Agamemnon allowed Cassandra to rest through the night but burst into her living quarters at daybreak.
The twins, which Cassandra had named after her brothers Hector and Helenus, had woken her before their father's arrival and she had them fed and changed into the clothes someone had delivered in the night.
When Agamemnon entered the cabin, Cassandra sat on her cot and hummed to her sons one song she'd sung to Polyxena when she was little.
The King of Mycenae chuckled as he neared the trio. "This is more than I could have ever dreamed of. Two sons!"
His voice startled Hector, the redhaired twin, and he cried. Helenus' gaze left Cassandra and fell on Agamemnon. His mouth opened and closed, almost like he tried to address his father. The absurd idea made Cassandra smile, and Agamemnon took that as joy at his comment.
"You've done me well, Princess."
Cassandra's attention shifted to her sons' father.
Somehow, her hatred for him broke new ground. He'd forced her into having the twins, and now that she loved them more than she'd loved anyone in her life, he would take them from her and raise them in his image. Yes, if Agamemnon was anything like Priam, he allowed his concubines a lot of access to their children, but they had no say in their upbringing.
Agamemnon reached for Helenus.
Cassandra's first instinct was to draw back and shield her child from the abhorrent creature before her, but she overrode the desire. Her heart raced as she allowed Agamemnon to take her son.
He handled the child with experienced hands as he studied his offspring. "Hello, little Pelops," he said.
Though she'd known Agamemnon would choose his own names for the twins, and even if he asked for her input, he'd never accept the names she'd chosen, that he dared to name her children outraged Cassandra. She wanted to yell, to demand punishment for his overreach.
But, sense said, he has every right. He's the king—your king now.
It didn't mean she had to accept what Agamemnon decided. To her, her sons would always be Hector and Helenus. Maybe their secret names would invoke the outstanding qualities of their uncles, and it would allow them to combat the terrible lessons their father would teach.
Agamemnon returned Helenus to Cassandra and picked up the still-wailing Hector. He bounced his son and murmured low words until the child claimed. Agamemnon kissed Hector's forehead.
"You'll be a troublemaker, won't you, Teledamus?"
Hector gurgled as if to answer.
The King of Mycenae laughed again, then placed Hector in Cassandra's free arm. He looked at her. "We dock tomorrow, and then you'll witness the grandeur of Mycenae."
Cassandra bowed her head. "Yes, my King."
Without another word, Agamemnon left, and Cassandra went on caring for her sons.
Despite her resolve to be unimpressed by anything dealing with Agamemnon and his home, as Cassandra stood on the deck and gazed at the city before her, she had to admit Mycenae looked every bit as grand as Troy had. The outside wall and barricades told of Mycenae's military prowess, but the majestic buildings beyond spoke of the city's prosperity.
Just like in Troy, the palace sat on a hill that rose above the city.
On the massive deck below, a crowd had gathered to welcome home their king.
In the middle of the red carpet that had been rolled out stood a tall woman, Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra. Her golden curls and light skin mimicked her sister's, but, though attractive, she didn't possess the captivating quality Helen had.
The sight of Clytemnestra made Cassandra recall the prophecy she'd had during labor, and she realized who the shadowed figure had been. She pondered the significance of the flames.
They represented something, but what?
What would the Queen of Mycenae want to destroy with her own hand?
Unlike every other person around her, Clytemnestra didn't watch as Agamemnon descended from the ship. Her tawny brown eyes found Cassandra.
The look she threw her husband's newest concubine answered Cassandra's question. Combined with what Hades had told her, Cassandra understood the full meaning of her vision.
The queen's jealousy would end Cassandra's life. And, Cassandra felt safe to assume, it'd end Agamemnon's. But the twins might not have to die if Cassandra didn't want them to.
She didn't, yet it couldn't be as simple as declaring she wanted her sons to live. No, she had to act.
But what could she do?
The glint of a gold relic that had been taken from a Trojan temple caught Cassandra's eye. Confidence wrapped around her like a warm blanket as an idea jumped to mind. With a sureness that must have been given to her by the gods, she knew if she moved quickly and without hesitation, she could save her sons.
Two nights later, Cassandra sat in the set of rooms that had been assigned her sons' nursery. A fireplace burned in the center of the main room, and its faint light didn't reach the corners.
Cassandra had taken a spot near her sons' cradles. Her position allowed her to see every inch of the room while in concealment.
She'd been waiting for a long time but didn't grow discouraged. She knew tonight Clytemnestra would put her plan into motion.
All Cassandra had to do was exercise patience.
Waiting for her death didn't frighten Cassandra like she thought it would. She'd asked for it for so long, it felt overdue. Morbid anticipation drove her to want to pace and fidget, but she controlled herself.
The fire burned low by the time the door to the nursery opened, and Clytemnestra snuck inside. She moved with soft, sure footsteps to the cradles. In her hand, she carried a dagger already stained with blood.
At the first cradle, Clytemnestra ripped back the top blanket. What she saw—or better yet, what she didn't—drew a curse from her. Her reaction almost made Cassandra laugh. The Queen of Mycenae's fury satisfied Cassandra, and she thanked Hades for his meddling through another vision.
The god had facilitated her further than the warning in her vision. When she'd sought someone who she could trust her sons' lives with, Hades had led her to one of Clytemnestra's handmaidens named Sostrate.
Four years prior, Sostrate had been traveling with her family when rogues had ambushed them. They'd killed the young woman's parents and two sisters and had sold her into the service of the Mycenean royals.
Sostrate hated her fate, and always dreamt of freedom, yet couldn't bear the outside world without money. She'd mapped out her escape, and every day tried to work up the courage to flee.
Once Cassandra showed her the pieces of gold and silver she'd stolen the night before, the young woman didn't take much more convincing.
A small reservation had almost kept Cassandra from following through with her plan. She didn't know Sostrate. The handmaiden very well might dump the twins into the ocean and take off with the coins.
How could she be so foolish to place so much trust in a stranger?
Yet Hades was the only god to address her devotions, let alone thank her for them. Of all the gods, the God of the Underworld appeared the most honest.
In what seemed another lifetime, Cassandra had put her faith in a god notorious for his flakiness so she could believe one with a better reputation.
Clytemnestra moved on to the other cradle. She went through the same motions, though when she found the second one empty, she yelled and stabbed the linens.
Cassandra watched the Queen's tantrum for a few heartbeats, then rose from her chair. She moved as if she hunted Clytemnestra and stepped behind the older woman unnoticed.
"How unfortunate."
The Queen of Mycenae yelped and spun around; brandished her dagger.
Cassandra had had the foresight to leave enough space for her to avoid the soiled blade.
"Y-You! Where are they?"
Cassandra smirked. "That would be telling."
Clytemnestra screamed again and stepped toward Cassandra. She jabbed the dagger forward as she moved.
Cassandra didn't block the assault.
The blade sank into Cassandra's swollen abdomen. Pain like what she'd experienced during labor exploded within her.
But she didn't cry out. Nor did she beg for mercy.
Instead, Cassandra giggled in the other woman's face.
"Tramp!" Clytemnestra removed the blade, and plunged the dagger into Cassandra again, closer to Cassandra's ribcage. She bent close to Cassandra. "Still find this amusing?"
Though blood now soaked the front of her peplos, and her limbs felt heavier than slabs of stone, Cassandra kissed the Queen of Mycenae's cheek. "Very."
Clytemnestra slapped her and withdrew the dagger. She shoved Cassandra, and Cassandra fell to the floor like a sack of stones. Clytemnestra kicked her once in the side, then ran from the room.
The fall and kick heightened her overall pain to a level Cassandra had never experienced. Now alone, she allowed herself to cry and moan. Though Cassandra wanted death, she didn't want to suffer until the end.
But one thought comforted her as her blood pooled around her body and dripped out of her mouth: she'd finally saved someone. She'd die a thousand different ways, each more gruesome than the last if it meant her sons got to live.
In her last moments, Cassandra recalled the better times in her life.
In time, her pain lessened, and she didn't know if it meant she was on the edge of death or if her memories had provided a balm to her hurt. Whichever, Cassandra didn't mind.
She sighed and closed her eyes; ready.
A bright light ruptured into existence.
At first, Cassandra believed it was in her mind and a prelude to death. But when it didn't fade, she realized it came from something near her. She opened her eyes and would have gasped if she still could.
A figure Cassandra hadn't seen in ten years crouched beside her. He glowed brighter than she'd ever seen him, but the light didn't agitate. His bottom lip trembled as he cupped her head.
"I-I—Just hold on, okay?"
It took Cassandra's hazy mind a moment to register his words. "No. My thread has been cut," she said, though she didn't know how well he'd understand her in her current state.
"But I could—"
Cassandra lifted her hand and placed it on Apollo's wrist. "Even if you could do something, I wouldn't let you. I'm tired. I want this... I want to rest."
Apollo sobbed. "I let this happen. If I hadn't been such a bastard. If I'd—But I knew you weren't guilty of anything." He ran a hand through her curls much as he'd done in the past. "Why didn't
I listen to you?"
"You were stupid."
The sun god laughed. "An understatement."
Cassandra smiled and moved her hand from Apollo's wrist to his face. She traced his perfect features. "It doesn't matter, though. I forgive you."
He kissed her.
It wasn't like their first kiss, was barely a meeting of their lips, yet it conveyed just as much emotion as their other one.
Cassandra's body shuddered with happiness only Apollo could bring her.
The sun god pulled away. "I love you."
"I love—"
A figure appeared behind Apollo. His massive black wings distracted from his bland features but told Cassandra who stood before her. Though the god of death didn't say a word, and his iris-less green eyes never swiveled toward Cassandra, she knew he'd come for her.
Thanatos confirmed this when he extended his hand.
Cassandra wrapped her fingers around the god of death's smooth ones.
He hauled her up, and a tear happened somewhere inside of her. It didn't cause any further agony, but the sensation had a sense of finality about it.
"No!"
Cassandra glanced down and saw the sun god held her body—her corpse.
She smiled one last time at Apollo. "I love you, too."
Apollo cried harder and tightened his arms around her corpse.
Thanatos tugged on her hand.
Cassandra spared her first and greatest love one last glance before she allowed the god of death to take her away from the scene. She left the world of the living, calm and prepared for what lay ahead in the Underworld.
Thus concludes Cassandra's tale. Almost seven years it took to tell it, but I'm so glad you all stuck it out until the end. It was a rough ride, and I don't deserve you guys.
I'm aware this ending may not be the one anyone imagined, and trust me, I wanted a better outcome for Cassandra. You don't spend that many years with a character and not want the best for them, but that was not the story I was meant to tell about the Princess of Troy.
All's not that terrible for her, though. She makes an appearance in several other stories I have written in this world. While she's not the main character, she's still involved. If you're curious, head over to my website .com to find out more.
Well, thanks again, everyone. You're wonderful.