head back by the hair and cut her throat. He threw down the sword, the clang as it hit the ground obscene in such a quiet place, and staggered away.
Paris stepped forward (he had always been there, Odysseus realized, but unseen) and gently picked up her body. As he held her she spasmed and drew a long shuddering breath. In that moment Quickness appeared with a feral hateful grin and fell upon Death with a howl. She crushed him close and wrapped her strong white fingers around his throat and in the moment before they disappeared Odysseus saw dismay on Death’s face. Though Quickness was gone, her war-cry echoed in the dismal hall. Odysseus fled then, getting a last glimpse of Helen crawling slowly away, leaving a trail of bloody hand-prints behind her.
There was a door to the outside that he hadn’t seenbefore. He ran through it and straight to the unguarded city gates. He threw them open and called out to Menelaus to come and get his revenge if he wanted it. Menelaus and Agamemnon came running, eyes blazing, their army close behind, and rushed into the city. The listless dead pulled themselves out of the vaults and sewers to resist them but with Paris gone the defence was apathetic and the Greeks carved through them with élan.
In the uncountable mausoleums were many funerary offerings, among them jars of strong wine, and even before victory was certain the soldiers were drunk, mouths stained red, draping themselves in rotten thousand-year-old finery and pausing in their bloody work to chase after the marmoreally cold empty-eyed girls who watched from alleyways. For all that, the Greeks soon broke their enemies and built a great fire in Ilium’s square to burn them.
Before the bonfire Menelaus declared to his cheering men that Paris was dethroned, that Ilium would be razed and a new city built over its ruins. He would anoint himself the new king, break Death’s dominion and open the kingdom of shadows to the sun. He went to Death’s palace to get Helen but found only sticky red hand-prints and an overturned stool.
When all Paris’s soldiers had been turned to ash, Menelaus did as he had sworn and took Death’s throne. His commands rang through the onyx halls of Ilium and though the soldiers could have gone home then, everyman chose to stay, except Agamemnon, who made a short trip back to Greece to see his wife. *
Menelaus passed his days in the citadel, reading Death’s book and walking his halls. When the moon shone just so on his great black throne there sometimes came a clattering from below and a white, pure light would shine up through a grating in the floor. In a bubbling voice with just the barest trace of her old music Helen would then speak to him, telling him the gossip of the underworld that was now her home, of the basements and dungeons stretching down below the city, the extremities of whose depths were even for her just a rumor. So Menelaus had his wife, though he never set eyes on her, and his revenge, though not by his own hand, and his enemy’s throne, though it was a terrible one. In due course he set out to add to his kingdom.
As for Odysseus, he slipped out of the city during the sack and took ship for Ithaca alone. He had hoped for a quick passage home but found himself opposed by strong winds and thick fogs. He found many islands but all were abandoned.
He was walking through still cold water toward a grey beach when Quickness appeared to him for the last time. She floated in the air, naked now and taller (he had never seen her naked before—she was as well made as he hadimagined but seemed to have somehow moved beyond beauty or its absence), and sparks glowed in her hair. She touched his face (somehow he could not imagine her talking now). She looked viciously happy. Her eyes met his and then she disappeared and he was left wondering.
* In the eighteenth century B.C. there was a thriving cult of the goddess Quickness, known for virginity, quick thinking, harsh laughter and an
Paris stepped forward (he had always been there, Odysseus realized, but unseen) and gently picked up her body. As he held her she spasmed and drew a long shuddering breath. In that moment Quickness appeared with a feral hateful grin and fell upon Death with a howl. She crushed him close and wrapped her strong white fingers around his throat and in the moment before they disappeared Odysseus saw dismay on Death’s face. Though Quickness was gone, her war-cry echoed in the dismal hall. Odysseus fled then, getting a last glimpse of Helen crawling slowly away, leaving a trail of bloody hand-prints behind her.
There was a door to the outside that he hadn’t seenbefore. He ran through it and straight to the unguarded city gates. He threw them open and called out to Menelaus to come and get his revenge if he wanted it. Menelaus and Agamemnon came running, eyes blazing, their army close behind, and rushed into the city. The listless dead pulled themselves out of the vaults and sewers to resist them but with Paris gone the defence was apathetic and the Greeks carved through them with élan.
In the uncountable mausoleums were many funerary offerings, among them jars of strong wine, and even before victory was certain the soldiers were drunk, mouths stained red, draping themselves in rotten thousand-year-old finery and pausing in their bloody work to chase after the marmoreally cold empty-eyed girls who watched from alleyways. For all that, the Greeks soon broke their enemies and built a great fire in Ilium’s square to burn them.
Before the bonfire Menelaus declared to his cheering men that Paris was dethroned, that Ilium would be razed and a new city built over its ruins. He would anoint himself the new king, break Death’s dominion and open the kingdom of shadows to the sun. He went to Death’s palace to get Helen but found only sticky red hand-prints and an overturned stool.
When all Paris’s soldiers had been turned to ash, Menelaus did as he had sworn and took Death’s throne. His commands rang through the onyx halls of Ilium and though the soldiers could have gone home then, everyman chose to stay, except Agamemnon, who made a short trip back to Greece to see his wife. *
Menelaus passed his days in the citadel, reading Death’s book and walking his halls. When the moon shone just so on his great black throne there sometimes came a clattering from below and a white, pure light would shine up through a grating in the floor. In a bubbling voice with just the barest trace of her old music Helen would then speak to him, telling him the gossip of the underworld that was now her home, of the basements and dungeons stretching down below the city, the extremities of whose depths were even for her just a rumor. So Menelaus had his wife, though he never set eyes on her, and his revenge, though not by his own hand, and his enemy’s throne, though it was a terrible one. In due course he set out to add to his kingdom.
As for Odysseus, he slipped out of the city during the sack and took ship for Ithaca alone. He had hoped for a quick passage home but found himself opposed by strong winds and thick fogs. He found many islands but all were abandoned.
He was walking through still cold water toward a grey beach when Quickness appeared to him for the last time. She floated in the air, naked now and taller (he had never seen her naked before—she was as well made as he hadimagined but seemed to have somehow moved beyond beauty or its absence), and sparks glowed in her hair. She touched his face (somehow he could not imagine her talking now). She looked viciously happy. Her eyes met his and then she disappeared and he was left wondering.
* In the eighteenth century B.C. there was a thriving cult of the goddess Quickness, known for virginity, quick thinking, harsh laughter and an
Similar Books
