Chapter Two

Orestes and I were nine when I began to realize something was wrong in the house of Agamemnon. There was a man named Aegisthus that often frequented the palace and later he came to stay permanently, acting as if he was master. Orestes disliked him very much and would try to avoid him as much as he can, except when his mother summoned him to meet Aegisthus. Electra disliked him even more and would curse him under her breath when she saw him. I didn't understand at all. Orestes and Electra gave me no answers, but merely told me the man was evil. It wasn't until an incident occurred that I discovered the reason for my cousins' hatred.

Orestes and I were lazing about in the garden one late afternoon. I was busy picking the early spring flowers, stringing them into a garland. Orestes was attempting to string his small bow. He had been taking lessons in archery since he was seven and he was getting quite good, though he was still having difficulty stringing. I had just finished a garland and I surprised him by throwing it at his head. He lost his concentration with the bow and playfully chased me around the garden on the intent of exacting revenge. We were running and laughing out loud when a servant came to stop us. He had a message for Orestes. His mother was summoning him again to join her at the table with Aegisthus.

Orestes' face turned immediately to anger and told the servant he refused to come to the house. The servant dejectedly turned away, surprised at this new form of defiance. It wasn't long before another servant came, but Orestes angrily refused to comply. After the third summon, Clytemnestra herself came with Aegisthus in tow. Electra, hearing the commotion, came rushing out after them.

"Why have you not come when I summoned you?" she exclaimed. She was so angry I hung back in fright. But Orestes faced her with equal rage.

"I would not insult my father by consorting with your paramour!"

Clytemnestra's eyes inflamed with fury. "He is my husband now and master of this house and you will do as I say and as he says."

"Husband? Master? You forget that my father is still alive. In his absence, I am master. You have soiled my father's house long enough. I will not stand it anymore." He turned to Aegisthus. "Leave this moment by your will or it will be by my servants' hands."

Aegisthus calmly turned to Oretes with a sneer that turned my blood cold. "Young Orestes, what pride you have. But it is wasted pride. You see, your father may well be dead now. The war has lasted long enough and it is not likely he will survive. I am now king of all of Mycenae by marriage to your mother. You are merely a child, you cannot understand these things."

"I understand well enough you snake..." Orestes launched a stream of profanities that was cut abruptly by a blow to his head. I screamed as he fell and I rushed to his aid, but a one of the guards that I knew were Aegisthus' servants restrained me. Electra reached him and tried to shield her brother with her body. His nose was bleeding but he continued to hurl insults. Electra, enraged by the attack on Orestes, joined him in shouting at their mother and her lover. But Clytemnestra caught her by the hair and handed her to a servant to be dragged away into the house. Aegisthus at once hit Orestes repeatedly. Orestes tried to fight back but his nine-year-old body could not stand the blows of a full-grown man. He finally crumpled to the ground but even then Aegisthus kicked him savagely until he could no longer move. Through my tears I saw his mother stood triumphantly and watched hungrily with such pleasure in her eyes. It was a horror I never forgot and a crime I never forgave her.

Clytemnestra had a servant drag me away. I was brought to my chamber where my nurse was waiting. I screamed and screamed and demanded to be let out, but the guard my aunt put outside was stern and threatened my nurse and the other servants severe punishments if any of them tried to let me go. I cried the whole day, waiting in apprehension to what happened to my cousins. Were they still being beaten? Were they even alive at all?

It was hours later when Electra limped her way to my chamber. Her robes were torn, her hair in disarray, and her face and arms were bruised. Still, she was demanding to see her brother and threatened every servant harsh penalties if Orestes was killed. When she saw that it was pointless, she allowed me to attend to her wounds. Clytemnestra had ordered that no one should attend her at all, so I took the task. No food was brought to us and we lay awake late at night. We pleaded and pleaded to see Orestes, but we were not heeded. We fell asleep when exhaustion took us.

The following day, we were finally allowed to leave our chamber. We found Orestes lying on the floor of his chamber, severely bruised and hardly able to talk. Electra and I managed to put him to bed and nurse his wounds. But even through his pain I could see his anger swelling, his courage was undiminished.

It was the first of more than five years of suffering. Aegisthus had taken to beating Orestes regularly, but always stopped short of killing him. The beatings were also made at intervals so his wounds would heal only slightly before the fresh wounds would start again. However, Orestes never backed down from Aegisthus. He refused to acknowledge him as lord and no amount of regular beatings from Aegisthus broke through Orestes' conviction. He never cried out or showed tears in front of his tormentor. He would accept the beatings until his body gave way and Aegisthus would order him sent to his chamber without supper and instructions to the servants not to tend to him.

The servants, however showed such great compassion in our suffering. Even with Aegisthus' gravest threats, it did not stop them from smuggling food to their little master and tending to his wounds. I never forgot that show of kindness and through my life, I never became cruel to any slave under my wing but offered them much gentleness and respect.

Electra, on the other hand, after months of protest, was sent away by her mother to a country home far away. We never even got to say goodbye to her. One night after Orestes was severely beaten, Clytemnestra ordered her bags packed and sent off immediately. When we woke the next morning, we found her chamber empty. She managed to send us letters she passed off secretly to faithful servants. She was treated well in her new home, she wrote, but she was like a prisoner there. Nevertheless, her words of affection managed to reach us and it was our best source of comfort.

"Take care of each other," she often wrote. "Be strong and have faith." To Orestes, she often addressed: "Never forget who you are. You are Agamemnon's son and you should always honor our father. He will come soon and he will restore us to right."

Orestes and I held on to each other even closer now that we have lost our "little mother." We were each others' confidant and we shared our sufferings. Although, Clytemnestra made sure I was never starved after the first night of Orestes' beating, I refused to eat when Orestes was ordered without food as punishment. Often, at night after a beating, I would steal into his chamber and lay beside him. I would embrace him and kiss him as I had seen Electra done so many times. We would cry together for hours and hold each other until morning.

Orestes grew vengeful each day and would tell me how he desired to kill Aegisthus and bring his own mother to justice. I could not believe he could do so, as he seemed so small and young, yet each time I encouraged him. It was only justice after all.

A/N: Thanks to the four people who reviewed.

To Fledge, I know this is really quite dark. When I re-read it again after so long, it actually scared me but it's dying to be written so I think I'll continue with it.

I know Clytemnestra sounds really harsh here and we don't really see the bad side of Agamemnon, but I was thinking that this is all from Hermione's point of view. I was re-reading Euripides' plays and I realize more and more that Hermione isn't exactly a very nice person, neither is Electra or Orestes—okay the entire family is actually quite deranged. When I started writing this two years ago, I remembered imagining Hermione to be influenced primarily by Electra and Orestes (who by the way, are not the best models for family values). And I could just imagine that her cousins are quite biased towards their father and against their mother. I tried to imagine why and I thought that perhaps they have a history of child abuse. As for Clytemnestra, I think she has her own issues why she would be harsh on her children. I think it's her form of revenge on her husband for the murder of possibly her favorite child, her first born. I could think of other reasons that she could have for hating her husband, but I suppose that's worth another story from Clytemnestra's POV, if I ever get down to writing it.