good bargain,' he emphasised.
'Come along, Princess.' She rolled my burden for me. 'Eumides' very good bargains can cause trouble.'
She extinguished the fire and we left the hut, blinking in the sunlight. It was a cool spring day and the hills were covered in flowering nettles.
Four horses stood outside. On one of them Diomenes was riding, with Orestes sitting before him. Cassandra, laying her bundle on a tall black horse, leapt unaided onto its back. She gathered up the reins like a man and said, 'Hssh, beast.' The horse, which had reared, came down onto all its hoofs again, looking embarrassed. Eumides secured my burden to the saddle with straps and then lifted me up.
'I can't ride!' I gasped as I came down astride and blushed for shame.
'You'll have to learn,' said the sailor impatiently. 'It's too far to walk. And we'd better get away before-'
'Before those horse merchants find out that the gold was actually bronze?' suggested Cassandra.
'Copper,' he corrected her, and she laughed aloud.
I was travelling with a mad whore and an escaped slave and a thief. However, it was pleasant to be out of the hut, though I was so high up that I clutched the saddle in fear. Orestes looked happy. He was sitting almost on the horse's neck, with Diomenes' arm around his waist so that he couldn't fall, and he was looking eagerly along the road. I heard him say, 'Look, Lord, smoke!'
'Now I wonder what that can be,' mused Diomenes. 'The road's taking us there, so we'll find out. Listen, son of Agamemnon. I know you're a prince and a child of the House of Atreus, but you will have to obey certain rules if we are to arrive in Delphi alive. The first rule is that if we say run, then run; run and hide. Don't stop for anything. Is that clear?'
'Yes, Lord,' said my brother.
'The other is that we do not announce who we are, our names or lineage, to any chance-met companion. Enemies may be looking for us to do us harm.'
'But, Lord Diomenes,' Orestes said, a little shocked, 'names and titles must be proclaimed at first meeting. It is a matter of honour. It is the duty of all men to be honourable.'
'We are aiming to be both honourable and alive at the end of this journey, Orestes, and that may require some ingenuity. Did you ever meet Odysseus, Prince of Ithaca?'
'Yes, certainly. He was a friend of our father; he used to bring us presents from the other side of the world.'
'The Lord Odysseus of Ithaca employs guile, and his honour is intact - so far,' said Diomenes drily. 'So shall ours be. Off you go, horse.'
Cassandra, observing me in difficulties, gathered up the reins of my horse and said to it, 'Come along, Banthos. Don't be difficult.' And the animal, which had been dancing on its hoofs and trying to scrape me off against a tree, became biddable and followed along after Cassandra.
'I think I'll call this horse Nefos,' she said, managing her own beast and mine with ease. 'Black cloud, it's a good name and fits his temperament. You've never ridden before, have you? It's not difficult. Sit down on the horse and press your knees into its sides. If you think you are going to fall off, sit up straight. If you start to fall off, sit up straighter, grip tighter, and don't grab for the mane. There, see? Easy. And more pleasant than walking on those sore feet.'
It was, as she said, much better than walking. Once I found the trick of balancing the easy pace did not jolt me, and I had time to look around. The valley was wide and beautiful, shimmering silver with olives and green with vines. The sun warmed my back and the horse was behaving. I had never been so far in the open before. The world was unexpectedly big and interesting to someone who had looked at walls all of her life.
The road was smooth and empty. Although I closed my eyes when Banthos strayed too close to the edge, where fallen rocks lay among trampled weeds to show how steep the slope was, I was not very frightened. One of my chambers had been painted with a fresco of flowers. Tall purple loosestrife, small purple orchids, yellow daisies, rock roses and red poppies, the blood of the Slain God, Adonis. The colours had always seemed overbright, but now they burned on the mountainside, real, sharp, almost blinding to sheltered eyes.
I drew my veil aside for a moment and blinked in the sun. I think it was happiness that sent a shaft through me. I haven't much experience of it so I don't know.
We had travelled around the bulk of the mountains on thin, winding goat trails when we smelt smoke again. A strong stench of mingled flesh and wood. Cassandra jerked at the rein, bringing Banthos and me close to Nefos. The horses whinnied, and Cassandra called, 'Chryse, I know that smell. Shall we dare it and ride through?'
'The road takes us there, and there's no other path - I doubt we could get the horses over the mountains,' said Eumides. 'Surprise is best - they will probably be feasting in the ruins, Argive dogs! There was a village here, just goatherds and fellmongers. They sold us good leather to make bags when we came through. I remember the road. If it's blocked, we'll make a fight of it - they're just bandits.'
Cassandra gave me the reins and, of all things, accepted a bow which she bent and strung in a most professional manner. She was not just a slave and a whore, but an Amazon. She tied back her hair at the nape of her neck. Her eyes were hard. I was wary of her.
'Maiden, listen,' said Eumides to me. 'Soon we'll come into a village. The road runs out on the other side of the square. All you have to do is dig your heels into your mount and go straight for the road. Don't wait for us. We'll be right behind you.'
'That is true. I have not been rescued from slavery to be stopped by an Achaean bandit,' Cassandra said through her teeth. 'Come on.'
We increased speed as the road flattened out and widened, and came suddenly into what had been a small settlement, made mostly of mud houses with wooden roofs. These were aflame.
I heard wailing in the ruins, the scream of a woman, and saw a partly-armoured man lift his helmet from a pile of broken potsherds and cry a warning. Shouts rose from the wreckage. Three men with spears came running.
I sat down on Banthos, kicked him hard, and he responded. I could see the opening between two burning houses, and in a gush of flame which singed my veil we were through the gap and into the road. I would have turned back, but Banthos had been goaded into galloping, and he kept galloping, despite my tugging at the reins. I was jolted and bounced out of breath and so bruised that I could hardly find a spot that didn't hurt by the time I brought him to a halt.
He walked a little onto the verge and began grazing. I did not want to get off, because I doubted if I could get back on again, so I sat uncomfortably in the saddle and listened for a sound on the road, as the heartless beast cropped mouthfuls of rich grass.
I was just telling Banthos that I was a princess and that he ought to do as I so civilly requested, when the others caught up. Orestes was wrapped around Diomenes, his head against the Asclepid's chest and his arms around his neck.
I hauled Banthos out of the hedge and turned him.
Diomenes saw my face and said quickly, 'No, maiden, he's not hurt, I bade him hide his face. There, boy, you can look now. We are all safe and we'd better keep going.'
'The village? Who did it?' I asked. 'Surely not the victorious army?'
'Bandits. Agamemnon was gone so long that the old order has almost broken down. There was a drought two years ago, and the crops failed.
