“I’m sure he is.” How could I have forgotten my sister’s mastery of the insufferable smile?
“Girls, girls, please.” Father reached out and took our hands. “Is this how we thank the gods for having brought us together again?”
“I’m sorry, Father,” Clytemnestra mumbled. “I didn’t mean to say that. I rejoice to see Helen again.” She clasped my other hand. “I’m just—just a little nervous lately. It makes me prickly.”
“I understand.” I lowered my eyes and gave her hand an affectionate squeeze. “I heard what happened to your husband, Prince Tanta—”
“Shh!” She tensed sharply, her hands clenching. “Lord Agamemnon is my husband now.”
“I marched north with my men as soon as word reached Sparta about how things had…changed in Mykenae,” Father murmured. “We received too many conflicting reports about what was happening here. I couldn’t stand by, waiting to hear about my child’s fate. I had to come, to see that she was well and happy. If not…” He didn’t bother elaborating. We all knew that if anything had happened to Clytemnestra, Mykenae and Sparta would be at war.
“Are you happy, Clytemnestra?” I asked. I didn’t know whether or not she’d been happy with Prince Tantalus, but I wasn’t concerned with the past. I cared about the life my sister had to live now.
She lowered her eyes. “Lord Agamemnon has been very kind to me, very gentle and loving. The alliance between Sparta and Mykenae can go on.”
“But are you happy?” I pressed.
Father spoke before my sister could reply. “Everything is settled here, Helen. I’ve recognized Lord Agamemnon’s right to the throne of Mykenae. My men and I would have returned home by now if he hadn’t insisted on marking our new kinship with one grand banquet after another. I wanted to get back to Sparta, but it seems that the gods had their reasons for keeping us here.”
“You mean for Milo’s sake?” I asked. Then I laughed. “He walks with luck. I thought he’d been killed.”
“He told us all about what happened that night,” Father said. “He was knocked senseless and took a bloody head wound, but there was no deep harm done. The widow you’d lodged with bandaged him up and spirited him off to her brother’s house in case the king’s guards came back.”
“Father, I want to reward that woman,” I said.
“That was my intention, too. I meant to do it as soon as I’d rescued you from Athens.” He patted my head, as if I were still a little child. “Now I see that you need no one’s help.”
I smiled. “No, Father, sometimes I do. There were many times in my travels that I was grateful to have it.” And with that, I began to tell my father and sister about my adventures.
Five days later, Milo vanished. At first I thought nothing of it. As happy as we were to be together again, we often found that after our first reunion, many things forced us to spend our days apart.
Meals were a problem. The closer we came to leaving Mykenae, the more my sister clung to me. She insisted I share her rooms, which also meant sharing our daylight meals. She would have tolerated Milo’s company, but by order of Lord Agamemnon himself, the queen’s quarters were forbidden to any man outside her family. When darkness fell, Milo still had to eat in the palace kitchen, while I attended the nightly feasts Lord Agamemnon gave in the great hall to celebrate my arrival. Though Milo was my dearest friend, he was still a freed slave. There could be no room for him at Lord Agamemnon’s table.
Other matters also conspired to separate us. Father put Milo to work running errands as we all prepared for the journey home. Though I swore I’d be able to cover the distance on foot, the same as our men, or riding beside Father in his war chariot, or even on horseback, if a horse could be acquired for me, Father insisted that I’d travel in the style suitable for a princess.
As for me, I had certain tasks to see to before we left Mykenae, above all repaying Telys and his mother for their kindness. With the help of Prince Menelaus, they joined the household of the freeborn potter who supplied the best families in Mykenae. When I thanked the king’s brother for using his influence to help reward my friends, he became flustered.
“I did nothing,” he said, not meeting my eyes. “That woman has a talent for painting, and her son—” He hesitated a moment, then earnestly asked me, “When you traveled with those people, was he—was he respectful? He didn’t try to—that is—I heard that you pretended to be his sister. Did he treat you like a sister? Always, I mean?”
I was mystified by so many odd questions. “Of course. Why do you ask?”
“Oh! Oh, no reason. It’s just that you’re so beautiful, I don’t know how he could have—Never mind. Telys is a virtuous man. It will be my honor to make him my friend, if he’ll let me. And I promise you, Lady Helen, that I’ll gladly continue to look after him and his mother…for your sake.”
“Um…thank you,” I replied, still puzzled.
Prince Menelaus also helped me when my thoughts turned to Milo’s future. I remembered what my friend had told me about wanting to become a merchant, like the Corinthian who would have carried us from Athens. I determined to make Milo’s ambition come true.
I shared my intentions with Prince Menelaus, since he’d been so gracious helping me reward Telys and his mother. He sent for the two merchants who’d accompanied us from Tiryns. I admit I was glad when only the younger of the pair appeared, and not my unsuccessful suitor. It spared us both some awkward moments.