Priam moved slowly, she noticed with a pain at her heart, as if his legs would hardly carry him and he was borne along by his strength of will alone. Will this then be his death? Oh, damn Hector for having the bad luck and the bad sense to go and get himself killed! she thought, stumbling along behind Polyxena with her eyes so full of tears that she could hardly see where she was going.
Was Hector still here on this plain, bound somehow to that lump of decaying flesh tied behind Akhilles's chariot? Why did he not come and speak with them, forbid his father to humble himself to Akhilles? No, Hector had bidden her farewell and said they would not meet again. If she had told her father and mother that she had seen the ruin of Troy, would they have believed her? Or would it have made them even more eager to see all things done in order while there was still time enough?
A solitary watchman challenged them:
"Who goes there?"
Priam's voice sounded thin and quavering; Kassandra had never realized quite how old and feeble he sounded.
"It is Priam, son of Laomedon, King of Troy; I seek a parley with the Danaan lord Akhilles."
There was a muttering of voices, and after a time a lantern flashed on them.
"My lord of Troy, you are welcome, but if you have an armed guard you must leave them here."
"No guard at all, armed or unarmed," Priam said. "I come only as a suppliant to Akhilles; my only company is my two young daughters."
It made them sound, Kassandra thought, as if they were little girls, not grown women past twenty. As if explaining this, Priam added, "They are both sworn priestesses; one of Apollo and one °r the Maiden; not the wives of warriors." k
"Why are they here, then?"
"Only to support our father if his steps should stumble by the way," said Polyxena, as the torch flashed in their faces.
Kassandra added, "I am known to the Akhaian captains; I was present at the negotiations for the return of Chryseis, daughter of Apollo's Priest." After she said this she wondered if she should have mentioned it; Akhilles had not come out of that encounter so well that he would wish to be reminded of it.
But the watchman evidently didn't know, or didn't care about that. He said, "Let them come, then," and lowered the torch, saying, "Follow me."
He led the way across the ground, rutted by chariot wheels, toward the light that streamed from the tent of Akhilles. Inside was warmth and even a certain degree of comfort; chairs covered with furs and skins, tapestry hangings, and a table spread with fruits and wine. Akhilles sat at the center of the tent, looking as if he had arranged himself to give audience. At the far end of the tent, in the shadows between the light of half a dozen lamps, stood the shrouded and mummified figure of Patroklos, just as Kassandra had seen it in her vision. Nearer the door stood Agamemnon and beside him Odysseus with a cup of wine in his hand; they looked as if they had been set up for a tableau. Akhilles was apparently just fresh from his bath; he looked very clean, his skin as pink as a little child's; his hair, which had been cut short, silver-gilt in the light, was being combed by a slave, whom Kassandra recognized as her mother's woman Briseis. As his gaze fell on Priam, he put up his hand to stop the combing, and the woman drew back.
"Well, my lord of Troy," he said, his thin lips stretching back in what Kassandra thought of as a grin of contempt, "what brings you out into a dark night like this?"
As if he didn't know perfectly well! But it was obvious to all of them that Akhilles was all set to enjoy this. Priam came forth into the lantern light; Kassandra and Polyxena drew together, watching him. Priam knelt clumsily down, extending his hands in a pleading gesture toward the younger man.
"Oh, my lord Akhilles, I am sure I need not say to you why I have come; I beg you to yield up to me what is customary and proper, and give me the body of my fallen son Hector for proper burial."
Akhilles's face did not move a muscle, he only smiled very slightly. Priam rushed on, "You are so valiant, sir; you have fought long; but all these years of battle, we have returned your dead to you that their bodies may be given to the fire and their spirits sent off properly to the afterworld."
"Hector angered me," Akhilles said. "He really should not have had the arrogance to go up against me, whom the Gods have sworn to protect."
Priam stopped and swallowed; he could not think what to say to that. Kassandra clenched her fists under her hanging sleeves.
And he dares speak of arrogance?
Priam said at last, "My lord Akhilles, a warrior challenges the finest opponent he can. And he has fallen; you who are so • powerful, cannot you be merciful to Hector's wife and child as well?"
"No," said Akhilles, "I can't."
He stopped and Kassandra could hear them all listening for his next word; but he was so silent for so long that she thought he intended to leave it at that. But then he said, "I have sworn that I will have the revenge that has been given to me."
Priam leaned forward and laid his hands on Akhilles's knees. His words rushed out of him.
"Prince Akhilles, you must have had a father once; can you not for your own father's sake be merciful? Hector was the eldest of my sons; I was proud of him as your father must have been of you. And when the gallant Patroklos fell in battle, Hector did not seek to keep his body; he honored a brave fallen foe! He came to the funeral games for Patroklos, because, he said, Patroklos would not grudge him a good dinner; and he said that he looked forward to having much to talk about with Patroklos in the afterlife; they were both warriors and when the battles of this world were over he trusted they would be friends as fellow warriors. Let us lay Hector to rest as you will bury Patroklos."
Akhilles looked toward the shadowed corner of the tent and Kassandra saw that his eyes were suddenly filled with tears. She could see a dozen emotions chasing themselves over his features: hatred, scorn, pity, sorrow; but the sorrow predominated. Her father had evidently found the one thing that might cut through the arrogance and scorn. Akhilles said slowly, "You are right, my lord of Troy; Patroklos has a friend then in the afterlife. Guard!" he snapped out, "go out and bring us the body of royal Hector!"
The soldier bowed to the ground and fled.
Akhilles said, "You spoke of a ransom? What ransom do you offer me, then?"
Priam muttered, "That is for you, noble Akhilles, to say." He drew the ring from his finger and set it on Akhilles's finger. "First I offer this as a gift to you with my thanks."
Akhilles stroked it consideringly. He said with his cruel smile, "I suppose Hector is worth more to you than a few captured chariots."
The madman is enjoying this. It was obvious to Kassandra that he was contemplating something outrageous. Priam mumbled, "I have sworn that I will pay without haggling whatever you ask, Prince Akhilles."
Akhilles rubbed his chin, evidently intending to extort the most drama he could from the scene. "Agamemnon - what should I ask for ransom?"
"Get a good one," Agamemnon said carelessly. "The King of Troy can afford anything you ask; his city has half the riches of the world within its walls."
Odysseus interrupted and said clearly, "Your nobility will be measured by generosity, Akhilles; will you allow a Trojan to outdo you in generosity?" His face was turned away; Kassandra thought that he was ashamed. She wished that they could have dealt with Odysseus alone.
"It's easy to see what a friend to the Trojans you have always been, Odysseus," said Agamemnon. "I have not forgotten how we hardly persuaded you to fight on our side at all."