"Oh, my lord Akhilles, I am sure I need not say to you why I have come; I beg you to yield up to me what is customary and proper, and give me the body of my fallen son Hector for proper burial."
Akhilles's face did not move a muscle, he only smiled very slightly. Priam rushed on, "You are so valiant, sir; you have fought long; but all these years of battle, we have returned your dead to you that their bodies may be given to the fire and their spirits sent off properly to the afterworld."
"Hector angered me," Akhilles said. "He really should not have had the arrogance to go up against me, whom the Gods have sworn to protect."
Priam stopped and swallowed; he could not think what to say to that. Kassandra clenched her fists under her hanging sleeves.
And he dares speak of arrogance?
Priam said at last, "My lord Akhilles, a warrior challenges the finest opponent he can. And he has fallen; you who are so • powerful, cannot you be merciful to Hector's wife and child as well?"
"No," said Akhilles, "I can't."
He stopped and Kassandra could hear them all listening for his next word; but he was so silent for so long that she thought he intended to leave it at that. But then he said, "I have sworn that I will have the revenge that has been given to me."
Priam leaned forward and laid his hands on Akhilles's knees. His words rushed out of him.
"Prince Akhilles, you must have had a father once; can you not for your own father's sake be merciful? Hector was the eldest of my sons; I was proud of him as your father must have been of you. And when the gallant Patroklos fell in battle, Hector did not seek to keep his body; he honored a brave fallen foe! He came to the funeral games for Patroklos, because, he said, Patroklos would not grudge him a good dinner; and he said that he looked forward to having much to talk about with Patroklos in the afterlife; they were both warriors and when the battles of this world were over he trusted they would be friends as fellow warriors. Let us lay Hector to rest as you will bury Patroklos."
Akhilles looked toward the shadowed corner of the tent and Kassandra saw that his eyes were suddenly filled with tears. She could see a dozen emotions chasing themselves over his features: hatred, scorn, pity, sorrow; but the sorrow predominated. Her father had evidently found the one thing that might cut through the arrogance and scorn. Akhilles said slowly, "You are right, my lord of Troy; Patroklos has a friend then in the afterlife. Guard!" he snapped out, "go out and bring us the body of royal Hector!"
The soldier bowed to the ground and fled.
Akhilles said, "You spoke of a ransom? What ransom do you offer me, then?"
Priam muttered, "That is for you, noble Akhilles, to say." He drew the ring from his finger and set it on Akhilles's finger. "First I offer this as a gift to you with my thanks."
Akhilles stroked it consideringly. He said with his cruel smile, "I suppose Hector is worth more to you than a few captured chariots."
The madman is enjoying this. It was obvious to Kassandra that he was contemplating something outrageous. Priam mumbled, "I have sworn that I will pay without haggling whatever you ask, Prince Akhilles."
Akhilles rubbed his chin, evidently intending to extort the most drama he could from the scene. "Agamemnon - what should I ask for ransom?"
"Get a good one," Agamemnon said carelessly. "The King of Troy can afford anything you ask; his city has half the riches of the world within its walls."
Odysseus interrupted and said clearly, "Your nobility will be measured by generosity, Akhilles; will you allow a Trojan to outdo you in generosity?" His face was turned away; Kassandra thought that he was ashamed. She wished that they could have dealt with Odysseus alone.
"It's easy to see what a friend to the Trojans you have always been, Odysseus," said Agamemnon. "I have not forgotten how we hardly persuaded you to fight on our side at all."
"Half the riches of the world," murmured Akhilles, looking greedily at the ring. "But still, I do not want to be too greedy; what would I do with half the wealth of the world? I will ask, then, only the weight of Hector's body in gold."
"You shall have it," said Priam, unflinching. "I have sworn."
But this was insufferable, Kassandra thought, no such ransom had ever been asked or paid in the whole history of warfare. Only Akhilles would have ventured such a thing. Odysseus made a sharp movement as if he were about to protest; but he did not speak. Kassandra knew why; a wrong word might touch off his madness - and then there would be no ransom at all.
Priam said, "It shall be weighed out before your eyes at dawn before the walls of Troy, Prince Akhilles, to the last ounce."
Priam bowed so that Akhilles could not see the stonelike contempt on his face.
Akhilles smiled; he had what he wanted, and he had it before his allies.
"Will you drink with me to the bargain then, my Lord of Troy?"
"Thank you," Priam said; it was all too obvious he would rather have spit in Akhilles's face, but he took the cup the prince set in his hand, and took a few swallows, after which he passed the cup to Polyxena and then to Kassandra, who put the cup to her lips without drinking; she knew it would choke her.
"May I then have Hector's body that his mother and sisters may ready it for the pyre?"
"It shall be returned to you washed and decently shrouded, anointed with oil and spices, at dawn before the walls, when the • ransom is paid," Akhilles said.
"Akhilles, in the name of Zeus Thunderer!" Agamemnon burst out, "The King of Troy makes no niggling bargain! Give him what he came for!"
"I did not think a father would wish to look on the body as it is now," said Akhilles, deliberately, watching Priam's face as he spoke. (A cruel child, pulling the wings off flies.) 'I would have it made seemly for his mother to look upon."
"My Lord Akhilles is as kind as we believed all along he was noble," said Kassandra quickly. Yes, just exactly as we believed. "Let it be so. At dawn then, Lord Akhilles," and she pulled at her father's sleeve; Priam's head was bent and he was weeping. She steadied him, and Polyxena took his other arm, as they went out of the tent - quickly, so that Priam would not hear the laughter of Akhilles behind him.
CHAPTER 11
As soon as they returned to Troy, Priam set all the people of the household to frenzied activity, stripping the palace of golden ornaments, demanding the golden necklaces, earrings and rings of the women; and gold cups from the table even before he opened the treasure room and had the gold carried up to the walls.
Priam sent for a priest from the Sunlord's temple to rig up a pair of scales. It was Khryse, and for once he was genuinely too busy to take the slightest notice of Kassandra as he worked with pulleys and weights. She watched him work, understanding the principles of what he was doing, but knowing she had not the skill with her hands or knowledge to do it herself. When he had the strange-looking balance strung up he asked her to lie on one of the platforms so that it could be tested.
"Just pretend you are a dead weight," he said.
"As you like." She took her place, watching as the people of the household piled gold on the other part of the scale. She was surprised at the smallness of the heap which balanced her, lifting her slowly into the air. He saw her look and said, "Gold is heavier than most people think."
She was sure Akhilles knew to the ounce how much gold he would be getting. She began to sit up as they took off the gold and piled it up.
"Your weight in gold, Kassandra," Khryse said. "If it were mine I would offer it all to you for a bride-price."
She sighed and said, "Do not begin that again, my brother."
He looked crestfallen, "Must you always destroy any hopes I might have for happiness in this world?"