Lord Achilles came yesterday to deliver his condolences in person.
In the absence of any family, Aetos of Crete has been deemed the representative of the late Lord Ophellios. It is known that the two had once shared a bond, before the young king fell with honour.
Aetos does not understand it, nor does he welcome the visitors.
Feasting has returned to the camp; Apollo has lifted the blight. But the days thereafter are cold and bleak.
"I wish it were not so, brother. But the pattern is impossible to mistake, when you take careful note as I have.
At every turn, the Trojans are there. At every assault, they are present. We consult the omens to raid a town; that town happens to be quartering half the Trojan army. There is a traitor."
“That… makes an awful amount of sense,” he mutters as though to himself. His dark eyes are narrow and calculating.
The other kings have grown used to this. Ambrosios occupies a world of his own half the time.
Ophellios seems troubled. “Surely none of those here would betray us? We all act under oath.”
"Oaths mean less to some of us than most of us would like; and of course there are Those who do not so much fear the wrath of the immortal gods."
It all makes a horrible, horrible sort of sense.
Ambrosios speaks up. “With your blessing, Lord Agamemnon, I wish to lead the investigation into this… traitor.”
"Do you truly? An intriguing, even bold notion, Lord Ambrosios. You consider yourself above suspicion, then? The most reliable, the most trustworthy of us, fit to investigate? One whose loyalty, and willingness to be at war, is beyond question?"
“Of course not. I know that I am not the traitor, but you rightly note that you have no proof of this. Yet. As part of my investigation, I will compile a full list of my own whereabouts over the last month with seals from trusted eyewitnesses – not from the Ithacan camp, if you are concerned.”
He smiles.
“Trust me at least on this, my Lord Agamemnon. I can be very thorough when I want to be.”
...
It...
It's still too convenient...
That sounds like a prepared excuse...
No, the problem is -
It's still more likely for Ambrosios to immediately try to take control and name himself inquisitor, if he is the traitor, compared to if he isn't - it's possible in that case that-
The Goddess of Wisdom would rather the leader of the Achaeans not have a sudden insight into the dynamics of espionage, thank you.
“If I may, my lord; I will keep those cards to myself for now, lest I cause unnecessary division.”
A sigh. “Who’s that, then? Unless the two of you are conspiring behind my back, which seems unlikely.”
Agamemnon speaks quickly - there is a distinct sense that if Aetos speaks now, some harm will come, though what exactly that is is unclear - "Ophellios; you have been gone a month, and all thought you dead; there was no sign of you. You yourself can offer no explanation. What have you to say in your defence?"
The feeling is like a knife in his chest.
He forces himself to speak, for silence would only worsen his case.
“I swear on all the mighty gods that I am no traitor. I do not recall where I was, that is true, but equally: how could I have told the Trojans of battle plans I was not privy to?”
"There must be an explanation. We cannot simply go back to the way of things before, now that one among our number has apparently returned from the dead. We must find Calchas, consult the entrails - my lords, do you truly not find these events concerning?"
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