HELEN: The Wine Dark Sea

Hecuba was more shaken by Cassandra's dire prophecy than by the rigors of childbirth. Sick clear through; she clutched the infant to her breast. "We talked about naming him Alexandros. He's as handsome a babe as Hector was. He favors you."

"Let me hold him." Priam picked up the small bundle and regarded his son with a thoughtful gaze. The little boy yawned widely and peered up at him, his dark eyes lit with curiosity. "He is a fine boy, indeed, but what will he be when he is grown?"

Frightened by his tone, Hecuba reached for the baby, but Priam stepped away. "You mustn't listen to Cassandra," she begged. "She's always harboring doom. Her prophecy is no more tangible than smoke in the wind, and it needn't come to pass."

"I want time to think and will keep the child with me." Priam turned away.

Fearing his decision had already been made, Hecuba sobbed and called after him, but abandoned, she wept alone.

* * *

Priam sent a servant for his son Helenus and carried the baby to the megaron, now empty after the morning's work was done. The fire in the round central hearth lit the colorful frescos of griffins, lions and stags arrayed upon the walls. Bold geometric patterns and medallions painted in bright reds, blues and yellows covered the ceiling. The capitals of the marble columns supporting the rafters held intricate designs wrought in gold. A multitude of swirling patterns had been lightly incised into the stone floor. Not a single space in the expansive room had been left unadorned.

The scalloped edge of the high-backed ivory throne was decorated with strips of gold, but unbearably uncomfortable for King Priam now. He held the baby on his lap, but no joy filled his heart at the birth. Apollo had given Casandra and her brother the gift of prophecy for a reason, but today he was loath to believe in it.

Helenus halted at the doorway. "You sent for me, Father?" he asked.

"Yes, come close and touch your new brother. I need to hear your prophecy."

The young man came to his father's side, but was reluctant to touch the infant. "Casandra has the stronger gift."

"This is no contest. Touch him and speak."

Helenus laid his fingers on the babe and quickly jumped back. "I see fire and blood, terror for us all. How can this be?"

Priam sighed deeply. "Cassandra foretold the same. The gods have sent a clear warning the child's future portends disaster, and I must not ignore it. I cannot bear to sacrifice him myself. Find someone who will take him away and see to it."

Helenus thought a long moment. "Agelaus brought cattle to the city and is still nearby. He's always eager to do your bidding. Shall I summon him?"

"Run." The babe had fallen asleep, and Priam folded the blanket up close to hide his face. Filled with a nearly unbearable sorrow, he thought of his beloved queen. Hecuba might never forgive him for what he was about to do, but he could not choose an infant over the fate of Troy. He had no choice, none at all.

As he followed Helenus, Agelaus looked around him mouth agape, obviously stunned by the magnificence of the megaron. He bowed deeply. "What is it you need of me, my lord?"

Priam remembered the man and nodded. "I have a task for you. My newborn son carries a curse that will doom Troy. You must take him to Mount Ida and sacrifice him to the gods. Go now, before anyone else learns of his birth. I beg you not to allow him to suffer. Kill him with a single swift stroke. Do you understand what must be done?"

Agelaus swallowed hard and reached for the child with shaking hands. "I have always been your faithful servant, my king." He took the child and placed him in the cloth bag hanging from his shoulder by a strap.

Priam stood, the weight of his horrid request plain in his slumped shoulders. "We will never speak of this again."

The herdsman bowed and passed by the stern-faced royal guards.

Helenus waited by his father's side. "Does mother know?"

"Yes, but a mother's heart is always open to her babe, regardless of his fate. Do not mention the child to her. Let her rest undisturbed."

"As you wish." He raised his fist to his forehead in the royal salute and walked away through the megaron's wide double doors, his head bowed.

/> Grieved by the baby's tragic fate, Priam sat slumped upon his throne, warmed by the glowing central hearth, but forlorn clear to his bones. He lifted his gaze to the horses' heads carved above the wide doorway. How he missed the days when he could ride without worry toward the sun. Now the fate of Troy rested as a crushing weight on his shoulders, and he rose with no hope tomorrow would be any easier to bear.

* * *

Agelaus ran from the palace with the babe bouncing on his side. The infant cried with a soft, pitiful wail, and the sound tore the herder's heart in two. He and his wife loved children, and while he had promised King Priam to do what should be done, the longer he ran, the more awful the deed became. He raised the squirming bundle to his shoulder to comfort the tiny lad and ran on toward Mount Ida.

His legs soon grew as heavy as lead, and too tired to hasten on, he trudged to his own home. It was a humble cottage built from sun-dried bricks with a thatched roof, far from the palace's citadel, and the tiny infant was too weak to cry by the time he arrived. They lived within sight of Mount Ida, and this was as close as he would come to carrying out the king's dark command.

His wife, Sotiria, stared open-mouthed as Agelaus pulled the baby from his bag. "Where have you found this child? Is his mother not searching for him?"

"No, he is unwanted, and we would make fine parents for him. I want to name him Paris, after the bag in which I carried him."