Four
soldiers of the invading Greek army attacked a lone Trojan farmhouse
that was far away from the City of Troy, which was the main
battleground of the war. The war was in its fifth year.
Of
the four soldiers, one was a woman, named Horsin. She was uniformed
as a male. For this mission, she was allowed to lead the attack,
because she had been the undercover agent who had infiltrated Trojan
communities and, hence, knew which Trojan civilians to arrest or
kill. It was by her report that that Trojan family was to be
captured, tortured for information, and then killed in their own
home. The house would then be burned down, with the corpses inside.
This
would not be the first attempt of its kind to intimidate into
subjugation Trojan civilians; nor would it be the last attempt.
Nonetheless,
there would be some facts about this attempt that would happen for
the first time, and, the Greeks would hope, never happen again.
That
treatment of Trojan civilians by the invading Greeks, was common
practice since the war erupted five years ago.
A
few times, Horsin had been an invited friend of the Trojan family who
had lived in that house.
Her
superior officer, Captain Klaitus, let her lead the attack. If the
mission were a success, Horsin would be promoted to Captain; the
first woman Captain in the history of Greece. Horsin promised herself
she would dress as a woman when she attended that ritual of her
military promotion.
She
ordered one soldier to cover the back door. She was puzzled a little
to find the front door of the home ajar. She remembered advising that
Trojan family to keep all doors and windows closed in these dangerous
times of war.
When
they were inside the house, she ordered a soldier to search the back
room.
The
two soldiers returned to the front room. They reported they had found
no signs people had been there recently. Another mystery was that the
back door, too, was ajar.
Horsin
was so perplexed, she blurted out unwisely, though mainly to herself,
"They said they would wait for me!"
Captain
Klaitus, looking sternly at Horsin, spoke his disappointment,
"General Diomedes ordered me to bring at least one Trojan women
back to him for interrogation."
Horsin,
"I know that, Captain. It was I who informed the General of
their whereabouts."
"And
whereabouts is that, soldier Horsin? Not here where you assured the
General they would be."
Horsin
saw two jewel necklaces hanging on the backrest of a chair at the
table. She went to the chair and took the necklaces in her hand.
Again unwisely, though, again, mainly to herself, she blurted out,
"They knew."
Klaitus,
with a menacing grimness, "Knew what, Horsin?"
That
we were coming, sir.
"Of
course, they knew. You yourself told General Diomedes you promised
the family you would return."
"Sir,
I promised them I would return in order to guarantee they would be
here when we got here. As an added precaution I gave to each of the
two daughters one of these."
She
held out the two necklaces to Captain Klaitus. He looked at them, but
he did not take them.
"Cheap
jewelry?"
"Perhaps
cheap, sir, but magnetic Like this one." She took a third
necklace from one of her pockets, and showed it to him. These
cheap items of jewelry, sir, are drawn to one another. With mine, I
could track them wherever they were."
"They
knew this?"
"Yes.
I told them. They were happy. We played hide-and-seek to demonstrate
the magnetism."
"And
here these are; but they are not."
Horsin,
desperately, "Sir, they spoke of fleeing to a mountain cave."
One
of the other two soldiers spoke, "Captain Klaitus, sir.
Permission to speak, sir."
Speak,
soldier.
Soldier,
indicating the necklaces, "Sir, those items look like jewelry
all camps were ordered to watch for. Three items like these were
cowardly stolen from the tents of our Captain Achilles, by Trojan
soldiers, sir.
Klaitus,
to Horsin, "Are those the Greek items?"
Horsin,
truthfully, perhaps, "I do not know, sir."
Klaitus,
"Give them to me. I'll give them to the General."
She
handed him the necklaces. He saw a ring on her finger.
Klaitus,
"Has General Diomedes seen that ring?"
"He
must have, Captain. It's not hidden."
Klaitus,
"A woman favourite of General Diomedes is missing. He said she
wore a Trojan ring. Description fits that one you are wearing."
Horsin,
"I don't know anything about the General's other women, sir. You
know I am the Generals wife."
You
told the General, your surveillance of these Trojans brought about
close friendliness with them.
Yes,
sir. Many times they had invited me to dine with them here.
Close
enough to have good knowledge where they might have gone from here?
Sir,
they expressed keen interest in Princess Cassandra's plan---
Insane
Princess Cassandra?
The
insanity could be a pretence, sir.
Pretence?
She runs onto a battlefield stark naked, screaming God Apollo's after
her. Armed soldiers run away from her. Her Father, King of Troy,
declared her mad. What evidence is there it is all an act, soldier?
Her
Parthian Movement, sir.
I
have heard of that rumor. Others, too, I know who have heard. I have
yet to find someone who knows more than just having heard,
soldier. Allegedly, you've been our spy for years. You have a name,
besides the mad Princess, of anyone involved in that alleged Parthian
Movement? Soldier?
No,
sir. But now that I am working in the Palace---.
Soldier,
Horsin, I am arresting you for failure of this mission. He
drew his sword.
Sir,
I am a loyal Greek soldier. I am the wife of General Diomedes. On
orders from General Diomedes I infiltrated Troy so well, I have been
accepted to be employed as a servant in the Royal Palace in Troy.
Klaitus,
"You say. You say, as well, you're friends, close friends with
Trojans, who, you say, knew we were coming to arrest them." He
pointed his sword at her. "Why not you are a Trojan spy
pretending you are Greek pretending to be Trojan? Why not this was a
trap? Your Trojan allies got cold feet? Why not?" He called out
to the two soldiers. "Restrain her."
Horsin,
"Please, Captain, I will come with you, disarmed, but
unrestrained, sir.
Klaitus,
"Restraining is procedure. Turn around."
Horsin
stepped back, and drew her sword. "I will not be restrained! I
am a loyal Greek soldier! I am the wife of Greek General Diomedes who
sent us on this mission. I was among the first wave of soldiers who
landed on these shores from Greece, five years ago. I will submit to
being arrested, Captain Klaitus, but I will not submit to being
restrained. Sir!
Klaitus,
to the two soldiers, "Stand ready."
The
soldiers, drew their swords, and held them ready, pointing at Horsin,
"Yes, sir."
Klaitus
attacked Horsin. They fought. Horsin drove her sword into Klaitus,
and pulled it out. Klaitus, seriously wounded, staggered back. The
soldiers attacked Horsin. Both of them drove their swords into her. She
slowly sank to the floor, and died.
Klaitus,
in a chair at the table, ordered the soldiers, "Bring her head,
and the ring." He walked slowly and awkwardly, out of the house.
He used his sword as a walking-stick.
The
two soldiers knelt beside Horsin's corpse, with their knives drawn.
Soldier,
"So, now Greek soldiers are killing Greek soldiers?"
They
removed Horsins ring by cutting off her finger. One of them cleared
her throat area in order to remove her head.
The
soldier who was about to begin severing the head, paused when he saw
a necklace around Horsin's neck. He pulled on the chain, and took up
the horse-charm. He looked at it. He let the other soldier see it.
"Our
orders were to be on the lookout for three of these. Did she not show
the Captain three?"
"She
did."
"And
she has a fourth?"
"Klaitus
is right. She was up to no good."
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