eperitus added. 'That means he still has a choice.'

'Choice is an illusion that brings misery,' Athena replied. 'You mortals are always regretting your choices, after all. But you're right, Eperitus a choice of sorts remains.'

'Then I will not go,' Odysseus said, firmly. 'I can't go! I'm king of these islands, and if there are dark times ahead then my duty is to protect my kingdom and its people.'

'n.o.bly spoken, Odysseus,' Athena smiled, though her grey eyes looked sadly at the man over whom they had watched all his short life. 'But there are things more compelling than kingdoms sacred duties and binding oaths . . .'

'No!' Odysseus shouted, turning away and staring into the trees. After a time spent in silence, he turned back to face the G.o.ddess. 'No, my lady. I have a wife who I love more than all the things this sweet life can offer a woman for whom I gambled everything, and who will soon be the mother of the son I have hoped for for so long. My place is with my family, and nothing Agamemnon can offer or threaten will draw me to war with Troy.'

'And you, Eperitus?' the G.o.ddess asked, turning her unyielding gaze on the captain of the guard. 'How will you react if the call to war comes? There will be more glory to be had in Ilium than even your courageous heart can long for will you follow your yearning for battle?'

She did not move, but Eperitus felt the strength of Athena's will upon him, tempting him with his desire to seek fame against the armies of Troy and using it to test his loyalty to his friend.

'My place is at the king's side,' he insisted, looking from the stern eyes of the G.o.ddess to the impa.s.sive face of Odysseus. 'If war is coming, I will wait for it on Ithaca with Odysseus.'

'A friend's loyalty can be tried in many ways,' Athena persevered. 'Have you forgotten the words the priestess spoke to you under Mount Parna.s.sus?'

Eperitus thought of the oracle's bitter-sweet promise, of glory mixed with the threat of his own treachery for love's sake. 'No, my lady. Her warning has never been far from my mind, and I've always been cautious of women because of it.'

'Even a cautious man can be caught off his guard,' Athena said. 'A time is coming when a female will tempt you from the path of your true destiny, but that cannot be avoided now. When a man called Calchas finds you, listen to what he says. His words will point you to your greatest desire, and warn of your greatest fear.'

She turned to Odysseus and looked at him with undisguised affection. 'Now I must return to Olympus, but before I do I have some parting words for you, Odysseus.'

'Yes, my lady?'

'I know you were thinking of staying on Samos for a few days and hunting boar,' the G.o.ddess began, glancing across at Polites and Arceisius who were already stirring, 'but you must forget your plans and return home as quickly as you can. Penelope is already in labour.'

And with her final words ringing in their ears, the G.o.ddess was gone.

Chapter Six.

NEW BEGINNINGS.

'What happened?' Arceisius asked, rubbing his head as he sat amongst a knot of ferns. 'I feel like I've been asleep for a week.'

'Get up,' snapped Odysseus, pulling him roughly to his feet. 'We're going back to Ithaca, straight away.'

The others were stirring and looking about themselves in confusion. Antiphus took Eperitus's hand and, with an exaggerated groan, rose to his feet. He patted the dead leaves from his cloak and looked his captain in the eye.

'What's going on, Eperitus? Why did we just fall asleep like that? And where's that old man?'

Eperitus glanced across at Odysseus, who was helping Polites out of a clump of thick fern. The king caught his eye and, after a moment's pause, walked over and placed an arm about Antiphus's shoulder.

'He wasn't just an old man,' the king said in a low voice. 'He I mean she was Athena.'

'Athena!' Arceisius exclaimed loudly, catching the king's words. 'The G.o.ddess Athena?'

'Of course the G.o.ddess,' said Eperitus irritably, gesturing for his squire to keep his voice down. 'She appeared to Odysseus and me after she'd put you lot to sleep.'

'But why would an immortal appear to you?' asked Polites in his deep, ponderous voice. 'The G.o.ds haven't spoken with men since before our grandfathers were born.'

'You've a lot to learn if that's what you think,' Antiphus sniffed, looking at the Thessalian with something between dislike and distrust. 'Athena has shown herself to Odysseus many times before now. The king is her favourite.'

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