"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.