Page 25 of Odette's Vow

“What is going on?” I asked Τ?ιλορ?α as she, too, marched past.

“I’d have thought you’d know. Apparently Odysseus has asked the men to gather at the dais on King Agamemnon’s behalf.”

We followed behind the soldiers, curious to see what the announcement was. Surely, it was about the dissent amongst the ranks, and I wondered if today was the day Odysseus would announce what the men would be doing if they would not go to war. They couldn’t, after all, have them all whipped into compliance. There would be a mutiny.

Sure enough, Odysseus stood on the top of the dais and called out to the men. “Soldiers of all the Greek islands – I speak to you now. I understand your grumbles and groans. It has been a long time away from home. But, you knew this would happen.So said the oracle who, need I remind you, also ensured we would be victorious! Do you really think Achilles, the greatest warrior of all, would be here, fighting a war he could not find glory in?”

Odysseus stepped down and Achilles, that bronzed god-like man with lithe muscles, took his place to deliver a speech to the men. Of course, Achilles was a favourite amongst the men for his fighting skill and the women for his looks. Not that he ever took a woman to his bed. That place was reserved for his cousin, his companion, Patroclus. No one particularly cared. Patroclus was as passive in nature as most women, so it came as no surprise that he shared a bed with Achilles. Still, the women swooned.

I, however, found my eyes darting towards Odysseus. He was so much more heavily muscled than Achilles, and would naturally be slower in speed. They were slow and fast, dark and light in colouring; complete opposites.

I wondered if I was attracted to the darkness of Odysseus because of the darkness that now stained my spirit. What was good in me had died the day I had accepted my fate, and now I was only attracted to the cunning, the dark, the evilness left on Earth.

Stop it. Focus on their speeches.

Even in speech, Achilles was the opposite of Odysseus. While Achilles corralled the men into lifting their hands, swords and spears into the air chanting, his words were laboured. As if every word he landed was like a blow, trying to get through these dense men’s skulls. Odysseus, meanwhile, when he went to speak again, his words were suave, whispering through the men’s ears and behind their defences so that they could find no fault in his argument.

A moat would be built, he declared, along the perimeter of the beach. Wide enough that the Trojans could not simply jump across it, and deep enough that they would not see thespikes that would skewer them. Any man who did not wish to participate in the war and follow Achilles into victory, or who was recovering from wounds, would help build this moat.

I smiled.

It was the perfect pointless project. The Greeks had no need for the moat. The Trojans never came out of their citadel, except to fight the day’s battles. But, it would ensure the men had something to do other than moan. They’d feel like they were accomplishing something. and the ones who despised the hard labour of digging trenches (which would certainly not earn them glory), would begrudgingly return to the battlefield.

Odysseus’ eyes met mine and he returned my smile. It was slight, barely noticeable from where I was on the edges of the mass of Greeks. More of a faint curl at one corner of his lips. But it was there.

Horrified at the joy that threatened to bubble up inside me, I turned to head back to our camp.

I was completely lost in thought, treacherous and heart wrenching, when another of the women fell alongside me.

“Natalia, how are you?” I asked, shaking my head from my reverie. With one glance at her, I caught the bruise dangerously close to her eye, now turning a putrid green. “Shall we make you another pumice for that?” I nodded at the offence.

“No need. Haven’t you heard?”

“Heard what?”

“Your Lord Odysseus only went and had Thersites beaten unconscious last night. I was so worried all night I did not sleep a wink, but I found him today in the medics tent. He’s lamenting that he needs to stay at least for a few days, until he can see out of one eye again. At last, I shall get a peaceful two or three nights to myself!”

With that, she practically skipped off.

I stewed over the information, busying myself with the usual chores of the day until Odysseus reappeared in the tent.

“Not off fighting today?” I eyed him warily.

“I’ve been tasked by King Agamemnon to oversee the project while it gets on its feet. Looks like I, too, get a short reprieve from the war for a change.”

I continued pottering about, my back turned to him.

“Odette? There is something you’re not telling me …”

I continued about my chores in silence.

“Odette,” he warned.

“Why,” I ground out, trying to counter my temper as I shook out the blankets and pillows to be washed, “did you have Thersites beaten half to death?”

Odysseus paused a minute, as if sensing a trap, before replying. “For his effect on the men.”

“For his effect on the men?” I almost laughed as I turned to look at him, wringing a loose polishing cloth through my fingers.

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