“Are you saying it is poison?”
“That is exactly what I am saying. During the last days your mother will be in dreadful agony. The pain will be excruciating and beyond her ability to cope with. You understand me? At that point she will have only hours left to live. Better, I think, if you rescue her from that suffering. It is, however, your choice.”
“I couldn’t poison Mother,” said Laodike.
“Of course you couldn’t,” said Andromache. “However, you can tell her exactly what the gentle Machaon has told you. And you can give her the phial. Let her make the choice.”
“Thank you, Lady Andromache,” said Machaon. “Yes, that is certainly the correct course.” He looked at her and seemed about to speak.
“Was there something else?” she asked.
“I understand you traveled with the Mykene warrior Argurios.”
“Yes,” she said. “A hard man and unpleasant.”
“Ah! Then I shall not trouble you with my problem concerning him. I thought, perhaps, you might be… friends.”
“How is it,” she asked, “that a physician is having trouble with a traveling warrior?”
“Did you not hear? He was attacked by other Mykene. His wounds were grievous. He is still likely to die of them. But I cannot make him rest, my lady. He insists on working for his bread and for the right to sleep here. I have explained that all costs have been met by the lord Helikaon, but this only seems to anger him. He has been sawing wood, carrying water. All kinds of menial duties for which we have servants. He has torn open his stitches many times through such—and other—ill-advised exercise. I have tried to explain to him that his body was savagely damaged. He cannot breathe well and becomes dizzy with any exertion. Yet he will not listen. I fear he is going to collapse and die, and then the lord Helikaon will view me with displeasure.”
“We will speak to him, Laodike and I,” said Andromache. “Where is he?”
“I saw him a little while ago, beyond the House of Earth. He is trying to repair an old wall. There is no need. The wall no longer serves any real purpose. Yet he carries large stones and exhausts himself.”
Machaon gave them directions, and the two women walked off.
Laodike was not happy. “I do not like the Mykene,” she said. “I don’t care if he dies.”
“He helped Helikaon at the Bay of Blue Owls,” said Andromache. “He killed a Mykene assassin. Perhaps that is why he was attacked.”
“I expect he had unpleasant reasons for doing what he did,” said Laodike. “Mykene always do.”
XXIII
THE WOUNDED LION
I
Argurios could hardly breathe. It was as if the gods had placed a gate in his chest and no air was reaching his lungs. White lights danced before his eyes, and dizziness threatened to bring him down. He staggered on for several paces, his arms burning with the weight of the rock. Even his legs were trembling and painful, especially the calves. Grimly he struggled on, lowering the rock to the breach in the ancient wall. His vision began to swim, forcing him to sit down. He gazed down at his trembling hands.
Nothing in his life had prepared him for the horror of such weakness. He had seen friends die in battle and seen others struck down by wasting fevers, but always he had remained strong. He could run for miles in full armor and then fight a battle. His stamina was legendary. Yet now he struggled to lift a few pitiful rocks onto a ruined wall.
Sweat dripped into his eyes, and he was too weary to wipe it away.
He glanced across the old paddock and saw the two men sitting in the shade. Both were armed with swords and daggers. Over the weeks he had tried to approach them, but they faded back from him and he did not have the stamina to give chase. At first he had thought them to be more killers, ready to strike him down and claim the bounty from Erekos. The boy Xander had told him not to concern himself.
“Who are they, then?”
Xander became ill at ease. “I am not supposed to say.”
“But you have. So tell me.”
“They are here to protect you.”
Argurios had learned then that they were men hired by Helikaon. It was a sickening discovery. “You told me… he was glad I was dying,” said Argurios.
The boy looked crestfallen. “He told me to say that. He thought it would make you fight for life.”
Argurios swore softly. The world had gone mad. Friends and countrymen wanted him dead. Enemies hired men to keep him alive. Somewhere on Olympos the gods were laughing at this grotesque jest.
As the weeks passed and his condition did not improve, Argurios found himself wishing they were Mykene assassins. At least then he could end his life in battle.
A shadow fell across him, and he looked up. Two women were standing there, the sun behind them.
“What… do you want?” he asked gruffly, thinking them to be priestesses coming to chide him.
“A courteous greeting would be pleasant,” replied Andromache.
With an effort Argurios pushed himself to his feet. “The sun was… in my eyes,” he said between shallow breaths. “I did not… recognize you.”
He saw the shock of his condition register on her face. Argurios had lost weight, and his eyes were sunken and dark-rimmed, his arms and legs thin and wasted.
“Let us all sit,” said Andromache. “This is my friend, the king’s daughter, Laodike.”
Argurios blinked away sweat and looked at Loadike. She was tall, with long fair hair, and in her eyes he saw disdain. Swinging back to Andromache, he asked: “Why are… you here?”
“Mykene are always rude,” said Laodike. “They are bred without manners. Let us go, Andromache. It is too hot to be standing here.”
“Yes, you go back inside,” Andromache told her. “I will sit for a little while with this warrior.”
Laodike nodded. “I will wait for you beneath the arbor trees.” Without a word to Argurios she walked away.
“You should… go with her,” said Argurios. “We have… nothing to… talk about.”
“Sit down before you fall down,” ordered Andromache, seating herself on the stone wall. Argurios slumped down beside her, surprised at himself for obeying a woman. Shame touched him. Even in this small matter he was no longer a man. “I know what you need,” she said.
“What I need?”
“To make you strong again. When I was younger, my father was in a battle. A horse fell and rolled on him. After that he—like you—could scarcely breathe. He tottered around like an old man. It went on for months. Then one day we heard of a traveling physician. He was healing people in local villages while on his way to Egypte. He was an Assyrian. We brought him to my father.”
“He… cured him?”
“No. He showed my father how to cure himself.”
Argurios wiped the sweat from his eyes and looked at the young woman. His vision was hazy, his breathing ragged, yet hope flared in his heart. “Tell me,” he said.
“I will show you, Argurios. Tomorrow morning, whatever the weather, I will send a cart for you. It will bring you to cliffs above a beach. Bring Xander with you, for I would like to see the boy again. And now I will leave you to finish your work.” She rose.
“Wait!” said Argurios, painfully heaving himself to his feet. “Take me… to the… king’s daughter.”
She walked slowly alongside him. He staggered twice and felt her arm link through his. He wanted to shrug it away, but her strength kept him upright. It was not a long walk, yet Argurios felt exhausted by the time they reached the shaded arbor. Laodike was sitting on a bench.
Argurios struggled for breath. “Not… all… Mykene… are ill-mannered. I apolo… gize for my lack… of courtesy. I have…always been uncomfortable around… women. Especially… beautiful women.”
He expected a harsh response, but instead her expression softened. Leaving the bench, she stood before him. “Your apology is accepted,” she said, “and I, too, am sorry for the curtness I showed you. You have been badly woun
ded, and I should have realized you were suffering.”
Argurios could think of nothing else to say, and as the silence grew, the moment became awkward.
Andromache spoke then. “I have invited Argurios to join us tomorrow. It will aid his healing.”
Laodike laughed. “Do you sit awake at night planning events that will annoy Father?” she asked.
II
Xander enjoyed working in the House of Serpents. He felt useful and needed. People always seemed pleased to see him, and as the weeks passed he learned more about herbs and medicines, treatments and diagnosis. The application of warm wet towels reduced fevers; the shredded and powdered barks of certain trees could take away pain. Festering sores could be healed by the application of wine and honey. Eager to learn more, he followed Machaon around, watching as he splinted broken bones or lanced cysts and boils.
Yet despite his enthusiasm for all matters medical he was pleased to be out in the open air, traveling in the wide cart with Argurios. The sky was cloudy with the promise of rain, but the sun was shining through and the air was fresh with the smells of the sea.
He glanced at Argurios. The Mykene looked so ill. His face was drawn and so thin that it made him look like an old, frail man. Xander had helped him shave that morning, cutting away the stubble on his cheeks and trimming the chin beard. He had combed his long dark hair, noting the increase of gray along the temples. The youngster struggled to remember the iron-hard warrior who had saved him on the Xanthos.
In the weeks since the attack Argurios’ recovery had been painfully slow. Machaon had told Xander that one of the wounds had pierced Argurios’ lung and come perilously close to the heart. And there had been much bleeding internally.
“He will recover, though?” Xander had asked.
“He may never regain his former strength. Often deep wounds turn bad, and vilenesses can form.”
Xander looked around. The cart was crossing the wide wooden Scamander bridge. He wondered if they were heading for the white palace he could see on the cliff top to the southwest. It was said that the queen lived in King’s Joy with some of her daughters.
The cart hit a broken stone on the road and jolted. Argurios winced.
“Are you all right?” asked Xander.
Argurios nodded. He very rarely spoke, but each evening when Xander visited him, he would sit quietly as the boy told him of the day’s work among the sick, listening as Xander talked of herbs and discoveries. At first Xander had thought him bored. “Am I babbling, Argurios?” he had asked one evening. “Grandfather says I chatter too much. Shall I leave you?”
Argurios had given a rare smile. “You chatter on, boy. When I am… bored … I’ll tell you.”
The cart left the road and angled out along a narrower road leading to the cliffs. There were two Eagles there, sitting beneath the branches of a gnarled tree, sunlight glinting on their armor of bronze and silver. They rose as the cart approached.
The driver, a crookbacked man with a thick white beard, said: “Guests of the lady Andromache.”
One of the soldiers, a tall young man, wide-shouldered and wearing a helmet with a white horsehair crest, walked up to the cart. “You’d be Xander,” he said.
“Yes.”
The young soldier moved past the boy and stared hard at Argurios. His brows furrowed. “By the gods, man, you look all in. Will you need help to get to the beach?”
“No.” Argurios hauled himself upright, then climbed down from the cart.
“I meant no offense, warrior,” said the soldier. “I was wounded myself two years ago and had to be carried by my comrades.”
Argurios looked at the man. “Where was… the battle?”
“In Thraki. Took a lance thrust in the chest. Smashed my breastplate, broke several ribs.”
“Tough fighters… Thrakians.”
“True. No give in them. We have a regiment of them here now.” The man chuckled. “Sooner have them with me than against me.”
Argurios walked away. Xander followed. The cliff path was steep but fairly wide. Even so, if Argurios were to stumble, he would pitch over the edge and plummet to the rocks far below.
The young soldier came alongside. “I would consider it an honor, Argurios, if you would allow me to walk with you to the beach.”
Argurios straightened at the sound of his name. “You… know of me?”
“All soldiers know of you, man. I was told the story of the bridge at Partha when I was a boy. They say you held the bridge all morning.”
“Not that… long,” said Argurios. “But… by the gods… it felt… like it.” He gathered himself, then looked at the warrior. “Let us…walk, then.”
Xander followed as the two men made their slow way down to the beach. He could see there were already people on the sand, and several men were swimming. Xander wondered what they were looking for. Perhaps they were hunting for shellfish, he thought. Yet they seemed to be swimming aimlessly. They neither dived deep nor headed for the shore. Others waded into the sea, and Xander could hear the sound of laughter.
There were five yellow canopies set up below the cliffs, and close by were tables laden with food and drink. The canopies were very bright, almost as gold as the sun. Xander remembered his mother dying cloth yellow, using the skins of onions or crocus pollen. But the cloth never had the luster of these canopies, and it faded so quickly.
Ahead Argurios stumbled. The Trojan soldier took him by the arm, supporting him. Argurios did not, as Xander expected, pull away. When they reached the beach, the Trojan thanked Argurios for the honor of his company. The Mykene remained grave.
“What is… your name… soldier?”
“Polydorus,” he answered.
“I shall… remember it.”
Xander looked around. He saw Andromache move away from a small group of women and walk across the sand toward them. She was wearing a thigh-length tunic of pale green, and her red hair was hanging loose to her shoulders. Xander thought her very beautiful. She smiled at him, and he blushed.
“Welcome to the royal beach, Xander.”
“What are those men looking for?” he asked, pointing to the swimmers.
“Nothing. They are swimming for the pleasure of it. Do you swim?”
“Grandfather taught me. He said a sailor needed to be able to float.”
“Well, today you will swim.” She turned to Argurios. “And you, warrior.”
“Why would… I swim?” he asked. “There is… no purpose to it.”
“A better purpose, perhaps, than repairing a paddock wall where there is no longer a paddock,” she observed. “Come and sit for a while, and I will tell you of the Assyrian physician.”
She led them to a spot beneath a canopy. Argurios’ breathing was ragged, and he seemed grateful to be sitting down.
“My father could not take deep breaths,” said Andromache. “The physician told him to swim every day. He also taught him to breathe differently.”
“How many… ways… can a man… breathe?”
“I will show you. But first you will swim for a while with Xander. Gently and slowly. Do not overexert yourself.”
“This is… foolish. I should not… have come.”
“But you did, warrior,” said Andromache. “And if you want to be strong again, you will do as I say.”
Xander expected Argurios to react angrily, but he did not.
He looked into her green eyes. “I need… my strength,” he said at last. Rising wearily to his feet, he struggled to remove his threadbare tunic.
Xander helped him and also untied his sandals. Argurios’ naked body was pale and skinny, and Xander saw many old white scars on his shoulders, arms, chest, and legs. The angry red wounds of his recent fight were hideous to look on. Pus and blood were leaking from the gash in his side, and there were deep scabs on three other wounds. But as he turned to walk to the shoreline, Xander noted that there were no scars on his back.
“Go with him, Xander,” said Andromache. “He
may need your help.”
Xander stripped off his tunic and sandals and caught up with Argurios as he waded into the blue water.
They swam together silently. Argurios struggled and gasped for breath. After a little while Andromache swam out to join them. She was still wearing the pale green tunic, but it clung so close to her body that she might as well have been naked, thought Xander, trying not to look at her breasts and the raised nipples.
She came alongside Argurios. “Lie back in the water,” she said, “and I will support you.” He obeyed her instantly. “And now I want you to close your eyes and relax your body. Then I want you to breathe very slowly. I want you to breathe in for the count of four and hold the breath for the count of six. Then let it out very slowly for the count of ten. Four, six, and ten.”
Xander watched for a while and then, growing hungry, swam back to the beach, waded ashore, and clothed himself. Then he walked to the food tables. There were dishes of figs, barley bread, and salted octopus and cuts of meats, cheeses, and various breads. There were jugs full of water and others filled with wine. A tall stoop-shouldered servant stood staring at him. “Are we allowed to eat?” he asked the man.
“What would you like, little fellow?”
Xander pointed to the bread and asked for some cheese and figs. The man tore off a hunk of dark bread and then cut a section of cheese and placed it on a wooden platter with a handful of figs.
“You might need something to wash that down,” the servant said with a smile. Lifting a jug, he filled a clay cup with a golden liquid. “Try it,” he said.
Xander sipped the drink. It was thick and deliciously sweet. He thanked the man and wandered back to the canopy to sit and eat. Andromache was still in the water with Argurios. Other people were moving on the beach now. A dark-haired man emerged from the water. For a moment Xander thought it was Helikaon, but it was not. Then a fair-haired young woman in a red gown came and sat beside him.
“You must be Xander,” she said. “Andromache told me of you.”
“Yes, I am. Who are you?”
“I am Laodike. Are you a friend of the Mykene?”