Part 22 (2/2)

Paris leaned across and kissed his mother on both cheeks, which were wet with tears at the sight of her son.

'We've missed you, my dear,' she smiled. 'Or I have missed you, at least. Your father has done nothing but curse your name, ever since he heard you'd abandoned the mission he sent you on and brought back a foreigner.'

Paris turned to his father. 'Then Tenes told you about Helen also?'

'I heard long before he informed me,' Priam answered, looking up at the tall woman standing aloof and motionless in the golden chariot. 'Tenes only confirmed what I had already been told, though previously I had struggled to believe the news that had been brought to me.'

'Brought by whom, my lord?' asked Apheidas, bowing low before the king. Both he and Aeneas had handed their horses to slaves and now stood at Paris's shoulder.

'Ah, Apheidas. It is a comfort to have you back at Troy. Your prowess in battle may be called upon before long. But in answer to your question, a Greek emba.s.sy arrived several weeks back claiming you, Paris, had taken the queen of Sparta against her will.'

'That's a lie!'

'Silence!' Priam shouted, clenching his fists by his side. A moment later he was calm again. 'This is not a debating chamber, Paris, and you will not interrupt me until I have finished. The king of Sparta himself sat in my hall, along with Odysseus of Ithaca and Palamedes the Nauplian, threatening war if this woman' Priam nodded towards Helen 'was not returned immediately. Unfortunately for Menelaus, you had not yet returned and I knew nothing of your antics in Greece; as their tone grew more bullying I'm afraid I lost my patience with them and had them returned to their s.h.i.+p. Since then, however, my blood has cooled and I have had time to think. Though a Greek, King Odysseus spoke wisely and reminded us that it is an offence against the G.o.ds to steal a man's wife. So the matter now lies with you, my child.'

The king looked at Helen and offered her his hand. She took it and stepped down from the chariot.

'I do not know you, Helen, queen of Sparta, and my heart wishes you had never come to Troy. But here you are, and now our fate rests in your hands. It is in my power to send you back to your husband and prevent this war. If I do I may break my son's heart, but I will save many lives, both Trojan and Greek. But I will ask you one question, and if your answer satisfies my sense of honour and justice, then you can remain here and the walls of Troy and the blood of her sons will have to bear the consequences. Tell me, did Paris take you from Sparta by force, or did you come of your own free will?'

Paris had said he would tell her to remove the veil when the time was right. But Helen did not need to be told that the time had come, and lifting the veil from her face she looked Priam in the eye.

'Sir, I came here by choice. I was forced to leave three children behind in Sparta, because their father had taken them with him to Crete. But I was prepared to sacrifice them because of my love for your son.'

Priam stared at the incomparable face and his heart melted.

'That is the answer I was dreading, daughter. But now that I look on you, I know that I could never have sent you back to Menelaus, whatever your reply had been.' He leaned forward and embraced her with warmth and respect for her beauty. 'Now you must go with my wife, Hecabe. She will show you to your quarters. You are to come with me, Paris. It may be late, but Hector and I want to discuss the consequences of what you have done. You too, Apheidas.'

'And me, my lord?' asked Aeneas, as Priam turned with Paris and Apheidas at his shoulders.

'No, not you,' Priam answered without looking back.

Helen saw the young man scowl at the departing king, then turn and kick a stone halfway across the terrace.

'Will you bring Pleisthenes, Aeneas?' Helen asked, as Hecabe walked over and hooked an arm through her elbow. 'Please?'

Aeneas gave a surly nod and lifted the sleeping child from the gleaming chariot, before following the two women as they crossed the courtyard at a diagonal to the king.

'Poor lad,' said Hecabe without looking at Aeneas. 'Priam treats him like one of the dogs that lick up the sc.r.a.ps from beneath his table.'

'But isn't he the son of a king?'

'Yes: his father is Anchises, king of the Dardanians. Aeneas is kept here to ensure Anchises's loyalty, though the lad still has the freedom to come and go as he pleases.'

'Then why is he treated so badly?'

'Most think it's because Priam disdains any royalty that is not purely Trojan,' Hecabe said. 'But I know it has nothing to do with that. The old man's simply jealous because Aeneas's father slept with Aphrodite. Priam has always prided himself on the number and beauty of his lovers, you see, but he's never had the pleasure of the G.o.ddess.'

Helen was shocked at Hecabe's indifference on the matter.

'Doesn't it bother you?' she asked. 'That your husband has had so many lovers, I mean.'

'Not at all,' the old woman responded, pus.h.i.+ng open a side door to the palace. 'He's the king, and the king does as he pleases. The more wives he has, the more sons there are fifty at the last count and the more sons there are, the stronger his base of power. He also uses marriage to secure ties beyond the walls of Troy.'

They entered a torch-lit corridor with a flight of stone steps to one side. Two women were sitting on a wooden bench and rose to their feet as Hecabe and Helen appeared, with Aeneas behind them.

'Take Leothoe here,' Hecabe continued, indicating the shorter of the two women. 'She is the daughter of King Altes of the Leleges. Her father married her to Priam to seal an alliance between our two states. Now, if the Greeks are foolish enough to come after you, King Altes will be obliged to bring his army to our aid.'

Leothoe stepped forward and bowed. She was no older than Helen and had a face and body that would be the envy of most women.

'Welcome, Helen,' she said, her voice light and leaving almost no impression. 'I'm sorry you've been brought so far from your home. It must be difficult for you.'

'I came freely,' Helen replied.

'Such beauty,' said the other woman, reaching out and touching Helen's cheek as if to a.s.sure herself she was real. 'You must have the blood of a G.o.d in your veins. I am Andromache, daughter of King Eetion of the Cilicians. My brother is a friend of Hector and brought me here to see the marvels of Troy.'

'Then this is your first time here, too?' Helen asked, looking at the tall, black-haired woman before her. Her face was beautiful and intelligent, though tinged with sadness.

'Yes. My home is Thebe, beneath the wooded slopes of Mount Placus. It's a lovely city, but very plain compared with Troy.'

'I've asked Leothoe and Andromache to help you get used to the palace,' Hecabe said. 'They'll show you to your rooms and make you feel at home. They'll also teach you our customs and help you learn our language, although Paris already seems to have taught you much.'

Helen took Pleisthenes from Aeneas's arms and wished him and Hecabe a goodnight, before following Leothoe and Andromache up the steps.

'Thank you both,' she said. 'I hope we can be good friends.'

'I hope so too,' said Andromache. 'Though I fear that great suffering will follow in your wake, for all Trojan women.'

Chapter Twenty-three.

IPHIGENIA.

'Do you think she'll agree to the wedding?' Eperitus asked.

He stood in the middle of the courtyard, looking up at the humped shape of the mountain behind the great hall. The early morning sun was still hidden behind its black bulk, but the sky above glowed like heated bronze. A few purple clouds scudded through the fiery skies, their bellies transformed to gold by the hidden dawn.

'I think I've convinced her there's nothing to be lost by allowing the marriage,' Odysseus replied, biting into the barley cake he had brought with him from the breakfast table. 'The problem is whether she believes that's the real reason why Agamemnon wants his daughter to go to Aulis.'

'But if the marriage is just an excuse, do you think Clytaemnestra knows what Agamemnon really wants Iphigenia for?'

'Shhh,' Odysseus said, nodding towards the sentries at the threshold of the great hall and giving his friend a wink. 'Come with me.'

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