Page 45 of Odette's Vow

Odette and my men would sail around the bay, just beyond the peak of the mountain, and wait. I, and forty-nine others, would remain inside the horse. We had left one, Sinon, who waited outside.

It took the Trojans a day to find us. No doubt they had wondered why their scouts hadn’t reported us marching forward on the battlefield as we had always done, come the dawn. Instead, we had rested inside the belly of the wooden beast for the long night under the light of a full moon, a positive omen from Artemis that our plan – my plan – would come to fruition. Now, we were wide awake and alert, listening for the slightest hint that the Trojans knew we were inside.

“What is it?” one of them asked Sinon.

“Isn’t it obvious? It is an offering to Poseidon, to give them safe passage,” another Trojan accent answered his friend.

Another man snorted. “We should burn it then.”

I could hear my own ragged breathing and clamped my hand over my mouth, an active reminder to myself and the men around me to make as little noise as possible.

We had accepted the risk that they might choose to burn the horse.

“No, it is a gift to Athena,” Sinon told them. “The Greeks admit that Troy is impenetrable. So they have given a gift to the Goddess of War, for her wisdom in helping to create such a city. A citadel that cannot be beaten. It is the ultimate place for her warriors to reside. You should take it as a reminder. Troy will always remain impenetrable.”

“Why should we believe you?”

I felt my heart hammer in my chest. This had been the other calculated risk – to leave Sinon outside the horse. It slightly negated the chance that the Trojans would outright burn the horse, but it would be Sinon’s silver tongue that would determine what they would do next. It was exactly why I had chosen him.

“My commander, Odysseus, left me here to rot, knowing that you would most likely kill me. All because I called him out in front of everyone, that the Palladium he stole showed him thatwe would never win, no matter what any of the soothsayers said. He had told us we were coming here for honour and glory, but all we got was death and disease. What loyalty should I have to him now?”

“Why did you stay with the horse?”

This time, a female voice asked the question. That was unusual – highly unusual.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” Sinon mumbled. I could hear his feet scuffing against the sand, and I could imagine his head bowed as he said it. A young man, no more than ten and nine, no doubt attempting to look like the petulant child that needed taking in, especially if there was a woman present. He should be able to play on her weakness, her need to save and nurture.

“We should take the offering into the citadel. Offer it to Athena ourselves as thanks for driving the Greeks from our shores,” one of the Trojan males said.

“No, you shouldn’t. If you do, Troy will burn,” the female voice warned them, turning sharp. A reprimand.

“Luckily, I don’t take my orders from you, Cassandra.” I could hear the smirk in the unknown man’s tone. “Why don’t you go back to the temple and make your ominous declarations to someone who will listen? Apollo, perhaps?”

Another man outside the horse sniggered.

I grinned at the soldiers around me. Despite the darkness, slivers of light snuck through some of the gaps in the wooden panelling. Not enough that the outsiders could see in, but just enough to keep fresh air circulating. I was grinning because Cassandra was known for her declarations. No one ever believed her prophecies, which was just as good as cementing our cause.

“I agree with Cassandra. We should set fire to this monstrosity.”

Suddenly, we all felt the ground shake. Risking a peek out of one of the slits in the horse, I watched as the earth around one of the men cracked open. It was as if a seam in the soil opened up directly to the Underworld itself. The jagged rocks around the chasm looked like teeth as the man began to fall into it. There was a crunch as he fell face first against the rocks, his scream strangling the air. “I can’t see! I can’t see! Oh gods, I’ve gone blind – help me!”

No man made a move to help him. Neither did Cassandra. They all watched on, for this was no freak act of nature – this was a clear act of a god. Or goddess, I considered, given that Sinon had mentioned Athena. And to insult Athena’s intelligence was a fool’s move.

Eventually the earth stopped shaking and one of the men dared to help the fool to his feet.

“I suggest we all take Laocoön’s lesson here to heart. He has clearly been punished for doubting this young man’s words, for suggesting we mutilate a gift that has now been claimed in Athena’s name. She clearly cares for this offering. Let us wheel it into the citadel and present it to King Priam.”

“Agreed,” one of the other generals seconded.

Cassandra said nothing.

Laocoön continued moaning.

And that was that.

There was uncomfortable jostling as they rigged the horse up onto the wheel pulley system. The men and I bumped against each other, trying not to grunt as we swayed between flesh and wood, one way and then the other. We might’ve been bruised, but this was it – our chance to get behind those Trojan walls. Victory was so close, we could almost taste it.

We waited in silence throughout the long journey across the battlefield where our brothers’ blood had been spilled.

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