The Infernals by Connolly John

Author:Connolly, John [Connolly, John]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2011-10-17T16:00:00+00:00

• • •

Samuel and Boswell moved on. They saw a great wooden horse burning; around it sat Greek warriors, lost in melancholy. Warily, Samuel approached them, but the warriors did not stir, and when he tried to speak to them they did not answer.

“What do you want, child?” said a voice, and Samuel turned to see a woman emerge from the sand: first the head, then the body, until she stood before him, grains tumbling from her hair, her hands, her gown. As Samuel looked more closely at her he saw that she had not merely risen from the sand: she was sand, different textures and hues combining to give the impression of clothing, and color, and life. Only her eyes were not formed from sand: they blazed a deep, fiery red, and Samuel knew that he was staring at a demon.

“This is … the Trojan horse, isn’t it?” said Samuel.

“It is.”

“And these are the men who used it to gain access to the city.”

“They are. The one who sits apart from the others, the man alone, that is Odysseus.” She spoke his name softly. “The horse was his idea.”

“But why are they here?”

“Because it was an act of deception. It was not honest, not truthful.”

“But it was clever.”

“A lie may be clever, but it is still a lie.”

“But don’t they say that all is fair in love and war? I heard that somewhere.”

“‘They’?” Who are ‘they’?”

“I don’t know. Just people.”

“That’s what the victorious claim, not the defeated; the powerful, not the powerless. ‘All is fair.’ ‘The end justifies the means.’ Is that what you believe?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is there someone that you love? A girl, perhaps?”

“There’s a girl that I like.”

“Would you lie to gain her affection?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“You don’t think so?”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

“And if someone lied to her about you in order to turn her against you, would you feel that was fair?”

“No, of course not.”

“Have you heard it said that sport is war by other means?”

“I haven’t, but I suppose it could be true.”

“Do you cheat when you play games?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s not right. It’s not …”

“Fair?”

“No, it’s not fair.”

“So all is not fair in love, and all is not fair in war.”

“I suppose not.” Samuel was troubled. He looked at the warriors, but none of them seemed to have paid any attention to his conversation with the demon. “It still seems like a harsh punishment,” he said.

“It is,” said the demon, with something like regret in her voice.

“Who decided?” asked Samuel. “Who decided that they should be here?”

“They decided,” said the demon. “They chose. Now go, child. Their melancholy is infectious.”

The grains of sand at her eyes formed a tear that shed itself upon her cheek. The demon sank back into the ground, and Samuel and Boswell turned away from the burning horse and continued their journey.

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