Cassandra ‖ Expected Visits & Unexpected Horses

There’s a knock on her door.

There hasn’t been one for three years. Cassandra lays her scroll down, and she steps up to her front door. She steels herself, because she knows exactly who is on the other side of the door. He is the reason he is the only one who even dares to visit. Cassandra unlocks the door and pushes it open.

And there he stands, in his divine glory that the bards will forever sing with praise. She stares at him, and he stares at her, before nodding curtly and stepping inside her room.

“Apollo,” Cassandra’s voice is tight with the pent-up anger that pushed against her heart, “What do you want?” Her fingernails dig into her palm. She knows there will be nothing that benefits her, but he is a god, and gods do not take refusals easily.

He tries to smile, but he can’t. Apollo regrets the curse he placed upon her. He had been livid with fury, his head was muddled by thoughts of lust and it just made sense at the time.

“I’m here to offer you a deal.” He knows it is not likely for her to care about it, much less go through with his offer.

Yet she surprises him, nodding her head for him to go on. But then, the Cassandra he knew had always been unpredictable. Not even himself as the god of prophecies could see what was going on in that mind of hers.

“As you probably know, the Argives have left. I need you to prepare yourself for an attack. I want you to tell no one of this. In return I shall ensure your safety.”

“An attack? But they’ve left us nothing but an offering to Lady Athena…” Cassandra trailed off, her eyes widening in realization as the truth dawns upon her. “Oh, hell no.” She grabs her sacrificial dagger, securing it to her belt. Her hand reaches for the door, but Apollo shields her way.

“No. No way are you going to throw away your life like that! I command you not to!” Apollo may have cursed her, and Apollo’s ichor may not rush a bit faster when he sees her, but Cassandra is still a priestess of his. Apollo does not like his priestesses humiliated nor killed by unworthy men.

“What about the thousands of lives out there? All of the innocent people, the young and the poor, the weak and the undefended? Should they suffer for the ignominious acts my transgressive brother and adulterous Helen carried out? They have already lost their sons and fathers during these ominous nine years. They should suffer it no more, and as a sister to Paris, I am responsible for my family.” Cassandra moves to duck under the god’s arms.

He does not stop her. His eyes follow her until she is out of his view. Apollo closes his eyes, and with a small burst of light, he sends himself back to Olympus, where the other gods are waiting for him.

Apollo sits down, and they begin their last Council meeting before the war ends.

~

Cassandra doesn’t care about the way the people look at her when she squeezes through the admirers of the wooden horse just rolled in. They push her back, but with her adrenaline taking over, she manages to make it swiftly through the massive crowd, directly in front of the men sent to guard the horse.

“Where are you going?” She shouts at the escorts amid the cacophony of the crowd. Horns blare loudly to make way for the horse.

“King Priam has ordered the sacrifice to the goddess to be put in front of the palace gates.” Cassandra feels her chest tighten, anxiety crashing down upon her. She yells for them to stop, desperate, but they march on, indifferent to her protests.

As they move on, the shadow of the castle grows ever closer, itself looming over the crowd and dwarfing the wooden horse. Cassandra rushes forward, and throws herself upon the ground in front of all the people. She raises her arms to the heavens above, and she calls upon the god she served, all hope lost.

“O’ Lord Apollo!” Her voice is clear, resounding, ringing through the crowd as she continues, “I beseech you, the god of light, to cleanse the darkness clouding my people’s thoughts. I beseech you, the god of truth, to show my people the lies they believe in. As a faithful priestess of yours, I pray to you, and as a daughter of Troy, I beg of you!”

I’m sorry, Apollo’s voice echoes with a soft sadness, but it is the will of the Olympian Council.

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