Achilles&Briseis: A Novel

Chapter 13

The rattle woke Briseis. She'd been having what had come to be her normal dream of the lion who'd transform into a man. 'I'll be coming for you soon, Princess,' he'd told her, 'the time has come.' Then the dream was ripped away from her as the rattle began to stir her to wakefulness.

The torches and fire had gone out. Briseis shivered. Not because lack of light frightened her but the temperature had dropped so far she could see her breath. A louder rattle followed by crashing thunder and lightning bellowed overhead.

"Princess," a half dressed Kegarta rushed into her room carrying a candle. "Are you well?" 

"Yes." Briseis got out of bed and went to see the storm as her maid went about relighting the fire. White balls covered the floor leading to the curtained off balcony. She pulled the cloth away to reveal a spectacular sight.

The hail, she'd heard tales of it from travelers coming from the north, was falling all over the city. Such a storm rarely came so far south. In the brief flashes of lightning the sea could be observed as raging with huge waves breaking on the beach. The boats of fishermen on the beach would be destroyed by daybreak. 

"The gods are angry," Kegarta said as she put a blanket around Briseis' shoulders.

"It seems so."

The door to her chambers burst open as a wild eyed Cassandra stormed in. Her flowing copper robe complimented her hair. Or would have had the woman not worn an ugly expression. Taking no heed of the other two women, Cassandra walked by them and into the hail.

"Princess of Troy," Briseis called, "come away from the storm. I'll call for warm wine from the kitchens to avoid you getting sick."

Cassandra let out a bitter laugh. "Your room has the best view of the ocean. The sickness has been in Troy for some time." Cassandra said nothing else as she continued to let herself be pelted by the increasingly harsh downpour.

Feeling that she had no other choice Briseis walked into the hail. It stung her flesh with every drop and hurt her feet with each step. Kegarta tried to follow but Briseis waved the young girl off. The last time Kegarta had gotten even a minor cold she'd been ill for an entire month. Briseis took Cassandra's shoulders and gently steered her back inside.

"Doom has come. He sails for Troy with a woman he has stolen," Cassandra said quietly. "The gods have seen. There will be war now. It's too late."

Briseis turned to her handmaiden. "Wine and bread, Kegarta."

The girl was looking at the Princess of Troy with wide eyes. It took Briseis repeating her request for the girl to comply. Kegarta rushed from the room to fulfill her orders while Briseis got a soaking wet Cassandra to sit by the fire.

Briseis studied the woman whose own mother claimed was riddled with madness. Her curly hair was made flat by the moisture and clung to her face and neck. Her skin was still red in some places where the hail had hit hardest. Briseis hadn't known Cassandra long; in fact their interactions had been limited to meals and Queen Hecuba's circle of women. What Briseis could see in Cassandra's eyes was loss. The woman was resigned now to her dark prophecy. 

"Cassandra?" Briseis said her name to get the woman's attention. The Princess of Troy had been staring into the darkness with a blank and frightening look. The older woman turned her eyes to Briseis. Her eyes were rimmed red, they seemed deep and at the same time incredibly shallow. Sorrow was written on her face. A deep sorrow that takes root in the soul and will not be burned out. Briseis continued to speak, "What is the doom sailing for us?" 

Cassandra picked at her wet gown. "Paris stole Helen of Sparta. He has taken the Queen of Sparta as his lover and wife though she belongs to another man, and Paris is already married to the daughter of the river god. A thousand ships will sail for Troy; men will fight and die for ten years thanks to his folly. Troy will burn while he burns with lust for the golden eyed daughter of Zeus. I will be taken as a slave to the household of Agamemnon. Andromache will be taken by the son of Achilles. It's our cursed fates. It could have been avoided but it's too late now and none will hear. They can't hear for the curse deafens most to the truth."

Brisies wasn't sure what to say to that. "Let me get you something else to wear," Briseis said in a bewildered state. Briseis was a smaller woman than Cassandra but anything would be better than sitting in wet clothes. She found her largest garment which would only come down to Cassandra's knees. Briseis helped the Princess of Troy change then got herself in some dry clothes as well.

As she hung their dripping night dresses by the fire she thought about what Cassandra claimed. It seemed impossible. Troy was so mighty, the center of commerce and the kingdom to which all other kingdoms of the Troad paid homage. But Troy had been laid low before. Long before Briseis had been born, Heracles had broken the city because of her king's dishonor. That war had seen Priam elevated to the throne despite being the lowest born son.

"I tried to stop it," Cassandra stared into the fire. "The night before he left I went to his room. He was drunk with wine and in the company of his nymph wife. She screamed as she saw me about to plunge the knife into his back. If he had died this wouldn't be."

Kegarta returned leading three women. They deposited the food and wine before the two royal women and Kegarta ushered them out. Kegarta went to take her assigned place in moments such as this which was to stand with hands folded behind her mistress.

"Sit with us and take wine, Kegarta." The girl followed Briseis' order and pulled a blanket over herself.

"Princess, tell me," Briseis placed a hand over Cassandra's in comfort, "where do your prophecies come from."

"For this tale we'll need more wine."