The head arrived at Aulis on a grey morning, carried by a crew that had not spoken more than twenty words since leaving the island.
They had wrapped it in sailcloth and placed it in a clay jar sealed with wax. The captain—a young man named Phaidon, who had been sailing for Theron since he was a boy—carried the jar himself up the beach toward Agamemnon's tent. His hands were trembling. His face was the colour of old ash. The guards at the entrance tried to stop him, but he walked past them as if they weren't there and set the jar on the ground before the High King's chair.
Agamemnon looked at the jar. He did not ask what was inside. He had seen messengers return with bad news before. He knew the look.
"Theron," he said.
Phaidon nodded. He could not speak.
