One morning, some years later, Myrrhine entered my room in a hurry:

"Paris is back" she panted "with a woman."

A year before Paris had joined our family again. I knew he would bring destruction to our city and wanted so badly to advise my father against welcoming him but I couldn't. He wasn't going to believe me anyway.

In a very short time, Paris grew close to my parents and resentful towards us, his siblings, who had enjoyed the life he had been denied. He felt especially challengedby my brothers' military training and by our knowledge of languages, reading and music.

Since he had been sent away because of a prophecy, he mistrusted and disliked everybody who had to do with prophecy, including me.

Some months before my father had sent Paris to Salamina: his task was to take home our aunt, Hesyone, who had been kidnapped by king Telamon many years before. Since the city was still a bit suspicious about Paris (and my brothers as well), Priam entrusted him with that task hoping that he would've gained his people's respect.

It was a difficult task. We didn't have any power or influence on Salamina, we were unable to threaten them in any way It would have been an almost impossible task for any experienced advisor, even more so for a young man who lacked experience in diplomacy.

"Who's the woman?" I asked.

Of course I knew who she was but I still asked because sometimes I couldn't believe my visions myself.

"I don't know, she wears a veil. But if we hurry we can see them"

We went to the royal palace to wait for Paris' chariot and found Priam, Hecuba, Hector and Andromache waiting as well.

And soon there he was, with a tall, veiled woman at his side. Her frame looked way too young for her to be Hesyone.

"Shall the gods bless you, father and mother. And my brother and sister too." he added, with a venomous glance towards me.

"Who is she?" Hector asked matter-of-factly before Priam had had the time to speak.

"This is my bride, Helen of Sparta" he answered, gesturing towards the woman, who removed her veil. Even if I knew her from my dreams I couldn't help but gasp: she was beautiful and graceful, with long golden hairs and eyes of a very light shade of blue. Many people murmured that she was a daughter of Zeus himself and I could see why.

"Didn't you go to Salamina, my son?" Priam asked softly after a long moment, without acknowledging Helen.

"Of course I did. They wouldn't even let me meet my aunt. Telamon and Menelaus were so arrogant."

"Menelaus?" Hector asked, his brow furrowed.

"He was Telamon's guest" Paris explained curtly.

Hector did not seem happy at all. "Lady Helen, it seemed to me that Menelaus was your husband."

"He was, indeed"

"And what about Paris, then?"

"We love each other" said man interrupted eagerly, and Helen nodded.

"Paris, did you kidnap her?" Hector asked harshly. He didn't answer.

"Paris, I will ask you again: did you kidnap her?" Hector asked again.

"I followed him willingly" Helen answered softly, with a sweet voice.

"And you think we should let her stay?" I asked abruptly. Apparently Helen wasn't aware of my presence because she gave a start upon hearing my voice.

"I do not think this decision is yours to make, sister" Paris spat.

"Neither it is yours, brother. And I believe that any man would try to get his wife back." I replied.

Apollo's curse forced me to be very careful about the way I spoke. I had to avoid making prophecies or forecasts of any kind and stick to sensible statements everybody would have to agree with.

Helen was looking at me with interest, probably Paris had told her something about me during their travel.

"You are being your usual gloomy self, Cassandra. Just because you are miserable, it doesn't mean you have to make other people miserable too" he answered bitterly.

"Shut your mouth!" Hector bellowed, and Paris went silent.

"Cassandra's remarks are understandable and we'll have to talk about it" he continued, turning to his father. Priam nodded.

"For now, Helen, we welcome you as our guest." Priam finally welcomed her with a smile.

I went back to the temple, knowing that Helen would stay and that the Achaeans would come.

My father consulted with his advisors and eventually decided to let her stay.

One day, while visiting Hermes' temple, I was very surprised to find out that Aesacus had supported that decision.

"Don't you think that Menelaus might seek revenge for the kidnapping?" I asked him, always careful not to make my question sound like a forecast.

"He might and he very likely will" Aesacus replied quietly.

"Then why did you advise my father to let her stay?" I questioned.

"What would happen if he were to send her back to her husband, Cassandra?" he asked softly.

"He would probably kill her for her betrayal" I admitted. "That would be cruel, but we don't know what Menelaus could do to us all if we keep her here"

He regarded me for a long moment.

"Alright, let's take a seat next to the fireplace and talk about it" he said.

I complied and waited for him to talk.

"For a long time, the Achaeans have been too busy fighting with one another to notice the outer world. at some point, they realized that they can become much more dangerous by joining forces from time to time. This way, they have ransacked many cities, some of them even on our coast. They have been trying to put their hands on Troy for decades: they kidnapped your aunt Hesyone from Troy just to show us their power. They have been trying to make us accept their commercial monopoly, by committing acts of piracy on our ships. They just never dared to sack Troy - yet" he explained calmly.

I listened silently. I was starting to see where this was going.

"In short, Cassandra: they are becoming more and more aggressive. Now, Agamemnon is king of Mycene and his brother Menelaus is king of Sparta, two large cities - and they are trying to join forces with the other Achean kings against competitors like us"

"I didn't know that" I answered.

It was true. Apollo had given me the ability to see the future but not what was going on elsewhere in the present.

"Having a merchant as a brother and being a servant to the god of merchants has its advantages" he explained with a small smile. "Anyway. Your brother Paris was... unwise enough to kidnap Menelaus' wife, no less. Now the damage is already done, they have the perfect excuse for attacking us. Sending Helen back to them would just make us look weak. And even without Paris - they were going to attack us anyway, some day"

It made sense. Maybe, Paris and Helen were not going to cause our fall but just to come before it.

"Besides, as you said, Menelaus could kill her if we were to send her back" Aesacus went on "Your father welcomed her as a guest and hospitality is sacred. Sending her back to die would be an impiety. So yes, I told your father that Helen's presence here is a huge problem, but that sending her back would be an even bigger one"

I thought back to Aesacus' words many times during the following days. Was I so focused on prophecies that they were clouding my judgment?

-O-O-O-

Helen turned out to be a kind woman: she helped my sister Creusa with her pregnancy, she tended to my mother whenever she was unwell, she behaved like an affectionate and loving daughter and sister and didn't bicker or cause troubles in my family. She didn't give the family any reason to complain for her behavior. Despite being Paris' wife she was also gentle with me and didn't treat me like I was crazy.

As imagined, Menelaus tried to get his wife back. About a month after Helen's arrival, he came with his brother Agamemnon, allies and soldiers and they tried to prevent trading ships from docking. They were rebuffed by our ships before they could cause real trouble. But we could see that -as Aesacus had told me- Menelaus and his brother had many allies. They tried to attack our harbor again, and again without success.

At first, I couldn't help but cringing at the very sight of Helen and I tried to keep her at a distance without looking disdainful. I think the turning point in our relationship occurred at Athena's feast, during the autumn.

Helen had joined me and my other unmarried sisters at the procession. She didn't walk with her husband, like Andromache and Creusa did. I think she wanted to show to us that she considered us like her own sisters now.

"Do you really need to walk with us, lady Helen?" Polyxena asked bitterly.

"I know you don't like me, I can understand that" Helen answered in her uncertain Trojan accent " but I love Paris and his city dearly"

"If you love this city, then leave it. We are in danger because of you" retorted Polyxena.

"Do you believe that the Achaeans would leave if Helen went back to her husband?" I asked quietly.

"Hiding in the temple must have clouded your good sense, Cassandra" said Polyxena "of course they would leave. They came because of her in the first place"

I wanted to reply but I thought better and just shook my head. After all, I had thought about the same before speaking to Aesacus.

"How silly of me, avoiding Helen and then feel hurt when people avoid me!" I thought.

I felt I had behaved towards Helen with the same prejudice and despise her citizens reserved to me. I felt ashamed of myself and I decided to start anew. From that day on, a sort of friendship developed between us; I gladly accepted her often silent company, her lack of prejudice, her kind and respectful behavior.

We used to walk together or to stay in the temple since she wasn't afraid of snakes. I would help her practice with her Trojan and she would tell me stories about Sparta and the Achaean people.

Sometimes I even felt the desire to open up with her, to reveal my secret to her, but I kept it to myself.