Spring drifted into summer, and with the better weather came Polyxena's first suitors. She acted worse than Cassandra had. Sometimes her surly attitude drove the men away just after they met the princess. Those that didn't bolt right away dealt with her vicious words and criticisms.
No suitor visited longer than two days.
Priam punished Polyxena much like he had Cassandra, but her mood didn't improve. Hecuba came to her daughter's defense, claimed Polyxena needed more time to cope with her brothers' deaths.
The King didn't believe her, and the pair fought constantly. What little ground Priam and his wife had gained in repairing their relationship eroded.
A month and a half into Deiphobus' and Helen's marriage, a rumor spread like wildfire within the palace, one that would have ended Helen's life if it'd been confirmed.
The rumor was, a short time before their wedding, Deiphobus had made Helen pregnant. When she'd suspected her condition, she'd sought an herbalist, and had followed the woman's orders to miscarry.
Helen's behavior neither established nor denied the rumor, but from the cloud of despair over Deiphobus, Cassandra figured he had a good reason to believe it. If he found any clue, he told no one, yet the yearning he'd had for Helen before their wedding disappeared from his gaze. From what Cassandra heard, her brother's visits to the staff's quarters increased tenfold.
Cassandra's own misery grew around this time. Othryoneus should have returned at the end of spring, but unforeseen circumstances had delayed him. Reports came that the earliest he'd be by her side was late summer but more likely mid-fall.
She increased her devotions and overanalyzed every vision she had. Cassandra sought the wisdom of the priests and priestesses, but none could offer her the reassurance she craved. She walked and talked as if in a frightened frenzy, and the staff refused to be unaccompanied with her.
The King disliked her conduct but didn't scold her too often. Cassandra knew he worried her becoming like Helen, and he couldn't stand the thought of another insane woman haunting the palace.
Cassandra only stilled her neurotic mannerisms when Creusa visited with Ascanius. Though no one trusted Cassandra alone with the infant, her sister allowed Cassandra to play with her son if she or Hecuba were near.
Ascanius' quick, light laugh and insatiable curiosity soothed Cassandra's frayed nerves and brought her, her only fun. She loved her nephew and lavished on him all the attention she'd wanted to give Polydorus.
She tried to rebuild her relationship with Creusa.
A vision not long after Creusa had given birth had told Cassandra Ascanius would survive the fall of Troy but only because of Creusa sacrificing herself. While it pained Cassandra, she'd grown to accept her sister's fate, and she didn't want her remaining time with Creusa to continue as it was.
Creusa treated Cassandra better, but nothing reminiscent of their relationship years prior.
Every so often, Helenus would join Cassandra as she tended to Ascanius. The twins didn't talk to each other, and Helenus would leave whenever Cassandra got too close, but his brief company thrilled Cassandra.
When he'd left her after losing to Deiphobus, she'd feared he'd never associate with her again. But now, though slow going, Helenus showed her he wanted her more involved in his life.
The King and Queen suffered another significant loss when Agamemnon, the brother of Helen's first husband, killed their sons Antiphus and Hipponous in an ambush close to the walls of Troy. Their sons' bodies were so decimated by the Greeks they couldn't be retrieved for burial.
All of Troy cried in outrage when they heard of the Greeks' deplorable actions.
Priam, Hecuba, and their oldest children mourned Antiphus and Hipponous the hardest. Cassandra, Helenus, and their younger siblings had never gotten close to their older brothers.
Unlike Hector, once Antiphus and Hipponous had joined the military, they'd stayed with the army; had only come home often enough to let their family know they still lived. They'd loved their family but had found genuine enjoyment as soldiers.
Despite the lack of bodies, the family had a service, though this time Helen was uninvited instead of Cassandra. Only Creusa and Hecuba cried. Everyone else's eyes reddened, but their other recent losses had stolen all their tears.
The grim affair didn't last long, and that night the palace remained dark.
Cassandra's world took another considerable turn an evening in late summer. She'd just sang Ascanius to sleep and passed the infant to his mother when a vision slammed into her.
She collapsed as her surroundings shifted.
She smelt the sea and heard the flap of sails, but couldn't see anything but a large, tanned man before her. He had his huge hands wrapped around her neck and squeezed so hard he crushed her windpipe.
In moments, he'd kill her.
The man taunted and laughed. As she lost oxygen, she found it harder and harder to understand what he yelled at her.
Just before she lost consciousness, she heard, "Weak... Othryoneus."
Cassandra returned to herself, now crumpled on the floor. Creusa hovered over her, and she cried for help when she noticed her sister woke.
Ascanius stirred and wailed.
His mother and aunt ignored him.
When help came, they asked Cassandra a series of questions she couldn't answer. She sat frozen as Othryoneus' death replayed in her mind.
Creusa explained the best she could, and the physician concluded stress had overtaken her. He prescribed a good night's sleep and plenty of water, and she'd be fine.
A guardsman carried Cassandra to her bedchamber, and two handmaidens readied her for rest. Cassandra neither hindered nor assisted their efforts. They murmured half-hearted reassurances Cassandra didn't process. Then the handmaidens put her to bed and left.
Though not tired, Cassandra willed herself to sleep. She existed in a nightmare.
If Cassandra slept, she'd wake to reality. She wouldn't have had a vision.
Othryoneus wouldn't be slated to die.
Cassandra repeated these thoughts until her nerves relaxed.
Sudden exhaustion overtook her, and her eyes closed. She embraced the darkness.
The next morning dawned bright and crisp, too perfect a day for her nightmare to be real. Cassandra stretched as she decided her plans for the day. She wanted to avoid prayers for a while. She'd concluded they'd caused her anxiety, and she sought to prevent another mishap.
Maybe she'd convince Creusa to let her take Ascanius to the gardens. The infant seemed to appreciate flowers as much as Cassandra did.
Cassandra swung her leg over the side of her bed, and the prophecy from before overtook her again. Her hope it had all been a nightmare vanished. She fell back against her blankets and curled into a ball once the vision finished. Tears drenched her face.
Her handmaidens came then, and she ordered them away.
As she cried, she prayed for death. All that had made her happy had been ripped away from her. She didn't understand what she'd done to make the Fates craft only misery for her, but no higher power cared to cease their battering.
No one killed her, and Cassandra bemoaned the cosmos and everything in it.
For days, she didn't leave her bed or eat, and only drank because servants forced her to. By the end of the first day, she'd taken to fantasizing about Othryoneus' return, their wedding, and him rescuing her from her miserableness in Troy.
At first, Cassandra did it to lessen the pain, but as time wore on, Cassandra's belief in the dreams increased. She talked as if Othryoneus were beside her and even spoke to the children she envisioned they'd have.
Occasionally, Cassandra's rationality would pull her away from her delusions. But never for long. Whenever it happened, she wrapped her fantasies tighter around herself until her sense quieted.
Four days after her second vision, Hecuba had Cassandra's door busted open. The Queen charged into the room and looked both downhearted and ready to argue. Her expression turned to one of pity when she saw Cassandra sitting in the middle of her bed.
"Oh, my little honeycomb." Hecuba gathered Cassandra into her arms. "Your love for him is so great you know deep down, don't you?"
"My love for whom? Othryoneus? Has he come back to me?"
Hecuba pulled away and studied her daughter. Her mouth pursed. "Y-You don't know."
In the far reaches of Cassandra's mind, awareness of what her mother spoke of sparked, but not enough to draw her full attention. She frowned. "What?"
"Othryoneus... He was killed."
The absurdity of the statement drew a laugh from Cassandra. "Really? Is that the joke you're playing on me? It's not very nice, but I forgive you." She shifted position to stretch out a leg muscle. "Now where is Othryoneus? Did he put you up to this?"
The Queen's hand fluttered to the bottom of her throat. "Cassandra, why—No one would make light of this situation, especially not me."
Cassandra rolled her eyes. "But he can't be dead. He promised he'd return."
"I wish he had. You two—I was so glad you were finally happy."
Cassandra chuckled again. "I'm still happier than I've ever been. And it'll only get better once Othryoneus and I—"
Hecuba slapped Cassandra across the face.
Before Cassandra registered the assault, Hecuba gripped Cassandra's shoulder. She shook her daughter.
"He's dead. I'm so sorry, but he is. No amount of pretending will change that."
Cassandra fought it, but her sanity clung to her mother's words. Its strength grew until it crushed the fantasy she'd created. The disturbing truth slammed into her, and she fell against the Queen.
"But he promised," she whispered, then burst into tears.
Hecuba hugged her again.
She said nothing, didn't make empty declarations. She just held Cassandra as her heart shattered for the second time.