And then it was done, and Laurent was rising, and the Veretians were departing, a blue stream of banners riding out in a long, receding procession across the field.
* * *
And the Akielons were filing out too, the officers and the generals, the dismissed slaves, until he was alone with Nikandros, whose eyes were on him, furious, and with all the flat knowledge of an old friend.
‘You gave him Delpha,’ said Nikandros.
‘It wasn’t—’
‘A bedding gift?’ said Nikandros.
‘You go too far.’
‘Do I? I remember Ianestra. And Ianora,’ said Nikandros. ‘And Eunides’s daughter. And Kyra the girl from the village—’
‘That’s enough. I won’t talk about this.’ He had turned his eyes away, fixing on the goblet in front of him, which, after a moment, he lifted. He took his first mouthful of wine. It was a mistake.
‘You don’t need to talk, I have seen him,’ said Nikandros.
‘I don’t care what you’ve seen. It’s not what you think.’
‘I think he is beautiful and unobtainable, when your whole life, you’ve never had a refusal,’ said Nikandros. ‘You have committed Akielos to an alliance because the Prince of Vere has blue eyes and blond hair.’ And then, in a terrible voice, ‘How many times does Akielos have to suffer because you can’t keep your—’
‘I said that’s enough, Nikandros.’
Damen was angry, he wanted to smash the glass beneath his fingers. To let the pain of the glass cut into him.
‘Do you think—for a moment that I’d . . . Nothing,’ he said, ‘is more important to me than Akielos.’
‘He is the Prince of Vere! He doesn’t care about Akielos! Are you saying you aren’t swayed by the thought of having him? Open your eyes, Damianos!’
Damen pushed himself up from the throne and moved to the wide open mouth of the pavilion. He had an unimpeded view across the fields to the Veretian camp. Laurent and his retinue had disappeared inside of it, though the elegant encampment of Veretian tents still faced him, with every silk pennant waving.
‘You want him. It’s natural. He looks like one of the statues Nereus has in his garden, and he’s a prince of your own rank. He dislikes you, but dislike can have its own appeal,’ said Nikandros. ‘So bed him. Satisfy your curiosity. Then, when you have seen that mounting one blond is much like mounting another, move on.’
The silence went on a moment too long.
He felt Nikandros’s reaction behind him. He kept his eyes on the goblet. He had no intention of putting any of it in words. I told him I was a slave, and he pretended to believe me. I kissed him on the battlements. He had his servants bring me to his bed. It was our last night together, and he gave himself to me. He knew all the while it happened that I was the man who killed his brother.
When he turned, Nikandros’s expression was awful.
‘So it really was a bedding gift.’
‘Yes I lay with him,’ said Damen. ‘It was one night. He barely relaxed the whole time. I will admit I—wanted him. But he is the Prince of Vere and I am the King of Akielos. This is a political alliance. He approaches it without emotion. So do I.’
Nikandros said, ‘Do you think it relieves my mind to hear that he is beautiful and clever and cold?’
He felt all the breath leave him. Since Nikandros had arrived, they had not talked about the summer night in Ios when Nikandros had given him a different warning.
‘It’s not the same.’
‘Laurent is not Jokaste?’
He said, ‘I am not the man who trusted her.’
‘Then you’re not Damianos.’
‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘Damianos died in Akielos when he would not heed your warnings.’