Cassandra ‖ Final Farewell

The litter is unsteady as it goes, and up and down it trembles. Cassandra supposes when one’s life is on the verge of death, their senses become sharper, they take each bitter, each sour, each salty, and each sweet experience in deeply.

Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra, rushes forward upon seeing her husband. She does not acknowledge Cassandra’s presence publicly. The woman only sends a harsh glare her way. Behind the veil of anger, Cassandra senses the feelings of anxiety, betrayal, and a deep mourning for a loved one.

“My king,” The queen clasps her husband’s ankles the same way Cassandra did for Athena at the goddess’s temple, “It brings me such joy that I see you well and alive after so many lonely years.” Agamemnon smiles foolishly at her, drunk on success, or so what he believed it be.

“Yes, my dear, I’ve missed you, too. Do not kneel on the ground; it will not do for a high queen. Stand up, for I am only your husband. There’s no need for such formalities.” He takes her hand and pulls his wife up. “These ten years of war have caught up to me. It would be nice though, if I took a bath first, before we throw a feast in celebration of our reunion.”

“I agree with you, dear husband.” Clytemnestra turns her delicate neck towards the servant behind her, “Would you be so kind as to draw a bath, dear child? I’ll be there shortly to wash off my husband.” The serving girl runs off, and the crowd that had gathered to welcome their monarch began to disperse.

As Cassandra climbs off the litter, there is a man standing off to the side, unmoving, despite the retreating crowds. There is a tiny voice whispering in the back of her mind, even though she has never met the man before. Aegisthus.

~

It is only a few moments before the celebratory feast starts. Cassandra wanders through the grounds of Argo’s palace, searching for the rest of the people, of whom she assumes, are already gathered. It isn’t long before she stumbles into another person. The queen herself, Clytemnestra.

“My queen,” Cassandra bows her head.

“Cassandra, daughter of Priam. I suppose you are searching for the feast?”

Cassandra nods. The queen only gestures for Cassandra to follow her. She does.

~

Cassandra is led into a room, far and deep into the palace. With every pace of her footstep, her heart beats louder than the sound of the drums, but she goes along with the queen. Cassandra keeps her mouth shut and her face stoic. The heavy metal doors are shut, and Clytemnestra starts talking.

“Aren’t you surprised that I brought you here instead of to the feast?” Her eyebrows are raised, and Cassandra notices the queen’s finger inching towards her belt. There is a hilt of a blade, hidden from view. But now they are alone, and there is no need to hide it.

“You have already killed your husband. You want to kill me now. But why?” The words tumble out of Cassandra’s mouth, straight and blunt. “You killed your husband because he sacrificed your daughter to the altar. However, I hold no personal grudge with you. Why?”

Clytemnestra lets out an impatient huff. “Don’t you know why my husband brought you here for? I thought you, the priestess, of all people would know.” The queen pulled out her knife, the metal stained with flecks of reddish-brown, “You’re here as his concubine, my dear girl,” Sickly sweet venom dripped from her words, hatred and despair mixed into it, “That wouldn’t do for the roof of this house, nor for our people of Argos, knowing that their king had the idea of such. For this I must get rid of you.”

“I… ” Cassandra is speechless. She had suspected that she was not here to be a prophet; this was Argos, there were probably some already. But a concubine? She did not think of Agamemnon to be so vulgar, at least he did not seem like that kind of person when he had approached her on the boat.

“Yes? You want some last words, girl?”

“I am truly sorry, my queen. I did not know, and had not intended to harm you nor your family. I want to tell you my tale, Clytemnestra, of my curse.”

~

My parents had loved me deeply ever since I was born. They had told me that I was their most beautiful daughter, and they sent me off to Apollo’s temple, to train in order to become his priestess someday when I was older. The temple was where I grew up. I was the luckiest woman in the world.

I was, until the day Apollo decided to drop down over to pay my temple a visit. The god liked me. The thing was, he liked me too much. I didn’t know it at first, and I thought he only gave me the gift of prophecy because he was fond of Troy, our city herself.

It had turned out I was the one he was courting. Once he bestowed the power upon me, he had offered me a night with him. I denied him, because I wanted to keep on living my own life for at least several more years, before I bore children, and also because his love affairs rarely ended well.

He did not take it so well. The next thing I knew just after I told him no, there was a flash of golden light that struck me just above my heart. Thus, my awful curse began. Whenever I tried to tell someone of my prophetic omens, they never believed me. They thought I was suffering from dementia, they thought I had disillusionments, they believed I had memory loss of some kind, and perhaps my mind had been displaced out of reality. My parents, my friends, and my people, they all called me crazy.

When your men came inside the horse, I tried to warn them. Yet the curse of Apollo was still bound to me. All I could do was sit by the sidelines and let the gods do what they must to my homeland. The rest you know.

~

“I…” Clytemnestra looks lost in her thoughts, before letting go of her knife and letting it drop to the ground with a clang. “I can let you go, Cassandra. Under two conditions: one, go and find my daughter, Iphigenia, and never come back. I have heard rumors that she isn’t dead yet, and she serves as a priestess to Artemis. Tell her that her mother still loves her. Two, never let a male, either man or god, try to take advantage of you. Be strong. Sometimes, a little rebellion is in need.” She winks at Cassandra.

Cassandra gapes in wonder. “You’re going to let me go? Just like that?”

“I have suffered from men also, and I do not want to harm those who have suffered like me.” She opens a secret exit that led just outside the palace. “Go on, and live your life to its fullest. Don’t let anyone stop you.”

Cassandra steps out the door, out of her old life and into her new one.

~

By the time Cassandra had found Iphigenia, she was already with her brother. She did not talk much with Cassandra, but Cassandra didn’t mind. It was Iphigenia’s life after all, and Iphigenia could choose what to do and what not to.

Now Cassandra is already 99 years old, only less than a day from her 100th birthday. She lies on her bed at home, and surprisingly, Apollo is here next to her.

“It’s not long before Thanatos comes, Apollo. Shouldn’t you stay away from his line of work?” Cassandra does not hate him, not anymore. He is only a remnant from her younger days.

Apollo only chuckles lightly. “After all these years of not seeing me and now you want me to go away?”

“I suppose I can’t, can’t I?” She teases back at him, “You are a god, and gods do not take refusals easily.” Her eyelids now feel heavy. Eventually she will find herself by the banks of Styx.

“I guess we do not.” The deity laughs, his voice a chorus of music and light.

She had lived her life fully in the end. After Iphigenia, she had traveled up the highest peaks and down into the lowest valleys. She had sailed among pirates, and visited the four corners of the known world. She had spent the last couple of years mingling in this little village that she found in the middle of nowhere.

The door of her house creaked, and in stepped a winged man, his feathers raven black. He glanced from Apollo to Cassandra, who gave him a weak smile. His voice was deep, yet somehow soothing for a god of death.

“I’m afraid, Lord Apollo, it’s time.”

The god whom Cassandra once served nodded before vanishing into a ray of warm golden light.

“Are you ready for this life to end?”

Cassandra only cocked her head questioningly to her right, laughing quietly. It wasn’t the end of her life. It was the beginning of the freedom of her soul.

“Yes.”

#

A/N:

This is the final part of Cassandra, and I hope that you enjoyed it! School is coming up for me next Monday, so I probably won't update as much (probably, like, one story every week or two), plus, I don't have any ideas for new stories at the moment. So if there's anyone out there reading this, and wants to read about something, I would really appreciate it if you comment. (or if it is set up by the time you read this, on the requesting page)

Edit 2020/09/01:

I've already set up the requesting page, so it won't be long (probably about a week or so) before I open requests!!

Plus, there's a (kinda?) reference in this story from a Captain Italy interview, from almost a decade ago. Can you find it? Comment down below if you did!

Cindy out~