Rebecca Holman
Short Story
Advanced Composition
7 November 2007
Tragedies and Mishaps
By:
Rebecca Holman
A loud shout with the shattering of something made of glass resounded from some place in the house waking Damion from his drunken slumber. He pulled himself out of bed with a start, pulled on a tunic, and made for the entrance hall to see what the racket was about. His mother stopped him with soft words, “My son it is alright, the cook just dropped a punch bowl from the cupboard.”
He looked at his mother for a moment. “Oh, well have one of the maids bring me a glass of wine please, and I’ll come dine with you.” He held his head trying to make the dizziness leave by sheer will and hopefully look as if he had not been drinking all night.
“Yes, do that and wash up while you are at it. Your father has requested that you have lunch with us, and I would be grateful if you stay away from the wine until you leave this house.”
Damion smiled, hoping that she
wouldn’t see the pain behind his eyes from the pounding in his skull. “Yes mother.” He walked back to his rooms.
After Damion's bath with colognes and different herbs to take the smell of wine off of his skin he went into the peristyle and sat on a beautiful couch opposite of his father and looked at the murals depicting a famous scene of Poseidon, the sea god, creating the horse from nothing. Damion took a grape and popped it in his mouth. “Good morning father.”
Rashid looked up from the accounting books in his lap. “I see that you’
ve been getting useless baubles for the people of Athens when they need food, clothing, and building materials for the poor!” he said with a bitter calmness that grated on Damion’s already shot nerves.
“I make a fair pay, and Athens is happy with the cargo that I bring them,” he replied back with the same manner of bitter calmness, knowing that a fight was already underway.
“You will do as you are told!”
Rashid yelled at his son with black furry in his eyes. The people of Athens needed food and not useless luxuries for the wealthy.
“I will bring in what I want, since they are my ships!” Damion shot back at his father with the same, black, look in his eyes. Since his father
didn’t understand that what the people wanted, they would get.
Shala sat by quietly on her couch next to her husband listening to the conversation between them, wanting to cry out for them to stop, but knowing it would do her no good. Their fighting had gone on since Damion had made his first talent from the ships he had borrowed from his father, the same ones he now owned by right. She got up slowly and bowed to her husband, “I am going to go and make my offering to the gods. Please don’t do anything rash.” She stared at her son in such a way that he looked down at his hands.
“Yes, mother, I need to meet with some people before the ship comes in tomorrow. Excuse me, Father.” He stood up and watched his mother leave the room and then made his way to the stable where his horse waited. As Damion walked out to the stables and heard the neigh of
Akema, an Arabian horse from a trade with one of his drinking friends, coming from the corrals. He deviated from his path to the stable and made his way to the corrals to see why she was in there.
“Stable man, why have you put my horse in the corrals?” he yelled to the gentleman watching
Akema running circles and tossing her
silken brushed, midnight black, mane.
“She needed to run, sir, and I did not know if you would be coming out today to ride her.”
Damion looked the man over and returned his gaze to his horse. She continued to run a little more and then made her way to him as though she knew he was coming for her.
Akema nuzzled his face, and he gave her some clover that he had gathered on the way to the stables.
“Get my bridle and saddle. I need to go and see a friend. I think she would enjoy a change of scenery,” he commanded the young man still staring at the horse with wonder.
“Yes sir,” and the stable boy jumped off of the wooden gates and ran into the stables to retrieve the items that his master had commanded of him. He brought out the saddle and Damion took it from him so the boy could go back for the bridle. Damion saddled
Akema and jumped onto her back. “When I come back, be sure that her stall is cleaned and some oats are awaiting for her also a brush so I may brush her down.” The boy nodded his understanding and left to work immediately. Damion smiled after him and clicked his tongue to make
Akema trot down the road towards
Trave’s home.
Coming up to
Trave's main gate Damion saw him running out to greet him, “Ah my friend! Come to see me so soon? I was hoping you would grace me with your presence, since I’m to have a grand feast tonight to honor Athena.” The man had his arms wide open with a glass of wine in his hand to show greetings in a warm manner towards Damion. Many rings covered the man’s fingers which made them look like small sausages. Damion looked the man up and down.
Trave's expensive tunic looked ragged because he had slept in it the night before, and was a little tight around his stomach because it was beginning to bulge from too many delicate foods and too much wine. His face showed the same characteristics of pudgy cheeks that use to look handsome, but now looked pig-like from his expensive living style. Damion
didn’t go into the man’s arms to receive his warm welcome, but stood there looking at him with disgust.
“I have come because I need to speak to you about business, not because of your party."
Damion scowled at him and walked into the court yard letting the stable boy take his horse. He gave her a pat and watched her go until the boy turned a corner. Damion returned his gaze to
Trave. He made a smooth gesture up to the house. “May I come in so we can speak together?” he asked with icy politeness.
“Yes, of course you may come in. I’ll just call for some food and wine, but please make yourself comfortable.”
Trave trembled a little as he walked into the peristyle and called his man servant to tell the cook to prepare a tray with meats and some wine for two. The wine came first and then the tray of delicacies that
Trave liked so much.
Trave picked one up, admired it with his beady, pig eyes, “Well, what would you like to know?”
Trave asked and quickly started talking, then babbling on how he had been cheated out of his money because of the gambling he had been doing. Damion soon put up his hand to still
Trave's senseless chatter about how nobody cared about his financials.
“I have come because I have a shipment coming in tomorrow, and I need to know if your going to pay me what you told me you would for some silk and other items we have spoken of.” Damion
coolly sipped his wine and watched
Trave’s outward reaction to his comment.
“I would gladly pay you, but right now I’m a little strained for money as I've told you. I owe other people some money and was wondering if you could help me get out of debt. When I have the money I owe you, I will repay you.”
Trave gulped the rest of his wine and looked at Damion with sad, frightened, eyes of what the he would say.
“I will not give you a cent! How dare you intrude on my courtesy with a plea for money when I have given you money aplenty in the past and all you do is gamble it away!” Damion's eyes showed fire from his anger and burned straight into
Trave’s eyes. “I’m leaving, now!” He got up and made his way to the door where the man servant bowed to him and opened the door. His horse was brought to him, and Damion got into the saddle with one fluid movement and galloped off. Back at his parent’s house, he told the servant to serve some wine and wash his road-dusted feet. The girl came and did as he commanded. While she washed his feet and laced up his shoes, he drank steadily and felt himself calm down with each gulp.
He started to reflect on what he had done at
Trave’s and knew that he had been unwise by his outburst of anger.
Trave had the ear of many people in power close to Pericles, the ruler of the land, and could have almost anyone killed just by blackmailing them. The wealthy usually tried to pay him off just so he would keep quiet about the business that went on in court or elsewhere that the common people should not know about. Affairs that developed at certain parties that he attended; a time in court when somebody who was innocent was sentenced going to die; any kind of juicy gossip that could get men in trouble with wives or the democracy.
These thoughts went through Damion’s mind for a time, and he knew by tomorrow he might be thrown into a dungeon or hanged for all the people to see. He took another drink of his wine, and ways of escaping this death came to him. He knew that if he stayed in Athens, he could very well be in a noose by tomorrow morning and have no more neck before the sun hit its highest point in the sky. His ship
wasn’t going to be coming in until tomorrow morning, not leaving for about week as it gathered up gold and other rich fabrics, certain animals for slaughter, and
slaves to take over seas for the markets. He kept pondering these facts until he remembered that a ship was leaving tonight after dark!
He got up and stumbled to his room. Finding a piece of paper and a pot of ink, he wrote to the captain of the ship and informed him that he would be joining their exploration and that no one needed to know that he would be going. Damion sent for the messenger boy, who took it and went down to the docks to deliver his master’s message. Damion packed a few belongings and wrote another message to his parents telling them that he would be leaving and would like to send for them when everything calmed like the sea after a storm and he thought it would be safe. He donned his cloak and made a hasty pace down the road towards the docks.
“Left, right... left, right, left! Forward men we must catch the traitor before he thinks of some way of escape!” the captain of the guard yelled to his men with spear in hand, ready to kill whom ever got in his way. Damion froze for a moment listening to the man encourage his men to continue marching towards their destination. He stood his ground for a moment longer, and knew that his family would suffer if he
wasn’t found or seen by the soldiers. He stole to the side of the cobbled road and waited for the soldiers to pass. The last row went by and he walked to the middle of the street. I must be a fool for doing this!
“Hello, captain of the guard, whom are you looking for at this late hour?” Damion yelled in the direction of the soldiers, who all stopped in unison and turned around to look at the stranger who dared to stop and ask them questions. The captain of the guard trotted through the ranks to the new front of the line to see the stranger.
"That is not any of your business. How dare you ask questions of us." The captain of the guard took out his short sword ready to hack the stranger down because of his imprudence. Damion looked at him for a moment and recognized it was
Alcander, a great friend in Damion's time of need, specially when he drank to much and needed a way to get home.
"I am just wondering who it is you seek so late at night because I saw someone run down this street and make a quick turn into an alley. He looked as if the dogs of Hades were after him." Damion kept his face hooded and pointed to the alley opposite him.
"Why would you tell us this peasant?" The captain of the guard came up and grabbed him by his cloak.
"I thought... I thought maybe I could get a small amount of money," Damion stammered, trying to sound frightened and hungry at the same time. The captain of the guard let him go and yelled at the rest of the soldiers. "Split up! Part of you go down that alley, part of you go up to the home. The rest of you will explore the opposite alley," he bellowed to the soldiers. They broke up into equal sections and marched off in unison towards their destinations with a clacking sound from their hobnailed sandals.
Damion looked at the man from under his hood and sized him up. He knew there was going to be a fight, and he didn't want to be the loser of the match. He just needed the captain to know he was the one he sought and his family wouldn't get hurt. The captain turned back toward to Damion. "Well, there you go, I suppose you'll be wanting your money, you filthy beggar?"
Damion stood there a moment and waited, getting as much breath as he could and unsheathed his small dagger without
Alcander knowing that he had done so. "No I do not think I will need the money. I have plenty of my own, you see. I just needed to get you alone." Damion took his his dagger from under the cloak, and the captain took a step back.
"What is the meaning of this?" The captain's short sword was at the ready as he got into the familiar stance of a seasoned warrior who was ready for a fight to the death.
Damion lowered the hood so it pooled between his shoulder blades against his back and took the stance of a novice fighter. The captain stared at Damion for a moment and then cried, "it's you! Damion come in quietly and we can get this straightened out. You know
Trave, he always gets angry with small things and tries to kill off the people or at least get them jailed for a time until his anger is appeased. I promise you that you won't face the noose or any public humiliation if you just come quietly." The captain spoke in earnest, hoping that the youth would listen to his words and change his mind about dying.
"I know
Trave also, and I think he'll try to pull every string he has to make sure I die. I'm just making sure that my family won't suffer for my insolence and die in my place. But now you see me, and there will be no need for such a thing to happen."
The warrior looked at him with the a affection, a father might have for a son who finally showed his value and knew that he could not sway him from his current path. He lifted his sword, saluted Damion, and readied himself for the fight. Damion looked at the captain with an admiring gaze and took the first plunge with his dagger. The battle did not last long.
Alcander soon fell to the ground with the dagger protruding from the his chest. Damion looked down at
Alcander and saluted the captain. "Even in death may you be triumphant."
Noise from the soldiers coming back to report to their leader started to echo everywhere around him. Damion looked down one last time at the dead soldier and began to walk away from the
grisley scene.
Damion ran the rest of the way to the docks towards the ships. The men were close behind him and seemed never to slow, "I am Damion son of
Rashid and
Shala here to sail on this ship. Let loose the lines for I'm in pursuit! The sailors worked quickly and accurately as Damion ran on the plank that led onto the ship, which started to take off slowly from the calm bay.
Soldiers ran onto the docks and some jumped into the water after the boat, hoping that they could make their way on and were never seen again, the rest of the soldiers yelled and cursed after the ship. Damion looked out at screaming soldiers and sat down heavily on the deck, breathing with his lungs on fire from running so hard. He looked at his hands and saw blood stained them a horrible rusted color with flecks of red from the blood that hadn't yet dried.
Later on that year his parents were hung for every Greek to see the shame that the family had brought upon itself for their only son to run away for a crime that he had committed. Damion heard about all of this from a traveler that had seen the deed carried out by the executor's own hand.
"Why do you ask these things of me stranger? Were you not there?" The weather beaten face looked at the cloaked figure for some sign of acknowledgement.
"No, I have been on this ship for a long time and have had no news of Athens for we have been traveling to different areas and resting when cargo is put on board." Damion said in a low voice, hidden underneath his cloak, waiting for some question that he could not answer because it might give away his identity. The traveler just looked at him and then looked back out at the beautiful blue of the sky in contrast to the sea.
"I am sorry for what has happened to your parents Damion, and I am ever sorry for the cruel task that I have to carry out too. Hades is waiting for you and the gods do not like to wait when someone is suppose to die and somehow escapes!"
Damion's eyes widened with fear, and threw his hood back, "how do you know who I am?"
The traveller laughed at him, "why do you not know who I am? I am Hermes, the messenger god of all mighty Zeus, caretaker of Apollo's sacred cows, and escort of the dead to the river Styx who await Charon to ferry them to Erebus and into Hades."
Damion stared at the god in amazement, "but my friend, it is now time for you to leave this world, for you were suppose to die, and the gods do not like to be cheated out of what is theirs to take. So I am here to escort you down to the River Styx, after I have killed you." The god raised his shepherd's staff for the killing blow.
"wait, please wait oh merciful Hermes! Have mercy on me for I still wish to live on this earth." Damion bowed his head and knew that the fates would have their way no matter how it happened and that his parents sadly had died in vain for his foolishness, but he wanted so desperately to avenge their deaths because of his ignorance of the gods' plans. I must be crazy as into try and trick a mighty god. Maybe it would be a good death to die by the hand of god instead of a mere mortal.
"I will die by your hand all mighty Hermes, but please let my family be in the Ephesian Fields, for it was my insolence that led to there shameful death. I wish to bare the weight of both of their sufferings into the being of eternity, since it was my fault that my parents were hanged in the first place."
Hermes looked at the youth wondering if he was trying to trick him or if he was being truthful in every sentence he uttered, "I will make your wishes known to Lord Hades, for it is your fault that you turned coward and ran to save your own neck. Though I admire it, I do not approve of you abandoning your family. This will all be so and now you must die." Hermes raised his staff over his head and came down as hard as he could over the youths head, who fell to the floor of the deck with blood making a small pool around him from the gash in his skull from Hermes mighty staff.
