Warriors in Bronze by George Shipway Read Free Book Online Page B

he held out skinny claws - 'I hold your life.'
    Echion stirred and groaned. Dionysus' hooded eyes rested on him briefly. 'I regret to say that one of you has to be sacrificed. The choice, Agamemnon, is yours.'
    'Sacrificed?'
    'Yes. To the Goat God who rules the forests and mountains. The people lately' - a touch of smugness - 'begin to call him Dionysus. You see, they have just migrated to the foothills from summer pastures in the mountains, where game is scarce. They have not tasted meat for moons - and your dog was a paltry snack.'
    I glared at him in horror. 'You will not....'
    'Indeed. One will suffice for today; my band, as you see, is small. Which shall it be, Agamemnon? You must decide: your man is still unconscious. Think it over and let me know.'
    With a word to the loin-clothed spearman Dionysus hobbled away. I stared across the glade, my mind in turmoil. The sun slipped behind the mountains' cloud-draped peaks, the cor­ridors of trees were growing dark. Raindrops pattered a carpet of leaves that autumn wove on the ground. The Goatmen built fires, and balanced spits across them on forked sticks. Occa­sionally they looked my way, gestured obscenely and laughed. I closed my eyes and held an aching head. Was I to take seriously the abominable decision tossed so casually into my hands ?
    In desperation I addressed the spearman. 'Is it true? Will they ...' I touched my chest, raised hand to lips and pretended to chew.
    'It is true.' A guttural intonation, the pronunciation strange, but I caught the sense. 'These people live like animals, roving in packs and always hungry. Don't be afraid - they will cut your throat before . . .' Grinning, he repeated my little mime.
    I rested my head on the oak tree and contemplated a darken­ing sky. I was deathly afraid - who would not be?
    If I survived the night I would probably die next day - but dawn might bring salvation. The second herdsman had cer­tainly reported my disappearance to Diores, who would hunt the hills with spears. Echion was resolute and loyal, but for all that a lowborn freeman - thousands like him served Mycenae. And I? A direct descendant of Zeus through Tantalos and Pelops I was heir - so Atreus said - to Perseus' throne. Sprung from a line of rulers, born to rule.
    A common spearman or a future king. Could there be any choice ?
    Dionysus tottered from the trees. 'Have you cast the lots, Agamemnon?'
    I turned my head away, and gestured blindly to the form that lay beside me. The old man cackled. 'Congratulations, lad - a wise decision.' He called across his shoulder; Goatmen came running and hauled Echion away. The lolling head bounced on fallen leaves. I do not think he knew what was happening.
    They dragged him into a cypress grove beyond my sight. All the skin-clad creatures followed; the glade was suddenly empty save for dogs and goats and fires flickering redly in the dark. I heard the mumble of voices, and a kind of rhythmic chanting. Dionysus sat cross-legged beside me, and prodded his stave in soft brown earth. The mysterious spearman who spoke my tongue so badly rested on his weapon and hummed quietly to himself.
    Dionysus pointed a bony finger. 'You call them Goatmen. I call them the Dispossessed.'
    The chanting swelled in volume, male and female voices blended in strident discord. A dog nuzzled the spearman's foot; he kicked it away.
    I said dully, 'The Dispossessed?'
    'The people who held the land before it was named Achaea, who lived here peaceful and prosperous before Zeus brought his warriors from Crete.'
    The singing rose to a shriek which shivered the drifting woodsmoke. Goatmen burst from the cypresses. I saw the things they carried, and closed my teeth on the vomit that surged in my throat. 'Which,' Dionysus continued in conversational tones, 'happened a long time ago. Zeus came with chariots and men in armoured panoply, and found unwarlike people who were easily subdued. Some submitted: their descendants today are slaves. Others fought to