King of Ithaca (48 page)

Odysseus took his slave by the hand and lifted him to his feet, signalling for the others to rise also. ‘I’ve heard about Eupeithes – Mentor escaped and found us in the Peloponnese. But I didn’t know about Polytherses. It’s a traitor’s reward to be betrayed, and Eupeithes knows all about that now, but I fear Polytherses will prove a more difficult opponent if I’m to win back Ithaca.’

Eumaeus nodded. ‘It’s true. Mentor will have told you about the Taphians, no doubt, but he couldn’t have known there are a full hundred garrisoned here now. It’ll be a difficult task, unless you’ve brought an army with you.’

As he said the words he looked up with a sudden glimmer of hope in his eye, but Odysseus shook his head.

‘We have forty Spartans on loan from King Tyndareus – they’re resting on the other side of the ridge – but there are fewer than sixty of us all told. What about Taphians on the other islands?’

‘Zacynthos, Samos and Dulichium are ruled by those who supported the rebellion. If there are ever any signs of trouble Polytherses sends a shipload of Taphians over for a day or two until things are quiet again, but mostly they remain here. Polytherses is no fool; he has always feared you’d one day come to claim your inheritance, so concentrates his forces here for your return.’

‘And my family?’ Odysseus finally asked, though this was the question that had been burning at the forefront of his mind all the time.

‘Your mother and sister are kept at the palace, whilst Laertes is a prisoner in the former home of Eupeithes, under the guard of Koronos. Eupeithes was much too afraid to have him killed, but the rumour from the palace is that the new king intends to execute him.’

‘Then we’ve arrived just in time,’ Odysseus declared with a determined look. ‘Tell me, are you or your men taking any of these pigs up to the city today?’

‘Yes, two of us were planning to go at noon.’

‘Good. Now listen to me, I want you to question the most loyal men in the city. Tell them I’ve returned and find out who’s prepared to fight with me against Polytherses. Those who are must be ready to join us at any time. Find one who’ll let you stay with him overnight, so when I call on you you can gather a force as quickly as possible. And be prepared – I may need you sooner than you expect.’

‘I’ll see to it, my lord,’ Eumaeus said.

Half a dozen swine were killed and the carcasses dressed for roasting, whilst Antiphus was sent to bring the rest of their party to the farm. By the time they had arrived and had eaten it was mid-morning, so Eumaeus and the other swineherds hurriedly gathered together a dozen pigs to drive down to the city. They whistled for their dogs and with their long staves began to shepherd the pigs into a group, ready to move. As they were taking their leave, Odysseus put his hands on Eumaeus’s shoulders and looked him in the eyes.

‘Penelope and her slave will stay here,’ he said. ‘I’m leaving a couple of her uncle’s men to protect her, but if we don’t return you
must
see they get a ship back to the mainland. Do you understand?’

Eumaeus was about to answer when he caught a quelling glance from his master’s new bride. She had been talking with Actoris, but on overhearing the words of her husband she walked over and stood before him.

‘You’ve misjudged me, Odysseus, if you think I’ll allow myself to be left in the care of others. If you go then I will follow.’

‘A battle is no place for a woman,’ her husband replied, his voice even but commanding. ‘If we’re defeated the Taphians will show no mercy to their prisoners. For a woman, death would be a blessing compared to what they’ll do to you. No, I must believe you’re safe, Penelope, and know that if I die you’ll be taken back to your home.’

She met his stern look with defiance, her royal breeding there for all to see. ‘
Ithaca
is my home now,’ she said. ‘I live here or I die here. I’ll not go back to Sparta to spend the rest of my days in widow’s rags. My place is to be at your side and share your fate, whatever that may be.’

They stood facing each other. The shadows of their inevitable parting settled around them, bringing sudden uncertainty and fear as they realized they might not meet again. She looked at the rough features of the man she had once convinced herself she hated, and found the thought of being apart from him unbearable. He met her gaze and realized she was the foundation of the rest of his life. In her he would find the wholeness he had lacked as a young prince.

Tentatively, tenderly, he reached out and stroked her arm with his knuckles. As he felt her soft flesh he remembered the words of the Pythoness and took heart. Here, already, was the Spartan princess of whom the priestess had spoken. And had she not also said it was his fate to reign as king? He smiled encouragingly at his wife.

‘You’ll not become a widow yet, Penelope,’ he told her. ‘Unless the gods have deceived me, I can’t die until I’ve first become king of these islands. So have courage and do as I ask. If you’ve learned anything about me, you’ll already know I won’t permit you to refuse me.’

She stared at him for a moment, then nodded and lowered her eyes. Odysseus immediately turned to Diocles, who was close by. ‘Assign two of your best men to remain here with my wife and her slave. The rest of you make ready. We’ll march to Mount Neriton now and see what preparations Polytherses has made for our arrival.’

With a nod the prince signalled for Eumaeus to be on his way, while the rest of them began pulling on their armour and preparing for the battle that they sensed would soon be upon them. Without a final word or glance at her husband, Penelope turned and went into the stone hut.

From the slopes of the hill to the south of the city they saw all that they needed to know of Polytherses’s defences. His full strength was based inside the palace walls, with only an occasional patrol leaving the gates to roam the streets of Ithaca. Even with a hundred armed soldiers, though, the high palace walls, the thick wooden gates and the open killing ground before them presented enough of an obstacle to deter even the most numerous and well-armed enemy.

During the long march from Eumaeus’s farm speculation was rife amongst the men, most believing they would attack upon arrival. But even with the element of surprise and support from the men of the city, the sight of the heavily defended palace made them realize that an assault by daylight was impossible. This did not deter Odysseus, however, who remained full of confidence, energy and purpose. He ordered the remaining Spartans to make camp whilst the Ithacans, who knew the island intimately, were split into two groups to scout each flank of the town. Their primary task was to ensure there were no Taphian outposts to warn of their attack, but Odysseus also told them to watch for weaknesses and gather intelligence about the defences.

‘Our best hope is to kill Polytherses,’ Eperitus suggested. ‘I can climb over the wall after dark, while they’re eating, and find my way to his room. When he goes to his bed he’ll be unprotected, and that’s when I’ll kill him.’

Mentor disagreed. ‘Even if you knew which room is his, you’d never get into the palace without detection. There isn’t a ruler in Greece who doesn’t fear assassination, and I guarantee that someone as hated as Polytherses will have a personal guard of his best men close to hand. Our best hope is an attack just before dawn – ladders against the walls and into the palace whilst most of them are still sleeping.’

‘I don’t plan to do either,’ Odysseus countered. ‘I’ve been discussing the matter with Halitherses and we’re agreed the best way is to draw the Taphians out.’

He briefly explained his plan to have the townsfolk murder one of the Taphian patrols, then flee to prepared positions on Mount Neriton. Polytherses would not fear a group of peasants without armour or proper weapons, of course, but neither could he allow their dissent to go unpunished. So he would send out a significant part of his force to overthrow the rebellion – and straight into an ambush of nearly sixty fully armed soldiers. The storming of the undermanned palace would then be a bloody but brief formality.

He smiled confidently, then led Mentor and the rest of his party away through the trees to skirt the harbour and the western edge of the town. Eperitus set off with Halitherses in the opposite direction, accompanied by Antiphus and five others. They moved in a cautious file, using the rocks, bushes and trees to keep them hidden from the city below as they descended slowly towards it. All around them birds sang freely and the wind sighed in the leaves, whilst the warm air was thick with the strong smell of the sea. Since his life had been restored by the goddess, Eperitus’s senses had improved greatly, to give him a richer awareness of his surroundings: not only could he see better by day or in darkness, but his hearing and sense of smell were also much sharper and more far-ranging. But the new life he had been given had not only improved his physical senses. Now he was aware of things beyond the world of sight, sound and smell. Suddenly he would know if someone was about to speak to him, and would turn to them before they had opened their mouth. Similarly, he would instinctively anticipate movement an instant before it happened, enabling him to react faster and move with a speed that unnerved others. Initially his new abilities were disorientating, but he was fast growing used to them.

Another benefit was a sense of the presence of others. After they had been creeping through the thinly wooded slopes for some time, getting ever closer to the outermost settlements of Ithaca, Eperitus realized that they were being followed.

The trees began to thin out, offering less cover, so they climbed a wall into a vineyard to screen their progress from unwelcome eyes. Here, as the others moved forward, Eperitus ducked down and doubled back to wait behind the chest-high wall. Moments later he heard the sounds of someone approaching with great stealth – a small, light person who made little noise as he reached the wall. Had it not been for his improved hearing Eperitus doubted he would have detected him; but, after a brief pause to listen, their pursuer put an arm on the wall above Eperitus’s head and began to clamber over.

In an instant the warrior was upon him, grabbing him by the tunic and hauling him with a thud onto the ground. He drew his sword and placed the point against his captive’s exposed throat.

And saw that, with his newfound stealth, he had captured a boy of no more than ten years.

‘Don’t worry,’ Eperitus reassured him, withdrawing his sword. ‘I’ll not kill a child. Now get up and tell me who you are.’

‘Arceisius, my lord. My family are loyal to the king. I know you must be a friend of Laertes, too – I saw you with Halitherses.’

‘Is that young Arceisius?’ said Halitherses, returning with the rest of the party. ‘Where are your flocks, boy?’

‘Mostly eaten up by the Taphians, sir. The scrawny animals they’ve left us are back up there on the hillside. Is Odysseus with you?’

‘He is, lad, and if you want to help us stop the Taphians stealing your sheep you’d better answer us a few questions.’ The captain of the guard knelt down so that he was eye to eye with the boy. ‘Don’t exaggerate now, Arceisius, but tell us how many of these folk there are.’

‘Five score and three, not including Polytherses, or Eupeithes, who is his prisoner now.’

‘That’s a very clear answer,’ Halitherses replied, looking up at him and raising an eyebrow. ‘Now, lord Odysseus will want to speak to your father. Where is he?’

‘The Taphians killed him when he tried to stop them stealing his sheep.’

Halitherses tousled the boy’s long hair and stood up. ‘Then we’ll make them pay, Arceisius, don’t you worry. You head back up to your sheep and let us get about our business.’

He turned to go, but the boy tugged at his cloak.

‘The Taphians are paid with wine, partly, but the shipment is a week late. It’s due this evening in a ship from the mainland, and they’re sending some men to escort the wagon back from the harbour. I thought I should tell you because the Taphians are getting angry and Polytherses is scared they’ll take it out on him if the wine doesn’t arrive safely.’

‘Good lad,’ Eperitus told him, understanding the suggestion. If they could somehow stop the wine reaching the palace, perhaps the Taphians would revolt and do their job for them.

‘There’s something else, my lord,’ the shepherd boy said. ‘It’s the reason I was following you. There are Taphians in the woods. They left the city a while ago and headed for the top of the hill. I thought maybe Odysseus was up there.’

‘Zeus’s beard!’ Halitherses exclaimed. ‘They’ll find the camp. Come on. We haven’t a moment to waste.’

Chapter Twenty-eight

T
APHIAN
W
INE

They ran headlong through the trees without caring whether they could be seen from the city below. Everything now depended upon them reaching the camp before the Taphians: if Polytherses’s men took the Spartans by surprise, they would be massacred. At a stroke Odysseus would have lost over half his warriors, as well as the element of surprise that was so essential to the success of his plans.

Halitherses’s training regime at Sparta had made the Ithacans fit enough to run all day, but their armour and weapons weighed them down. The heavy accoutrements sapped the strength from their limbs as they struggled to climb the steep slopes, frustrating their progress and making them curse beneath their breath, but as they neared the area of their camp they slowed to a cautious walk. Set in a hollow in the ground and surrounded by a screen of trees and bushes, it was visible only to those on the topmost point of the hill. However, the approaches to the hollow were also obscured to within a short distance, enabling them to come quite close before Halitherses signalled for the group to halt. Eperitus was with him at the head of their file and, leaving the others crouching amongst some rocks, the two men crawled up to a knot of bushes for a better view.