[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.“Thank you.” She took the cup but glanced down the table again.“Perhaps it would be best if you retired for the evening? A good night’s sleep might help.”Helen went white around the eyes and shook her head.“No.Thank you.Perhaps just some fresh air.” She set the cup down and rose.Theseus stood with her.“I’ll join you.”She smiled at him.“You are very attentive, King Theseus, but I won’t be gone long.Stay.”He didn’t like it.Much as he would have enjoyed her company, his greater concern was the crowd of men deep in their cups with too few women to sate their appetites.Helen’s presence was temptation enough, but if she were alone in the dark—opportunity had been encouragement enough for worse than rape.Still, this was her home, her father’s palace.Imposing himself upon her would not do him any favors.She squeezed his hand, and when she left, he did not follow.But he caught Pirithous’s eye, where he sat at a lower table, and lifted his chin.Pirithous followed his gaze to Helen as she skirted the tables toward the main doors, thrown open to admit the cool night air and keep the smell of wine and sweat from overcoming the lavender tossed periodically into the hearth fire.Theseus retook his seat, his gaze traveling over the other men in the megaron.A few had watched Helen as she passed, but now that she was gone, they had returned to their wine.All but Menelaus.The son of Atreus had followed Helen.CHAPTER FIVEMenelaus had stared at me throughout the banquet, his expression growing darker with every word I exchanged with the king of Athens.But Tyndareus had not promised me to Menelaus yet, even if he had not discouraged his hopes, either.I was not Menelaus’s to own, Menelaus’s to guard.I could not stand to sit beneath his glare any longer.The cool night air made it easier to breathe.I had not realized how stifling it was inside the megaron, with so many men at the banquet.So many men, and yet the one we hoped for had not come.The stranger, the prince who would steal me, had not shown himself.But if he was not Achaean, if he was some foreigner, why should he? He might not yet even know that I lived.It was folly to think that just because I was known in Achaea, the rest of the world knew of me, too.Or worse, perhaps it was the rumors spread by this very celebration that would bring him here later.Tyndareus and Pollux had refused to even consider it.The torches in the courtyard had guttered for the most part, and the servants had been too busy pouring wine and refilling platters to replace them.The columns of the entry loomed over me, drained of color by the moonlight and casting deep shadows over the walkway.I followed the wall far enough that I would not be tripped over by drunk men stumbling about and took shelter in the darkness, sliding down the wall and wrapping my arms around my knees.The chill of the stone beneath me raised gooseflesh on my skin, but I didn’t care.I needed to breathe and think and settle for myself what I must do now that Tyndareus’s plan had failed.It had been a year in the making, spreading rumor of my beauty to the far corners of Achaea before inviting the men of every city to this celebration, and the stranger had not come.For me, his absence brought relief more than anything.I did not want to even allow this strange prince to see me.I did not want him ever to come this far.I did not want to follow the path the dreams had laid at my feet any more closely than I must.But Theseus, king of Athens, Hero of Attica, had not appeared in them at all.“Helen?”I sighed.Of course Menelaus had followed me.I should have expected as much.Pottery clattered against stone, and Menelaus’s low curse followed, then my name again, with less patience.“Here,” I called.It would be better than having him trip over me in the dark.I saw a flash of moonlight on gold and caught his arm before he stepped on me.He sank down, his back against the wall, and held my hand in his.I stared at the shape of our hands together in the dark.“You should go back to the banquet.”His thumb caressed the back of my knuckles.In the last year, since learning of my dreams, Tyndareus had allowed him too many liberties.Perhaps I had as well.I pulled my hand free from his, and tucked it away where he could not take it.“And leave you to be stolen away?” he asked.“I won’t be stolen.Not tonight.” Our shoulders touched, the heat of his body seeping into mine.If we had been younger, I would have nestled myself against him and wrapped myself in his warmth.But we weren’t young anymore, and it would have been cruel to encourage him.“Tyndareus doesn’t want us to be seen together.”He put his arm around me, and when he spoke, I felt his breath against my ear.“We won’t be seen.”I shivered and pushed him away.“Stop, Menelaus.If anyone saw us, it would ruin everything.”He laughed, pulling me closer.“You’re going to be my wife, Helen.It hardly matters.”“You don’t know that.” I slid out from beneath his arm, my body cold where it no longer touched his.“Tyndareus might still promise me to someone else.And better for everyone if he does.”“You cannot mean that.” All the humor had left his voice, and I was glad I could not see his face clearly.“You can’t really want to be married to some fool who only sees your beauty and your kingdom, who cannot appreciate you for the sharpness of your mind, or the kindness of your heart.You think that Athenian will treat you as anything more than his whore?”“Better that than see your friendship turned into hate.Better that than to let the world burn!”I stood, intending to return to the feast, but he rose and caught my arm.“I love you, Helen.”I tried to pull myself free, but he tightened his grip, jerking me back.The force of it startled me, and I stumbled into his chest before regaining my balance.“I would kill a thousand men, burn a hundred cities to have you!”“Do you think that’s what I want? Wars and death, bodies and ash?” I shoved him, forcing him back a step.“Maybe a son of Atreus can live with all that blood on his hands, cursed as you are, but I can’t! You understood that once.Before you went to war with Agamemnon.”“The curse.” He flinched, turning his face away, his jaw working.“What could you possibly know of that? Of any of it! This has nothing to do with my family.Nothing to do with my brother, at all.I’ve made sure of that much.”“It has everything to do with him.” I was shouting, but I didn’t care.“Do you know what your brother will do to me, if this future comes to pass?” I didn’t wait for him to answer, but he had stepped back again, releasing me.“Agamemnon will rape me on corpses in the palace while the city burns!”Menelaus grabbed me by the shoulders, almost throwing me into the wall.His face was so close to mine, I smelled the wine on his breath, felt the sour heat of it against my cheek.“Do you spread these lies to your father, too? Do you think it will stop him from making you my wife? After everything I have done to help you, to protect you? The promises I made!” He shook me, and my heart pounded in my chest.His body pressed against mine.“Do you think this was what I wanted? Bad enough that I must bend my knee to my brother, but now you would give him reason to mock me with your refusals, and for what? A child’s fear of a passing nightmare?”I swallowed against the tightness in my throat.“You don’t believe me,” I rasped.“After everything [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]