Titania of Troy

Chapter 32

"Repeat it one more time please?"

Titania groaned in frustration at Paris but one light squeeze of her hand calmed her nerves, "He said he'll join the fight, and he also gave me the key on how to avenge Hector. He said I have to discover who my mother was."

Paris rubbed his hand on his forehead, "We have a few days before the mourning period ends. Hopefully this will become clearer as time passes."

Titania bit her lip, "I wish I knew where to start."

"Well what do you know?" Deiphobos questioned, "Retrace your life. Maybe that will help."

"You know all of it," Titania sighed, the dining hall becoming slightly suffocating as she nibbled on some fruit, "I was found with Paris in the hills close to Mount Ida as a baby. Paris had been stolen by wolves, but I don't know how I got there. My mother must've put me there. It's the only explanation."

The family table became awkwardly quiet. Aeneas nodded grimly and squeezed her hand under the table again, "Apollo would not grant us this knowledge without us being able to solve it. We must have faith that the answer will soon be known to us."

The entire table murmured in agreement, even Helen who'd chosen to rather avoid such discussions since Titania and her had the screaming match in the granary. Titania vaguely remembered her promise to Paris. She still had a debt to pay.

"Cassandra said something strange before she died," at the mention of her sister Deiphobos clenched his knife angrily. Her brother had taken the news the hardest – feeling lost and detached without his twin sister, "It was terrible, actually."

Paris asked, "What was it?"

Titania breathed shakily before recalling the words, "She said you were going to kill us, Paris, that you would be our doom." Paris' eyebrows immediately scrunched in confusion and Titania remedied her words, "It didn't sound like a prophecy. She was convulsing on the floor. I'm sure it was just words."

Paris angrily clenched at his cutlery, "What if it is a prophecy? What if my life dooms us all?"

"Paris what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that maybe she was telling the truth," he sighed, "When Hector and I went to Cilicia, we saw a man there, a priest of Apollo. He gave me one look and told Andromache's father that my blood runs black, and that they shouldn't trust me. It was a miracle that Hector managed to sway him to help us, but perhaps that priest was right. What if they shouldn't have trusted us? What if I brought them to their doom?"

Aeneas nudged her and Titania looked in the direction of his eyes. Hecuba was fidgeting in her seat like a child. King Priam refused to meet any of them in the eye. Titania raised a brow at them, "Mother, father, what do you know about this?"

It appeared Hecuba couldn't take it anymore, for the words seemed to tumble out of her before she could control them, "I'm so sorry, Alexander. My poor boy!"

Titania's eyes flickered around the room as she tried to put the pieces together, "Mother what are you talking about?"

Hecuba was crying now and Priam attempted to pull her into his side but she shoved the King away, "I didn't want to do it, but the blood ran black! You were cursed!"

Paris couldn't take the mystery anymore. He jumped to his feet so quickly that his chair clattered loudly to the floor behind him, "What are you talking about? What curse?"

Hecuba was sobbing too loudly to speak, so Priam cleared his throat and sighed tiredly before clenching his hand together and opening his mouth, "When you were born, we did the sacred rituals. We let the priest test the blood of a dove to see what your future would be." Priam cleared his throat as though the story were getting stuck in his lungs, "When he cut the bird's neck, the blood ran black. It was a sign from Apollo. Our child would be the end of Troy."