before⦠No, there are two girls now.'
Cassandra did not speak, but held my hand gently as I remembered that one of the daughters of the Royal House of Atreus had been sacrificed by her own father. Iphigenia, my favourite sister, so gentle and beautiful, who had taught me the fast looping hemstitch which I was using.
I had a rare flash of memory. The dark hair falling glossy from the silver fillet, her almond eyes bent on me, her red mouth smiling. A smell of spring in the air, and the tinkle of little bells as my sister moved. 'Now, little Electra, don't pull the thread so tight, and the material will lie perfectly flat. If you finish the whole seam, I will give you a bit of honeycomb which father sent from Troizen.'
My mind shied off the thought of our father's death. That was something which I must not think of yet. I dragged myself back to the present and said, 'You will need to learn it all, Cassandra, if your Lord marries you to an Argive.'
'I have no Lord, and I will never marry an Argive,' she said firmly.
I realised that she was mad, and I was sorry for her.
When the men returned they found us sitting like friends at the hearth, sewing cat-scratch stitches on Orestes' spare tunic.
'Good news and good bargaining, we have horses and I think we'd better go,' announced Eumides.
Cassandra rolled her possessions into a compact bundle and swung her heavy cloak over her shoulder.
'Just how good a bargain?' she asked suspiciously, and the sailor grinned, showing missing teeth.
'A very good bargain,' he emphasised.
'Come along, Princess.' She rolled my burden for me. 'Eumides' very good bargains can cause trouble.'
She extinguished the fire and we left the hut, blinking in the sunlight. It was a cool spring day and the hills were covered in flowering nettles.
Four horses stood outside. On one of them Diomenes was riding, with Orestes sitting before him. Cassandra, laying her bundle on a tall black horse, leapt unaided onto its back. She gathered up the reins like a man and said, 'Hssh, beast.' The horse, which had reared, came down onto all its hoofs again, looking embarrassed. Eumides secured my burden to the saddle with straps and then lifted me up.
'I can't ride!' I gasped as I came down astride and blushed for shame.
'You'll have to learn,' said the sailor impatiently. 'It's too far to walk. And we'd better get away before-'
'Before those horse merchants find out that the gold was actually bronze?' suggested Cassandra.
'Copper,' he corrected her, and she laughed aloud.
I was travelling with a mad whore and an escaped slave and a thief. However, it was pleasant to be out of the hut, though I was so high up that I clutched the saddle in fear. Orestes looked happy. He was sitting almost on the horse's neck, with Diomenes' arm around his waist so that he couldn't fall, and he was looking eagerly along the road. I heard him say, 'Look, Lord, smoke!'
'Now I wonder what that can be,' mused Diomenes. 'The road's taking us there, so we'll find out. Listen, son of Agamemnon. I know you're a prince and a child of the House of Atreus, but you will have to obey certain rules if we are to arrive in Delphi alive. The first rule is that if we say run, then run; run and hide. Don't stop for anything. Is that clear?'
'Yes, Lord,' said my brother.
'The other is that we do not announce who we are, our names or lineage, to any chance-met companion. Enemies may be looking for us to do us harm.'
'But, Lord Diomenes,' Orestes said, a little shocked, 'names and titles must be proclaimed at first meeting. It is a matter of honour. It is the duty of all men to be honourable.'
'We are aiming to be both honourable and alive at the end of this journey, Orestes, and that may require some ingenuity. Did you ever meet Odysseus, Prince of Ithaca?'
'Yes, certainly. He was a friend of our father; he used to bring us presents from the other side of the world.'
'The Lord Odysseus of Ithaca employs guile, and his honour is intact -
Cassandra did not speak, but held my hand gently as I remembered that one of the daughters of the Royal House of Atreus had been sacrificed by her own father. Iphigenia, my favourite sister, so gentle and beautiful, who had taught me the fast looping hemstitch which I was using.
I had a rare flash of memory. The dark hair falling glossy from the silver fillet, her almond eyes bent on me, her red mouth smiling. A smell of spring in the air, and the tinkle of little bells as my sister moved. 'Now, little Electra, don't pull the thread so tight, and the material will lie perfectly flat. If you finish the whole seam, I will give you a bit of honeycomb which father sent from Troizen.'
My mind shied off the thought of our father's death. That was something which I must not think of yet. I dragged myself back to the present and said, 'You will need to learn it all, Cassandra, if your Lord marries you to an Argive.'
'I have no Lord, and I will never marry an Argive,' she said firmly.
I realised that she was mad, and I was sorry for her.
When the men returned they found us sitting like friends at the hearth, sewing cat-scratch stitches on Orestes' spare tunic.
'Good news and good bargaining, we have horses and I think we'd better go,' announced Eumides.
Cassandra rolled her possessions into a compact bundle and swung her heavy cloak over her shoulder.
'Just how good a bargain?' she asked suspiciously, and the sailor grinned, showing missing teeth.
'A very good bargain,' he emphasised.
'Come along, Princess.' She rolled my burden for me. 'Eumides' very good bargains can cause trouble.'
She extinguished the fire and we left the hut, blinking in the sunlight. It was a cool spring day and the hills were covered in flowering nettles.
Four horses stood outside. On one of them Diomenes was riding, with Orestes sitting before him. Cassandra, laying her bundle on a tall black horse, leapt unaided onto its back. She gathered up the reins like a man and said, 'Hssh, beast.' The horse, which had reared, came down onto all its hoofs again, looking embarrassed. Eumides secured my burden to the saddle with straps and then lifted me up.
'I can't ride!' I gasped as I came down astride and blushed for shame.
'You'll have to learn,' said the sailor impatiently. 'It's too far to walk. And we'd better get away before-'
'Before those horse merchants find out that the gold was actually bronze?' suggested Cassandra.
'Copper,' he corrected her, and she laughed aloud.
I was travelling with a mad whore and an escaped slave and a thief. However, it was pleasant to be out of the hut, though I was so high up that I clutched the saddle in fear. Orestes looked happy. He was sitting almost on the horse's neck, with Diomenes' arm around his waist so that he couldn't fall, and he was looking eagerly along the road. I heard him say, 'Look, Lord, smoke!'
'Now I wonder what that can be,' mused Diomenes. 'The road's taking us there, so we'll find out. Listen, son of Agamemnon. I know you're a prince and a child of the House of Atreus, but you will have to obey certain rules if we are to arrive in Delphi alive. The first rule is that if we say run, then run; run and hide. Don't stop for anything. Is that clear?'
'Yes, Lord,' said my brother.
'The other is that we do not announce who we are, our names or lineage, to any chance-met companion. Enemies may be looking for us to do us harm.'
'But, Lord Diomenes,' Orestes said, a little shocked, 'names and titles must be proclaimed at first meeting. It is a matter of honour. It is the duty of all men to be honourable.'
'We are aiming to be both honourable and alive at the end of this journey, Orestes, and that may require some ingenuity. Did you ever meet Odysseus, Prince of Ithaca?'
'Yes, certainly. He was a friend of our father; he used to bring us presents from the other side of the world.'
'The Lord Odysseus of Ithaca employs guile, and his honour is intact -
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