Cassandra ‖ The Burning of the Impenetrable City

Oh, how the tongues of red licked up the skies of gray.

The city of Troy was burning. Cassandra was right. The horse was all a strategic plan set up as an ambush, the Argives were hidden inside the hollow wooden structure, and all hell had broke loose in the middle of the dark. She couldn’t sleep last night, and how fortunate she was. It was all so sudden, being woke up by loud clanging metals and bright orange lights that lit up her city.

The first thing Cassandra did was to rush towards the temple of Athena, and now she prays to the goddess, clasping her feet, begging for help. She kneels by the statue, helpless. She thinks back to what Athena’s half-brother had offered the morning before, but it was all too late. Cassandra can already hear the heavy thump of footsteps approaching. She curls her body closer to the goddess. Surely even their enemies wouldn’t dare disobey the rules of the gods?

But they do, and Cassandra feels two palms press against her waist. They try to drag her off the statue, yet she holds on, her arms burning, and she kicks her legs, hopefully shaking off the man.

Cassandra kicks and screams and shouts and yells. She attempts to turn her head slightly to identify her attacker, and it is the action that makes her lose the grasp of the marble statue. No one can save her now.

“No one can save you now, little lady,” It is Ajax the Lesser who speaks, as he pins her flailing arms on the ground. The stench that comes out of his mouth is awful. Flashes of the future now come to her. A ship sailing towards the east. A vengeful mother who bore so much hatred. A son sent off in secret. The Furies chasing down a young man under the protection of Apollo and Athena.

Of course, Apollo also shows her how she is destined to die.

And just like that, she is sent back into reality, pinned down by Ajax the Lesser, who now holds a blunt rock in his hands. It comes down faster than expected.

“Goodnight,” he says.

It is the last thing she hears before she falls back into unconsciousness.

~

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.

Her own voice that once echoed through the streets of Troy now echoes through her head. Cassandra hears the shouts of men and smells the salty scent of the sea before she opens her eyes. She is headed to her death, to her doom, and she cannot stop it. She blinks wearily, and finds herself face to face with Agamemnon, the commander of the Danaī.

“Ah, so you’re finally awake.” The man greets her with a forced smile on his face. It isn’t because of her presence that he is uncomfortable, no. It is the acts that he and his comrades have committed. He knows that the gods will have their wrath, and Cassandra can feel the fear seeping from his slightly hunched posture. Cassandra doesn’t greet him. In return, she stares back at him.

Awkward silence fills the gap between them when she doesn’t answer.

“So, you don’t speak much then,” he concludes. “Cassandra, daughter of Priam, am I right? I’ve heard much about you, you and Lord Apollo.” Agamemnon tilted his head. “Well, you are now on my ship, thanks to Ajax, and now, we are sailing home.”

“Home?”

“My home, Argos. You have a beautiful voice,” he adds, “You should speak more often. Perhaps, you can become our city’s newest oracle?”

Another beat of silence and a glare from Cassandra answers him.

“Well, it was interesting to meet you, Cassandra. I must see to my men. We are now about to dock, in fact.” Agamemnon points to a new land in sight, with elegant buildings and people milling around. “I’m sure that my wife and children would be ecstatic to see you, don’t you think?”

~

Cassandra sits on top of the ship’s head, gazing down onto the milky waves of the water that crash upon their boat. And then, past the waves and the clear blue of the sea itself, comes the lands that await her.

“Hey, good luck.” Apollo’s voice comes back to her. Cassandra turns her head, but there is no one behind her. The god chuckles. “I’m not actually here in person.”

Cassandra hates him even more now. It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t want to get involved with the god’s love life; she had heard lots of stories, and getting turned into a plant or getting killed was definitely not on her to-do list. She had just turned down the god’s offer to become his lover, and he cursed her forever. Now here he was, chuckling, wishing her good luck of all things, when he had gotten her whole city destroyed, and left her captured by enemies whose side he was not on? She despises him with all her heart.

However, there is no way for a cursed mortal like her to fight a god and come out victorious. Not under the circumstances she was in.

“I guess it is goodbye, then,” Cassandra sighs, and leaves her last farewell to the deity whom she had served since she was a young girl. Climbing back onto the boat, she turns her head back to glance one more time at the sparkling waters, takes a deep breath and steps onto the lands she will make her last stand.

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