Chapter 34: A Banquet, 1203 BCE

[Sparta, 1203 BCE]

A couple of years have passed since I brought Helen back to her brothers’ arms, and now, the King of Sparta had invited me to a banquet. The king didn’t tell me what the banquet was for specifically, but from what I heard from the cat, it was concerning Helen’s marriage.

And so, I travelled to Sparta with a carriage, along with Thena and Druig for some reason.

“Remind me why did you come with us again?” I questioned the Edgy Eternal.

“Ajak told me to go.” shrugged Druig. “She’s probably afraid that you’ll make trouble again.”

“Talk about trust…” I murmured.

“For good reason.” Thena added. “Who knows if you’ll start a war again?”

I scoffed. “Fine, fine.”

We then arrived at the gates of the city of Sparta. The guards looked quite tough, they weren’t the legendary warriors of Sparta like those stories yet, but a warrior society is nothing to scoff at.

“Halt!” shouted the guard. “What brings you to the city of Sparta, travellers?”

I jumped from the carriage, and I grabbed the invitation letter from my bag, and showed it to the guards. “We’re here for the banquet.”

The guards scanned the letter, they didn’t know how to read, but they recognized the royal seal of Sparta. “Where are you from travellers?” asked the guard.

“Athens.” I answered straightforwardly.

The guards frowned, and they looked at each other. The guard then gave me the invitation back, and stated. “We’ll be watching you, Athenians.”

I just hummed, and put the invitation back to my bag. I climbed the carriage once more, and entered the city.

“What was that?” questioned Thena. “The guards seemed awfully hostile.”

“A normal reaction.” I said. “Theseus kidnapped Helen after all.”

Thena nodded in understanding, and we continued to travel through the streets of Sparta. If there was one thing to note in this place, is that the population of slaves seemed abundant here.

“There’s a lot of slaves…” Druig commented.

I nodded. “It’s what makes Spartans formidable. The slaves run their daily affairs, while the freemen trained to become fearless warriors and oppress the slaves, it’s a rather toxic relationship.”

Druig scoffed. “Humans…”

“The women have more freedom here though.” I added. “They helped with politics, governing, and arts. There’s always a good and a bad side in a society Druig.”

We finally arrived at the palace. Once again, the guards halted us, and asked us about the invitation. They saw the seal, and we are good to go. We entered the place, and we parked our carriage in a designated location. Once it stopped fully and the horses were taken care of,  we gathered our belongings, and walked towards the palace.

“Quite a magnificent palace… not as big as Athens, but still impressive.” commented Druig.

We then walked towards the palace, we could already see people gathering inside it, it was packed with representatives from around the Hellenic World.

We entered the banquet, and music was playing loudly in the hall, wine was served, and some people were already drunk, even a couple men were making out in the corner of the hall.

“Nothing’s different from Athens’s banquet.” said Thena, she then saw the man who was snogging in the corner of the room. “Except maybe a bit more debauched.”

I sighed. “Let’s just see the king and be done with this.”

“What? You’re not going to enjoy this?” asked Druig.

“I’m sick of gatherings like this to be honest…” I murmured.

“Well, I’m staying here, it’s my first time doing these kinds of things.” Druig sighed, and he ran off to god knows where. Well, it’ll be a pain to search for him…

I then felt that Thena was elbowing me. ”Come on, let’s find Helen.”

Oh yeah, Helen… “Let’s go then.”

The two of us then walked towards the throne of the king, I could see that the king was talking to a bunch of men, conversing rather seriously, and beside him were Helen, standing uncomfortably around those foreigners. We approached the king, but were quickly stopped by the guards.

“Stop! What are you doing? approaching the king carelessly without manners?” questioned the guard rather sternly. Because the guards shouted rather loudly, we became the centre of attention.

Soon, the king and Helen also saw us. Helen brightened up, while the king’s face became pale.

“Stop! Stop! What are you doing?! This is my most esteemed guest right here!” shouted the king frantically, sweating bullets.

The guards were surprised. “B-But my king, these two are Athenians-”

“Not all Athenians are bad, move along guards.” said the king, sighing in relief. He then looked at me, and bowed a bit, surprising the guests nearby. “O’ Immortal One, it has been a while.”

“Hello Ty, looks like you became older…” I said, looking at his hair that is slowly turning grey.

“Y-Yes… this one is old… it is almost time for me to give my seat to my successor.”

I hummed. “Well, you can do whatever you want, don’t mind us, we’ll just sit on the corner…”

“I-I wouldn’t dare O’ Immortal One…”

“It’s fine Ty, pretend that we don’t exist.”

“V-Very well… I will leave The Immortal One and his wife to themselves…”

The king then quickly ran away from us, and he resumed his talk to the other nobles.

“Wife?” questioned Thena in amusement. “Did he just say that I’m your wife?”

“Well, apparently…” I answered nervously.

Thena just shook her head in amusement, and we saw that Helen approached us with bright eyes.

“Pluto! Thena! You came!” she exclaimed.

Thena smiled at Helen’s greetings. “Hello Helen.” said Thena, hugging the not-so-little girl. Both of them separated, and Helen came to me, also hugging me.

“You’ve grown to become a beautiful girl Helen, how old are you now?” I questioned, separating from the hug.

“Fourteen.” said Helen proudly.

I smiled, only fourteen and his father is already arranging marriages… different times, different standards. “Do you want to walk with us?”

Helen nodded vigorously. “Let’s go to the gardens!”

I chuckled. “It’s your home Helen, do as you wish.”

—

We are now sitting in the gardens of the Palace of Sparta, it looked quite beautiful, many flowers reside here, the Spartan have good tastes.

“So… who do you think?” I questioned.

Helen was confused at my words. “What do you mean?”

“This banquet is about your marriage right? Who do you think you’ll marry among that many suitors?”

Helen was surprised. “You really are the Immortal One huh…” She murmured.

I chuckled, ruffling her hair. “What, do you think I wouldn’t know that?”

“Stop ruffling my hair… you’ll ruin it.” protested Helen. “Frankly, I don’t know yet, father was worried that if he chooses one, the rest will retaliate…”

Now, Thena was the one who chuckled. “Are you that confident with your beauty?”

“W-Well…” Helen was embarrassed, she then turned to me for some reason. “What do you think Pluto? Am I beautiful?”

“Beautiful?” I scoffed. “You look hideous.” It was a joke, but Thena kicked my leg, making me groan in pain. “Alright, alright, you look beautiful…”

Helen smiled brightly. “Then would you want to marry me?”

I laughed rather loudly to be honest. “Don’t joke like that Helen.” I said, pinching her cheek.

“But I’m serious…” she murmured in disappointment, pushing my hand from her face rather cutely. “Alright then… who do you think should marry me?”

I raised my eyebrow. “Why ask me? It’s your father’s duty.”

“Well, father said that you’ve got good eyes.”

I shrugged. “I’m not good with this, why don’t you ask Thena.”

She nodded, and turned to Thena. “Okay, can you choose?”

Thena was sipping her drink, she put her drink down and said. “Why don’t you choose it yourself?”

“But what about the consequences?”

“Then ask your father to make the others swear that they will protect your marriage, even if it means war..”

My neck unconsciously snapped at Thena, isn’t this the plot of the original story? I don’t really know the full story since I never really listen in history class… but her husband’s name should be Meneleus right?

Helen suddenly stood up. “That’s a great idea! I’ll ask my father about it!” said Helen, she ran off towards the hall again, leaving me and Thena alone.

“Is that really okay though? She’s quite naive… she’ll probably choose the most handsome one…” I asked Thena about her decision.

“Are you worried?” questioned Thena in amusement.

I scoffed. “I just don’t want her to choose the wrong partner.”

“It’ll be fine,” said Thena. “She’s an adult now, she can decide for herself.”

“Let’s just hope that is the case…”