The sunlight glinted in his eyes - as red as blood, Kassandra thought. Her own eyes felt strained and dry and it struck her that he should hardly be so overjoyed at coming home—who knew what he would find there!
She came to the rail, the child in her arms, and stood beside him.
"What is it?"
"When I left home," he said, "I gave orders that a great pile of wood should be made on the headland, and a watchman kept there at all times. When I set sail, I sent a message by a swift courier that a watch should be kept for my ship; they have sighted us and word will be sent to the palace; they will prepare a feast and a welcome for us.
"It is good to be home again. I am eager to show you my country and the palace where you will be Queen, Kassandra." He took the child from her, bending over the little face, and saying, "Your country, my son; your father's throne. You are silent, Kassandra."
"It is not my country," she said, "and it is certain Klytemnestra will have no joyful welcome for me, eager as she may be to see you again. And I am afraid for my child; Klytemnestra—"
"You need not fear anything like that," he said arrogantly. "Among the Akhaians, our women are dutiful wives. She will not dare say a word of protest. She has had a free rein while I was away; she will soon learn what I expect of her, and she will do as she is told or be the worse for it, believe me."
"It is cold," she said. "I will go and fetch my cloak."
"It seems warm and fine to me," he said, "but perhaps it is because this is the port of my native city. Look, now you can see the palace on the hill, and the walls, built by Titans centuries ago. The port here is called Nauplia."
She went to fetch a cloak and stood beside Agamemnon at the prow, letting the woman who had been her mother's servant take the baby.
The great sail had been lowered; and the rowers had taken their places to maneuver the ship in the harbor; it glided smoothly along inside the sheltered waters in the lee of the headland.
Now she could see a number of people collecting along the pier. As the boat drew in close, one man raised a cheer, and Agamemnon's soldiers, clustered along the sides of the boat, began waving and yelling to people they recognized on shore.
But for the most part the crowd was silent as the boat drew slowly closer to the pier. To Kassandra the silence seemed ominous. She shivered, although the rich cloak she wore was warm, and took the baby back from the serving woman, to clutch him close against her body.
The prow of the ship bumped gently against the land. Agamemnon was the first to step ashore; at once he fell to the ground and solemnly kissed the stones of the pier, crying in a loud voice, "I give thanks to the Thunder Lord who has returned me safe to my own country!"
A tall red-haired man with a gold torque about his throat stepped up to him and said with a bow, "My Lord Agamemnon, I am Aegisthos, a kinsman of your Queen; she has sent me with these men to escort you with great honor to the palace."
The men closed in around Agamemnon; and marched away. It looked to Kassandra as if he were a guarded prisoner rather than a king with an escort of honor. Agamemnon was scowling—she could see he had little liking for this.
Nevertheless he went with them, unprotesting. One of the men on the pier climbed aboard and came to Kassandra.
"You are the daughter of Priam of Troy? My master sent word you would be coming and you were to be shown all regard," he said. "We have a cart for you and your child, and your woman."
He gave her his hand and helped her ashore, settling her in the cart with the baby on her knees and the serving woman crouched at her feet.
In spite of this luxury—and the road up to the palace was so steep that she had dreaded climbing it on foot - Kassandra felt uneasy. The stone walls of the great palace, almost as massive as the fallen walls of Troy, seemed to frown above her, deep in shadow. They passed under a great gate above which two lionesses, painted in brilliant colours, kept watch face to face. As the cart trundled through the Lion Gate, she wondered if they represented the ancient Gods of the place, or were Agamemnon's private emblem? But they were lionesses, not lions, and anyhow Agamemnon had come here as consort of the Queen in the old way. Klytemnestra's symbol, then?
Ahead of the cart marched Agamemnon and his honor guard with Aegisthos. Just inside the Lion Gate was a city built on the same pattern as Troy on the hillside: palace, temples, gardens, above one another, the walls rising in many terraces and balconies. It was beautiful; yet it seemed shadowed darkly, the depths of the shadow falling on Agamemnon where he walked at the center of the soldiers.
On the steps of the palace, a woman appeared; tall and commanding, her hair elaborately dressed in ringlets fresh from a curling iron, flaming gold in the morning sun. She was dressed richly in the Cretan style: a laced bodice low across her breasts, a flounced skirt dyed in many colours, one for each flounce.
Kassandra saw at once the close resemblance to Helen. This would be her sister Klytemnestra. The Queen came through the escort and bowed low to Agamemnon; her voice was sweet and clear.
"My Lord, a great joy to welcome you to these shores and to the palace where once you ruled at my side," she said. "We have long awaited this day."
She held out her two hands to him; he took them ceremoniously and kissed them.
"It is a joy to return home, Lady."
"We have prepared a celebration and a great sacrifice suitable to the occasion," she said. "I can hardly wait to kill you."
No, Kassandra thought in shock; that could not have been what she said; but it is what I heard.
What Klytemnestra had actually said was: I can hardly wait to see you take the place we have prepared for you.
"All is prepared for your bath and the feast," Klytemnestra said. "We are entirely ready to—to see you lying dead among the sacrifices." Once again Kassandra had heard what Klytemnestra was thinking, not what her lips had actually spoken. So again foresight, undesired, had come upon her.
Klytemnestra gestured Agamemnon toward the palace steps.
"All is prepared, my Lord; go in and officiate at the sacrifice."
He bowed and began to walk up the steps. Klytemnestra watched him go with a smile which made Kassandra shudder. Couldn't he see'?
But the King moved without hesitation; just as he reached the great bronze doors at the top of the stairs, Aegisthos, armed with the great sacrificial axe, flung them open and thrust him inside. The door closed after him.
Klytemnestra came down the stairs to the cart. She said, "You are the Trojan princess, Priam's daughter? My sister sent word to me that you were the one friend she had found in Troy."
Kassandra bowed; she was not sure that Klytemnestra's next move would not be to thrust a knife through her heart.
"I am Kassandra of Troy, and in Colchis I was made a priestess of Serpent Mother," she said.
Klytemnestra looked at the baby on her breast. She said, "Is that Agamemnon's child?"
"No," said Kassandra, not knowing whence came the courage which bade her speak so boldly. "He is my son."
"Good," said Klytemnestra, "we want no king's sons in this land. He may live, then."
At that moment, a great shout arose from within the bronze gates; someone thrust them open from inside and Agamemnon appeared on the top of the steps with Aegisthos behind him, bearing the great double-bladed sacrificial axe. He whirled it high and brought it down into the fleeing king's skull. Agamemnon staggered and tripped over the edge of the stairs, falling and rolling down the steps almost to Klytemnestra's feet.
She screamed, "Witness, you people of the city; thus the Lady avenges Iphigenia!"