Odysseus continued to stare from face to face, giving his words time to sink in and waiting for the angry murmurs of the Trojans to subside. Behind him, Eperitus pulled the small vial of powder from his pouch and held it in the palm of his hand, his eyes switching from Palamedes to Odysseus and back again.

'What's this all about, Odysseus?' Hector said, unable to tolerate the silence any longer. 'What does Menelaus want with my brother? Didn't Paris visit him in Sparta? He had intended to go there first.'

'My lord Hector, things haven't started well between us. There's been too much distrust on both sides, but if our peoples are to be saved from a great tragedy then we must agree to be open and honest with one another. Do you give me your word, as a warrior and a man of honour, that Paris is not in Troy, and that you haven't seen him since he left for Greece?'

'My brother hasn't been seen or heard of for weeks, and may Zeus strike me down if I lie. Now tell me what you know of him, Odysseus.'

'Is he dead?' Priam interrupted, leaning forward slightly and curling his fingers anxiously over the armrest of his throne.

'He lives, as far as I know, my lord,' Odysseus answered, 'unless the G.o.ds have avenged the dishonour he brought on your house. Because Paris did visit Sparta, and the last anybody saw of him he was fleeing the city with Menelaus's wife as his captive.'

This time Hector and Priam did not pretend to wait for Idaeus's translation.

'What?' Hector exclaimed in Greek, standing and staring at Odysseus through the haze thrown up by the hearth. 'He wouldn't dare!'

A moment later he was joined by the rest of the a.s.sembly, who after listening to Idaeus's translation again left their seats and cried out as one in protest against the accusation.

'No son of mine would do such a thing,' said Priam, also in Greek, as he stepped down from the dais to stand next to Hector. 'Kidnap a royal queen? He's a prince and a warrior, and he is loyal to the will of his father. It's just not possible!'

'It's true,' said Menelaus, lifting his face from his hands and talking with deep despondency. 'He was a guest in my home and swore a sacred oath of friendship to me, but the very night I went on a journey to Crete he stole Helen from me and took my lad, Pleisthenes, too.'

'By all the sacred G.o.ds of Ilium!' Priam exclaimed, leaning against Hector. 'He can't have!'

'He has,' Odysseus confirmed. 'And throughout Greece the storm clouds are gathering. Unless Helen is returned, there will be war.'

This statement was greeted by more angry muttering from the Trojans, and in the buzz of voices Eperitus signalled to one of the slaves to bring wine. As the man began refilling his half-empty goblet, Eperitus moved to the seat beside Palamedes.

'Fill this, too,' he ordered, taking Palamedes's goblet and pa.s.sing it to the slave. Palamedes, who was growing more agitated as his eyes flicked between Odysseus and Priam, hardly seemed to notice Eperitus's presence beside him.

'Paris is not here,' Priam said again, in a loud voice. 'How do we know you're telling us the truth until we speak to him? For all we know, Helen may have left willingly.'

Menelaus lifted his head sharply and there was anger in his eyes, but Odysseus spoke first.

'We have taken you at your word, my lords, and accept that Paris has not yet returned to Troy; you must also take our word and believe that Menelaus's wife was abducted by your son. I can understand why you might doubt me a foreigner who comes to your city with the threat of war on his tongue so instead I ask you to look at this man.'

Odysseus moved to stand behind Menelaus's chair. His eyes rested briefly on Eperitus, who raised Palamedes's goblet and poured the powder into it. Odysseus smiled and gave a subtle wink, before turning and placing his hands on the Spartan's shoulders.

'I've known this man for ten years,' he told the a.s.sembled Trojans, 'ever since the best of the Greeks gathered to pay court to the most beautiful woman in the world Helen of Sparta. And of all the great men she could have chosen from Diomedes, Ajax, Idomeneus and many more she picked the greatest of us all, Menelaus. But look at him now, a ruin of his former self, destroyed by the loss of his wife. Could a man feign the rage and despair you yourselves have witnessed in him?'

He paused for Idaeus to translate his words, and as the Trojans discussed what Odysseus had said, Eperitus placed Palamedes's goblet of wine on the table before him.

'What do you think?' he asked in a low voice. 'Will they agree to return Helen?'

Palamedes's eyelids were heavy with wine and his eyes unfocused. 'Can't be sure, but Hector's certainly angry with Paris. He told Priam this is going to ruin everything he's planned for.'

'How could you know that?' Eperitus asked, suddenly attentive. 'Every word they've spoken to each other has been in their own language.'

'My nursemaid was a Trojan slave, captured in a raid,' Palamedes answered. 'She taught me her language when I was a child, and I've been able to understand almost every word I've heard since arriving here.'

'Then why didn't you tell us that before?' Eperitus snapped, feeling his temper rise at the sight of Palamedes's smug grin.

But at that moment Odysseus held up his hands for silence. 'Even if you don't care for the suffering of this man,' he continued, patting Menelaus's shoulders, 'even if your desire is to support Paris, regardless of whether Helen was taken from Sparta or left willingly, then think of the wider consequences. You're all n.o.blemen and many of you have royal blood in your veins. If you condone the abduction of a queen Helen was not taken as a spoil of war like Hesione was, remember you are saying that such acts are acceptable. Then where will you be? Moral standards will falter. The G.o.ds will abandon you. If in times of peace men are allowed to think that royal women are there to be plucked like apples from a tree, or women come to believe they are free to choose their lovers, how will you protect your own families? What's more, how will you ever be sure that your children are truly yours? Do you want to raise the b.a.s.t.a.r.d sons of others as your own and let them inherit what is not theirs? If you do not give Helen back to Menelaus when Paris returns, then you will be responsible for the doom that follows!'

Odysseus's final sentence rang ominously through the silent hall. Eperitus could see by the looks on the faces of the Trojans that his words had hit their mark, but in the moments of quiet that followed all he could think of was the warning given to him by Calchas. What if the priest was right and peace now would only open the way to a Trojan invasion of Greece? Were these the plans Palamedes had overheard Hector talking of? And if so, would they ultimately lead to the conquest of Ithaca and the destruction of everything Odysseus held most precious? He watched Priam and Hector leaning into each other and whispering urgently, and wondered whether the fearsome Trojan prince was thinking of how to keep the Greeks from attacking Ilium before his own plans could come to fruition.

'Your king speaks well,' Palamedes said, reaching for the drugged goblet. 'Too well for the good of Greece.'

Eperitus watched the man's fingers curl around the stem of the cup. He thought for a moment then hooked his foot around Palamedes's chair and pulled it backwards. Palamedes grabbed the table in an attempt to regain his balance, knocking the cup to the floor with a clang. Odysseus turned to see the dark wine spreading over the flagstones, and the confident gleam in his eye wavered. A moment later Hector spoke.

'My father and I have come to an agreement. In view of Menelaus's anger with my brother we think it wise that he returns to Sparta as soon as practical. However, as we intend to give his wife back to him' Menelaus raised his head at these words, his eyes wide, almost disbelieving 'we invite you, Odysseus, to remain here until Paris returns so that you can escort her back to Greece. Regardless of why Helen is with Paris and we do not yet accept she was taken against her will we agree with Odysseus and don't want to set a precedent. Is this agreeable?'

'No,' said Palamedes, rising unsteadily to his feet. 'No it isn't. My friend has spoken truly, for it's a vile crime to steal a man's wife, but there is also the matter of compensation.'

'Sit down, you fool,' Odysseus commanded, his voice stern. 'Sit down before I knock you down.'

'Yes, sit down Palamedes,' Menelaus agreed.

'I will not sit down! You may think, Hector, that Troy can escape its crime by returning Helen, but Agamemnon, Menelaus's brother and the most powerful of all the Greeks, does not. He demands that Priam pay compensation.'

There was an ugly muttering from amongst the ranks of Trojan n.o.bles. Priam's face was like stone, and Hector's expression was dark and menacing.

'Go on,' he said, slowly. 'Name your demands.'

'There are no demands,' Odysseus insisted.

'Agamemnon feels that, as Paris will almost certainly have violated Helen and made the atrocity more heinous, Menelaus's suffering cannot be measured by financial compensation alone. He therefore demands an annual tribute in copper, timber, wool and slaves the exact amounts to be negotiated as well as the handing over of three Trojan cities: one for himself, one for Menelaus and the third for Odysseus . . .'

'You lying dog!' Odysseus shouted, springing towards Palamedes with his fists raised.

Eperitus quickly flung himself between the two men.

'Fighting Palamedes won't help!' he hissed, placing the flats of his hands against the king's chest as Palamedes retreated behind him.

'So that was your intention all along, was it?' Priam crowed, standing on the royal dais and shaking his fist at Odysseus. 'A city of your own in payment for the return of Helen and the humbling of Troy. Do you think we would ever have agreed to such terms?'

A silver cup was thrown from amidst the mob of angry officials, hitting Odysseus on the back. Another glanced off his arm, followed by a torrent of abuse. Eperitus stepped in front of his king and looked quickly about the room as more cups, plates and pieces of food were thrown at them. An armed warrior stood at each exit, but the remainder were already closing in on the Greeks, their spear-points lowered threateningly. It would still be possible to rush the soldiers before they could bring their weapons to bear, Eperitus thought, but even if they overpowered them and took their spears and shields, it was unlikely that they could fight their way out of the city and back across the plain to their ship. Escape was impossible.

'I say we should kill them,' said a short man with a crooked nose and pointed beard. 'If Paris has taken this man's wife, then let's do away with him now and at least then the Greeks will have no further claim on the woman!'

There was a murmur of agreement, but then a voice called out from the crowd.

'Peace, my friends! Sit down! Don't let Antimachus's words add fuel to your anger. Remember these men are our guests and under the protection of Zeus himself. If you harm them, you defy the G.o.ds and bring judgement upon yourselves!'

It was Antenor. He had forced his way through the closing circle of Trojans to stand with his arms aloft between them and the outnumbered Greeks. His countrymen shouted at the old man and told him to stand aside, but advanced no further. Then Hector appeared, clearing a pa.s.sage through the throng to stand face to face with Odysseus.

'You insult us with your deceit, Odysseus. If I was free to do as I pleased, I'd tear you to pieces right now with my own hands. But Antenor is right: you remain guests here, and I'll not bring the wrath of the G.o.ds down on Troy by killing you.'

Odysseus met the Trojan's stormy gaze without flinching. 'You're a fool, Hector. We came to offer you the chance of righting the wrong Paris has done, but from the moment of our arrival you chose to treat us with hostility. Now, if you really respect the will of the G.o.ds, you'll let us return to our ship unmolested.'

'I'll make sure you're escorted back in safety,' Hector replied, sternly. 'Have no fear of that. But once you've left our waters, I advise you never to return. If you do, you'll find us ready for you.'

Chapter Fifteen.

THE GATHERING AT AULIS.

They all knew they had been fortunate to escape from Troy alive. The hostility in Priam's throne room was nothing compared with the anger that awaited them on the streets of the city. By the time they had rejoined Antiphus, Polites and Arceisius and marched out of the citadel gates, they found a large mob had already a.s.sembled beyond the walls, armed with rocks, lumps of wood and even a few spears. Only the escort of a hundred warriors enabled the Greeks to reach the Scaean Gate unharmed, and it was not until they felt the gentle motion of the Ithacan warship beneath their feet once more that they could finally relax.

The relief of being free of Troy gave each of them a sense of calm. Palamedes sat in the prow, his arms crossed over his knees and his chin resting on his forearm staring blankly ahead of himself. Menelaus joined the three guardsmen on the benches and took hold of one of the polished oars, pulling quietly in time with the rest of the crew as Eurybates steered the ship out of the harbour. What he was thinking as he looked over his shoulder at the high citadel no man could tell. Odysseus and Eperitus withdrew to the stern, from where they looked back in silence at the broad plain with its scattered farmsteads and flocks of sheep, its corralled horses and the city of tents by the mouth of the Simoeis. It all seemed so peaceful as they watched the walls of the citadel turn pink in the light of the lowering sun.

As the ship slipped back out to sea and Troy was lost behind the wooded headland, Antiphus brought Calchas to the king. He had arrived shortly before Odysseus's return and surrendered himself to the crew, insisting he had information that would be of use to the Greeks.

'What information?' Odysseus asked the hooded priest, whom he had recognized immediately.

'What I have to say is for all the kings of Greece together, or none at all.'

'Why don't you tell it to the fish, then,' Odysseus responded, grabbing a fistful of Calchas's robes and almost carrying him to the side of the ship. The man's hood slipped back to reveal his bald head and pale, drawn features.

'Wait!' Eperitus shouted, rushing over and grabbing Calchas's arm, fearing that in the mood he was in Odysseus would cast him overboard without a second thought. 'If he says he has information then we should trust him. When he spoke to me in Priam's palace he told me things about myself that only you and I know. He knew about the powder you gave me, Odysseus, and he even knows about the gathering at Aulis. He's a seer like none I've ever come across, other than the Pythoness herself. Calchas,' he added, turning to the cowering priest, 'I don't know what this other information you have is, but at least tell Odysseus what you told me in the throne room.'

Odysseus pinned Calchas against the side of the ship, where clouds of spray soaked his clothing and formed into watery beads that trickled off his hairless scalp.

'Tell me what you know, Trojan, or you can swim to Greece instead.'

'Hector has been preparing Troy for war against Greece,' Calchas stuttered. 'The galleys you saw in the bay, the army camped on the plain they're just the beginning.'

'Then he knew we were gathering our forces for an attack, even before we arrived?' asked Menelaus, who had overheard the conversation from the benches and come to stand behind Eperitus.

'No, my lord, he had no idea you were coming. But he has dreamt of invading Greece for many years, waiting patiently while his father's power waned and his own influence grew. Now, with peace on the northern borders, he feels his time is approaching.'

'But why would Hector want to invade Greece?' asked Odysseus.

'For the same reason Agamemnon wants to conquer Troy,' Calchas replied. 'A stranglehold on the Aegean and all the trade that flows across it.'

'My brother wants the return of Helen,' Menelaus said, with slow menace in his voice.

'Don't delude yourself about what your brother wants, Menelaus,' Calchas retorted, his face convulsing unconsciously under the glare of the Spartan king. 'For years Mycenae has been spreading its trade routes like a web across the Aegean; and where merchants lead the way warriors eventually follow.'

'Why tell us this, Calchas?' Odysseus asked, releasing his grip on the man's robes and helping him to stand as upright as his stooped form would allow. 'You're a Trojan, after all.'

'Because Apollo has ordered it,' Calchas said with a shrug. 'And now, if you're satisfied, I'd like a drink.'

Odysseus ordered a skin of wine to be brought for the strange priest, who sat facing the benches and staring at the sailors as he drank. His unflinching gaze made them uneasy, and even with their backs turned they could feel his eyes boring into them.

'He's an odd one,' Odysseus commented later, as he sat with Eperitus in the stern and watched Calchas get progressively drunker.

'But useful.'

Odysseus gave a sidelong glance at Menelaus, who lay snoring against the side of the ship.

'What else did he say to you in the throne room, Eperitus?'

Eperitus felt a sudden sensation of guilt overwhelming him, as if Odysseus knew every detail of the conversation with Calchas and was aware that the captain of his guard had betrayed him. But Eperitus also knew from long experience that Odysseus often tried to give the impression of knowing more than he did a trick by which he would draw his victims out and make them reveal all sorts of secrets to him. It was impossible that the king could know Calchas had asked Eperitus to foil his plans for the peaceful return of Helen, and that he had caused Palamedes to spill the drugged wine. Odysseus was clever, of course, and knew there must be a reason why the priest had spoken to Eperitus first, but Eperitus guessed he was simply casting a line and seeing whether he could get a bite.

'He said there are two secrets about me that I don't yet know. He didn't tell me what they are and I don't think he fully knows but he said one will make me want to avoid war, while the other would compel me to return to Troy.'

'Hmm,' Odysseus mused. 'I can't imagine anything that would make you want to miss out on a chance of glory, but if such a thing exists then at least we'll both be working to the same goal a quick and peaceful resolution to this mess.'

'Then you still think war can be stopped, even after what has just happened?'

Odysseus leaned back against the rail and looked towards the western horizon. The sun had already slipped behind the outline of Lemnos and a pale moon was rising in the purple sky.

'I'm only mortal, Eperitus. I don't know what the Fates have in store for us, and as long as I remain ignorant of that then yes, I do believe this war can be averted. Things look dark right now, but opportunities will always present themselves. We just have to be ready for them.'

'I don't know where you get your optimism from,' Eperitus rejoined, shaking his head. 'What about the fleet in the harbour and the army on the plain? Calchas says that Hector will attack Greece sooner or later, and that eventually his armies will reach Ithaca too.'

Odysseus laughed heartily, as if he were sharing a joke with friends in the great hall back on Ithaca, not on a ship on the far side of the world. 'I'd say Hector is the optimist if he expects to conquer Greece. If the different states can unite for the sake of a woman, however beautiful, then we can join together to repel a common enemy. But aren't you forgetting the biggest problem of all?'

Eperitus raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

'The oracle said I'd be twenty years away from home if I ever went to Troy,' Odysseus continued with a wry smile. 'Well, I've been to Troy now, so I'm doomed anyway. Unless,' he added, raising a cautionary finger, 'I can cheat destiny, like I had the chance to do ten years ago.'

'Then we'll both have to wait and see what happens,' Eperitus concluded, looking at Odysseus's smiling face and getting the distinct feeling there was something hollow about his bravado as if, deep down, he knew he would not see his home for a very long time.

The remainder of the voyage to Greece was slow and tedious. As they retraced their route southward past Tenedos, Lesbos and Chios to Icaria, before turning west to find a pa.s.sage through the Cyclades, they were beset by unseasonably rough weather. On three occasions they were unable to leave the different ports and coves where they had taken shelter the night before, not daring to risk the raging seas and bl.u.s.tering winds. Then, in the second week out of Troy, they made sacrifices to Poseidon and the storms eased away. Soon, a westerly wind was speeding them towards Euboea and the gathering of the Greek kings. On one occasion they were approached by pirates who quickly turned and fled at the sight of a deck crammed with armed men but the rest of the pa.s.sage was smooth and unhindered.

Finally, three weeks after leaving Troy, they reached the island of Euboea and spent the night in the bay below Mount Ocha, where Zeus and Hera were said to have fallen in love. In the pre-dawn light of the next morning their oars were already gliding through the calm waters as the sailors took their craft out into the wide triangle of sea between Euboea and the western mainland. Before long they had picked up a mild breeze and Odysseus, leaning his weight on the twin rudders, steered them to the northern apex of the triangle, where the two opposing landma.s.ses closed to a narrow point. By mid-morning, with the sun's heat bearing down on them from the naked blue sky, they pa.s.sed between the small islets that guarded the mouth of the straits and saw a handful of masts in the distance ahead of them, cl.u.s.tered near to the sh.o.r.e where the hills of the mainland sloped into the sea.

The sight of these ships caused an excited rush to the prow, upsetting the ship's balance and forcing Odysseus to order his crew back to their places. For days, the conversation on the benches had been filled with speculation about which kings would answer the call to arms, and what force of men and ships they would bring with them. Now, with the first glimpse of Agamemnon's a.s.sembly, the galley was suddenly a cacophony of competing voices. Even Odysseus could barely disguise his excitement.

'How many can you see, Eperitus?' he asked, squinting at the ships that were framed between the lines of the halyards and the billowing sail above.

'Six?'

'There's a dozen at least,' said Eurybates, whose sailor's eyes were not as sharp as Eperitus's but were more accustomed to counting ships at a distance.

'There must be more than that!' Menelaus exclaimed. 'There have to be!'

'There are,' said Calchas, his bald pate gleaming in the sunlight as he remained sitting on the planks of the main deck. 'Hundreds upon hundreds of them. I saw them in my dream last night.'

'Pah!' Menelaus sniffed. 'You were drunk, as usual.'

But Menelaus's distrust of Calchas which had grown greater each time the Trojan drank himself senseless proved to be unfounded. As they followed the curve of the coast around to the west they pa.s.sed fleet after fleet, each one belonging to a different king. Some numbered just a handful, while others had as many as two or three dozen vessels; and opposite each mooring were large numbers of tents, where hundreds of soldiers stood watching the lone galley slip by. But even these were just the vanguard. Eventually, the straits closed to form a large bay where the mountainous flanks of Boetia and Euboea almost touched, their independence maintained by a narrow strip of water leading north. Here, finally, they saw the ma.s.sed might of Greece.