Page 65 of Odette's Vow

When the moment came, Odysseus plunged the stake into the Cyclops’ eye. A scream of agony, so painful I felt my eardrums crack, filled the cave. The Cyclops thrashed in pain against the heavy stake firmly lodged in his eye, and I held my breath, every nerve in my body on edge, waiting for him to pull it out. But while his hands clawed at his face, the damage was done, blood and ichor pouring down his body into puddles larger than a man at his feet.

I grabbed Odysseus’ arm again and pulled him towards the sheep. Together, along with the other men, we crawled beneath the animals, clutching their wooly bellies as the monster staggered around, blindly searching for us.

If we could just hold on a little longer, we might have a chance of escaping this nightmare.

The next few moments dissolved into chaos, with the deafening roars of the monster, the frantic bleating of sheep, and all of us scrambling beneath the animals’ bellies. Dust and debris filled the air, while the beast’s hands blindly groped for any one of us. Finding nothing, he let out a terrifying bellow, one that made me squeeze my sheep tighter until it let out a bleat among the many, and flung open the cave entrance. My sheep immediately bolted for the outside, the giant’s hands brushing the back of the sheep as he did so, barely missing me, but I held on tightly. The rough wool scratched at my skin, but I didn’t dare let go.

When we passed through the cave entrance, the fresh air that hit my face felt like a blessing. We were outside; we were free. The sheep ran towards the fields at a surprisingly fast speed,until we all tucked and rolled off and each one of us ran for the ships.

Once we were on the vessels safely, I took a chance to look around at the others. The women were cowering in fear, huddled together, crying. The men followed closely, their faces drawn with exhaustion and fear I hadn’t been able to see in the darkness of the cave. Even Odysseus was tense, his face haggard in a way I hadn’t seen before as he leaned against the mast, his usual confident demeanour sagging in his shoulders. Here was a man weighed down by the burden of leadership, and the impending doom that seemed to follow us.

It made him more human, more real. I reached out, my hand resting lightly on his arm.

“You were scared, we all are, but we made it,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. I stood beside him, close enough to feel the warmth of his body and the tension radiating from him.

He straightened, looking down at me, when the Cyclops’ cry pierced the air. “Father, Nobody blinded me!”

Odysseus moved away from me at that moment, and went to stand at the bow. “No, it was Odysseus, King of Ithaca, who blinded you, you dumb monster!” he shouted, glancing back towards the men with a suave smile, once again the confident general they had gone into battle with. The men cheered Odysseus and jeered the creature.

Odysseus glanced at me then, and in that moment, I understood why he had done it. He could not afford to be seen as weak. Better to be arrogant to keep the men on side than be scared and afraid, and have them turn on him. And if I, a mere woman, could see it … Yes, I understood why he believed he had to do it.

I just didn’t agree with it.

“Odysseus!” the Cyclops’ voice thundered, his words carrying across the island. “I am Polyphemus, son of Poseidon! Father, ifit is your will, let this man never return home! Or if he must, let him arrive too late, having lost all his comrades, in a stranger’s ship, and find trouble in his house!”

Let this man never return home.

There it was – the god who had taken up my vow. I had always assumed it would be Hera – but this curse was too similar to my own to be a coincidence. I glanced again at Odysseus, his face hardened at the curse placed upon him. I wondered, knowing this man as I did now, would I rather face the wrath of Athena, or divine retribution at Poseidon’s hands?

1 Hospitality.

22

Οdysseus

She knew me too intimately. I had been foolish to think that she would not, after our time together. I had picked Odette, after all, for her intelligence. But now her insights left me exposed in a way I could not afford. The bond between us after that night we shared could not be ignored, even amidst the battles and continuous hardships we had faced since. I needed to get her alone, so I could explain; so she could understand her place in the scheme of things.

Odette was too much of an open book, like any woman, unable to hide her emotions as a man could bury them. Her grief when we had first met was all-consuming, then her anger palpable. Her shrewdness now felt … dangerous, foreboding almost. It set my teeth on edge, and I did not want the men catching on.

So, instead, I gathered the men on deck as I stood at the prow of the ship, watching a new shoreline draw ever closer. When all the men were gathered, the women they kept as their own behind them, I turned to address them.

“We will make a stop at Aeolia,” I announced. “Aeolus, Master of Winds, resides here and can aid us on our journey home.”

A murmur of approval rippled through the crew, while one of the deckhands raised a forest green banner to signal to the other ships in our fleet that we were to head for shore. Finally, an island I recognised. Finally, a place the men could go without fear of being attacked, or drugged, or killed.

I looked towards the Lotus-Eater men. A crescent moon had hung low on the horizon the night we had left that island, and it had swelled into a gibbous moon before the men had come right, the drug from those plants finally purged from their bodies. Now they, too, were in agreement with the rest.

But, when my eyes met Odette’s shrewd gaze, I knew she immediately saw my facade for what it was. Shaking my head slightly, I dismissed her silent enquiry. There would be no further discussion here, not with the men watching. Instead, my eyes directed her to my quarters and she gave a small nod in understanding, following my summons to the small space.

It felt like a lifetime ago that I had tied her up in here for insolence.

Now, the space seemed even smaller with her in it, her presence both a challenge and an allure. I pushed that feeling aside, reminding myself of the stakes.

“Do you even know this Aeolus?” she asked me, as soon as she closed the door of my quarters behind her.

I rounded on her, until I had her pressed up against the door with nowhere to go, and her chin was firmly in my grip.

“You do not get to question my judgement, do you understand?” My voice was low, so the men beyond the door would not hear us, but that charged the air with something electric, and I saw a flash of defiance in her eyes at the same time her nostrils flared.

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