Molossus laughed softly.

"There! That is just like you! I bet you've never taken me on your lap in your entire life"

"I haven't" replied Helenus, rolling his eyes.

"...a woman looks at you with teary eyes and you are fooled. And you claim you can recognize manipulation" the younger man added, still smiling.

"Are you finished? Because I will stop now if you cannot take me seriously" Helenus answered harshly.

Molossus felt the impulse to snap back but he resisted it. How was it again? "You must excuse him. He doesn't really mean it, you know".

"So... I have known Aesacus? I wasn't aware of that?"

"You have. You called him grandpa" Helenus said very softly.

-O-O-O-

The megaron was quiet while Aesacus told the old Cretan story of the Minotaur.

With his eyes closed, Helenus listened absent-mindedly. He liked that story, but tonight he couldn't pay attention.

Their fourth winter in Buthrotum was coming to an end.

It had been a quiet year. The king had come back from war at the beginning of the summer and hadn't left ever since. It looked like his enemies had finally given up. Andromache and her son were fine and -for the moment- safe.

Still, Helenus was sad.

It wasn't because of the nightmares and the memories of the war that sometimes came to torment him. They were painful, but he could handle them.

It was because he knew that Aesacus would die soon.

Helenus opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Hermes' priest.

Aesacus sat beside him with Molossus on his lap. He was pale and even thinner than before. Even if his hands were clasped, Helenus could see that they were shaking slightly. His eyesight had worsened in the last few months and he couldn't manage to walk alone anymore. He looked frail, as if he could break at any moment. But his memory and his penchant for telling tales were still there.

For how long?

Everybody stood and Helenus broke from his contemplation. He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed that the tale was over.

"Could someone pick up our little one and bring him to bed? He's fallen asleep. It happens when one listens to me talking" joked Aesacus.

Helenus stepped back.

Andromache came over and carefully lifted the child from Aesacus' lap.

"Should I accompany you to your room?" Helenus asked him, sitting closer.

"No, thank you, dear. I am really tired. I don't think I can walk right now"

"Then I will carry you, it's no trouble"

"I would prefer to rest here for a while. But thank you: you are very kind and caring, as usual"

Helenus shook his head, embarrassed.

"I only offered to carry you to your room because you are tired. It has nothing to do with kindness" he replied. His words sounded harsher than he had intended.

Aesacus smiled.

"...and here comes the don't touch me attitude. It doesn't work on me because I know you. On the other hand, it works perfectly on children"

He should've known that this was going somewhere. Aesacus always tried to make him spend some time with Molossus.

"I have nothing to do with children I am not related to" he answered nervously.

"For now" insisted Aesacus. Lowering his voice to a whisper, he added: "You agreed to marry Andromache if Neoptolemus dies. This means that you also agreed to become Molossus' stepfather. Now, I know that royal children usually don't spend a lot of time with their parents, but this is a small town with a small royal palace. Molossus is going to spend much more time with his parents than you did with your ones"

Helenus considered Aesacus' words. Whenever he thought about taking Neoptolemus' place, he always worried about his possible duties as a king. He had never thought much about the fact that he would become a stepfather as well.

"If you don't find a way to express your affection and pride, a boy might think that you don't feel any. You don't need to become all effusive and talkative, but you will need to work on it if you ever take Neoptolemus' place"

Hermes' priest took a long and shuddering breath.

"You should really go to bed. You sound exhausted" reasoned Helenus.

Aesacus chuckled.

"Nice try. Yes, mama - I will go to bed once I am finished scolding you. If you ever become a stepfather -but even if you don't- you might want to show the kind-heartedness that lies behind your attitude"

Helenus shifted on his chair, blushing. This conversation was making him feel very uneasy.

"Your closeness to me must have clouded your judgement. There is nothing behind my attitude" he mumbled.

Aesacus chuckled again.

"Quit being edgy. Doesn't work on me" he said in a shaky voice.

Helenus didn't reply.

Aesacus insisted on overestimating him. Hermes' priest just couldn't believe that Helenus wasn't even half as kind as he thought.

"I don't see why you are telling me this now. Neoptolemus is safe and sound. But it looks like you have finished scolding me for today" he said after a while. "You should go to bed"

But Aesacus didn't reply.

Helenus turned to look at him. Aesacus sat still, his head turned backwards.

He was very silent... too silent...

With shaking hands, Helenus bent over and gently lifted his shoulders. Aesacus' body fell on him, lifeless.

He stared at the body, his mouth open.

It couldn't be. A moment earlier, they had been talking. It just couldn't be...

Helenus fell on his knees and burst into sobs.

He was aware that it was coming, that it would happen soon, but it hurt so much... even more than he had imagined...

Now he understood Aesacus' attempt at giving advice about fatherhood. He knew that he was dying, he knew that he didn't have any time left. And he had kept it to himself...

Helenus knew that the noise would draw people to the megaron, that the whole palace would see him in this state. He was always so afraid of losing his composure, of looking weak. Now he couldn't care less.

He didn't try to stop, he didn't try to be more quiet. He just kept sobbing until he had no more tears and no more voice.

"Helenus" whispered Andromache, very close to him. She had probably kneeled next to him. "We will bring him to his room, now. The maids will prepare the body. We will miss him very much, all of us. Someone will accompany you to your room..."

He shook his head and stood up. He didn't want to see anybody, to hear anybody's words of comfort. He wiped his eyes and turned around, not daring to look at Aesacus' body again.

Every single person living in the palace seemed to be in the megaron, from the king to the soldiers to the maids. He walked away without talking to anybody and locked himself in his room.