Helen slept fitfully in her husband's arms and awakened to shouts as the Greeks swarmed the beach carrying and dragging their booty and moaning captives. A handsome red-haired young man
came to their ship and stared up at her. He looked familiar, and she regarded Menelaus with a questioning glance.
"No, he's not mine. This is Neoptolemus, Achilles' son. Can you see the resemblance?"
"Yes, I remember him."
Awestruck, Neoptolemus continued to regard her far too closely. "So this is the famed Helen? You're as beautiful as I'd dreamed you'd be, but how can you still be so young?"
Menelaus laughed at the boy. "My wife is the daughter of Zeus, and she's blessed by the gods."
"Do you have a pretty daughter I might wed?" he asked, his hands rested on his hips.
Helen had thought so often of Hermione and hoped her childhood had been pleasant and sweet. "We have one you might wish to court when you're older."
"Is she as lovely as you?" Neoptolemus asked, his wide smile charming.
"Almost," Menelaus assured him. "If you have your father's speed and strength, you might win the games in her honor."
"I shall look forward to it," he replied.
Odysseus approached them, brushed Achilles' son aside, and the boy jogged away. "Without your silence, Helen, we could not have conquered Troy. Did they suspect they had a traitor in their midst?"
Menelaus bristled at that taunt and leaped down from the beaked prow of his ship. "You'll not speak to my queen in such insulting terms."
Odysseus shrugged off any shame. "I meant only to thank her," he exclaimed. "You can't deny that she played an essential part in both the beginning and end of this fateful war."
Helen knew she deserved whatever caustic blame others heaped upon her, but she refused to take any credit for last night's bloody victory. She looked beyond Odysseus and saw a little white-haired woman running their way followed by her maid.
"Aethra, you're safe. I feared you'd not survived the night." Menelaus gave Helen a hand, and she climbed down to the sand to hug the tiny queen.
"Don't crush me now!" Aethra sputtered as she broke free. "My grandson, Acamas, found me. He was a mere boy when I last saw him, but he's grown into a fine young man. Too many died last night," she mourned them only briefly with a sad shake of her head. Helen pulled her faithful maid up beside her.
"Emalia is coming home with me," Aetha exclaimed. Agamemnon is taking Cassandra, and Andromache and Helenus were given to Achilles' son, Neoptolemus."
"Helenus survived?" Helen asked, astonished to hear it.
"He did," Aethra replied, "but not Hektor's baby son. Are you not curious about Deiphobus?"
"He's dead," Menelaus interjected, "with the rest of King Priam's wretched male spawn."
Sickened, Helen clung to his arm. "I can't bear the sadness here. How long must we wait to sail?"
"Everything will be sorted out soon," Odysseus assured them. "Summon your men and sail with the tide. I'll see you again when we reach our homelands."
Menelaus had lost no men during the night, and he was as eager to be free of the sight of Troy as Helen. "We'll leave shortly then. Have a safe journey home, my comrade-in-arms."
Odysseus laughed. "I have lived through too many years of war to want any excitement on the return voyage to my Ithaca. May you have a safe trip as well, my friend."
Helen kissed Aethra's cheek and bid farewell to the dear queen who had been her longtime companion. "I'll miss your wisdom," she told her.
"I've poured whatever I knew into you," Aethra scoffed. "Remember it all and you'll do well on your own." She took Emalia by the hand and hurried away to find her grandson and make plans for returning to Athens.
Menelaus helped Helen to again board his ship, and she sat facing the sea as she waited for him to summon his crewmen and prepare to sail. "What's become of my brothers?" she asked. "Is it a sad story?"
He kissed her before he replied, "It's a long and involved tale, and I'll tell you on the way home."
"Home," she whispered softly. She twisted her hands in her lap, and did not dare glance back until they were out to sea.