Nobody's Prize (19 page)

She interrupted me with a wistful little laugh. “Listen to you, you little firebrand! I used to turn the smallest thing into a big uproar when I was your age, too. Stop being silly. Royal marriages make peace, not war. Both of our peoples will benefit from that. Lord Tyndareus won’t raise a hand against Athens. What sane man goes to war against his own kin?”

“Marriage won’t make me kin to Theseus.”

“Your child will.” Her face was utterly serene. “My boy explained everything to me. He’s so very clever! No one knows you’re here. Well, no one but the people who were in the throne room five days ago, but they’re loyal Athenians, and the slaves know better than to speak out of turn. You’ll marry Theseus, I’ll pray to the gods that you’re blessed with a baby as soon as possible, and
then
we can send the good news to your parents. Think of how pleased they’ll be, to learn their daughter will be queen of
two
great cities!”

I felt cold. “Your son’s cruel, not clever. To wait until I have a baby…You know how long that can take!” I thought of Delphi, and the fisherman’s daughter. My friend Eunike had used her position as the holy Pythia to enable my adventures by saying it would be a year or more before I came home. Yes, but how much more? My parents wouldn’t wait forever. “My family will think I’m
dead
! And may the gods forbid it, but what if my father were to die before your son achieves his ‘brilliant’ plan? My sister, Clytemnestra, would take the throne. She’s a princess of Mykenae now. Do you think her husband would hand back Sparta without a fight? You
will
have war!”

Lady Aithra was unperturbed. “Then we’ll let your parents share our joy as soon as you’re pregnant.
That
won’t take long at all. You
have
become a woman already, haven’t you?”

“No,” I said. I had no second thoughts about that lie.

“Lady Helen, I didn’t mean that as an actual question. Your belongings were brought to the palace four days ago. A
girl
doesn’t need those woolen pads.” She shook her head sadly. “Really, my dear, you’ll have to trust me. I’m going to be your second mother.”

Not if I can help it,
I thought.

I made four escape attempts that very day. I didn’t expect them to succeed. What I wanted to do was learn as much about the ins and outs of the palace as I could as quickly as possible. Theseus was no fool. He knew I wasn’t about to submit docilely to his plan to wed me.

My technique was simple: hike up my skirt and take flight the instant my keepers’ attention wandered—simple, but it wasn’t easy. By Lady Aithra’s order, my boy’s clothing had been taken away and replaced by dresses suitable for her son’s intended bride. They were pretty enough, and they provided warmth against the chilly weather, but they were cumbersome. It was like running with a blanket tangling my legs. I was caught every time, though not before I managed to add to my familiarity with the palace.

And it felt so
good
to run, even clumsily, after all of those miserable days in bed! I couldn’t help grinning every time I slipped away from my escorts and dashed off. I did it without thinking, though once I realized how thoughtlessly happy I felt, reality hit.

Forgive me, Milo,
I thought as my smiling mouth shrank to a grim line.
I haven’t forgotten you, I swear it by almighty Zeus. You died trying to save me from my captors. If I don’t get out of this prison, you died for nothing.

By my third try, Lady Aithra had lost her patience and brought me to stand before her son while he was in conference with a group of hard-faced Athenian nobles. I smiled unashamedly when she called me willful, wild, and ungrateful, which provoked her so much that she actually dared to declare, “My son, you must not marry this girl. I don’t care how beautiful she is, she’ll bring us nothing but grief and leave Athens in flames!”

Theseus’s brow furrowed. “If I don’t ask for your opinion, I don’t want it. Be silent, Mother. You sound like a fool.” The men with him looked at one another unhappily to hear their king speak so coldly to his own mother. One of them must have mumbled words to that effect, because Theseus whirled fiercely on the imprudent counselor and shouted in his face, “While I rule here, no one rules me!”

“But, my lord, she’s your mother,” the man persisted. I admired his courage, no matter how badly it would serve him against Theseus. “You should respect her enough to let her have her say.”

Oh,
that
was a mistake. I recognized the callous look that came into Theseus’s eyes. I’d seen it at close range on a street in Delphi when he’d grabbed my wrist and twisted it painfully because I wouldn’t bend to his will.
May the gods have mercy on you,
I thought, looking with pity at the counselor.
Theseus won’t.

I was right. The young Athenian king moved with a panther’s speed, knocking the outspoken man off his feet with a blow that split his lip and drew blood. “Since when do I answer to
you
?” he bellowed. “Poseidon is my witness that I treat the lady Aithra with more respect than my father, Lord Aegeus, ever did.
I
brought her to Athens, to sit on the throne he denied her! She’s usually smart enough to remember that and to mind how she speaks to me. You’d do well to learn from her.” Grudgingly, he helped the bleeding man to his feet again. The assaulted counselor retreated swiftly.

Theseus returned to his throne and raised a hand for silence. “The lady Helen of Sparta will become my bride ten days from now. Mother, see to the preparations for the feast. Men, you and all the rest of Athens’s noblest families will celebrate my good fortune in having such a beautiful young woman for my wife, but if one whisper of my plans reaches the ears of anyone else, I promise I’ll find out whose lips betrayed.”

“Why all this secrecy?” I spoke up clearly. “You’re
terrified
that my father will hear that you’ve taken me prisoner. No Spartan woman marries a coward!”

“Watch your tongue,” Theseus growled, his hands clenched. If he hit me, I’d hit him back, no matter how bad a beating I got for it. I would not surrender.

“Or what? Will you kill
me
? Go ahead and try. If you succeed, you lose what you really want to gain from this marriage. If I die, I take the Spartan crown with me into Hades’ kingdom. Better that than let you get your filthy hands on it!”

He took a step forward. I held my ground, shifting my weight just a bit and grabbing hold of my skirt. I’d changed my mind. If he gave the slightest sign that he intended to strike me, I wouldn’t wait for the blow to land. I’d jerk up the hem of my gown and kick him so hard that—!

Suddenly the hall rang with Theseus’s laughter. He held his sides, threw back his head, and brayed. “Ah, Lady Helen, the gods have been more than good to you. The three Graces gave you a face to outshine the sun, then filled your lovely mouth with these bursts of comical nonsense. We should be grateful to them. It’s all that keeps us poor mortal men from mistaking you for a goddess.”

He turned his back on me and returned to his throne. From there he proclaimed, “As a reward for amusing me so well, I’m going to give the lady Helen her own lodging in the palace and her very own attendant to be responsible for her every wish, her every whim, and above all, her every movement. Now who deserves such a prize?” His eyes closed and a mean smile twisted his lips. “Telys.”

         
12
         

QUEEN’S SON, SLAVE’S SON

I was moved out of Lady Aithra’s quarters and into a windowless room so narrow that if I stretched my arms sideways as far as I could, my fingertips brushed the walls. The mat on which I slept took up most of the space, and a small, square table occupied what little was left. A few pieces of clothing were stuffed into a small box kept beneath the table, though most of my garments remained in Lady Aithra’s room. She was overseeing preparations for the wedding, which included collecting gowns and ornaments Theseus would want to see me wear. My dresses were being treated better than I was.

I did my best to keep idleness from filling my mind with worries over things I couldn’t control. I was concerned about what would happen when my parents finally learned my fate, and I did fret over where my brothers might be by now, but I couldn’t let such thoughts dominate my days. Hardest of all was cherishing my best memories of Milo without letting them drag me back into despair.

The only privacy I had was a curtain across the doorway, and it ended about a hand-span from the floor. I didn’t care. I had enough blankets to keep out the cold, and a door would have held in the smell from the night-soil pot in the corner. Theseus had rewarded my defiance by thrusting me into a storeroom, like the amphorae of wine that were also waiting for the king’s wedding day.

Telys stood on watch outside my doorway, never leaving his post except when Lady Aithra came with a group of attendants to escort me to meals. I suppose he used those times to gobble a little food himself. Sometimes I heard him hail any other guard who happened to be passing by in the hall, begging for a chance to take care of his body’s needs.

One night, four days before the wedding, I woke up from a dream in which I was sinking into a pit filled with smoke, choking on shadows. I woke up shaking, my mouth dry with fear. I’d pinched out my lamp before going to sleep and had no way to rekindle the wick, so my miserable excuse for a room was dark. My eyes were drawn to the space between the bottom of my door curtain and the floor, where a band of torchlight from the hallway danced and flickered.

“Telys!” I called out. “Telys, I want water! And here, light this.” I fumbled for the dead lamp and stuck it out under the curtain. My guard had been instructed to obey my wishes and serve me as well as he could without abandoning his post. If I needed something fetched, he managed to obey by shouting for one of the palace slaves. He had a thin, bleating voice like a frightened goat’s. After six days, I’d know it anywhere.

The voice that boomed the command “Water for Lady Helen!” was deep, strong, and most definitely did not belong to Telys. I crept to the doorway, flicked back the curtain, and peered out to see a strange face. He answered my puzzled look with a broad, self-assured grin.

“Where’s Telys?” I asked.

His grin got wider. “He’s got to sleep sometime, Lady Helen. Besides, Lord Theseus doesn’t trust him to stand guard at night. He said you’d probably be able to convince that scrawny goose-brain that you were dying, and when he ran to bring help, you’d vanish into the dark.”

“I didn’t know Theseus thought I was so clever,” I said.

The guard laughed. “More like he thinks Telys is so stupid. On the day he says one good word about that dolt, the sky will rain wine and honey. Lord Theseus despises him.”

“Then why doesn’t he get rid of him?”

“He would if he could.” The guard scratched the back of his head and spit on the floor. “But too many folks would say it was a poor way for any man to treat his brother.”

“What?”

The guard chuckled. “Oh, yes, you heard me right, Lady Helen. Telys is Lord Aegeus’s son. His mother was a slave, and not even a pretty, young one. She’s the reason he didn’t bring Lady Aithra to Athens.”

“He loved that slave woman so much that he kept his own wife away?” I could hardly believe it.

“‘Wife’?” the guard echoed. “Lord Aegeus never married Lady Aithra, though none say that where Lord Theseus might hear.” He shrugged. “Anyway, she’s the daughter of Troezen’s king, so it’s her boy who rules this land now. When Lord Theseus first showed up in Athens, Lord Aegeus had no choice but to send the slave girl away. He set her free and gave their child a place of honor in the palace as one of the guards. So here Telys stays, because Lord Aegeus wanted to provide for his son and Lord Theseus wants to keep a close eye on his brother. A
very
close eye,” he added meaningly.

“Does he think Telys will try to take the throne from him someday?” I asked.

I got a scornful snort for an answer. “He hasn’t got the grit for it.”

I didn’t like his tone. “Maybe he’s simply faithful to his half brother. Does betrayal count as a virtue in Athens? You make it sound like treachery’s the same as courage.”

A worried look flashed across the guard’s face. “That’s not what I meant,” he said quickly. “I’m loyal to my king! I felt sorry for you, up at this lonely hour, so I talked to you, all friendly, and for what? So you could twist my words and get me in trouble, carrying lies to Lord Theseus?”

I shook my head. “All I wanted was water and a light for my lamp. You haven’t gotten me either one yet. Telys always manages to fulfill my requests
at once.
Maybe he’s not so worthless after all.”

The guard grumbled and lit my lamp from one of the torches, then bawled for water so ferociously that a sleepy slave came running, stumbling under the weight of a painted jug. I returned to my mat satisfied, but I couldn’t get back to sleep. My mind was buzzing.

Milo’s
dead
because of Telys,
I told myself.
So why did I take his side against that guard? I loathe Theseus. Is that why I spoke up for Telys? Because Theseus hates him and I hate Theseus? Or because maybe, just
maybe
Telys is as much a prisoner in this palace as I am? His mother was a slave. No one asked her if she wanted to share Lord Aegeus’s bed, and no one asked Telys if he wanted to be a royal guard. He had to take what he was given. I
feel sorry for him, and yet
— I shook my head, trying to make sense out of everything.
And yet if it weren’t for him, Milo would be alive and I’d be free.

I was still trying to sort things out when I heard the guard in the hall growl, “There you are, you snail-dropping. It’s about time you got here!” Telys muttered an apology. I lay on my belly and peeked out under the doorway curtain just in time to see the other guard give him a nasty smack before shouting, “Keep me waiting here again and you’ll get worse!” and stomping away. Telys settled his back against one of the doorposts and sighed.

“Why did you do it?” I asked.

The abruptness of my question made the poor thing jump. “Wha—wha—Lady Helen, did you speak to
me
?”

It was a silly question, so I ignored it and pressed on. “Why did you let him hit you? You didn’t even try to strike back.”

Telys sighed again, more deeply. “And give him an excuse to beat my bones to dust on the training field? If I keep my head down, he goes easy on me. That’s worth a slap or two.”

“And what’s your honor worth?” I got to my feet and pulled the doorway curtain all the way aside. “Four slaps? Seven? Spartan warriors don’t bargain with our opponents. We beat them.” I rested my hands on my hips. “Why am I surprised? You’re a coward. When I beat you at Hades’ shrine, you came sneaking after me by night, with two real men to do what you couldn’t. And you killed my friend.”

“I—” Telys began, then stopped and looked away. “No. If I say anything now, you’ll only claim I’m even more of a coward, making excuses.”

“Go on,” I said, on guard. “I’ll listen.”

“I didn’t want your friend to die, Lady Helen. I wouldn’t have gone after you that night, but just my luck, Lord Theseus saw me when I returned to the palace. He demanded to know where I’d been. I thought he’d be pleased that I’d tried to protect Hades’ shrine, but he made fun of me for failing. Then he said he wanted to meet the man who’d given me what I deserved. He ordered me to take two comrades and go from one lodging house to the next, searching for him—I mean, for you. I didn’t know they were going to treat you so roughly, and when your friend grabbed that sword and drew it—”

“Enough.” I felt the sting of fresh tears. Telys’s tale rang true, but that didn’t mean I’d let him see me cry. I bit my lip to regain control of myself, then said, “Swear that what you’ve told me is true.”

“I swear it,” he said without hesitation. “I swear by my life. If I’m lying, may the Kindly Ones hunt me down.”

“I believe you.” No man would draw the attention of the Furies heedlessly, even if he called on them by their less terrifying name.

Later that morning, a maidservant arrived with my breakfast and a message from Lady Aithra: “The queen requests your presence at the palace training ground after you’ve eaten.”

“Finally, some exercise,” I said with a half-smile.

The girl took me seriously and was suitably shocked. “Oh, no, Lady Helen! The queen would never expect you to go anywhere near something as dangerous as swordplay, even if it’s only done for practice. She wants you to sit beside her and observe how well our soldiers fight.”

“Now where’s the fun in that?” I drawled. “No, thank you. I’d rather stay here, in my spacious quarters.”

The girl became more and more flustered. “But you
can’t,
” she blurted. “All the royal guards are expected to participate. Even him.” She cast a belittling look at Telys. “No one will be free to keep an eye on you.”

“In that case, let’s go now,” I said. “I’ve lost my appetite.”

“You
must
eat, Lady Helen,” the girl cried in alarm. “If you don’t eat, Lady Aithra’ll blame everyone from the cook to—”

“—to you?” I finished for her. “I didn’t know I was so closely watched, or that you all cared so much about my welfare. If that’s so, learn this: Needless cruelty, no matter how petty, makes me sick. I saw how you looked at Telys. He might not be Theseus’s most skilled warrior, but he’s still young. Someday he might surprise everyone. Now why don’t you surprise him with an apology?” The girl lowered her head and muttered a few insincere words, but it was enough for Telys. He cheered up on the spot.

I ate up every last bit of my breakfast, then let Telys lead me to the training ground. It lay in a little hollow just below the royal citadel walls, out of sight of the city. I paid close attention to the terrain. In the meantime, I was looking forward to watching the men practice. I felt strange, being there in a dress. If I couldn’t hone my swordsmanship firsthand, I still hoped to learn a new trick or two from observing others in action. Alas, my eagerness was doused the moment I saw who was waiting for me.

“There’s my lovely bride!” Theseus called out, spreading his arms wide.

I stood my ground, arms folded, and glared at him until he mumbled something to Lady Aithra. She came to my side, linked her arm in mine, and pulled me to the seat she’d abandoned. If I’d resisted, I was sure that Theseus would have found some way to use my rebellion as an excuse to punish Telys.

The king’s half brother certainly got enough punishment that day. He lost every bout, and when it was a matter of hitting a straw target with spear or javelin, his attempts always flew wide. I began to wonder whether he was being given crooked missiles.

“Are you trying to make me jealous, my pretty bird?” Theseus asked, teasing. He took one of the filled wine goblets from the cupbearer attending him and tried to give it to me. I turned my shoulder to him deliberately. “You can’t seem to take your eyes off Telys. What will it take to make you spare just one of those sweet glances for me? Shall I step onto the training ground myself?”

“Only if you’ll let me be the one to fight you, sword against sword,” I replied. “I’m willing to stake my freedom on the match.”

His lips twisted into a mocking smile. “And risk damaging that face? In four days’ time, we’ll be married. I intend to have a queen whose beauty makes me the envy of all.” He tried to stroke my cheek. I jerked my head back.