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A short update, just to get into the swing of things again
You find yourself shaking your head in dismay – the man’s bleak mood is infectious. Your enthusiasm for divine insights evaporates. You still think it would be the most expeditious course – but alarm bells are ringing. You are no Odysseus, but you’ve spent enough time in the pampered court of Argos to read a man. Amphiarus’ hair is only barely oiled – his face drawn and pale, deep creases around his eyes. You do not know him well, but the longer you look, the more convinced you are that he is haggard – exhausted, even. Pity wells up in your heart – you cannot bring yourself to beg for something that he will not provide freely.
You exhale – <span class="mu-i">damn this soft heart</span>.
“Who would you have in mind, Lord Amphiarus? I have not been to Tricca myself,” you clarify – opening the door to further negotiation. Tricca, of course, is a well-known Thessalian city that hosts a great temple to Apollo – Asclepius practiced medicine there himself, before his punishment by Zeus. Your own familial estates are not so far from it, although you’ve had no reason to travel there, even as a girl.
“Podalirius of Tricca,” Amphiarus confirms. “Youngest son of Asclepius, only just barely a man… But he has his father’s flair for development of new treatments, I am told… and demands a king’s respect. Few can draw him out for travel, but I am told he is jealous of his father’s fame – he may be moved to come, to cure the daughter of Hippomedon.”
“A thousand thank-yous,” you reply sincerely, if a bit awkwardly – such polite words do not fit well in your mouth. Amphiarus stands unexpectedly, and so you do the same. Motioning, he guides out of the room and back towards the entrance.
He surprises you again with a small smile – one that hides pain. He embraces you briefly, but you catch his wrist gently:
“What you have seen, Amphiarus? Why do you walk about like you guide the funeral procession?” The man who was once a king stares at you – then through you, some shadowed memory darkening his brow. He meets your gaze again:
“Be with your family, Euanippe – this is what the gods desire.”
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next up, Hippomedon in Trachis - stay tuned folks
