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"Stop it!" Odysseus ordered crossly. "Our seer said only that you must be here, he did not foretell what might happen to you. Keep that in mind." He hurried the boy to Agamemnon's lodge. It stood out due to its size and royal emblem of Mycenae over its entrance: Two gold lions rearing against a sacred column. Odysseus stood close enough to cuff Neoptolemus if he failed to show the proper manners.
Agamemnon dismissed Neoptolemus with a hurried glance. "I can see Achilles in him. Find him a sword he can lift and teach him how to use it so he'll survive more than a single day on the battlefield."
"I already know how," Neoptolemus interjected, clearly insulted.
Odysseus slipped his arm around the boy's shoulders and wheeled him right out of Agamemnon's presence. "I'll see that he practices, my lord," he called over his shoulder. "Do you know what happens to lads who think they know more than their elders?"
Neoptolemus looked up at him. "Nothing good, I suppose."
"That's right. Now keep your mouth shut unless you're eating."
The boy laughed, but nodded as though he would.
* * *
Andromache could not be consoled. She had adored Hektor and sobbed for him from morning until night. Aethra came to Helen for help. "Please come and sit with her for I can not abide her endless grief. Young women are too often widowed, but she must find the strength to raise her son."
"Of course, I'll come." Helen took the petite woman's hand. "Deiphobus has forbidden me to leave the palace, so I need something worthwhile to do."
"I may have lived so long because that's always my quest, and I agree, it must be something valuable, not simply a mindless task to fill the day."
Helen hesitated at her sister-in-law's door. "Andromache has been pampered since she was a child, and it's possible there simply is no strength in her."
"Then you must instill some," Aethra demanded. She turned away and left Helen to deal with the tormented widow alone.
Helen entered Andromache's lovely chamber with its murals of blue flying fish, and found the young woman stretched out on her bed while a servant entertained her son. He was a handsome boy with thick dark curls and bright eyes. She went first to him and touched his hair. "What a handsome boy you are."
He was playing with carved wooden horses and plunking them down upon the floor as though they were running. "You're almost big enough to ride a pony," Helen observed.
Andromache pushed herself up on her elbow. "Oh no, he's much too small and would fall off and hurt himself badly."
"What he needs is a small gentle pony," Helen offered. "Shall we go to the royal stables and see if we can find one?"
"No, I'm too tired to leave my chamber today." She studied Helen with an accusing glance. "Didn't you love Alexandros? When you lost him, you took another husband within a day."
Helen sat down beside her on the bed. She carried her sorrow deep inside where it belonged only to her, and she never shared her heartbreak with others. "I loved Alexandros dearly and still shed tears for him in private. He'll always be a part of me. As for Deiphobus, he gave me no choice in becoming his wife. With a war surrounding us, I let him have his way rather than bring additional strife into our household. Do you feel well enough to visit Hecuba? Her sorrow must be twice as deep as ours."
Andromache swung her legs over the side of the bed. "How can I comfort her while I'm so sad?"
"If all you can do is hold her hand, come do it," Helen replied. "Your presence alone will be a comfort."
"What if we lose the war?" Andromache whispered, fear etched on her sweet features.
"That's not our concern today, is it?" Helen replied. She stood and offered her hand and Andromache came with her to visit their mother-in-law who could no longer remember how many of her children had died and who was still alive.
* * *
Neoptolemus watched Odysseus strap on his shining bronze armor and marveled at its beauty. He bent down to pick up the ornate shield and found it too heavy to lift. "Where did you find such a magnificent set of armor?" he asked.
Odysseus had been waiting for that question. Too many people knew the truth for him to lie. "The god of Fire and Smiths, Hephaestus, made it for your father. It was awarded to me after his death."
"I have nothing of his, and it should be mine," the boy challenged.
That he would claim armor he could not even lift amused Odysseus greatly. "It's meant for a man, not a boy."
Neoptolemus straightened up to his full height. He was growing so fast he thought he might soon be Odysseus's equal in stature. "Children aren't given swords and told to prepare for battle."
"True, but I expect you to remain in the rear of the ranks where no harm will come to you."
