Troy, Lord Of The Silver Bow by David Gemmell

Author:David Gemmell
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2010-11-25T19:26:21.908000+00:00

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‘No.’

‘Let us return to Agamemnon,’ continued Priam, as Helikaon resumed his seat. ‘Have you met him?’

‘No.’

‘Nor I, though I knew his father, Atreus. He was a fighting man - but then he had to be. The western peoples were constantly warring with each other in those days. But Agamemnon... ? He is a mystery.

Most of his father’s loyal men have been either replaced or killed. Those around him now are savages -

like Kolanos. Did you know Agamemnon has reintroduced human sacrifice before battles?’

‘No, I had not heard that. It is hardly surprising. The Mykene are a blood-hungry race.’

‘Indeed so, Aeneas. Yet they have, since the time of Atreus and his father, maintained the heroic code laid down by Herakles. Glory and service to the gods. Courage and love of homeland. Strength without cruelty. All that is changing under Agamemnon. His generals are now brutal men, who encourage excesses among their soldiers. My spies tell me stories of horror from the lands they have plundered.

Women and babes butchered, men tortured and maimed.’

‘So why is Agamemnon mysterious?’ asked Helikaon. ‘Surely he is just another savage from a race of savages.’

‘He is not so easy to analyse, Aeneas. His generals are bloodthirsty, and yet he takes no part in their excesses. At feasts he does not down wine, and laugh and sing. He sits quietly, watching others do these things. My ambassadors tell me he has a sharp mind, and he talks well about alliances with Troy, and the need for peaceful trade. Yet he also equips the pirate fleets which raid our coastlines. Now he seeks alliances with the kings of the east. His ambassadors have been offering gifts of gold in Maeonia, Karia, Lykia - even up as far as Phrygia. Kings require alliances with neighbours, to prevent unnecessary warfare. An alliance with Troy is understandable. We are the greatest trading city upon the Great Green.

But Lykia and Phrygia? What point is there in such gift-giving? What does he hope to gain?’

Helikaon shrugged. ‘With the Mykene it is always war, or plunder.’

‘That is in my mind also,’ said Priam. ‘And there is the mystery. My spies tell me Agamemnon has fierce intelligence, and yet a war in the east would be foolhardy and doomed. The Hittites may not be the power they were, but their armies would dwarf those of the Mykene. The Gypptos too could be drawn in. Also, if Agamemnon attacked our allies then the Trojan Horse would be despatched - and there is not a force alive to match my Hektor.’

‘All this is true. And still you are worried,’ Helikaon pointed out.

‘The shepherd is always concerned when the wolves are out,’ quoted Priam. ‘However, there is the added concern that Agamemnon has ordered the building of great numbers of ships. The question is, how will he use them? And where will he take them?’ Priam rose from his seat and walked into the bedroom, returning with a length of cured hide, on which was etched a map of the Great Green.

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