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He hugged her. "I'd not meant to remind you of that awful day. Forgive me. Everyone will assume we've made love tonight, but we needn't if you're not ready. I'll wait until you want me."
His voice was low and as tender as his words. But if she chose to wait, it would only postpone the inevitable, and she saw no reason to push the challenge into another day. She knew enough not to admit she just wanted to get it over with. "You have very kind eyes."
A smile teased the corner of his mouth. "Thank you, and I mean to always be kind to you."
She looked down at their clasped hands. "I'd not have chosen you if I didn't believe so." She pulled her hand free to cup his face and kissed his lips lightly. "I mean to be your wife, Menelaus. You needn't treat me as though I were fragile tonight, when tomorrow I want you to teach me to drive a chariot and to use that handsome bow and arrows you gave me."
He leaned across her to ease her down on the bed. "No man has ever had a wife like you, Helen."
"I fear no other man would want one," she replied and welcomed his deep laughter. He moved slowly to undress her, his touch breez
e light across her bare skin. He trailed kisses from her ears to the tender skin of her inner elbows before suckling at her breast. She ran her fingers through his curly hair and held him close.
She felt as though she were floating above the bed to watch his every move without any curiosity about what might happen next. He was so patiently adoring, she returned his kisses with an attempt at the enthusiasm he deserved. When he at last brought their bodies together, he waited, poised over her, and she smiled.
"I can truly call you husband now," she whispered.
He smothered her face with kisses, made love to her with a slow sweetness and fell asleep cradling her in his arms. She stroked his arm and wondered why her mother's description of the rapture of making love had escaped her. Maybe like love itself, the joy of being with her husband would come in time. For tonight, she felt safe in the warmth of his embrace, and it was enough.
PART II
Chapter 12
Troy
The Palace of King Priam
Cassandra huddled in the corner of the bedchamber and covered her ears to muffle her mother's agonized cries. Her own terror had increased with the growing size of her mother's belly, and now that she had gone into labor, Cassandra fought a near suffocating dread. Her gift of prophecy from Apollo foretold the worst of fates for the child, and he would decimate not merely their family, but all of Troy. When she at last heard the baby's first feeble cry, she rose on shaky legs and edged toward her mother's bed.
"It's a boy," Hecuba murmured. She kissed the infant's dark wet curls and passed him to a maidservant to wash and clothe. "Your father will be proud to have another son."
"Not this time," Cassandra vowed. "The child's birth is a curse on Troy, and you can't allow him to live. Smother him quickly and tell Father he was stillborn."
Horrified, Hecuba drew herself up in her bed. "How dare you speak of such vile things? He's a fine boy with bright eyes and sturdy limbs. I'll not hear another word spoken against him. Leave me, child."
Cassandra remained by her mother's bed. The three maids who'd attended the birth were staring her way, their expressions twisted with disgust. "Apollo blessed me with the gift of prophecy, and I see the future as you never will. I'll convince Father to put a quick end to the babe. What is one child compared to the fate of our beloved Troy?"
"Leave me!" Hecuba screamed.
* * *
Cassandra hurried from her mother's chamber to search for her father, King Priam. In the early afternoon, he often walked in the royal garden, and she rushed to his side. "Father, you know my prophecies ring true, and I'd never lie about a child, but Apollo tells me your newborn son will bring the destruction of Troy. His life must end before he's tasted a drop of his mother's milk."
Priam grabbed his daughter's shoulders to push her away. "Your mother has been safely delivered of a son?"
"Yes, but the god tells me the child will bring only evil down upon us, a disaster, and you must see he doesn't live out the day."
Priam brushed by her. "I must see the child for myself."
Cassandra ran after him. "There's nothing for you to see, Father. He has the innocence of any newborn, but his fate is a dark and dangerous one you mustn't allow to unfold. Troy's preservation is at stake."
Priam brushed her hand off his sleeve. "I'll decide for myself."
Cassandra halted at the bottom of the stairway. "You must trust me. Don't let the child live if you truly love Troy and your people as you swear you do."
Priam hesitated at the doorway of his wife's chamber, Cassandra's ghastly prediction echoing in his ears. Her prophecies had proven true in the past, and her harsh warning left him badly torn, for if he made the wrong choice, Troy could perish. The price would be too terrible to even imagine. He knocked lightly at the partially open door and was invited in.
"I hear we have a son."
