Danae gazed down both ends of the street. The Trojan guards were nowhere to be seen.
‘Psst!’
She snapped her head around to see a cloaked figure emerge from behind a horse trough. The figure beckoned.
Danae hesitated for a heartbeat, then climbed through the window, landing softly on the ground below before slipping into the shadows, eyes darting about for the guards. The cloaked stranger hurriedly gestured her further down the street, then vanished into a narrow alleyway.
This might well be a trap, but mortal cunning was no match for a Titan.
Danae ran after them, then slowed, drawing her power into her fingertips as she stepped into the shadowy alley.
The figure was waiting for her.
Danae’s limbs tensed as she readied herself for an attack, but the stranger simply drew back their hood and stepped into a sliver of moonlight.
It was the priestess of Apollo Danae had seen in the palace megaron.
‘Forgive me, sister of the all-seeing eye.’ The priestess’s eyes gleamed in the cold light. ‘We do not have long until the guards return, and I must speak with you.’
Without her red veil and priestess robes she appeared younger than Danae had first thought. Her tumble of raven curls hung loose about her face, her light-brown skin flushed with the chill of the night.
Danae drew herself up, adopting an air of authority. ‘You distracted them?’
The priestess nodded, her shoulders twitching with nervous energy. ‘I paid a pair of prostitutes to lure them away.’ She spoke as though this was the most scandalous thing she’d ever done.
Danae blinked. ‘What do you want with me, priestess?’
The woman swallowed. ‘My name is Cassandra, I am the daughter of King Priam.’ She drew a breath, then blurted, ‘Helen wishes to return to Menelaus.’
Danae’s heart sank through her chest. ‘How do you know this?’
‘She told me. She cannot bear the thought of so much bloodshed in her name. But my brother, Paris, will never let her go. So tonight, Helen slipped a sleeping draught in his wine. He will not wake in time for the peace talks tomorrow.’
‘Why are you telling me this?’
Cassandra stepped forward, her eyes wide and shining as the moon. ‘You must remind my parents what the oracle at Delphi prophesied all those years ago. Paris will be the ruinof this city. Please, make them remember. They do not listen to me.’ Tears spilled down her cheeks. ‘From one sister to another.’
Danae backed away.
‘Please,’ Cassandra begged, ‘so many will die if you do not help me.’
‘Who goes there!’
Danae spun on her heel. One of the palace guards stood in the street, peering into the alley. He drew his sword.
‘Run,’ Danae hissed at Cassandra. ‘Go!’
Cassandra cast one last pleading look at Danae then threw up her hood and hurried away, to be swallowed by shadow.
Danae turned back to face the guard.
‘It is I, the seer, Dione.’
‘Come out here where I can see you.’
She did as she was bid, and stepped out into the street.
‘Why would a foreign seer be skulking about in the dead of night?’ The guard raised his weapon. ‘Unless she’s a spy.’
