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Aristonax, still leaning forwards expectantly and with a confident smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, is clearly expecting an affirmative answer immediately. You inwardly groan, your face a mask of contemplation - the more you speak with the man, the more you find deficits in his reasoning. His battle plan against the savages was rashly formed; his plan to murder a powerful nobleman of Thessaly, said to be a friend of King Peleus, seems to be just as poorly considered. It occurs to you that your speech at the Summons last week did not draw any local nobleman famed for their intellect to your side…
You cannot help but think of the contrast with your brother – a deep thinker, often terse and sparing with his words, a cunning tactician hiding behind the intimidating face of a musclebound giant. In Aristonax, you seem to have the opposite - a graying, stonefaced disciplinarian who presents with the veneer of battle-tempered wisdom, won in the awful grind of Βροτολοιγος Ares…but who ineptly flounders his way forwards, scarcely thinking beyond what he can see before him.
<span class="mu-i">And yet</span>, you think, <span class="mu-i">your services here could be worth far more than the talents offered.</span> Damachides represents the sturdy post of military strength that links Cyphus, away to the northwest, with Phthia and King Peleus, off the southeast. In the chaos of his death, your house could profit greatly by collecting a portion of the wreckage – if you and the other οἶκοι move quickly, the barbaroi may not even learn of the disruption. The potential rewards here stiffen your resolve and give you serious thought to Aristonax’s offer – and so, you decide to accept.
As for the murder itself… perhaps your first taste of battle has already hardened your heart, but you find the thought of killing an old man does not make you squeamish. You love your οἶκος staff, your mother and brother - and you will not hesitate to kill for them if it stands to profit you all. Of course, you are not so foolish as to imagine that you will actually be plunging a dagger into his heart yourself – you can imagine several means by which you could organize his death…
