Chapter Twelve...The Feast (continued)
Athanasios was early into his cups and Andromache thought she understood why. Hector had just done what the
oldest son of Thebe had never managed. Putting their mother in her place. She knew it rankled her brother that his
men, the entire city for that matter, knew a woman held power over him. Even if she had also held that power over
everyone in the royal family. That he had borne it like a burr under a horse's blanket for so many years must have
galled him in festering ways. Especially if Triantifilla had helped it along. And now, Hector, Tamer of Horses, General
of the Apollonians, had arrived and in less than a day, removed both the threat and elevated himself in most eyes.
Athanasios saw Hector as a brother in arms, a fellow warrior and there was respect there. But there was also
competition there. And Athanasios did not take rivals well.
He was jovial and easy now. Would probably stay that way for a while yet. But she'd already decided that they
needed to be gone before the skill challenges started. Her brother's mood changed too fast during those.
She smiled automatically at something Platon had said, listening to his easy laugh. She always had liked him. He
had a way of telling stories that invited you in.
"And that's how you deal with a shrew!" Athanasios proclaimed to the general laughter of his companions.
Andromache winced and several of her sisters within ear shot shifted restlessly.
Miri had been one of their own...
"Good at dealing with uppity women, are you?" one of Athanasios' companions asked cheerfully and her brother
grinned. It was a wide, easy smile, entirely open and comfortable. And all the women within earshot suddenly looked
away. Andromache simply turned her face into her husband's shoulder. But her ears heard.
"I've done my share." her brother agreed amiably.
Hector shot Athanasios a look, and then looked across the people around him. The discomfiture of the women were
obvious, and even some of the men didn't look comfortable with where the conversation was headed. And it wasn't
hard to sense the tenseness in Andromache, even if he didn't have his arm around her.
"A toast!" He announced, trying to draw the conversation away from wherever it was headed. "To Thebe and to
Troy. Long shall they reign!" Patriotic toasts usually worked for a bit, at least until he could think of something else.
Bought him some time.
"To Thebe!" "To Troy!" The toasts came in response. "Here, here!"
"Now I've seen the Trojan Army train." Athanasios said. "With mine own eyes. Without your horses...how good are
you?" That stiffened Hector a bit, he took great pride in his army,
"Were my army to invade you today, you wouldn't have time to plead help from the gods." Hector said cooly, before
he thought better of it. Then he recovered and forced a smile. "But we don't have to worry about that, we're allies."
Eetion had watched the interaction with curiosity. In time, his oldest son would be king of Thebe and he would be
forgotten ashes somewhere. Athanasios and Hector would rule their cities during the same lifetime and watching
them now was like watching the future of their countries. Strategy-wise, it was a fascinating comparison.
"Only women plead." Athanasios stated harshly. Suddenly almost entirely sober. The girl at his side watched him
with wide, fearful eyes.
"So how would you do it?" Eetion asked amiably, leaning back in his chair and folding his hands across his stomach.
Ignoring his son as he focused on Troy's crown prince. "Seriously, how would you invade if you were coming for this
city?"
Platon grunted.
"We have this discussion all the time." he informed the young prince. "He says scaling the walls would stop most
armies in their tracks. I say it’s the streets of the city that would be the death trap long before you reached the inner
palace."
"Once the enemy is within the walls, its too late." Athanasios, distracted with the invasion of his own city, disagreed
as conversation started to resume around the tables. Apparently it was a common enough conversation. "Too much
wood. Too easy to burn."
"Obviously the tricky thing to do is attack during a celebration, say harvest when your gates are wide open." Hector
said calmly, keeping an eye on Athanasios, wondering if the man was really going to challenge him at some point.
Not that he was egotistical and thought it would be an easy fight, just not one he was relishing to do. "Your weak
points are your gates. They're not very thick. A fiery battering ram with a thousand soldiers behind it could do it in
easily at night, when your guard is weaker. You think the mountains would protect you, but anyone who really
wanted in would use them against you."
He shrugged. "You can't see what's coming from the east gate. I'd go from there, send my Apollonians around the
side," he dipped his finger in his plate, in the thick gravy and drew on a napkin. "Here. Distract your main guards
along the west, scale and be in. The cover of night would be enough to get by your archers." Thebe's walls were not
nearly as high as Troy's after all. Then he wiped his finger off and smiled at Eetion. "And that is my gift to you, your
highness."
Eetion's eyes met Hector's across the table. And it was king to king, with complete understanding. And respect.
There was a sudden crowd behind Hector then, looking around him to see the attack plan he'd lined out. The city,
after all, was almost entirely soldiers and this meal was no different a mix. Andromache, standing up to speak to
Lucia and stay out of the press, kept her smile quiet. Dori, getting out of her seat so fast she almost tripped, joined
her on her circuit.
"Did you see that?" Dori wanted to know and Andromache laughed quietly.
"I was sitting right there." she reminded her younger sister. Dori's eyes were wide.
"That was amazing!"
"And good strategy too." Marika agreed, joining them. Vasilos' primary wife, she came from a barbaric tribe to the
north and had a better grip on combat tactics than some of the generals in the room. Lucia joined them, giving
Andromache a new goblet of wine.
"Its safe." she said unnecessarily and then looked back at the impromptu discussion of defense that had started
around Hector. "Are you sure he's real?" she added. Entirely serious. "Not some dream the gods have tangled
around you for fun?"
"I don't dare wake up if he is." Andromache stated, taking a sip of the wine because she hadn't touched her own
goblet all night. She looked back at her husband. Felt the love and the pride that always came when she saw him
and her face softened. "But he's real. Mortal flesh and blood."
"I like the flesh." Marika agreed and Dori giggled.
"And I thought there was going to be blood." Lucia warned. "Athanasios really wants to challenge him to something,
Andromache. Just to test himself."
"I know." Andromache nodded. Glancing at her older brother and the fierce light on his face as he joined the
discussion on different ways to fortify the city gates. For the moment he was in his element and content. But he
would challenge Hector eventually. It wouldn't matter half so much to him who won and lost. It would be a challenge
for the sheer sake of challenging and testing them both.
"I thought - I thought he was going to brag about Miri." Dori stated quietly, voice low. And Andromache nodded
again.
"me too..."