Sacrifice

Chapter V: “Getting closer and closer ”

The wooden door of the cabin that Helen and Briseis were in slowly opened and a man came down the ladder, whom Briseis recognized to be Arokh. He was holding a tray with some food, a jug of wine and two cups that he laid down on the floor ion front of the women.

“I apologize for the inconvenience but this is the only cabin this ship’s got,” he informed them with an apparently friendly smile. “You’d better eat something; the journey is quite long, and I will bring you some clean water and towels for that wound at your head,” he said to Briseis.

“There is no need for this sham. Just tell us when you are going to kill us,” Briseis burst out indignantly.

Helen was stunned by her words and Arokh, who was at the point of climbing back on deck, turned to her also taken by surprise.

“No one wants to kill you. I know you may be under the impression that you are prisoners but you are not. Briseis, if I hadn’t intervened back there Agamemnon would have killed you.”

“If you haven’t intervened I would have killed Agamemnon,” she spat out.

“And in doing so you would have only brought death upon yourself.”

“If you realreally cared about my welfare you would have taken me to my family.

“The whole of Troy was burning and they may have already been dead, but I promise you that after we reach Damascus and you are safe I will search for all the Trojans who survived and offer them a new home.”

“Damascus?” Helen barely asked with a trembling voice, as if afraid to speak although the man had been kinder than they would have ever imagined. “Is that in …… Syria?”

“Yes”

“Why are you taking us so far?”

“Your husband will explain it to you at the right time …… and don’t worry …… ,” he added when he saw her shiver the moment he mentioned Menelaus, “ …… he will not harm you in any way, trust me.”

Arokh straightened up from the crouch position in which he had stayed while talking to Briseis and Helen and turned to leave when Briseis’ cold voice stopped him once more.

“You fought against the Trojans, against my people and slaughtered hundreds of men who’s only sin was loving their country too much. How can I believe that someone like you wants to save me.”

“You did it before, did you not?” he responded on a serious tone he had never used with her before. “Achilles is dead. I saw him die. A Trojan general, whom he attacked, gave him a mortal wound just before dying himself. Then others came and overwhelmed him with their swords and spears. Even half-gods die. If you want, come with me on deck and see for yourself the smoke rising from his funeral pyre; probably the biggest one built since the war started.”

Saying nothing more, Arokh climbed back out, leaving Briseis in shock, looking as if she would burst into tears in any second.

“What did he men by that?” Helen inquired.

“There is something I haven’t told you, or anyone else,” Briseis sobbed as two tears trickled down her cheeks.

Arokh was gazing at the smoke rising from the burnt city of Troy, which was far away now, but still visible. He knew very well that it was not the smoke of Achilles’ funeral pyre and he was more than certain that the Greek hero was still alive. He hoped Briseis had been for him nothing more than an adventure and he would return to Greece because if Achilles loved her as much as he did, then he would undoubtedly accompany Agamemnon to Syria.

Upon her return to Syria, princess Enehy took her rightful place as queen and let the citizens of Damascus know that from that day on she would be ruling the city. Unfortunately, she did not have enough time to deal with the problems of her subjects as by the time she returned to her homeland, back in Troy the Greeks had already took hold of the city and it would not be long before they would set sail for Syria, according to the agreement she had made with their King.


It had been a week now since her arrival and she grew more and more worried and frustrated with each day that went by. One particular morning she woke up with not even the slightest desire of doing something. After getting out of bed she went to the balcony of her chamber, where she sat on a bench for almost an hour, gazing at the city below, at the land stretching beyond its protective walls and especially at the river flowing near by, whose banks would soon be crowded with hundreds of Greek ships.

She had nightmares about the man she had killed -that traitorous governor-, even though she kept telling herself that it had been the right thing to do, but her worst fears that kept her awake at night were connected with the pact she had made. She had been so eager to leave Agamemnon’s enceence that day that she ended up agreeing to something that would oblige her to bear his presence more that she would have ever wanted. Concerned as she was with the political and military aspects, she realized only later the more intimate implications of being Agamemnon’s wife and now the thought of having to sleep with that man made her panic. Twas was the only thought that had haunted her mind for a couple of days and she tried to keep her calm, thinking that this was in fact a small price to pay for the welfare of the people.

“Enehy? Enehy, are you in here?” A familiar, feminine voice woke her up from her daydreaming.

“Yes, I am out here Nerita,” the queen quickly answered after recognizing who it was.

Nerita was Enehy’s youngest cousin, the twelfth child of her late mother’s sister, who ruled together with her husband the city of Minion, situated somewhere near Persia. Facing an arranged marriage, the 17-year-old princess fled her palace and sought shelter in her cousin’s kingdom. Nerita never got along with her parents, due to her rebellious nature and since she had eleven older siblings who could take the throne after the passing of their parents, the issues of her disgracing the family name was not that important. After all, she had always been more of a shadow than a person, always being underestimated and left behind by her brothers and sisters, but mostly be her father who had doubts about her being his daughter.

From a physical point of view Nerita was completely different form most of the people living in that part of the world. Her skin was pale, her eyes were as green as two emerald stones and her very long and wavy hair shone brighter than the sun. Her mother was always insisting that the girl had inherited these unusual features from her Greek ancestors, her father often accused her of having cheated on him, while some superstitious people saw her as some sort of messenger from the gods.

“A very beautiful morning, don’t you think?” Enehy asked her cousin as the latter approached and sat down on the bench beside her.

“All mornings are the same here,” Nerita answered with an obvious lack of enthusiasm.

“Then it means that all mornings are as beautiful as this one. We should be grateful to the gods for having created such splendors.”

“Yeah, I guess …… ,” came another monotonous reply on Nerita’s behalf.

“I am so frightened, I don’t know what I am going to do,” Enehy burst out all of a sudden, trying to control her trembling voice and the tears in her eyes.

Nerita came closer and tried to look into her eyes, which were fixed on the floor beneath.

“What are you talking about? Does this have something to do with that alliance you made with the Greeks?”

“Yes, it does.”

“I thought you said it is someg gog good.”

“It is good for the city, not for me.”

“Oh, I see now. It is about you marrying their king. Well, in this case I understand what you feel. I didn’t want to get married either. That’s why I ran away from home.”

“No, it’s not that. I have nothing against marrying him, just against having to share my bed with him.”

“Is he that disgusting?”

“I prefer not to ruin the surprise by giving you any details. Your impression of him is most likely to lift my spirit a bit.”

“I’ve heard so many stories about Agamemnon. I always thought he was a tall, handsome and powerful warrior. How could this be?” Nerita asked rather disappointed.

“Oh, it be!”

“Maybe you’re lucky and after a couple of nights he will prefer the company of the harem girls.”

“I wouldn’t care if I had to sleep with him for the rest of my life …… if I knew how it was.”

“How it was what? …… Oh, you mean …… you’ve never …… ?”

“No.”

“You’re twenty-five years old and you have never …… ,” Nerita spoke with a wide smile but Enehy quickly interrupted her, seeing nothing amusing in her comment.

“I occupied my time with matters of greater importance and I don’t regret it.”

“I’m sorry,” the young cousin apologized, letting her gaze drop to the floor …… but only for a short while as a new idea enlightened her face.

“Why don’t you do it before with someone you like and see how it is?” Nerita asked with a lot of enthusiasm but received from her cousin a horrified look in return.

“What kind of woman do you think I am? Besides, men like their wives to be pure on their wedding night.”

“You shouldn’t continue tormenting yourself with this matter. It will pass quickly, don’t worry. Is he old?”

“Not very, but still …… “

“See, it will pass quickly. Look at all this food, and you haven’t even tasted it. You know, starving to death is no solution.”

Enehy couldn’t help but smile at her cousin’s comments and she followed her advice, starting to taste the various types of food laid on a small table before her.