King of Ithaca (Adventures of Odysseus)

‘Does it?’ Eperitus asked. ‘You of all men should know I’m a man of my word. I offered you my loyalty and now it’s my duty to help you restore Ithaca to Laertes’s rule. Did you really expect me to let you and these clumsy oafs you call warriors fight Eupeithes alone?’

‘Of course I didn’t,’ he laughed. ‘But I should really like to know where you hid yourself these past few days, and what you lived on. And just how did you ghost into the palace armoury and retrieve your own weapons?’

‘That’s a story I’ll keep to myself,’ Eperitus replied, thinking of Clytaemnestra and knowing that the mere mention of her would reveal everything to Odysseus’s clever mind. ‘But you must answer a question for me: how do you intend to retake Ithaca with the force you have? These Spartans look like good men, fully armed and battle-hardened, but the Taphians aren’t children either. We were lucky to beat the ones that ambushed us, and from Mentor’s account their army on Ithaca is at least twice our number.’

‘The people of Ithaca will come to our aid,’ Odysseus began. ‘They may only be fishermen and farmers, but they love their country and they’re loyal to their king – that’s more powerful than the gold Eupeithes pays to his Taphians. But Athena’s the one I’m counting on.’ He dug into his pouch and brought out the clay owl the goddess had given him. ‘Her spear and aegis are worth a thousand men each, and when I use this to call on her no power on earth will be able to save Eupeithes.’

Darkness began to fall before they reached the coast, putting an end to the day’s journey. As the others made camp for the night Eperitus and Antiphus gathered wood and built a fire. The archer sniffed the air and announced that the sea was only a quick march away. Although Eperitus did not possess his seafarer’s senses, the gulls flocking about their camp in the twilight seemed to confirm his verdict.

‘I know the coast around here,’ Antiphus added. ‘The river empties out beside a large fishing village. I stopped there once when I was a lad on a merchant ship, and I remember we came inland to buy livestock for the voyage home. We might even have come this far, though it was a long time ago and it’s difficult to recognize a place in this sort of light.’ He looked about at the rocky hills on either side. ‘But it feels familiar, you know, and if I’m right there’s a temple to Athena nearby.’

‘What’s that you say, Antiphus?’ Odysseus asked, who was standing nearby and watching the last of the sunset over the peaks of the Taygetus Mountains.

‘A temple of Athena, my lord, on a hilltop not far downstream from here. It wasn’t very big, as I remember, but you’d easily catch its silhouette if there’s any light left.’

‘Then I’m going to look for it,’ Odysseus said. ‘I’ll be back by the time it gets dark.’

‘My lord!’ Eperitus said, noticing Damastor amongst a group of Ithacans preparing food nearby. ‘Surely you’re not going alone? At least let me accompany you.’

‘Eperitus, if I’d needed a nursemaid I’d have brought old Eurycleia with me. Now, sit down by the fire and stop worrying about me.’

Eperitus felt uneasy as he watched his friend go. Soon he and Antiphus were joined by the other Ithacans, Damastor amongst them. The blaze was already puffing burning embers into the evening air and a few early moths were attracted into its circle of light. One of the Spartans, a tall, bearded man by the name of Diocles, came over and politely requested a brand from their fire. There were too many of them to share a single fire, so Eperitus helped him carry some burning logs over to the stack of wood his comrades had constructed and soon had it ablaze. The Spartans thanked him and he returned to his own group.

The last embers of the day were burning over the western hills, leaving an insipid pink stain on the sky that gave warning of an even warmer day to come tomorrow. But the faint glow was rapidly succumbing to the deep blue of evening and the stars were already beginning to gleam and twinkle at every point on the horizon. As Eperitus watched them his thoughts turned to Penelope, who was in a makeshift tent with her slave Actoris, over by the tethered horses. He was wondering whether she would join them that evening when he was struck by a sudden sensation that something was wrong. It was a feeling of growing fear, though he could not think what had caused it. He looked about and instinctively put a hand on the hilt of his sword, but there was nothing. Then he knew. He looked once around the circle of faces, illuminated orange by the fire, and his heart sank into his stomach. Damastor was gone.