Her hands trembled. ‘Most of those men will probably dietomorrow and they have no idea what waits for them. I have no idea! We should tell them the truth about the afterlife.’
‘Don’t lose your nerve,’ said Atalanta. ‘Like you said, we’re all in this together.’
The energy thrumming through Danae’s limbs quietened at the deep calm swirling in the warrior’s eyes.
She rubbed the back of her neck and looked to Hylas. ‘Odysseus knows what he’s doing?’
Hylas nodded. ‘I have never known his sources to be wrong when it comes to the gods. Like you said, the fight will be hard. But think how much easier it will be to pick off the false gods unsuspecting on a battlefield than when mounting an assault on Olympus.’
‘He’s right,’ said Telamon. ‘And we’re with you, don’t forget that.’
Danae’s chest swelled with feeling as she took in their faces. ‘I can’t lose you.’ She glanced at Hylas. ‘Not again.’
‘You won’t,’ said Atalanta. ‘We’ve already taken down two false gods. The rest won’t see us coming.’
Telamon laid an arm across the warrior’s shoulders. ‘Like stealing honey from a babe.’
Odysseus drew back the tent flap. ‘Everything all right?’
‘Yes.’ Danae met his gaze, her shoulders squared.
‘The men responded well to you in there.’ He almost looked impressed. ‘Be ready to move out at first light. And remember, it is imperative you do not reveal yourself until the battle with Troy is underway. Once the Olympians are lured down to the Trojan Plain my men will loose their arrows on the false gods. That will be your signal. Now, I must brief the rest of my army.’
As Odysseus paced away, Hylas touched Danae’s arm. ‘I’ve got something to show you. Come with me.’
Danae and Hylas headed deep into the depths of the Ithacan tents, soldiers hurrying about them, readying themselves for war.
‘What makes you so sure you can trust him?’
‘Odysseus?’ Hylas glanced at her. ‘He’s more than proved his dedication to the Children of Prometheus. Don’t you think?’
‘It’s just … in Troy he killed that guard as though he were nothing.’
Hylas scoffed. ‘How many people have you slain?’
‘Not since …’ she paused, thinking of Persephone. ‘I have not killed anyone who didn’t deserve it since the Underworld. It feels different, now I know the three realms of the dead are a lie.’
Hylas slowed. ‘Many will die before you reach Olympus. Good, honest people will lose their lives. This is what freedom for all mortals costs. Odysseus knows this. He is prepared to shoulder that burden.’
She looked at him, the man who aboard theArgohad been her closest friend. She remembered how fiercely he had defended Heracles when they sailed together, and wondered how he could give his faith so wholeheartedly to another after all the betrayal he’d suffered. Perhaps he was a fool, or perhaps he was the bravest man she knew.
‘You haven’t changed.’
Hylas glanced down at his wooden leg.
‘You’re still the Hylas I remember,’ she said softly.
‘I’m just playing the petteia board the fates have given me. As you are.’
Danae shook her head. ‘I don’t play as well as you.’
‘You’re still here, aren’t you?’ When she didn’t reply he said, ‘Come on, I think you’ll like what I have to show you.’
They carried on walking past a row of tethered horsestossing their manes and flicking their tails. Beside the mounts, a group of soldiers were washing and oiling their limbs ready for battle, while another cluster polished the bronze of their shields until they gleamed.
Danae and Hylas finally emerged onto a small clearing, scattered with makeshift pens for goats and chickens, surrounding a roughly assembled hut. Walls had been erected with planks of wood and sail tarp, and only half the roof was sheltered, the remainder open to the sky, belching plumes of black smoke into the air.
Hylas rapped on the doorframe.
