Valerio Manfredi - Heroes

‘What were you doing in the northern gulf in the first place?’ he insisted.

‘I told you; the wind pushed us there after the great battle, and we were sailing up the eastern coast looking for food.’

‘Did you find any?’

The Shekelesh shook his head: ‘Nothing. Only empty villages inhabited by shepherds who ran off to the mountains with their sheep as soon as they saw us. The only ship we met before the storm was nearly empty as well; only water, dried fish and a little wheat.’

‘I understand, my friend,’ said the Chnan with a confidential tone, aiming to put his guest at ease. The man looked relieved, and cracked a half smile. ‘ Peleset , I imagine. We met some of them ourselves around those parts.’

‘No. Ahhijawa ,’ he said, still smiling. Myrsilus quivered at the word but the Chnan grabbed his arm to warn him not to speak or make a move.

‘Ah,’ said the Chnan , ‘those bastards. We ran into some of them too and they tried to attack us. They must have been famished. I hope you gave them a good lesson. Were there many of them?’

‘You’d better believe that we gave them a good thrashing! No, it was just one ship alone; they tried to slip off to the south, but we caught up with them. Not a single one of them survived, if I remember correctly. But they put us to a lot of trouble, for nothing. They put up quite a fight. Good at using their fists, too. Warriors, that’s what they were, and tough ones at that, no merchants, that’s for sure.’

The Chnan turned towards Myrsilus and said something under his breath.

‘So, what do you know about the land that lies before us?’ asked the Chnan then, indicating the mountain chain that extended south as far as the eye could see.

‘Little or nothing. I think that further on there must be some Teresh , up ahead of us. We’ve run into them here and there in the villages. The inhabitants of these valleys captured some of them while they were out hunting or putting the horses to pasture, and they’ve kept them as slaves.’

‘ Teresh! ’ murmured the Chnan , astonished. ‘ Teresh in the Land of Evening.’

The Shekelesh seemed relieved and looked at his questioner as though waiting for permission to return to his camp. ‘Why don’t you let me go?’ he said. ‘There’s nothing more to tell.’

‘No,’ said the Chnan . ‘I think not.’ He looked at Myrsilus. The eyes of the Achaean warrior were full of ire and his hand gripped the hilt of his sword. The Chnan turned away as Myrsilus’s sword cut the prisoner’s head clean off.

‘I had promised him that we would spare him,’ said the Chnan , getting to his feet.

‘I didn’t promise anything,’ said Myrsilus. ‘He killed our companions. . he killed Anchialus! The king’s message will never reach our land. The invaders will arrive without forewarning. . it will be a massacre. Our cities. . our land. .’

‘You can’t be sure,’ said the Chnan . ‘You can’t be certain. It might be an incredible trick of chance. Perhaps there were other Achaeans in the northern gulf. . perhaps. You don’t think that there may be other madmen of your race wandering those inhospitable seas? There are Teresh here as well, can you believe it? Teresh in the Land of Evening.’

They walked slowly towards camp, still keeping an eye on the valley behind them.

When they were close, Myrsilus stopped. ‘They say that the Trojans even asked the Teresh for help when they were forming the great coalition of Assuwa .’

Evenus, who was right behind them, said: ‘But they refused. They feared that we would devastate their cities on the coast. That’s what I heard.’

The Chnan stopped as well and turned back in the direction of the valley, motioning for everyone to stay quiet. Not a sound was coming from the valley. ‘It’s true,’ he said after a while. ‘And yet they were forced to join a much bigger coalition, under King Mauroy of Libya, against Egypt. Hunger was their real enemy, a dearth of crops, one bad harvest after another. But the coalition lost, and the Teresh nation was destroyed. The group ahead of us are probably as desperate as we are. . as the Shekelesh are. They say that after the defeat, when the king of the Teresh returned to his homeland in Asia, he found it ravaged by famine. He decided then that one of his two sons would leave with half of the surviving population. They drew lots, and his second-born, whose name was Tyrrhens and whom the king loved dearly, was chosen to go. That is what people were saying the last time I sailed from the port of Tyre with a favourable wind. .’

‘Everyone is fleeing,’ said Myrsilus. ‘But from what? From what?’ He watched the pale clouds crossing the sky.

‘From death,’ said the Chnan . ‘What else?’

When night had fallen, a chariot with the insignia of the Mycenaean Atreides stopped in front of the atrium of the king’s house and the grooms came forward at once to take the reins of the two Argive stallions. The horses pawed the ground, still excited over their long race through the dark, and the charioteer, noble Pylades, calmed them by stroking their muzzles. In the meantime, Orestes got out of the chariot and entered the vast dark courtyard surrounded by a great colonnade dimly illuminated by lamplight. His slight figure seemed swallowed up by the big empty space that echoed with his rapid steps.

At the entrance to the palace, Hippasus, the master of the house, awaited him, accompanied by one of his sons. The old man had been the lawagetas when Atreus reigned over Mycenae, and Menelaus had restored him to a place of dignity in his palace. Next to him was the king’s nurse, Marpessa. She was a woman of great age, but she had always run the household. She still had authority over the handmaids and the servants and she managed them with a steady hand.

‘Your uncle the king and the queen await you for dinner,’ said Hippasus and ordered that the youth’s spear and sword be put in the armoury. ‘They are impatient to see you and embrace you. But please follow the nurse first; she will take you to the bath chamber and give you fresh clothing.’

Marpessa kissed his forehead and eyes: ‘You are as beautiful as the sun, my boy,’ she said, ‘but you stink of sweat and you’re covered with dust. The water is perfectly hot; the maids have kept the fire going under the cauldron all day since we did not know when you would arrive. Come, the princess herself will help you wash and prepare for dinner.’ She was already striding down the dark corridor with a quicker step than one would expect for a woman her age, and the young prince followed her. ‘How long has it been since you saw your cousin?’ she asked. ‘Oh, I imagine she was still wetting her bed the last time you saw her. Much time has passed. You’ll see, she’s as lovely as the morning star, with skin as white as the moon, her mother’s deep black eyes and the flaming hair of her father the king.’

The youth entered the bath chamber and the handmaids approached immediately to undress him. As soon as he was immersed in the tub, Princess Hermione appeared. She was so beautiful she took his breath away and left him without words.

‘Welcome to our home,’ said the girl. ‘We have been waiting anxiously for you. I hope you are well and that your journey was a good one.’

‘I am well, Hermione,’ he said, ‘and happy to see you. I had been told that you were as beautiful as your mother, but now that I’ve seen you, I’d say you were beyond compare.’