Page 15 of Odette's Vow

4 The personification of pain.

6

Οdysseus

Greek women, slaves or not, didn’t defy men. They didn’t show anger. They didn’t make the circumstances around them about themselves. A good woman was a reflection of a good man.

I had no reason to suspect Trojan women were any different, until that little outburst of hers.

It had forced me to look at the situation with an outsider’s eyes, and indeed – though I’d admit it to no man – my suspicion had coloured my judgement. Odettehadbeen attentive to Diomedes, but no more than any other slave would have been. Knowing what I know now, that attentiveness born of being bred as a good wife, coupled with her undoubted hatred towards me, would have made it easy for her to be so lavish in her attention with Diomedes.

I was right. Shehadbeen trying to get one over on me, but not for the reasons I had initially suspected.

Her confession had thrown me. I would have thought a woman who’d watched her husband killed in battle would be fearful, cowering, quiet – secretive, even. Not defiant and loud about such a thing. It was obnoxious during a civilised meal.

It unsettled me, this behaviour, until my suspicions morphed into something deeper. A mere mortal woman wouldn’t dare challenge a general like myself; it just didn’t happen. So, if she wasn’t a spy, she had to be something more – something otherworldly. She must have been a goddess in disguise. Which one, though? If she bore the essence of either Aphrodite or Artemis, she was a formidable adversary for the Greeks, her presence here more dangerous than I had thought. With that swan-like neck of hers, Aphrodite seemed the most likely contender.

Then again, with those eyes like a hawk, perhaps it was Athena disguised in a mortal woman’s body. Everyone knew the goddess was grey-eyed, but the gods could morph however they saw fit when they wanted to walk among us. If itwasAthena, who had sided with us Greeks, then perhaps she had come to guide my men to victory and cement my place in the history of it all.

I had killed a mortal man she’d obviously cared about and she was displeased. Regardless of which goddess inhabited the form, I was not about to anger her further. Instead, I had cleaned up as she had taken her leave. I hated the flies getting in. They reminded me of the battlefield.

Tidiness, order; those things were necessary for me to rest. Penelope had known that and indulged my need to check everything was as it should be, however unorthodox it was.

I had hoped that mentioning my wife to the goddess inhabiting Odette’s body would prompt her to reveal her decree – a typically risky endeavor designed to fulfill her purpose while ultimately granting my human desires. I knew how the gods loved to bargain.

But, the goddess hadn’t chosen that moment.

The last time I was in the presence of a goddess, I’d been certain. It had been an age since Athena had appeared to me inIthaca. I wondered if my memory had morphed such an event, coloured it with nostalgia, and called it accurate. As I laid in my pallet bed, one arm stretched out over my head, one leg cocked outside of the rich red blanket – one of the only treasures I’d brought from home – I wracked my memory.

It had been a still night,the sky a deep purple velvet as it settled over the sky, Orion’s star a shining beacon that seemed to blink at me. Perched on the rocks that led down to the Ionian Sea, the water lapping gently at the rocks, I searched the sky for the star cluster of the Pleiades – the seven daughters of the titan Atlas that Orion had pursued obsessively – but they were nowhere to be found on this night.

I continued searching, breathing in the sea breeze that carried salt and the subtle promise of something to come, when there was a shift in the air. Barely perceptible, it was so subtle that had the night not been so still, I would not have noticed it. I knew a god now stood behind me, and I knew they would not let me see them unless they wanted to be seen, so I continued looking out towards the horizon.

“Odysseus,” a female voice began, as clear and commanding as the wind itself. “Son of Laertes. You know the Fates call for you beyond these shores.” She paused, allowing the weight of her words to settle in the cool air before continuing. “The assembly of Greeks prepare for an expedition unlike any seen before. One that shall be etched in the memories of men for generations to come. They seek to reclaim Helen and restore the honour of Menelaus.”

I had known this was coming. I’d heard word that Agamemnon was gathering an army to rally and defend the rights of his younger brother. A convenient excuse to go to war over a trade route Agamemnon had long wanted access to. Iwondered if Paris making such a move against Menelaus was truly for love, or convenient propaganda.

“Lady Athena, you honour me with your presence.” There was no other goddess that would speak to me of such things.I bowed my head, still refusing to face her.

She stepped closer, and from the periphery of my vision I saw an ethereal figure in full battle regalia glowing faintly under the moonlight. “This venture will require not just the brawn my brother Ares seeks, but a leader of intellect.” Another pause. “Your cunning is famed far and wide, Odysseus. None can weave strategies and tactics as you can. Troy’s walls, mighty as they are, will yield to your schemes.”

Another pause, though now I knew she expected an answer. I hesitated, knowing to do so was a dangerous move.“My son …” I began. Penelope had given birth only months ago.

“Your heart longs for the peace of Ithaca, I see that. It is what makes you such a wise king. But think of the legacy you wish to leave for your son, Telemachus. Will he not grow prouder knowing his father was a key architect in the greatest siege known to all?”

I felt a feminine hand rest on my shoulder as she turned me to face her. The full effect of the goddess punched through me with such power I had to fight my knees not to buckle.

“Your story is not finished, Odysseus. There is a reason you seek out Orion and his quest.” Her stare remained intense and unyielding. “I will be with you. With your wisdom and my favour, there is no fortress so impregnable, no enemy so formidable. Join this cause, Odysseus. Answer the call of the Fates. In the tapestry of time, let your thread shine with unmatched brilliance.”

Above her, Orion shone brighter. Even the seas of Poseidon seemed to fall silent, the lapping waves coming to a halt. I knew Athena would not be denied. My future had been mappedout before me, stretching out to the horizon. A path that would no doubt lead to glory. But would it also lead to death? As I gave my answer to the divine persuader, Athena, her grey eyes burned with the promise of one or the other.I just wasn’t certain of which.

I wokewith renewed vigor the next morning, certain that Athena had come to me in Odette’s form. She had arrived to help me bring this war to its conclusion.

The thought was further enforced when the day’s battles unfolded with unexpected ease: the men fought with greater skill, their movements swifter and sharper, winning skirmishes with increasing success. Then each day after that, the Trojans were driven further back, retreating behind their walls as Greek cheers rang out across the camp. By the seventh day, as I made my way back through the bustling camp to the tent and to her, the echoes of victory lingered in my ears.

In the confines of the tent, the air was heavy, filled with a stench that made even me gag. I was aware I was no picture of cleanliness myself, my armour coated with mud, blood, and sweat. I could taste my own scent, sharp and acrid, yet it had nothing on the foul smell in here.

It had been a week, and still Odette’s form had not risen from the bed on which she slept, her back always to the canvas tent opening. It irked me. One should never have their back to where enemies could come in. Athena, even in a mortal form, would not be so foolish.

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