by Hilary Green
Below me was an almost circular green depression protected on all sides by the steeply rising hillside, except where a narrow defile brought the path from the village into it. In this hollow stood a cluster of huts. I counted ten of them. They were arranged in a circle and in front of each was a raised, circular hearth, from some of which still rose faint wisps of smoke. Before each of these stood a large, flat block of stone topped by a strange, dark object that I could not properly discern in the half light. Altars, I wondered? And the ashes on the hearths the remains of sacrificial flames? It occurred to me, like a cold hand closing round my bowels, that I might really be intruding on the mysteries of a God. Yet, in spite of my fear, I had a strong sense that there was something about the place that spoke of human activity, not divine.
I crouched under the shelter of the bushes for a while longer but there was no sign of life from any of the huts. Then somewhere a cock crew and a dog began to bark and I realised that I could not afford to wait any longer. I crawled back among the trees and got to my feet. I was chilled and stiff and wished I had brought my cloak with me. The thought of the long climb back over the ridge and down to the river filled me with gloom. I looked towards the path leading from the village. That way must be less than half the distance I had come. I noticed that the flanks of the narrow defile were clothed with trees and scrub. Surely it must be possible to make my way through them without being seen. Any guards would be watching for people coming from the village, not from the opposite direction. I decided it was a risk worth taking.
I worked my way through the forest until I found myself at the top of the sharp slope that led down to the path, which twisted and turned as it climbed through a rocky valley. I kept along the side of the cliff, following a narrow ledge that clung to the scarp, the drop into the valley on my right and the steep slope of the hill on my left, often forced to cling to the branches of trees for support. I was so absorbed in the problems of finding a route that I had almost forgotten about the guards, when I heard their voices.
I froze, clinging to the trunk of a twisted oak, and looked about me. At length I spotted them, sitting together on a flat topped rock above the path. I guessed that one of them was meant to be on the other side, but even so anyone coming up the path would not have stood much chance if they had not given themselves away by talking. As it was, it was not too difficult to slip past high above them, though my heart was in my mouth at every stone that slipped away from under my feet and rattled down the slope.
Beyond the guards the valley took a sharp turn to the left and once I had rounded it I saw that I was at the end of the narrow cleft to whose sides I had been clinging. Ahead of me it joined another, broader valley with a second path along its bottom and from where the two merged a broad track led towards the village. I scrambled down the rocky slope and dropped onto the track. The guards were behind me now and a short walk would bring me to the village. When I came in sight of it I would rely on the inspiration of the moment to account for where I had been.
The two men who jumped on me must also have been crouching on a rock above the path, but, unlike the other pair, they were silent. My first warning of their presence was when one dropped onto my back, sending me crashing forward onto the stony ground. Half-stunned and sick with pain I tried to gather myself to fight, my body cringing at the anticipation of their daggers in my flesh. There were shouts and the sound of running feet and I was aware of others gathering around us. Then I was dragged to my feet, my arms twisted behind me and a dagger at my throat.
Chapter 5.
As soon as I had shaken the hair out of my eyes I knew whom I was facing. He was tall and strongly built, in his mid-twenties I guessed. He wore his dark hair short and roughly cut, as did the rest of them, and his leather kilt and woollen cloak were simple and unadorned, but there was that in his eyes, which were of a brilliant light brown the colour of amber, which proclaimed him a prince.
Cresphontes put his hands on his hips and looked me up and down for a moment, then jerked his head at my captors, who loosed their hold on me. One of them said, ‘We heard him coming down the path behind us, so we dropped back and he walked right into us.’
Cresphontes nodded, his eyes on my face. I stared back at him, my mind racing. Still without speaking he reached an arm sideways and snapped his fingers. A boy came forward from the group of young men behind him and stood at his side. Cresphontes laid a hand on his shoulder and said, in slow, mocking tones, ‘What is it, little wolf? Man or woman? Or something in between, perhaps?’
The boy grinned and left his side to walk slowly around me, making a parody of inspecting me closely. Then he reported, ‘It’s a sort of man – I think. It has no tits.’ He grinned again, baring sharp white teeth in a manner that made it obvious how he had earned his nickname. Then he reached for my belt. ‘Shall we see if it’s got a cock?’
I struck his hand away and met his eyes defiantly. In spite of its wolvish expression his face had a strange, wild beauty, lean and high cheek-boned and dominated by a pair of huge eyes whose colour came nearer to perfect green than any I had seen.
Cresphontes said, ‘No, leave him be.’ He came closer and picked up a lock of my hair, examining curiously. I realised that our aristocratic manner of wearing our hair in long ringlets was foreign to him. ‘Tell me,’ he went on, ‘what is such a beautiful young gentleman doing wandering alone in this valley?’
I drew breath to answer but a shout from one of those further back interrupted me. Cresphontes called ‘Let them pass’ and a moment later Alectryon rounded the bend in the path and came into the centre of the group, closely followed by Dexeus and Kerkios. I gritted my teeth. Now we were all prisoners!
Alectryon looked around him and then said, as if we stood in the courtyard of my father’s palace, ‘You are too fleet of foot, Prince. We thought to have caught you up before this, since you left the village so little ahead of us.’ And he stared hard into my eyes.
I replied, trying to emulate his casual tone, ‘Forgive me, Count, but I felt so full of energy after such a good night’s sleep – and you take so long to dress! I have had a very pleasant walk while you three were still struggling out of bed.’
Cresphontes was looking from one to another of us. ‘So,’ he said. ‘Two more beautiful gentlemen – and Kerkios, whom we know. May I ask the names of my guests?’
Alectryon looked at him haughtily. ‘Cresphontes?’
‘Yes.’
‘You ask our names. It is a pity you did not observe the normal rules of courtesy and do so before you allowed your followers to manhandle this gentleman. He is Alkmaion, Crown Prince of Pylos, son of Sillos and great-grandson of the renowned Nestor.’
Cresphontes regarded me for a moment. If he was surprised by the disclosure of my identity he did not show it. Rather he seemed to be comparing my person with the dignity of my titles. I drew myself up, conscious of a trickle of blood from my nose, and wished that at that moment I felt more worthy of them.
He said, ‘And I am Cresphontes, Prince of the Dorians, son of Aristomachos and great grand-son of the even more renowned Heracles.’
‘Tributary prince to your elder brother Temenos, I believe,’ Alectryon remarked smoothly and I saw Cresphontes’ eyes flash anger.
‘And you are?’
‘The Count Alectryon, son of Eteocles, hereditary Companion to the King of Pylos.’
‘And the Prince’s friend?’
‘I believe I have that honour.’
Cresphontes grinned suddenly. ‘How do you value friendship in Pylos, Count? Will you challenge me to personal combat for the life of your Prince? If you win you shall take him and go free. If I win I shall …’ his eyes roved over me for a moment, ‘I shall make a present of him to Xouthos here, who is my friend. What will you do with him, little wolf?’
I stared in desperation from him to the boy and then to Alectryon, who replied without the slightest sign of disturbance, ‘I shall do nothing of the sort. I had no idea the
Dorians were such barbarians. The prince has come here on a visit of courtesy, with nothing but peaceful intentions, only to be met with this completely unprovoked hostility. If you do not at once release him and allow us to return to our ship you will very rapidly find your village laid waste by Pylian warriors.’
Cresphontes’ grin hardened. ‘You must think me very ill-informed, Count. A runner reached me last evening with the report of your arrival. I knew very well with whom I had to deal. And I know too that you came with only one ship. There are no warriors.’
‘Indeed?’ returned Alectryon. ‘But your runner could scarcely bring you report of Pylian warships lying in harbour over in Corcyra, could he? Do you imagine the Prince of Pylos travels with so small an escort? We are expected back before dark.’
If I had admired Alectryon before, it was nothing to my feelings now. I watched Cresphontes, willing him to believe the story. He was looking at Alectryon, sizing him up as a wrestler sizes up an opponent. Then he smiled slowly.
‘You’ve a cool head, Count. I admire a man who doesn’t get flustered when he’s in a tight spot. I think we should be friends. But if you’re in charge of the Prince’s safety you shouldn’t let him go prying into secret places that don’t concern him.’
I found my voice at last. ‘I cannot think what you mean, Prince Cresphontes. As you heard me say to the Count, I woke early and came for a walk to get some exercise after several days on shipboard. I have pried into no secrets.’
He looked at me narrowly. ‘How far up the valley have you been?’
‘I came to a point where the paths divide. I went a short distance up the narrower path. You and your party must have passed on the other track during those few minutes.’
The man who had jumped on me said, ‘He was coming down the valley when we caught him.’
‘Naturally,’ I returned. ‘The path I had chosen seemed to be leading nowhere and I was hungry. I decided to turn back.’
There was a moment’s silence. We waited tensely. I do not think Cresphontes was convinced by what I had said but he dare not risk calling Alectryon’s bluff about the warships. I guessed he was looking for a way to save face.
At length he said, ‘Very well then. Let us speak no more of it. I am sorry you have been roughly handled, Prince Alkmaion, but we do not like strangers to wander too close to the sanctuaries of our gods. However, since you apparently intended no offence, please accept my apologies. You must allow us to try and make up for our lack of hospitality. Shall we go on together?'
So the whole party turned and began once again to descend the path towards the village. My legs were trembling under me with weariness and shock but I caught Alectryon’s eye and managed a smile. There was no answering smile in his eyes and I realised dismally that for the first time he was really angry with me.
Having chosen his course of action Cresphontes obviously intended to carry it through with style. He began to play the part of the courteous host with considerably more polish than the rest of his people had shown. Within minutes of our return we were sitting down to a simple but plentiful breakfast, while his young men set to to flay and prepare the two young bucks which they had brought back from the hunt. I noticed that the boy Xouthos remained close to his prince, saying little but watching us intently with those huge green eyes.
After my night’s exertions I was not hungry but longed only to lie down and sleep. The strain of appearing wide-awake under Cresphontes hawk-like gaze and the unwavering stare of Xouthos was almost unbearable.
At length Cresphontes said, ‘You say you have to rejoin your other ships before nightfall?’
Alectryon was alert at once. ‘That is the arrangement.’
‘It’s a pity. As you see, our hunting has been good. Tonight there will be feasting. Let me persuade you to stay a little longer. We rarely have the pleasure of such noble visitors.’
Alectryon began to say ‘I fear it is not possible …’ but I cut him short. In part it was because the thought occurred to me that there might still be information to be gleaned, but in part it was sheer perversity. Once again he had rescued me from a tight spot and the sensation of being at a disadvantage rankled.
‘Thank you, Prince Cresphontes,’ I put in quickly. ‘We shall be pleased to accept your hospitality. There is no reason, Count, why we should not send a message to the rest of the fleet. They are in a safe anchorage and well provisioned. They can wait for us for a day or two.’ Ignoring Alectryon’s hastily masked glare of surprise I turned to Kerkios. ‘Kerkios, take the ship over to the anchorage and deliver that message. Then return here.’
Whatever the old seafarer thought of me for sending him and his crew on a completely objectless voyage, he did not show it. He took his leave and gathered his crew together and presently we saw them launch the ship and row out across the straits.
Cresphontes, meanwhile, rose to his feet, saying, ‘Please excuse me, Prince. There are matters that need my attention. I hope you can find some entertainment for an hour or two.’
I assured him that we should be quite happy left to our own devices and he went off, with Xouthos at his heels.
Alectryon looked at me. ‘Well, now we are completely at the mercy of these people. Just the three of us – and no ship!’
‘Kerkios will be back,’ I said, trying to sound unconcerned. ‘Anyway,’ I went on, trying to stifle a yawn, ‘I don’t think Cresphontes intends us any harm.’
‘Let us hope not,’ he remarked grimly. Then, looking at me, ‘Let’s walk down to the beach, before you fall asleep where you sit.’
We walked along the edge of the sea until a group of pines offered us some shelter from prying eyes. Alectryon turned to Dexeus, who as a good squire was never far from his shoulder.
‘Stay here and keep watch. If anyone approaches from the village, whistle.’
A little further on he said, ‘When we set out on this expedition I thought I enjoyed your confidence. I was obviously mistaken.’
I looked at him and saw the hurt in his eyes. ‘That’s not true. You know I trust you absolutely.’
He lifted an eyebrow. ‘Really? You didn’t choose to confide in me last night. Which is just as well, since I should certainly have forbidden such a mad enterprise.’
‘You have no authority to forbid me anything!’ I flashed back, and could have bitten my tongue off an instant later. ‘Anyway,’ I mumbled, ‘it would have worked if I hadn’t had the bad luck to run into Cresphontes and his hunting party.’
‘And what were you going to say when you walked back into the village?’
‘I was going to have a quick dip in the river and say I’d been down to wash.’
‘Is that the story you were going to tell me, too?’
‘No, of course not.’
‘You were very careful to wait until you thought I was asleep before you set off.’
‘If you were awake, why didn’t you say something?’
‘I thought you were just going out for a pee.’
I flung myself down on the sand in the shade of a pine tree. I felt sick and thick-headed and miserable. ‘Anyway, I didn’t know I was going anywhere, except out on the porch for some fresh air, until I saw the guard.’
He turned from looking out to sea and frowned down at me. ‘Guard? What guard?’
‘Didn’t you see him?’
‘No.’ He sat down on the sand beside me.
In as few words as possible I told him how my suspicions had been aroused and what I had seen, adding, ‘It all happened so quickly I didn’t have a chance to wake you.’
As I spoke I saw curiosity replace the anger in his face. When I finished he said, ‘All right. So there is a settlement of some sort that they don’t want us to know about. But beyond that I can’t see that what you saw helps us very much.’
I sighed. ‘No, you’re right. But that’s why I wanted to stay. They might let something drop, after a few cups of wine.’
‘Maybe,’ he said grudgingly. ‘But pr
omise me, no more midnight expeditions.’
‘I promise,’ I agreed, yawning.
He looked down at me. ‘You’d better get some sleep. If you keep nodding off this evening Cresphontes is going to get suspicious.’
I settled myself as comfortably as I could and he folded his cloak and put it under my head. Drifting into sleep I remembered that there was something I had not said.
‘You were magnificent, the way you bluffed Cresphontes. He still doesn’t know whether to believe in those other ships or not.’
He slanted me a sideways glance and grinned. ‘Hush!’
When I awoke the sun was already dipping towards the sea and Alectryon and Dexeus were playing draughts a short way off. After a dip in the sea to clear my head I was none the worse for my night’s adventures by the time we returned to the village. Cresphontes was waiting for us, but if he was surprised at our long absence he gave no sign of it – except that he looked from my face to Alectryon’s and then exchanged glances with Xouthos as if some guess he had made had been confirmed. For the rest of the afternoon we lounged on the porch, chatting, and to my surprise I found him an entertaining companion. He asked many questions about Messenia, but none that any interested stranger might not have asked. I return I questioned him about his people and their customs. In particular I had been struck by the crude simplicity of the houses but when I asked him why he did not see to it that his subjects built him a more fitting dwelling he laughed and said, ‘What would be the point? In a year or two, or maybe a little longer, we may wish to move on. We shall need new land, better pasture for our flocks.’ Then, his face darkening, he added, ‘There are many peoples to the north of us. Every year we have to fight harder to keep them out of our territory. One day, perhaps, it will be easier just to move. There is good land to the south, I hear.’