The day dawned clear and sunny, with a soft breeze, and I immediately knew, even before the gong sounded, that they would come ashore soon. Light was my heart in those days, for my fair cousin Andromache had given birth to the heir to the Trojan throne only a few months earlier and I was appointed his keeper.

My name then was Ismena: learned one, and I lived up to it far beyond my parents' expectations. I was the only member of my blood family to do so well in my lessons that, at the age of twelve, I was chosen to enter the temple clergy in the service of Artemis. By the time I reached womanhood at fourteen, I had become a full priestess.

I stood to the left of Andromache, in case the babe should begin to fuss, and smiled at Hektor as he came forward to greet his wife with love shining in his eyes, the likes of which poets should have written about were it not considered socially unfashionable.

I did not stay to see the rest of the homecoming but smiled at Briseis, now a servant of Apollo, and kissed her cheek before escaping to the gardens with the baby. It was time for our morning walk and, since the royals would be engaged in various meetings with the priests and officials until the evening, I did not think it necessary to disrupt the comfortable routine I had established with Astyanax.

If only I had known just how much it would be disrupted in the days to come, perhaps I'd have stayed.

Word soon reached me, on the disappointed voices of gossipy maids, that Prince Paris had brought a bride back from Sparta and they would be married in the afternoon that very day. Inwardly, I groaned. This, naturally, meant there would be a celebration which, in turn, meant I would have to change from my comfortable light chiton into a formal gown.

Though I was, by then, used to the formalities of the royal court; I was the servant of a wild goddess and disliked formal attire almost as much as I disliked the thought of one of our princes being married to a woman of enemy origin. Such a thing could surely not bode well for our defences but, then again, that was something that had clearly never concerned the prince in question.

Astyanax's brow furrowed as though he had detected my displeasure at my thoughts – perhaps he had, only the the gods knew – and I planted a kiss on the end of his little nose, something that never failed to set him to giggling. In my opinion, he was too young to look so serious. "Perhaps one day you will follow in your father's footsteps and be a great warrior prince but for now, thank the gods, your only task is to learn to stack blocks, so do not look so stern. It suits you not" I remarked and he seemed to nod then smiled, as if he did indeed understand what I was telling him.

"Since you have been so good today, little one, perhaps you can help me chose a dress for your uncle's wedding. It wouldn't do for your nurse to show up in little more than a nightgown or even her hunting dress with a bow strapped to her back, yes?"

The baby gurgled in response to my voice and I rolled my eyes at myself. If my duties had consisted of staying with him in the garden all day, then my wardrobe wouldn't have been an issue. I could have walked around in a canvas sack or, worse, clad in naught but my flowing hair and Astyanax wouldn't have cared less. The other residents of the palace, however, were decidedly more easy to offend and appearing for the occasion in anything less than my finest attire would only provoke the gossips further.
They were already critical of my post, more due to my mysterious lineage – I had Egyptian blood on my mother's side – than any personal flaws. Not only that but, upon my arrival in the court, I had largely ignored Paris unless it was unavoidable and made it quite clear that I disliked him.

Hektor, on the other hand, I would have gladly given my life for.

Stopping frequently to point out the usual flowers and foliage to the innately curious child in my arms, I walked back to the palace with the intention of getting the whole afternoon over with as soon as possible so that I could make my usual journey to the temple for the evening blessings and be back well before Phoebe's eye reached its zenith in the night sky.

However, as soon as I opened the door to my chambers, I saw Andromache sitting upon my bed and I knew, even before she looked at me or spoke, that my cousin was furious. Her cheeks were ablaze and her eyes glinted like spear points, her mouth set in a thin white line that expressed her frustration better than any words

"What has he done now?" I asked with a sigh, also knowing who it was that had likely provoked her ire. There were few in the palace who could irritate either of us to the point that the younger prince did and it had occurred to me on several occasions that he was well-aware of that fact and perhaps even enjoyed it. Andromache rose, her hands clenching into fists at her sides, and I raised an eyebrow. It was not like my even-tempered cousin to let the whims of her foolish brother-in-law rouse her to such fury so I reasoned that the infraction had to have been worse than his bringing back a Greek wench to call his bride...

In that, I turned out to be both right and wrong.

"He has stolen the wife of the Spartan king and now expects that after he marries her, in but two hours in the temple of Apollo, everything will come together, the war will be over, and we will all live happily ever after!" she exclaimed and dropped to sit on the edge of my bed again.

I gaped at her for a moment before what she had said fully registered then not even my inbred good manners could prevent the stream of expletives that escaped my lips. But, unlike previous outbursts, Andromache let it pass without so much as a warning look and even seemed to be cursing as well, though none could hear it. She was too polite, this devotee of Hera, and so no word passed through her mouth uncensored. Especially in the palace, where the very walls themselves seemed to have ears, and in front of her infant son.

Which was likely of little consequence as the child had probably learned so many curse words from me thus far that he would be swearing like a sailor once he was able to speak. That thought was both amusing and embarrassing as I held the baby out to her, with the decency to look apologetic despite my anger, then seated myself beside her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I am not sure what to say, except that we both know Paris has a tendency to think with his loins instead of his head. Ask any pretty serving maid in this palace who has reached womanhood. The only reason he has not tried to bed me yet is because I would tear him to pieces. So, with that in mind, I am not entirely surprised though no less angry than you. The King should never have let him accompany his brother to Sparta and I still do not understand why he did when Hektor would have managed perfectly fine on his own"

She snorted and Astyanax giggled at the sound, breaking the tension for a couple of moments with his innocent happiness. We both smiled down at the baby, who already resembled his father, and my cousin sighed "yes, I know that, and so do you..." she agreed.

"For the love of Hades, he probably knows it. But, unfortunately, he has just figured out that he can suck on his toes so we'll have to wait a while before he can tell us so" I nodded at her gurgling son and we both laughed.

"Thank you, Ismena, I am glad I came to you first instead of marching downstairs and tearing into him"

I grinned "as long as you gave me fair warning, I would have joined you. We could have just told Priam that it was the will of the the great golden one and he'd have praised us for being so pious. The servants would have been cross though. It takes a lot of scrubbing to get blood out of white tile"

My cousin was giggling because she, and everyone else within earshot, knew of Priam's utter devotion to Apollo and that all one had to do to convince him of anything was to attribute it to the sun-god.

"Now that I know that you share my sentiments about this newest foolery, dare I ask what you will be wearing to the wedding?"

I pursed my lips thoughtfully for a moment then grinned at her "oh, I thought I would go nude. It would be a refreshing change from the usual finery" I replied and patted her on the back when she nearly choked.

"You know" I continued blithely "a little perfume here and there and perhaps a nice necklace to bring out my eyes. If I am in a good mood, I might even brush my hair..." . Beside me, Andromache was laughing herself nearly to tears, likely imagining the horror on the faces of her in-laws and the priests, and her child giggled along with her.

"Oh gods" she gasped and wiped her face "stop, or you are going to kill me"

"I wouldn't dare" I quipped and rose to contemplate the gowns that were laid out on the clothing rack on the other side of my room "I'd have to suffer through it without you then. As it is, I hope the king has wine enough to satiate us at dinner. A glass or two, or three, and I might even dance with the groom"

My words were said in jest, of course. I'd have to be as drunk as a soldier on his first night of leave before I would dance with Paris. At the time, the odds of that happening were about the same as, say, those of hearing from the gods that the underworld had frozen over. Or of Priam donning the ornaments of a woman and belly dancing for the court. Or...

Well, you get the idea.

When Andromache had finally composed herself, I picked up the plainest dress I could find and threw it on the bed next to her "that...and the necklace and earrings you gave me for my birthday last year. I do not relish the thought of spending the rest of this fair afternoon listening to the king's high priest drone on about her beauty or how the gods have blessed us by bringing her here. However, I will not provide the gossips with more cause to question my loyalty to the crown, nor would I disappoint you and Hektor, by being absent" I sighed.

She beamed at me as she got to her feet with Astyanax safely tucked against her breast then leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek "I know and, believe me, we both appreciate the fact that you didn't run off to the temple as soon as word of Paris' folly reached your ears"

A squeal from the general area of her chest made her smile "and my son appreciates it too" she added. I smiled and poked the baby's nose which set him to giggling again then looked at her "you had best go and ready yourself or we will be attending the wedding exactly as we are. I will meet you at your door in an hour" I returned the kiss to her cheek before she hurried out of the room.

As I closed the door behind her, a chill went down my spine and I turned to face my balcony doorway. The sun was shining, there was not a cloud in sight, and birds were chirping merrily as they chased each other across the azure sky. I crossed the room on silent feet and leaned against the doorway, glaring out at the sea and the threat I knew was lurking just a day or two over the horizon.

They would come for her. That much was certain.

All we could do now was wait...and prepare for war. Families would be torn apart, people would die, pyres would be lit, and, if what Cassandra had said was indeed true, our city would fall.

Turning back, I regarded my chosen attire with no little disgust.

Before that, however, there was an ill-fated wedding to attend.