‘You only did what you thought was right.’
‘I betrayed him! Perhaps all that’s left to me now is to get a horse and ride south, possibly find a ship back to Greece.’
‘And Astynome?’
Eperitus looked at Arceisius. In his shame at his disloyalty he had not thought about the woman he loved. Just then, Omeros appeared.
‘What is it?’ Eperitus snapped, annoyed by the concern on the young bard’s face.
‘I just wanted to say you were right to tell the truth back there, sir.’
Eperitus felt a sudden stab of guilt. He looked at Omeros and shrugged his shoulders.
‘Was I? Or am I just letting my foolish sense of honour get in the way again? And how have I profited from it? The greatest friendship I’ve ever had is over and I’m back where I was twenty years ago – an outcast without anywhere to call home. Perhaps it’s the judgment of the gods upon me that he was awarded the armour fairly in the end, without resort to lies or trickery.’
‘But he wasn’t, sir,’ Omeros said, shaking his head.
‘What do you mean?’
‘You remember Eurybates and I accompanied him to his hut? Well, it wasn’t the only place we visited. After he’d bathed and dressed we went to those old cattle pens where they keep prisoners before they’re sold or exchanged. He told them they might be called upon to say who they thought was the bravest Greek, and promised to release them if they chose him.’
Eperitus looked at him with disbelieving eyes. ‘Then the whole debate was a fraud from beginning to end.’
‘But why?’ Arceisius asked. ‘Why would Odysseus dishonour himself for the sake of another man’s armour? I don’t understand.’
‘I think do,’ Eperitus answered. He paused to collect his thoughts, then looked at his companions. ‘Somehow, Odysseus believes the armour of Achilles will give him the glory he lacks. But, more than anything, it’s the war itself. It’s sucking the humanity out of all of us. Look what it did to Achilles and what it’s doing to Ajax. And me, too – I’ve been so full of my own pride I haven’t realized the people I care most about are being destroyed. But it’s in my power to change it, and by all the gods on Olympus I’m going to!’
‘But how?’
‘Never mind, Arceisius. I’m leaving the army – I’ve no choice about that anyway – but I’m not heading south. There’s something else I need to do, but you and Omeros have to delay Odysseus while I escape.’
‘I’m coming with you.’
Eperitus looked at his friend and smiled. For a moment he recalled the first time he had seen him, twenty years ago on Ithaca: he had been a young shepherd boy then, but now he was a veteran warrior with responsibilities to his king.
‘No, Arceisius. When this war’s over you have a wife to go back to on Ithaca, and what’s more you’re no longer my squire. You haven’t been for a long time now. Your place is to serve Odysseus, and the best way you can perform your duty is to keep him away from the Ithacan camp until I’m gone.’
He slapped Arceisius on the shoulder, nodded to Omeros, then turned and disappeared among the hundreds of soldiers still lingering on the beach. When he reached his own hut it was to find Astynome busy cooking a delicious-smelling stew for their evening meal. She walked over to embrace him, but he slipped away from her fingertips and ran over to the table where his armaments were laid out.
‘What’s the matter?’ she asked, her beautiful face suddenly anxious as she came over to help him with the buckles of his leather cuirass.
‘Never mind me. Put your sandals and cloak on. We’re leaving at once.’
She looked at him, momentarily confused, then without further question lifted the stew off the flames and did as she was instructed. Within moments they were ready – Eperitus fully armed with his spear and grandfather’s shield, Astynome in her plain travel-cloak with the hood thrown over her black hair. As they left the hut and saw the bands of purple, vermilion and red filling the sunset sky, she turned and placed her hands on Eperitus’s shoulders.
‘Stop, now. Tell me where we are going or I refuse to take another step.’
‘Then I’ll carry you!’
She ducked away from him and held up an admonishing finger.
‘Tell me, Eperitus. I won’t resist or question you, I just want to know.’
Eperitus took a deep breath and looked around himself. The Ithacan soldiers were returning from the debate in twos or threes and had already set about making fires and preparing their evening meal. There was a jovial mood about them, pleased at Odysseus’s success. But there was no sign of the king.
‘I’m leaving the army for good.’
‘Leaving Odysseus?’
‘Yes, and you’re coming with me – at least to the camp gates.’
Astynome frowned. ‘And beyond the gates?’
‘We’ll take a couple of horses and then I want you to ride back to Troy.’
‘Not without you.’
‘Only for a short time, then we can be together for good. I want you to find my father and tell him to meet me at the temple of Thymbrean Apollo at midnight. No more questions now. Let’s go.’
They turned and headed up the slope towards the walls that protected the camp. As they left, Eurylochus stepped out from behind the corner of the hut, where he had been listening to every hushed word of the conversation. He smiled to himself and slipped off to find Odysseus.
Chapter Forty-Five
THE MADNESS OF AJAX
‘Who’s the woman, Eperitus?’
Diocles and the other guards swung the gates open as Eperitus and Astynome approached.
‘A friend of mine,’ he replied, slapping Astynome’s backside so that the Spartans understood what he meant. Astynome shot him a glance from beneath her hood but said nothing. ‘I’m taking her back to her father’s farm. I pay well for his goods and I wouldn’t want them to get lost.’
‘No, I’m sure you wouldn’t,’ Diocles said, eyeing the fine figure beneath the cloak. ‘Are his goods for sale to anyone else?’
‘You’ll find my father’s “goods” are very picky, Greek!’ Astynome snapped.
‘She’s just as fiery in bed,’ Eperitus added, holding up his hand apologetically as Diocles’s face suddenly darkened. ‘If the Trojan men had her temper they’d have beaten us years ago.’
Diocles’s frown receded a little, while behind him the other guards laughed and jeered at him.
‘Well, just you make sure you escort her out of the camp every time she visits, because if I catch her I might just have to teach her some manners.’
Eperitus smiled and gave a tug on his horse’s reins, leading it over the causeway towards the open plain. Astynome followed, pulling her smaller mount behind her. The sky above them was already a deep blue and marked with a smattering of early stars. The mountains in the east had darkened to a jagged line of black peaks against the horizon.
‘Couldn’t you have thought of something better to say?’ Astynome berated him as they moved out of earshot. ‘I’m no prostitute and I don’t like being compared to one.’
Eperitus did not reply. The charade at the gate over, his heart was heavy again and his mind filled with dark thoughts. The only comfort was the presence of Astynome – despite her temporary exasperation – and he tried to distract himself by thinking of the rest of his life spent with her. Then his sharp ears caught footsteps following behind and he turned to see a familiar figure coming towards them in the dusky half-light.