If I thought I’d known what scorn and censure were before, I was wrong. No friends would take us, polluted as we were by matricide. I was grieved to find there was so little loyalty to my father, that no one wanted to help his children. Even Menelaus condemned us, his love for Helen greater than for his long-dead brother. I felt as though we were turned away from every home in Greece.
How long the journey to Delphi took us, I don’t like to think. Every step of the way, Pylades and I held Orestes up between us. Every night was shattered by the sound of his shrieks and his whimpering pleas for them to leave him at last. I had time enough to think of Georgios’ words, how he had seen the curse plague each generation of our family, how the merciless gods demanded more and more from us. In those dark days, I truly thought it would be unending.
And then, at the oracle, respite at last. It’s murky in my memory: a cave wreathed in smoke; the whites of the priestess’s eyes gleaming; a stream of incantations I couldn’t understand. Fire and blood; bones wrapped in fat burning on the altar, flames roaring and sparks streaming all the way up to Mount Olympus. Cool water on my face. Petals crushed into oil, the sweet fragrance perfuming the air. A quiet dawn, Orestes’ face calm, upturned to the rising sun.
After the purification was done, our crime atoned for, still I couldn’t go back to Mycenae. All I’d ever known there was pain and yearning. There was nothing there for me. Orestes, free of his pursuers, went alone. And Pylades brought me here, to make our home, a remote settlement far away from any place where we might be recognised.
The calm grey mist on the horizon makes me think of my father’s shade, somewhere beneath the earth. No longer tormented by his thwarted vengeance. We gave him peace, and knowing that brings me solace. The ache in my chest is still there, but it hurts only with the memory of the wound. It’s healed enough that I can think of her as well, if I make myself. Drifting along in a dim and shadowy cavern, silver ripples darting across the surface of the dark river, the shadow of a girl at her side. They walk together in my mind, the girl’s laughter as sweet as I remember. Our mother smiling back.
The baby swaddled at my chest stirs and her eyelids flutter. She sighs and snuggles closer, lulled by my movement. She sleeps most soundly here, close to me, unburdened by any knowledge of what I’ve done. And who will tell her now? Orestes’ rule of Mycenae is just and fair. He gave Georgios a place in his court, a voice of reason and mercy to help him unite the shattered kingdom, to build it up stronger than ever before. My once-humble friend, raised up from his lowly station to power and influence, an adviser to the king. Meanwhile, I, my father’s hope for our family, live an unobtrusive life here, happy to be forgotten by the rest of the world.
Rain begins to fall, softly at first, but quickly gathering pace. I pull my cloak around my daughter, sheltering her little head from the wind coming up from the east, and, holding her close to my heart, I turn back home.
If you loved ELEKTRA and haven’t read Jennifer Saint’s first retelling and debut novel ARIADNE, why not get yourself a copy now?
A mesmerising retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Perfect for fans of Circe, A Song of Achilles and The Silence of the Girls.
As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the terrible bellows of the Minotaur from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur – Minos’ greatest shame and Ariadne’s brother – demands blood every year.
When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping -Theseus defeat the monster means betraying her family, and Ariadne knows that in a world ruled by mercurial gods, drawing their attention can cost you everything.
Ariadne has heard too many tales of women being punished for the acts of men – she is determined to set her own fate. But will her decision to help -Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover’s ambition?
Get your copy here