Chapter Six:

"Idiot!" Aphrodite cursed, staring daggers down at Odysseus as he returned back to camp in disguise.

"I have no idea what you see in that fool, he seems to harbour no intellect at all!" she continued, "he came this close, this close to screwing it all up!"

"You seem to forget, it was my statue that was defiled through all this," Athena said frowning sternly at the proceedings.

"Then you agree with me then! Blast all those damned Greeks to Tartarus! Tell Father you switched sides. The Greeks don't deserve our help!" Aphrodite cried victoriously.

"No!" Athena cut her off, "No I will not switch sides, this could very well play into our hands for peace…"

"Are you mad? Surely after that display of blasphemy and the brewing suspicion and distrust begun this night between those too, you cannot still have a hope of fostering peace?"

"Aphrodite, you call yourself the Goddess of Love and yet you forget one of the most important fundamental rules of love. Anger leads to Passion does it not? What is a relationship without it's little squabbles now and then? I'm sure you of all people can relate to this?" Athena asked smirking slightly.

Aphrodite burned with a sudden embarrassment, knowing that Athena was obviously making reference to her on-again off-again, wild and passionate love-affairs with the War God Ares. Often the two would argue for days at a time but always their shouts and cries would turn into moans and sighs.

Athena smiled triumphantly,"You see? How is it any different for these mortals? After they resolve their little tiff their love will be stronger than ever. And with our love spell in place, they have to choice but to make love, not war."

Odysseus stood impatiently before the entrance of King Agamemnon's pavilion. He was waiting to be granted entrance to speak before the King. It was utterly humiliating and an atrocious display of contempt and arrogance for the other kings aiding him in this war. And he seemed to take it all for granted! He, who was a King born and raised like Odysseus was now expecting others of equal rank to pay homage to him as if he were King of Kings or worse still, the son of a god. It was really beginning to set the Ithacan's teeth on edge. The gods did not suffer the arrogance of men, those men who really had nothing to gloat about compared with the powers that directed them. If he could just give him a piece of his mind, without risking the safety of his own life and the lives of his men – not just those in Troy but back home. Agamemnon's revenge would be so complete as to ruin his rocky homeland to complete rumble. Odysseus really wouldn't put it past him to order such a terrible crime on his people; the Greeks had been killing each other for centuries. Odysseus' main motivation to hold his tongue however was on a more personal level, to keep his wife Penelope and especially his little boy Telemachus safe.

Telemachus… his beautiful little boy had led him to this worthless war in the first place. When summoned to battle Odysseus had risked everything to stay behind by feigning madness. Taking up a hoe he began tending to his own fields but his plan was foiled when a soldier took up Telemachus as a babe and dropped him in the hoe's path. Odysseus was forced to swerve from hitting the boy and thus showing to the soldier that he was not in fact mad enough to kill his only child. That babe would be a boy now, having never met his father. Odysseus felt hot rage surge through him again, fists clenched and hands shaking he asked himself again why he was warning Agamemnon about tonight's attack on the ships. Agamemnon had robbed the most important years of his life, not only from Odysseus but his son also. Even now he wondered if he would ever come home alive to see his son as a man. He was doing this because Hector had told him too… and he loved Hector. Oh god, did he? Did he love the man? Was he going to change the fate of every man in Greece and Troy because he possibly loved just one, single man? He groaned in despair.

"Odysseus?" Diomedes was at his side, a frown of concern on his handsome face, "Are you ready to tell him what you found out last night about the ships?"

Odysseus smiled wanly. Diomedes was the perfect alibi. Perhaps last night hadn't gone exactely according to plan but it gave him a plausible answer for where he got this very valuable information.

"Just about ready as you'll be when you have to face up to Agamemnon about that statue you happened upon," smirked Odysseus.

Diomedes cringed, "He doesn't have to know about that does he?"

"Oh yes," Odysseus finished and patted Diomedes on the shoulder as the man turned several shades whiter.

The long wait for Agamemnon was finally over when an attendant came out and gestured for them to enter.

"Agamemnon, King of Greece, is ready for your Lordships' company," he said and ushered them in.

"King of Greece?" Odysseus muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "When did that happen? I thought he was only King of Mycenae."

"Last time I checked," agreed Diomedes, who shared Odysseus disdain for the man.

Agamemnon sat upon his uplifted thrown on what seemed to be a newly constructed dais. He smiled warmly at the entrance of two of his kings, who he seemed to look upon as more Generals these days.

"Greeting to you my friends! I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long! It's a time expending business being King of the unified states of Greece," he began benevolently with just a hint of smugness.

"Not at all, my Lord!" Odysseus declared flashing an award winning fake smile; the statement oozing with sarcasm which did not pass Agamemnon's notice in the slightest. "As King of Ithaca, I also am aware of the pressures of one's time. But I have some news for you that must take precedence over other matters concerning your unified states of Greece, Agamemnon." Odysseus finished, bowing slightly standing tall with confidence and majesty that clearly set the standard when compared with Agamemnon's easy slouch in his throne.

Agamemnon paused, trying to decide when this cocky upstart before him had lost his wits. Did he not know to whom he spoke? Barely disguising a grimace he decided to be civil for the time, until he discovered what pressing matter Odysseus had to tell him and depending on that, if punishment for his cheek was in order. 'Even kings must be taught manners' he thought to himself, ignoring the hypocrisy of the situation.

"Proceed, my Lord," he said with boredom, letting King Odysseus know just how much he thought of his time.

"As there seems to be no form of retrieving enemy intelligence within your army, an integral part of waging war as you may know, I took it upon myself to do some of my own when I visited Troy last night." Odysseus stated matter-of-factually.

"You what!" Agamemnon roared, at once turning as red as a suckling pig. Odysseus did not so much as flinch.

"What you may be interested to know is that the Trojan's are planning an attack on our ships this very night," he continued raising his voice a notch to break through the roaring of hot blood pumping through the enraged Agamemnon's skull.

Agamemnon was successfully silenced, there was a moment or two of tangible tension in the air in which Diomedes looked nervously from one king to the other almost waiting for the gods to choose which one of the two was worthy and strike the other dead. Finally the tension was broken.

"I see," Agamemnon said slowly, the colour draining from his face. "You're very lucky that information was critical to my needs or I may have done something unpleasant to you for not only wasting my time but pursuing such a dangerous and fool-hardy mission as entering Troy without my permission."

"Surely I can take my life into my own hands, my Lord, without your esteemed permission," Odysseus followed, not missing a beat after Agamemnon.

Agamemnon's eyes narrowed, "You tread a dangerous road my friend, but this day I pardon you for all. You have possibly saved this campaign from imminent failure and I thank you for your time. You are dismissed." Agammenon settled back down on his throne and waved a hand carelessly in their direction as though swatting at flies.

"Your gracious expenditure of your time is much appreciated, and so is your pardon, my Lord," Odysseus said bowing, knowing that there would be no way in Tartarus he'd let that bloated, arrogant, son-of-a-bitch have the last word. Then he turned to go, a pale and shaking Diomedes following closely behind.

"Are you mad? Your wit, amusing as it was to see Agamemnon flounder, almost got you killed you know. My Gods, I have never seen Agamemnon so angry."

"Angry? Ha! Imagine how angry he's going to be when it's your turn to fess up," Odysseus laughed and walked on as Diomedes stopped in his tracks with a sudden horror before chasing up behind Odysseus, punching him in the shoulder, for putting that horrifying thought into his consciousness.

….

That day there was no fighting. Agamemnon changed plans and instead had the men rest and prepare their weaponry for tonight's attack as was foretold by Odysseus. This was a huge risk to take for the man, for it also gave a whole day of preparation to the Trojan's as well to make ready their attack.

"Odysseus, you had better be telling the truth," Agamemnon growled after dispatching the orders for the day, "if only for one time in your entire life," he finished.

….

Hector was not in the best of moods. Tonight was to be the night of the attack on the Greek ships and Hector was not sure he wanted to go through with it. As well as the fact that he had promised to meet Odysseus away from the Greek camp and after the gossip of his generals last night he had begun to have nagging suspicions about the handsome Greek. Everyone knew that Odysseus was infamous for his cunning and manipulation, could this be yet another one of Odysseus' ploys to take an advantage from the Trojans? Hector didn't want it to be true, but then again what if it was? Had he just sold out his entire race all on the hopes of an impossible crush on the wily solider?

"Please no…" he begged to Aphrodite quietly.

On top of this, there had been outrage and disorder in the city today at the loss of a statue from the temple of Minerva. Hector was glad that the Greeks had taken respite from the fighting today, he didn't know how much more he could take.

…

Night came on swiftly and the Greeks rested in the calm before the storm. The army had not been told why to be on exceptional guard tonight only that they must keep their weapons close at hand and an un-breaking vigil.

Agamemnon had called the other Kings together to explain the situation, as there had been some question as to why the men's sleep would be sacrificed for a night that seemed no different from any other.

"This morning some very important information came into my keeping. I sent Odysseus on a secret intelligence operation beyond the impregnable walls of Troy," Agamemnon said pompously taking all credit for Odysseus' discovery. "What he found explains the purpose for our watchfulness this particular night. Odysseus! Would you care to regale us with what you have uncovered?"

The High King waited for the King of Ithaca to step forward. There was no movement.

"Odysseus?" Agamemnon called, his eyes sweeping around the company held within his tent.

"What insolence!" he fumed, as Nestor quietly informed him that Odysseus had not been seen to enter the tent nor had he been seen since early in the day.

"What a fool! First he comes to me warn us all of the impending danger and then he goes off for a stroll just when we need him the most! Idiot, he deserves to die if any Trojan finds him out there!" Agamemnon shouted.

Agamemnon was of course correct, to a point. A certain Trojan would find him out there, wandering along the shore line as he was accustomed to far away from camp, but he was in no sort of danger at all. In fact quite the opposite.

TBC

Sorry for the long wait, hopefully the one you've all been waiting for is not far behind. But unfortunately I'll have to edit it to suit standards.