Defying Fate

Chapter 13-p3

The sun was setting by the time the meat had all nearly been prepared, and hot portions of mutton were passed around to each and every man. They settled down for the first hot meal they'd had in a long time.

Odysseus poked at his mutton chop idly, considering what lay before them. A mysterious message from a creature before gods, the destroyer himself, who supposedly the gods had captured and cut into a thousand pieces. Odysseus knew the legend, of course. But why would he be contacting Cassandra at all? What was the motive behind his offer of protection? Even if it was to spite the gods, what could he possibly gain from it? And then there was the prediction of a storm, greater than any the world had seen. The gods of the sky and the sea working together against Odysseus and his men. If they sailed into that storm, would they come out again? They were only human.

"Captain, that's going to get cold if you keep staring at it," Eurylochus said, nudging Odysseus' meal with his knife. Odysseus jumped a little, and looked down at the meat.

"I've lost my appetite," he said, pushing it toward Eurylochus. "You have it."

"Are you sure that you're alright?" Eurylochus asked. "You've been awfully quiet."

"You've hardly spoken a word all day," Polites chimed in. "No jokes about Eurylochus' cooking?"
Odysseus did his best to smile, "I have a lot on my mind I guess," he said.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Polites asked softly.

Ody glanced around at the crew, conversing softly among themselves. They had gathered around the bonfire, which was dying down now. The sun had set, and it had become a beautiful, peaceful evening to end a day that had been the same. Odysseus wasn't in a hurry to get going, though in the back of his mind, a little voice reminded him that they'd lost another day. He pushed the though away. The men deserved a rest.

"I'm going to check on Asterion," he said to his friends, patting Polites on the shoulder as he stood up. The pair of them exchanged a glance, but let him leave.

Asterion was eating his half-portion with his fingers. Someone had cut it into tiny, bite-sized pieces which Asterion handled almost daintily, picking them up in his stubby toddler fingers.

Odysseus wondered what would have become of the boy had he not followed the eagle that fateful night. A phantom wound in his side twinged at the memory, and his breath caught in his chest.

"Will you kill me, like Zeus said?" He asked the child softly. "Will you blame me for the death of your father, and the loss of your kingdom? Will you destroy mine, like I destroyed yours?"

Asterion looked at him without comprehension, then smiled a slow, gap-toothed smile and took another bite of his mutton chop. Odysseus smiled back and relaxed, content to watch the boy for a while.