To her surprise, once she had slipped free of her body, moving her consciousness away from the bed and through the window, she had no awareness of the storm, only a deep silence; on the level where her spirit now moved there was no weather. As swiftly as thought she glided down the hill into clear moonlight, flying over the plain between the gates of Troy and the earthworks which guarded the Akhaian camp.
Under that impossible moonlight, shadows lay sharp and black on the plain, silent and untenanted except by a single drowsing night watchman. Paris was right, she thought, they should have flung all their forces at the camp by night. Then she remembered that in the physical world the Akhaian earthworks were better guarded by the pouring rain than by all the watchmen in the world. She could see a dark-shadowed structure which she recognized for Akhilles's chariot, and a blurred shape which had to be Hector's bound body. Her first thought was gratitude that in this analogue of the afterworld—and how had she come to walk so handily in this world of the dead when she was still among the living?—Hector's body was not battered by rain and howling wind. And as she thought of him he was standing there before her, smiling.
"Sister," he said, "it is you. I might have expected to see you here."
"Hector—" She broke off. "How is it with you?"
"Why—" he stopped and seemed to consider. "Better than I ever expected," he said. "The pain is gone, so I suppose I am dead; I only remember being wounded, and thinking this must be the end; then I woke and Patroklos came and helped me to rise. He was with me for a while, and then he said he had to stay with Akhilles; and went away. After that I went to the palace tonight, but Andromache could not see me. I tried to speak with her and then with Mother, to tell them I was all right, but neither of them seemed to hear me at all."
"Well, when you were living, did you ever hear the voice of the dead?"
"Well, no, of course not; I never learned how to listen for it."
"Well, then; that is why they could not hear. What can I do for you, my brother? Do you want sacrifices or—"
"I can't imagine what good it would do," Hector said. "But do tell Andromache not to cry; it feels very strange not to be able to comfort her. So tell her not to mourn, and if you can, tell her I will come soon and take Astyanax with me; I would like to leave him to take care of her; but I have been told—"
"By whom?"
"I don't know," Hector said. "I can't seem to remember; perhaps it was Patroklos - but I know well that my son will come to me very soon, and Father, and Paris. But not Andromache; she will stay there a long time." He advanced to her and she felt the faint touch of his lips against her forehead.
"I will bid you farewell too, sister," he said, "but have no fears; there will be much to suffer, but I promise you, all will be well with you."
"And Troy?"
"Ah, no; it is already fallen," he said. "See?" And he turned her round, with gentle insubstantial hands, and behind her she saw a great heap of rubble, with flames rising, where once Troy had stood. But the sound of such destruction… how could she not have heard it?
"There is no time here," he said. "What is, and what is to be, are all one - I do not understand all these things," he said fretfully. "For tonight I walked in the halls of my father's palace where they were feasting, and now look, the city has been fallen for a long time. Maybe when I was on earth I should have inquired of those who know these things, but there never seemed to be time. But now I see Apollo and Poseidon—look, they are striving with one another for the city—" he said, and pointed to where above the fallen walls it seemed that two monstrous figures, spanning the clouds, stood and battled, their flesh glowing like lightning.
She shivered at the sight of the beloved face of the Sunlord, crowned by brilliant golden curls; would he turn and see her walking in the forbidden realms? Resolutely she turned back to Hector's shadowy form.
"What of Troilus? Is it well with him?"
"He was with me for a little; he came running out just a little behind me," Hector said. "But he remained at the palace with Mother; he was trying to tell her not to grieve. He would not believe that he could not make her hear him. Perhaps she would listen to you if you told her; she knows you are a priestess and wise in such things."
"Ah, I do not know if she will listen to me, either, dear brother," Kassandra said. "She has her own opinions and no room for mine. But for the sake of our parents and their peace of mind—" she stopped to consider. "I came here to try to perhaps frighten Akhilles into releasing your body for ransom; perhaps you would do better than I at that."
"Do you think he'd be afraid of ghosts? He has killed so many, he must live with them surrounding him at all times," Hector said. "But I will go and see what I can do. Go back, Sister; back to your own side of that wall which now rises between us, and tell Mother and Father that they should not waste time grieving; they will be with me soon enough. And be certain to tell Andromache not to grieve; I will be waiting here for our son, and tell him not to be afraid; I will be ready to greet him. She would not want him to live in the days that are coming now."
Hector turned away from her, and drifted toward the tent of Akhilles. After a moment he turned again and already, she thought, he looked distant and strange, a man she did not know. "No, do not follow, Sister; our ways part here. Perhaps we may meet again, and understand each other better."
"Am I not to join you and Troilus, and our mother and father?"
"I don't know," he said. "You serve other Gods; I think if you pass death you may go elsewhere. But it is given to me to know that here our ways part, for a long time if not forever. May it always be well with you, Kassandra." He embraced her, and she was surprised to feel his strength in the embrace. This was no ghost, but as real as she was herself. Then he was gone, even his shadow vanishing on the plain.
CHAPTER 10
Toward morning the rain stopped, and was replaced by strong winds. Kassandra drifted in and out of sleep where again and again she dreamed she tried to follow Hector's ghost toward the-tents of Akhilles where the Akhaian roused up to stare and gibber in terror at the sight of Hector walking in and out through the walls of his tent, laughing at him, or found herself in Agamemnon's tent. The King stared wildly up at her and tried to seize her, but she drifted out of his arms as if she were made of mist, and he shouted with rage and lunged after her, howling with frustration.
When at last she woke faint sunlight was coming through the shutters and Honey was staring at her in amazement. She wondered if she had been talking or crying out in her sleep. She seldom slept this late, but of course she had been awake till almost dawn. Dressing quickly, she tried to cling with her memory to the messages Hector had told her to give. She knew how quickly, like half-remembered dreams, these experiences faded. She was just tying the belt of her dress when Phyllida ran in.
"Kassandra, come at once; the serpents—"
"I cannot; I have a message to deliver," Kassandra said. "I trust that you can do whatever needs to be done."
"But—"
"Well, quickly then - have they run away or all crawled into their homes?" she demanded, suddenly afraid that this would be the dreaded earthquake warning - it was sure to come soon, only, please the Gods, not today, not today!
"Well, no, but—"
"Then don't trouble me; I have weighty matters on my mind and cannot stay to talk. Take Honey with you; dress her and give her some breakfast - I'll come and tend to her when I can," she said, and ran out of the chamber and down the hill.
As she went downward, she stopped briefly to look over the wall; once again Akhilles's chariot was circling on the plain, his horses whipped to their greatest speed. The inert bundle of Hector's body was being dragged behind; yet her sight was now so clear between worlds that she could see him, a bright shadow standing at the edge of the field, laughing at the foolish thing the Akhaian captain was trying to do. She knew what he found so funny; and as she came down to her parents, standing on the wall in the usual place above the gates, she laughed aloud.