Author's Note:

In this chapter, I tried to mix the fictional content with some history.

The mentioned Hittite and Assyrian kings actually reigned during the 13th century b.C. (and yes, Tudhalyia and Tukulti-Ninurta are their names). The thing about blinding enemies is also true, even if it was said of Tukulti-Ninurta's father.

I also mention the battle of Kadesh between Egyptians and Hittites (around 1274 b.C.) and refer to the battle of Nihriya between Assyrians and Hittites (around 1230 b.C.)

-O-O-O-

Priam became king at a very young age. Some people in the city were worried that he might not be up to the task, especially because that wasn't a very good time to become a king.

At the time, the king of Troy was a vassal to the Hittite king, Tudhalyia. Troy, although independent, had been a vassal to the Hittites for more than a century. We had to pay tribute to the Hittites, but on the other hand we could have their military support whenever needed. But the Hittite power seemed to be in a crisis phase.

One day, Priam came to Hermes' temple with a sacrifice for the god and an unusual request for me.

"I wish to learn Achaean. I assume you can speak it since your father was Cretan" he said.

"Well, my king. My father was of Minoan descent, so I am better at Minoan. But I suppose my Achaean is acceptable" I replied.

Priam sat.

"I am talking to you as a trusted advisor, Aesacus. I don't like what is going on with the Hittite empire at the moment. Just a few decades ago, the Hittites almost managed to defeat the great Egyptian Pharaoh in the battle at Kadesh, but they have become weaker since then. Their constant fighting with the Egyptians has made them more exposed to other enemies.

"The Assyrians..." I murmured.

"Yes. Their king, Tukulti-Ninurta, is always at war with someone. They say he is a good king, meaning that he blinds the enemies instead of slaughtering them as Assyrian kings use to do. Hardly reassuring" he said with a grimace "And now, I received word that the Hittites lost in a great battle against the Assyrians, in the eastern part of ther empire"

I gasped.

"Is the Hittite king dead?" I asked.

"As far as I know, he's not. But it's not the first time that the Hittite king loses territories to the Assyrians. One wonders how long they'll be able to protect us... and how long they'll exist"

"So you wish to make contact with our neighbors to the west" I stated.

"We cannot stand alone, we wouldn't survive. My kingdom includes a city, some villages and lots of fields, that's it. And we are placed right on a strait which leads to the Pontus Euxeinus. The perfect location to get into trouble"

The idea that the Hittites couldn't be able to support us anymore was indeed scary.

"I'll do my best to teach you Achaean, my king"

"I have a feeling, Aesacus" Priam said, looking afar "that my reign will be troubled. I hope I will be able to leave my kingdon to a heir"

-O-O-O-

So the king was my first actual pupil. Priam decided that his sons would have to study with me as well.

"Difficult times are awaiting us. The princes need to learn as much as they can to get through" he explained.

Priam and Hecuba had many children, although not one hundred, as many people say. I was a teacher to all the princes and to Cassandra.

Since I saw so many young faces around me, I didn't notice that I was starting to get old. Thanks to this, I can say that I still have the soul of a young boy (and the body of a mummy, but let's not speak about that). Thanks to my young pupils I didn't acquire the strictness and mournfulness I found so irritating in the elders when I was a boy.

Priam turned out to be a fine, intelligent king. He knew that our wealth didn't come from battles but from commerce, and he acted accordingly. The ships that intended to cross the strait had to pay a fee for that, but they could ride at anchor at Troy without paying. In town, they could find carpenters and raw materials at a very convenient price. Troy was always full of sailors and merchants from all over the world.

But we had enemies too.

One afternoon I was performing the rituals in Hermes' temple when one of Priam's messengers came to me, anguished:

"The king requests your presence at the royal palace, sir. It's urgent."

I hurried to the palace and found Priam, Hecuba, Laxani and two advisors alone; they all seemed very worried.

"What happened?" I asked Priam.

"Hesyone has been kidnappened" he burst out.

Hesyone was Priam's younger sister, a lovely young woman, still unmarried. Priam had been trying to marry her to some Achaean kings, without success.

"What? Who did it?"

"Strangers, maybe Achaeans. We don't know yet" Hecuba clarified.

"I suppose she wasn't here"

"Of course not. She was going to Demeter's temple with two handmaids. The handmaids told us they were assaulted and hit by four men. They both fainted because of the blows. When they woke up, Hesyone and the men were gone."

"When did it happen?" I asked.

"This morning"

"And the handmaids say they were strangers"

"They didn't speek Trojan. They say their language was similar to that of the Achaeans but they're not sure." Priam explained.

Laxani was silent but quiet while the other advisors and the queen seemed quite perturbed. Hecuba wouldn't quit fidgeting with her waistbelt.

The news really surprised me. Troy was not a violent city. We usually didn't have problems with strangers, apart from some drunken brawls.

"I've sent my guards to interrogate everyone around Demeter's temple. Since this morning, several ships have already left... she's likely already at sea" the king added.

"What can I do to help you?" I asked.

"I wish to hear your opinion. Many strangers come to your temple and most of all I trust your intelligence."

A man who hits two women and kidnaps another one isn't likely to pay respect to a god, so I didn't think they had come to the temple, but it wasn't a kind thing to say at the moment.

"I saw nothing wrong or weird at the temple today, my king. As for Hesyone... there is a question bothering me: how did they know where to find her? How did they know when and where to find her out of the palace? I am assuming they knew perfectly well that she's your sister"

"But is it not possible" an advisor interrupted "that someone saw her casually and kidnapped her to ask for a ramson?"

I wasn't convinced.

"First of all, it's not that you can go out from Troy with the king's sister without being seen. Unless you have a chariot or something like that. And more than that, Demeter's temple is in a really quiet neighborhood. There are just fields and meadows, no inn, no brothel. What would a stranger be doing there?"

"I agree with Aesacus" Priam declared slowly, then called for two of his most trustworthy guards:

"Go to the city doors and ask the guardians if this morning someone went out with a big chariot" they nodded and disappeared.

"Go on, Aesacus"

"Quite frankly, my king, I think there is a traitor in this palace. Let's find him or her before other lives are put at risk. And as for the kidnapper... I think you'll know his name very soon" I continued.

"Why so?"

"They kidnapped your sister. Either they will ask for a ramson, or they just want to impress you. In both cases, they will want you to know their name"

"If they really want to get at you, they'll probably ask for a ramson and we'll know who they are. And even if they simply wanted to impress you…they will want you to know their name."

I turned out to be right. Less than a month later, a herald from king Telamon came to Troy. He explained that Hesyone had been kidnapped by his master and was now married to him as queen of Salamina.

When Priam reacted furiously, the herald mocked him:

"You are lucky you found her a husband without a dowry! If you prefer, my king will send her back to you; it won't be easy to find her a new husband since she isn't a maid anymore!"

After this, I refused to let him pay homage to Hermes in the temple.

But we couldn't do anything about Hesyone; Salamina was too far from our army and Telamon wasn't going to accept a ramson. And that herald, although a filthy coward, was a messenger and we couldn't lay a finger on him.

The traitor was found soon: he was one of Priam's guards. He was executed immediately and I regretted it, because I would have preferred to speak to him.

Priam was usually kind to people, including his guards: why had one of them decided to betray the king's trust? Now we would never find out.

Now we knew that Hesyone's kidnapping was meant to impress the king, to make him remember that he wasn't as powerful as he believed to be.

We began to have enemies.