Story: Orestes I
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Orestes, Son of Agamemnon had been sixteen years of age when he saw the lights appear in the east. After the initial panic, Orestes and his father payed little mind to the strange lights. After all the lights appeared in the lands of the Arzawa and Orestes and his father never sailed further east than Wilusa. Then came the news of savages, rampaging monsters wearing the skin of men who burned entire cities to the ground with powerful magics. Orestes dismissed such tales at first, as the son of a merchant he'd heard absurd tales all his life. Orestes maintained his disbelief until he and his father saw the burnt husk of Wilusa, occupied by tanned strangers in odd clothing. They never docked at port, fleeing all the way back to Athens. There Orestes and Agamemnon remained as the strangers expanded ever outwards. Claiming Knossos, Menelaion, and even Pylos. Refugees poured into Athens, bringing with them more tales of the horrors these "Americans" as they called themselves had inflicted upon them, this time Orestes believed them. Those days it seemed like the world was ending, that these Americans would devour everything in their path until there was nothing left. Orestes wanted to flee but his father insisted there was no point, you can't outrun a storm. Then came the day both new would come, the Americans had come Athens.
The men who arrived in Athens were the strangest Orestes had ever seen. They were covered in tattoos, some bearing so many tattoos that one could barely see their skin. Most of the Tattoos were similar, some kind of ritual to mark their group. Most wore leather studded with metals that Orestes had never seen before. Orestes and his father watched with mute horror as the Americans marched to palace. To his surprise though, they were...civil. After the King surrendered to them they treated him well. For a while it seemed as though little would change as the Americans set up in Athens, largely focused on making their strange weapons. They did little to interact with those outside of the king's palace and what little interaction Orestes had with them led him to believe that these people where far better than the ones who conquered Wilusa and Knossos. Most could barely speak his language but those who did were relatively polite, though they often spoke of strange things, focusing on purity of the blood and using nonsensical terms like Aryan. But they promised to build Athens into a mighty kingdom that would dominate the land, and for a time Orestes believed them.
Not long after a man named Alexander came to his father, asking to hire Orestes for his ship. His father didn't object and Orestes saw little reason to disagree, at first. At first it was just transporting cargo, he may have not understood what the cargo was but transporting things was a simple enough task. Soon however cargo gave way to passengers. "Hired workers" Alexander insisted. Soon it became clear that many of these workers were their against their will, tied up with metal chains. Orestes objected, he was a merchant, slavery was for farmers and Kings, he wanted nothing to do with it. Alexander however laughed off his objections, making it clear that Orestes had as much choice to be there as the workers. He tired to escape, only to realize Alexander was a port that Orestes had never seen before, filled with hundreds of other Americans. Years passed, Orestes hadn't seen Athens or his father once since he left. Alexander made sure he was never on the ship when he returned to Athens. Instead he spent those years ferrying things, people, even animals from port to port. In that time Orestes saw how the Americans had transformed everything they touched, ports empty of everyone he had known, replaced with new figures. Sometimes the Americans replaced or changed almost everything, from the buildings to idols. Orestes had long since given up hope of escape, Alexander may not have been a particularly cruel master but he was a careful one. Making sure Orestes never had a chance to escape anywhere remotely familiar. Until the day of the storm.
---
December 26th, 18 AE.
The Coast of Crete
Orestes spat up sea water as he struggled against the waves, rain lashing at his face. chunks of wood surrounded him as he treaded water. Somewhere behind him was what was left of Alexander's ship, Sif, smashed against the rocks. Another wave struck Orestes, pushing him below the waves, spinning in the water. He struggled for a long time, eventually forcing himself above the waves, painfully gasping for air. Finally he found his way onto the sand, pulling himself onto the shore through the scattered remains of the Sif's cargo. He was soaked to the bone, his body battered and bleeding, his eyes burned from the salt water, but he was alive.
Orestes looked for a moment before spotting Alexander laying on the ground, trying to get up. Orestes started to move to help him before freezing. His mind filling with rebellious ideas he had thought beaten out of him. Alexander was wounded, defenseless, and there was rope not far from him. He didn't know Crete well, Knossos traders were a proud lot, but he knew he would never get this opportunity again. He rushed along the beach, nearly blinded by ocean spray, until he came upon Alexander. Without saying a word he grabbed the rope and wrapped it around Alexander's neck and then pulled as tight as he could. Alexander struggled, and for a moment Orestes thought the large man would overpower him but then he went slack, gurgling as he fell to the sand.
Orestes collapsed, his mind awash with overwhelming emotions. Relief mixing with fear, rage and even regret. He had spent years with the man, he hated him but they had shared countless meals together, even laughed together. To be so easily free of him felt so unreal, like this was all just a dream playing out in his mind. He sat there on the beach near Alexander's lifeless body, so stunned he barely noticed when the green cloaked soldiers arrived.
/
The rain only got worse as Orestes was dragged through the streets of Knossos. By the time they arrived at the palace he was soaked, shivering from the cold. The soldiers, with their green outfits and bronze helmets, shoved him into a small empty room and left him there for a long while. The only sounds where the rain, thunder, and his own teeth chattering. Different guards came to get him, he thought they would kill him but instead them lead him deeper into the palace, where the old style started to be replaced by something new. The artwork along the walls a blend of the old style of Knossos and something he couldn't identify, the traditional elements of bulls and fish mixed with depictions of warrior women and mighty grey ships that spit fire. The rooms were bigger and taller than any he had seen in his limited contact with Knossos. His father had only rarely traveled to Knossos, it's merchants were a proud lot who found the presence of anyone else on the sea to be almost insulting. But even he could tell how drastically this King had changed the palace. Eventually they came to a massive set bronze doors flanked by two guards armed with black guns, above the door was a painting of a woman clad in armor, a trident in her right hand, her head covered by an ornate helmet that hid everything save for piercing eyes that seemed to glare at him. The guards opened the door, and escorted him into the throne room.
The throne room resembled a long hall, lined with red pillars. At the end of it sat three chairs, each occupied. The right one was occupied by an American woman dressed in some forest colored outfit that showed signs of having numerous repairs, the left one was occupied be a girl maybe 15 years of age, her features largely American but the dark hair and tan skin made it clear she had at least some local blood. She wore jeans like he'd seen on many Americans but her shirt was clearly the upper half of a noble woman's outfit, with rich gold and light blue. Then there was the King herself. Orestes was rather stunned by the sight of her, this was the woman who conquered the palaces of Krete in only a few moons and forged them into a singular kingdom. And yet she looked so small, so average and meek. She lacked the muscles of either of the women besides her, were it not for her blonde hair she would look like any matron in Athens. Only two things really stood out about her. First was her outfit. Every American Orestes had ever seen clung to their old style as best they could, keeping their cloths for as long as they could and doing their best to make any new clothes they made resemble their old ones as much as they could. Not this woman, she proudly wore an ornate crown atop her head and her outfit resembled that of her priestess, though decorated with rich purple fabric. The second thing was her eyes, she had a very measured look about her as she looked at Orestes, sizing him up like a merchant might do when inspecting an oxhide of copper.
The soaked body of Alexander lay on the floor next to him, laying on a canvas with two wooden poles running it's length. Orestes did his best to avoid staring at the body as he knelt before the king.
"You stand before Anax Rachel, Conqueror of Knossos, Founder of the Minoan Kingdom, Lord of the Aegean Sea, Chosen of Aphrodite Areia." One of the guards announced in a booming voice.
"So why did we bring them here? We have judges for a reason you know." The King asked in a quiet voice, only the barest hint of an accent in her words. Another few years and she might sound like a native of the city.
"Both the murderer and his victim are not citizens of the island, indeed we believe they were smugglers. The judges weren't sure how to handle this case." A guard explained
"The accused and the victim." Anax Rachel corrected "But this is an interesting situation."
She stared at Orestes intensely
"Tell me, how do you feel about the crime you've been accused of?"
Orestes heisted for a moment, considering his options. The guards saw him, it was his word against theirs and there was no way she would trust the word of an outside. Maybe the truth would grant him some measure of mercy.
"I killed him, I killed Alexander." He said in English.
A few of the guards muttered by the King's face was almost mask like as she looked at him.
"And why did you do that?" She asked
"Because he enslaved me." Orestes admitted "Forced me to serve him for years as he smuggled weapons, food, even men across the sea."
A look of disgust appeared on the American woman to the right of the King.
"My guards tell me you had barely survived pulling yourself out of the ocean when you strangled him." The Anax noted "It takes a lot of hatred to do that while half drowned. I'm not inclined to assume the the best of the character of a Neo-Nazi. So let's say for arguments sake I believe you. What was your ship doing on my island?"
Orestes was nearly struck dumb. Americans, even if they disagreed with each other, tended to present a united front when one of their own was threatened. With the Anax however it was clear that she probably would have killed him on sight had she had the chance.
"I...We where here to drop off goods from Tucson, in exchange we would get guns which we where to ship to Troy." Orestes explained nervously
The King laughed, the sound filling Orestes with fear.
"Well, isn't that almost fitting." She said with a shake of her head. "Tell me, do you know who was supplying you with guns."
"Alexander rarely told me the names of who we did business with and he kept this job very secret." Orestes said apologetically
Rachel scowled "Well, that's annoying. No matter, no matter. A slaver and smuggler is dead, which is hardly a crime in my book. I do want to talk to you some more but later, for now."
She turned to one of the guards.
"Nikostratos, arrange for our unexpected guest to have a place to stay for the night." She finished
The guard nodded and walked off.
Orestes was nearly speechless, he had walked in expecting to be killed only to end up a guest of the king.
"Thank you, my lord." Orestes said hesitantly "You are very kind."
"Hardly." The King replied "But thanks. I look forward to speaking to again, soon."
/
So this one is a bit different as I'm not quite done with Haynes and I'm not actually headed back to Greece in terms of looking at the nations anytime soon. Orestes is to provide a different perspective on the various nations and also look at some the issues their dealing with closer to 'present day'.
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