The Minoan Rhapsody

The King

The oars drove hard, bending, driving the ship forward. The oarsmen chanted their rowing cadence, incited by a coxswain who walked among them. With each stroke, the sea turned lighter blue. On command, oars extracted, and all onboard braced while the hull drove deep into the beach sand. The oarsmen pushed the handles upward and drove the paddles into the sand, keeping the ship from tipping.

King Minos was back at Knossos.

No time wasted, the Keiftu on board and on shore got busy as there was much work to be done in and around the ship before the return of high tide.

The King stood tall at the bow, looking at the ruins of the houses that lined the harbor. It is worse than I imagined. He turned around and faced Daedalus who was behind him.

"Come. Make sure your sons bring the dogs."

A group of Keiftu led by Nashuja, who carried Rhadamanthus newborn, greeted him. "King Minos. The Gods bless us with your safe return." She and her company scanned the ship's crew. "Where is Rhadamanthus and Sarpedon?"

"Atropos cut their thread."

Nashuja's eyes widened while the Keiftu surrounding them rumbled amongst themselves.

The King briefly explained the events near Avaris. "Rhadamanthus could not bear witness Sarpedon's death, and he jumped to the river in shear madness."

He would never do that! Nashuja handed the child to another woman as her eyes glistened. "Where are their bodies?"

"They were not recovered," Minos answered.

The crowd chattered amongst themselves. Some concerned, while others were in disbelief.

"May the Gods keep them well. Surely, they wonder through the Elysian Fields," one man proclaimed.

"May I be excused my King?" Nashuja asked in a trembling voice.

"Of course." King Minos began his walk towards Knossos palace while the news of his brothers' death sped past him.

Life came to a standstill as the Keiftu watched their King lead a procession up the main street. Sadness filled the air while uncertainty augmented the hunger of the Keiftu. The ones standing throughout the King's route discussed within themselves, wondering about the events they hadn't seen. They pointed at him, some looking over their shoulders, others sobbing on their knees.

King Minos fell into a somber trance, looking at a city he didn't recognized anymore. A lot of the destruction was cleared from the thoroughfares. Some tents rose from where houses used to stand. Animals were corralled and the dead were buried. "Daedalus," he called.

The Athenian rushed to his side.

"There is far more work to be done than I anticipated, but I must first tend to my people."

#

The palace, built with heavier stones, mostly survived. Some walls and terraces crumbled to the ground. The storage chambers, holding a large portion of the Island's goods remained intact.

While in the throne room, King Minos was soon visited by his council.

"We are doing well with supplies, but we've rationed them," a councilwoman named Simura told him. She was the keeper of health and culture.

"Why? If we have food and water, there is no need for my people to be hungry."

"We are uncertain about our supplies, my King. The harvest is beginning to rot in the fields as everyone is cleaning and recovering. It took us a few days just to find all the dead. Few livestock are being slaughtered as people lost their wealth and can't buy meat."