Helen of Sparta (37 page)

I stared at him. “He tru
sted you!”

“Not enough to tell me the truth about his bride.” The blade pricked me through the fabric of my gown. “And you, behaving as though you were too good to even look on any of us. Unwilling to even give audience to any of his people after he had gone. Hiding away in h
is rooms.”

“For that, you would do this?” I did not care that I shouted, nor did the trickle of my own blood give me pause. “You would betray his sons! Athens itself! Theseus has been nothing but good to you, t
o Athens!”

“Athens should have been mine! I thought for certain he would refuse to give up your child, and I would have the throne then, but no.” He sneered. “Aethra persuaded him, and of course Athena favored him with counsel. She took the crying baby from his arms herself! But I am done wai
ting now.”

His words stabbed through me more keenly than any blade. My daughter. How could he speak so cruelly of an innocent child? As if she were worth nothing, but for how he might use her for his own purposes. Oh, Theseus! I should have warned him. He should have heard of the dream from me, not Menestheus, who did not care what blood was spilled, only how much closer it brought him to t
he throne.

Menestheus threw me the last few paces into the megaron. I landed on my hands and bruised knees on the tile before two pairs of sandaled feet. They did not belong to Demophon
or Acamas.

Pollux crouched down to help me up, but I ignored him
, glaring.

My brother straightened, his usually good-humored expression filled with hurt. “Forgive me for thinking you might prefer to be found by your brothers over
Menelaus.”

I rose to my feet, forcing the pain from my heart and raising my chin. If Theseus had not defied the gods, then they must stand with us now. We had paid Zeus’s price. Athena had given us her word. And Theseus trusted her, above all. Theseus would come. The goddess would bring
him home.

“A princess of Egypt has nothing to fear from any Achaean prince,” I said. “We have no enemies here, and you have no right to me. I belong to Theseus. T
o Athens!”

“Enough of your lies!” Menestheus snapped. “Take her. Perhaps if I’m lucky, Theseus will be so distracted by finding his wife that he won’t bother with trying to reclaim Athens. If he return
s at all.”

“
When
he returns, Menestheus,” I said. “And his people will rise to his call and throw you to your death from the Rock! Zeus himself will curse you, and all your
children.”

He grabbed my arm, the bronze blade, cold and stinging, finding my throat. “I warn you, Princess. Still your tongue, or I will cut it from y
our head.”

Pollux stepped forward, his hand closing around Menestheus’s wrist. “You will not touch our sist
er again.”

For the first time, I realized how impressive he had grown in my absence, for he towered like Pirithous over the man. Menestheus seemed to realize it, too, for he dropped the blade, his lip curling as he gla
red at me.

“Demophon and Acamas will wake rudely aboard ship come morning, and the island of Euboea will keep them well away for some time,” Castor said. “I trust you can handle any trouble that might come if the
y return?”

“Why should anyone want to be led by a son of Theseus after this betrayal?” Menestheus said, his gaze flicking over me before he turned away. “Clearly they can’t be trusted if they would help their father break even the most sacred
of laws.”

“Then the city is yours,” Ca
stor said.

“Come.” Pollux took me by the arm. “The sooner we are on our way, the less likely Menelaus will hear of this an
d follow.”

I tore my arm free. “I won
’t leave.”

“Tonight with us, in peace, or later by force and with bloodshed, Helen. How many do you want to see dead now, if war threate
ns later?”

“There would be no threat of war if you had not come. If you had not helped this usurper—this dog! We paid the price in blood, Pollux!”
Zeus, I beg of you. You have our daughter. Strike Menestheus down, and bring Theseus to my side!
I screamed the words in my mind as tears filled my eyes.
Father, he
lp me now!

Castor swore. “We haven’t the time for thi
s, Helen.”

I spun, glaring at him. “My place is here, as queen of Athens. I will not abandon Theseus or
his city.”

Pain exploded in my skull, and Pollux shouted something I couldn’t understand, his express
ion livid.

Warm arms caught my body, but my mind fell into darkness
and flame.

C
HAPTER THIRTY-NINE

T
he ocean roared in my ears, pressing down upon me, pinning my arms to my sides. I struggled to free them, to swim for the surface, my lungs burning for air. A wave crashed, knocking me back, and then an arm wrapped around my waist, catching me and pulling me up. Theseus, I thought. Theseus, who would never let
me drown.

I gasped for breath, my eyes opening to the scrub brush of the Isthmus in winter. The ocean restricting me was only a cloak, wrapped so tightly around my body that I could not move my arms. Theseus’s cloak, though I did not understand how that could be. My head ached, and I groaned at the jarring hoofbeats of the horse b
eneath me.

“Careful,” Pollux said in my ear when I sat up straight and struggled against the fabric. We rode beside the sea. “If you fall off, you’ll only be more miserable for the rest of the
journey.”

“I ca
n’t move.”

“I couldn’t have you flopping about like a fish while I rode.” He helped me to free my arms. “After what Menestheus did, I didn’t dare ask to wait until you woke. The man has no patience. I demanded your cloak at least, and one of the palace slaves brou
ght this.”

I rubbed the lump at the back of my head. The skin was tender, aching just from the weight of my hair. I wore the circ
let still.

“Korina,” I mumbled. Then I remembered Aethra. My eyes filled with tears. After everything she had done for me, to keep me safe. “What did he do to Theseus’
s family?”

“Exile.” I sagged with relief, and Pollux wrapped his arm around me again, holding me steady. “Demophon and Acamas are well on their way to Euboea by now, and Aethra was sent back to Troezen. Menestheus would not do her any real harm, fearing Poseidon’s wrath. I did everything in my power to be sure it would be bloodless. I’m sorry. I’m sorry that it came to thi
s at all.”

“You shouldn’t have come!” My throat tightened, and I strangled a sob. Everything for nothing. Our daughter given up for nothing! “When you knew I was here, why
did you?”

“Because if we did not treat with Menestheus, he would have gone to Menelaus! At least this way, Theseus would not return to a ruined city. I owed the man that much for keeping you safe t
his long.”

“The Rock has never fallen,” I said. “Menelaus never would have made it inside t
he walls.”

“By the gods, Helen!” His arm tightened, making me cry out. He inhaled deeply, and his hold softened even if his tone did not. “Do you think Menestheus would have hesitated to let them in the same way he let us? Only if it had been Menelaus he invited, Theseus’s sons and mother would be dead, along with any man who got in his way. What he would have done to you had you fought, I do not even want to
imagine.”

I fell silent, grieving for things Theseus did not even realize he had lost. Athens in Menestheus’s hands. The daughter he had sacrificed for betrayal. Oh, Theseus. I did not deserve his forgiveness. Everything he had built, lost because of me. Even our child. Because I had not believed, had not shown faith, and now it was
too late.

“He deserved better than this,” I
murmured.

“I doubt very much he’ll ever return to see it,” Pollux said. “Aphrodite has led Pirithous on a merry chase and Theseus
with him.”

“You can’t know that.” My hands balled into fists in the fabric of the cloak. “Theseus will return! He swore it. We’ve only to wait until spring, and then he will come for me. Yo
u’ll see.”

“Helen.” Pollux’s voice was gentle. “Very few have ever returned from the Underworld, and he has been a long time gone. Longer than he meant to be, according to Menestheus. Perhaps it would be best if we considered what you will do if he does not arrive. And even if he does, what good will it do? He is no lon
ger king.”

Egypt, I thought. We could flee to Egypt together and live the rest of our lives in peace if he did not win Athens back. That must have been what he intended, why he had meant Demophon to send me there. Pollux should have let Menelaus march. I would have been sent safely away, and Menestheus would have had nothing to offer. The Rock would have stood, and Theseus would have returned home to
his crown.

“He would be king still, if it weren’t for you
,” I said.

At my back, Pollux on
ly sighed.

We camped on the Isthmus road beyond Eleusis, though Pollux had hoped to make it to Megara before nightfall. Castor called the halt, ordering several men to the first watch before riding b
ack to us.

“You and Helen may have the constitution of gods, but the rest of the army has spent a long day on t
he march.”

Pollux grunted. “You can hardly blame me for wanting distance fro
m Athens.”

Castor dismounted and helped me down from Pollux’s horse. “No. But exhausted men will do us no good, and the lands on the Isthmus will not take kindly to the news out of Athens when it
spreads.”

“Attica loves Theseus,” I said, not looking at Pollux. “Menestheus can barely throw
a spear.”

“If he is so poor a leader, I doubt he’ll last very long as king,” Pollux said gently. “Demophon will have no trouble finding allies to take back hi
s throne.”

“No.” I frowned, the burning city rising in my mind. Remembering Menelaus pinning me against the wall, speaking of Theseus’s death, I shuddered. “Menestheus will rule until the war. And when Theseus returns, Menestheus will have hi
m killed.”

Castor’s expression filled with pity. “We heard rumors that Theseus’s queen suffered from nightmares in his
absence.”

“But it made no sense,” Pollux said. “If you were safe with Theseus, why would you dream of
the war?”

“Perhaps because my foolish brothers meant to r
escue me.”

“Theseus can’t protect you if he’s lost in the house
of Hades!”

I whirled, and Pollux fell back. “And how do you intend to protect me, Pollux? By allowing Father to marry me to Menelaus? Agamemnon’s brother does not care for anything but his own i
nterests!”

“I know.” He raised his hands, palms out, his back against his horse’s flank. His eyes were dark with pain. “I heard him speaking with Leda, after you disappeared. And if I had known then, Helen, I swear to you I would have helped Theseus steal you from the cit
y myself.”

“Leda?”

He clenched his jaw and looked away. “She he
lped him.”

I shook my head, stumbling back. Castor reached for me, but I pushed him away. My own mother. The night rushed back to my mind, and I swallowed hard. Menelaus’s hands on my body, rough and determined and cruel. My own mother had done that to me, after everything she had suffered at the hands of Zeus? She would do it again. If she had promised me to Menelaus, she would not go back on her
word now.

“Helen, wait,” Castor said. I turned from him, from both of them. They would take me back there. Under my mother’s eye, into Menelaus’s reach. Theseus.
Theseus, where are you?
My husband. My hero. My protector. Theseus. He did not even know. He could not come if he did not know, and he had to come.
He had to.

The crashing of the sea filled my ears. Call
ing to me.

“Where are you going?” Pollu
x shouted.

I didn’t care. I had to tell Theseus. I had to let him know what had happened so that he might come home. Anywhere in the world, he had promised me. He would find me. He had to find me. Theseus, Poseidon’s son.
“Theseus.”

I scrambled through the scrub to the cliff, dimly hearing the snap of branches behind me. Pollux and Castor,
following.

The land sloped up, but the cliff stood low enough that I could feel the sea spray bouncing off the stone with every strike of the waves. I paused at the edge, ignoring the shouts of my brothers. The smell of salt and brine thickened with the wind blowing into my face.
“Theseus!”

But Theseus was not in the sea. No ship stood on the horizon, waiting to take me aboard. No dolphins leapt, showing Poseidon’s last favors. I might have believed they could swim even the River Styx, fighting their way through the Underworld to give Theseus word of me, had they only shown themselves. I would have thrown myself into their midst and begged them to carry me
with them.

I dropped to my knees on the hard rock, pressing my palms to the earth.
“Theseus,” I said again. Poseidon was lord of more than just the ocean. Of the land, too, and what of his son? I closed my eyes, breathing in the salt and the sand and the stone, digging my nails into its unyielding surface until they ached. “If you could only hear me. If you only knew. You swore! On the Styx, you swore to
find me!”

Pollux crouched beside me. “In two days, we will reach Mycenae. Agamemnon will insist we spend the night within his palace, if only to appease our sister. Clytemnestra is queen there now. Menelaus will, no doubt, be
present.”

“Does Tyndareus know?” I could not take my eyes from the sea. “Was he pa
rt of it?”

“You are his heir, Helen. He would not treat you so cruelly, not even for Menelaus. But he will want you married as soon as the pries
ts allow.”

“I already have a
husband.”

Pollux took my hand, brushing the dirt from my palm. When he rose, he pulled me with him. My arms felt weighted by stone, like my heart. He framed my face in his hands when I tried to look away, ducking his head to catc
h my eyes.

“If Menelaus learns you were in Athens, that Theseus made you his wife, it will mean a war. And you can be sure that if Theseus is not dead already, Menelaus will not rest until it is so.” His hands braced my shoulders when I did not respond, and he searched my face. “Do you understand what I’m telling yo
u, Helen?”

I closed my eyes again, wishing I could shut out the images he had painted as easily. My legs did not seem strong enough to support me, and my shoulders drooped beneath the weight of my brother’s words. Pollux pulled me into his arms, and I pressed my face into the curve of his shoulder, wishing it were Theseus wh
o held me.

Theseus, who might never hold
me again.

“We will say that your abductor hid you away,” Pollux went on, his voice low. “That you escaped from his hands and went to Athens for help, where Menestheus, in Theseus’s absence, sent word to us. And then we will marry you to a suitable husband as quickly a
s we can.”

To Menelaus, I thought, clinging to Pollux as the first sobs ripped through me. My mother would se
e to that.