I am such an old fool!
I've spent my entire adult life, in effect, helping the kings I've served keep their official lives on track. How could I have let my own life get so derailed in the process? I have to hope it's not too late for me. Oh gods, I pray it's not too late!
Yes. Well then, I must take immediate action! I must have the stable hands ready my horse. I must pack for a journey. And not just any journey…for `the' journey of a lifetime. The one that will bring me to Reetha…bring me `home' to Reetha. Gods! I love how that sounds. Home…Reetha. Yes! Ahhh…harrumph! That is, as soon as I can get myself out of here without those two hot-heads catching me. I'd hate to think of what would happen to me if they knew I'd heard their whole exchange.
It's lucky I'm not a big man. It's already too tight a fit for my average frame to be squeezed in the royal wardrobe between the king's robes of state and his chain mail battle gear.
(Sigh) I know I'm being obsessive about this but I just can't let it go. It's my duty to help him; just as it has been since I stood guard over his cradle during my first tour of watch in his father's service.
It's been weeks since King Jason returned from his journey with Hercules and the old Argonauts to reclaim the Golden Fleece; weeks since he stopped drinking. But I can't stop checking all of his old hiding places…all the dark corners where he kept his secret stash of wines and the exotic hard liquours that he'd received as gifts from foreign dignitaries.
I know that some days have been better than others for him. I know when he's been pushed to the very limits by his royal duties. I'd run for a drink myself at the end of those difficult days. Up until now, King Jason hasn't. He's barely even sipped at the heavily watered down wine we put in his cups at state banquets. Yet, I can't help myself. Every night before he comes to his chambers I do a search of the entire suite to make sure there is nothing in the place to tempt him during his darkest, most alone times.
And that's what I was doing when I was so rudely interrupted by those two. Behaving quite like the children they were back when they attended the Academy. Bickering, loudly bickering…with an adult bite to it now. Oh, how bitter and testy old friends can become during an argument! They know each other too well, those two…
When I bumped into the chain mail vest, the rattling of all those little links caused me to miss their approaching footsteps until it was too late. The great oak door to the royal suite slammed shut and the yelling commenced. I had to grab the wardrobe door and close it, with myself still inside, so King Jason wouldn't catch me at my self- appointed task. There was no door to separate the bedchamber from the sitting room. Three paces in from the door would give them a full view of the suite. I knew he wouldn't appreciate my snooping one bit.
The utter darkness inside the wardrobe deprived me of my sense of sight. I couldn't follow the action as I would have liked. Yet the same darkness served to sharpen my sense of hearing which wasn't really necessary as they were making such a racket. Oh my ears!
That insistent tenor of Iolaus' voice cut through the peace of the night with an edge as sharp as an Hephestian blade. It set my teeth on edge.
"Go ahead! Say it!" he urged my king. "Let me hear you say it again Jason. I can see exactly what you're thinking. It's in your eyes. I can't believe your mind still goes that way. How can you be so thick!"
"Being the drunk that I am, everything's thick…my liver, my tongue, my head." King Jason yelled at his friend.
"You're not drunk now Jase and it's me your talking to. I could understand you even if we were both piss-assed drunk and standing in the middle of a raging storm on the deck of the Argo. So go ahead, damn it! Say it for the thousandth time! `I'm not the kind of person who's worthy to become the life companion of someone who has consorted with the gods.'" Iolaus screamed back and I wondered why my king was allowing such insolence even though it was coming from an old friend.
"That's what I said -- what I've always said – and I mean it. Damn it all to Tartarus, Iolaus! Why are you coming to me just to resurrect this problem again? Why now? Look at me! I'm still a wreck and you're bringing up a very sore point for me. Why?" my king demanded.
"Because Hercules almost died, Jase! That's why. And now he's sitting at Alcmene's house cutting himself off from everything he loves in life, from everything that he is. I can't watch it any more!" Iolaus yelled. The passion in his voice cut through me and sent a chill through my heart. He sounded as if he were almost weeping with the weight of his emotions as he spoke about their demigod friend. "I can't watch it and he doesn't hear me either. Oh, he politely listens to me when I bring it up with him, but he's really not hearing what I'm saying."
"Yeah, well that's your problem," King Jason growled back at his friend.
"No, Jason, it's your problem too, Mr. High-And-Mighty-King of Corinth. No Hercules…No Hero! No one to effectively control the bandit problem and the warlord population. Your regent is gone and so are all the strong-armed bullies he kept here at court. Every petty wannabe will be knocking on your door to pick a fight with the `weakened-by-alcohol' King of Corinth. You're vulnerable. You need Herc to be out and about watching out for your ass," Iolaus growled back even louder than King Jason. And I must say, he did have a point. It's something I'd been warning the king about for many months now.
"You're pushing past my limits, Iolaus. I'm warning you!" King Jason yelled. He was much angrier with Iolaus for bringing it up than he's ever been with me. It's another sore point with him.
"Yeah, well you're way past mine pal," Iolaus shouted back and I could hear that this was escalating down to a very dangerous place quite rapidly.
"You're a royal pain in my ass!" King Jason shouted next.
"You're just a royal pain!" Iolaus shot back.
I think King Jason must have struck the first blow because I'm sure the soft `oof' sound that I heard came from Iolaus. In short order there was furniture being knocked around, thuds and shudders from bodies hitting the floor and I felt that I would fail in my duty to my king if I didn't at least check on his safety. That's when I opened the wardrobe door, just a crack. And there they were, like two incorrigible school boys, wrestling around on the sitting room floor.
King Jason has been under the weather for some time now. He would have given a better showing of himself if he'd been off the alcohol for a little while longer, I'm sure. It wasn't long before Iolaus landed on top, pinning my king's shoulders to the cold, stone floor as their antics had caused the thick Persian rug to lay scrunched up over towards the far side of the room.
"Now you're going to listen to me Jason. Just stay there and listen. Hercules…" Iolaus began to say but my king cut him off. He didn't heed Iolaus warning to just listen.
"Hercules, Hercules, Hercules! It's all about Hercules ! Where were you two when I needed you, months and months ago when Glauce and my kids died?" King Jason complained fiercely.
Iolaus took that opportunity to bang down on King Jason's shoulders with both of his hands. That really got my kings attention.
"Now you're going to listen to me! You're going to understand! This is not about you anymore. It's not about me or Hercules either," Iolaus shouted. Then he leant over and got right into King Jason's face and cried. "We almost lost `Mene!!! Do you understand? Two more minutes and she would have been dead at Echidna's hands. Do you get it? Alcmene…dead. Alcmene…the one whose love we all count on."
Then that feisty little blond grabbed King Jason's chin in one of his hands the he stared him straight in the eye. "You almost lost the love of your life, Jason. Tell me that wouldn't have sent you back into a drinking spiral…one that you'd never get out of. You, my friend, would be drowning in the `if only I'da…shoulda…coulda…woulda' deep blue sea of pity."
Iolaus gave King Jason one more good shove in the shoulders before he released him. Iolaus headed towards the window and opened the shutters, letting in a cool breeze that made it's way all the way over to my hiding place. Good thing he did because it reminded me to close over the wardrobe door once more; but not before I saw my king struggle to a sitting position where he hugged his arms tight around himself and sobbed.
Iolaus kept talking, not giving my king one chance to build up any defenses he might have against the onslaught of emotion. "Right after the incident with Echidna Herc stayed home to nurse his own injury and to keep an eye on his mom. He didn't want to take the chance of her becoming lonely again. She'd be too much of a target for the gods. When Demeter caused the land to become frozen and barren Herc wouldn't go to rescue Persephone until he knew I would stay with `Mene while he was gone. I really should have been at his back but by staying with `Mene, Herc told me that I had his back that way. He wouldn't have to be distracted by worry. He's only taken on problems if they've been less than two days' travel from Thebes. He helped Salmoneus with Hera only because Orestia was on his way home from the door to the Other Side. It if weren't for the fact that Alcmene was staying with Iphicles and Rena, that little bit of traveling Herc and I did to Plinth and Pluribus before we came here to help you get the Fleece back from Castor would never have happened. He won't leave her. And now `Mene refuses to leave Thebes. She's getting testy with Hercules because he's staying home so much, giving her the `mother hen' treatment."
"Two days ago a messenger arrived asking for his help. It seems there's a big, fanged monster making all the cattle disappear in an area that's out on a mountain trail about two days out from Colchis. We'd be gone about a month and Herc won't even consider it. Jase, the villagers…they're sacrificing virgins. They've got to be stopped. The monster has got to be stopped," Iolaus said in a more reasonable tone of voice. And it seemed to be getting through to King Jason because he had stopped sobbing a bit before.
"Yeah, you've got to save the virgins. That's a priority for you. They're an endangered species," King Jason tried to joke but Iolaus was having none of that.
"Listen, Jase. Be serious! You and Alcmene…you can help each other. You can be there for each other. You can love each other like you've always wanted…like you've both always wanted. I don't see a down side," Iolaus advised my king.
"I told you, Iolaus. I'm not worthy of her…" King Jason said but Iolaus cut him off.
"I warned you not to say that again," Iolaus threatened, raising his voice once more.
"She'll see a drunken failure," my king said, a little less forcefully this time, as if he were tiring from all the confusing emotions.
"No! You're not that man anymore. She'll see you with eyes of love that forget and forgive the past and look to the present. She'll see the hero you are and the wise king you wake up each morning and try to be. Believe me. I know," Iolaus assured him – a little roughly but definitely with King Jason's best interests in his heart. "Come on, Jase!" he said. "You talk about your duty and honor. Well, do the honorable thing. Fulfill your duty to Love."
There was silence for a while then King Jason chuckled and Iolaus' answering giggle let me know that my king would fulfill that duty and joyfully so.
In a warm tone of voice, one that I haven't heard for a while, King Jason asked, "What will Hercules think?"
"Don't worry about what Herc thinks. It's what Alcmene thinks that's the most important thing," Iolaus wisely advised him.
"Then we'd better let his mother tell him. Hercules won't stand a chance matching wills with `Mene when she sets her mind to something," King Jason said. "And don't worry that I'll tell Hercules that you've known about me and his mother all along. You'll have enough trouble keeping him from killing me. It'll be better if he's not trying to kill us both at the same time."
It's been a good ten minutes since they stopped all the loudness. I haven't been able to catch much of their low-voiced conversation. I hope they're done, I'm getting leg cramps. Ouch!
(Sigh) I never, in my wildest imaginings, thought I'd ever say this but, I hope Jason listens to Iolaus. I hope he takes that scruffy little upstart's advice. Alcmene would be such a steadying influence on my king. She would ease the demons that visit both his waking hours and his dreams. She would ease my conscience too, for the leaving.
And as for me, I will be taking the young hero's advice too, although it wasn't meant for me. His words opened a place in my heart that I thought I had sealed-off forever. Reetha…my Reetha…
Hmmm, yes…I hope the chambermaid left enough water and towels for them to clean up after this. Rolling around on the floor like they did. Behaving like children, really. King Jason is going to be sore tomorrow. I have to remember to leave instructions for the valet to get some liniment from the healer before he prepares the royal bath tomorrow morning. Hopefully I'll be able to get out of this wardrobe before too long and prepare to leave. I want to be packed and have the horse saddled and ready to go right after I hand King Jason my official scroll of resignation tomorrow at breakfast.
Oh, he'll ask me to stay, so I must be prepared to hold strong to my vision. I must keep my eyes on the prize.
"Reetha…" Oops! Did I breath her name out loud? I must be careful or I'll be found out.
Reetha, my queen…my love. Since childhood we have loved each other best. We were friends first, then sweethearts. Her father groomed her to be queen when his time was up. My father groomed me to be lord chamberlain in his place. We were quite shocked when they told us we could not marry. It was my grave misfortune to be born without trace of royal blood. The bitter words and deeds of that time have long been forgotten. The hurt is still there, though faded.
She wed a prince, had a son, and her husband died soon after in some battle or other.
I came to Corinth to find my fortune and took a position with the Royal Guard.
She tracked me down after her husband's death and wrote to me of her undying love. And quite like a fool I wrote back about her duty to the kingdom…to our people. I never wrote of my own love, only offering my undying friendship.
She declared in one of her letters that it would be enough for her except for one thing. She needed to see my face from time to time. She wrote to King Aeson about my prior experience and training as chamberlain and the good King elevated me to that position in his own court. He gave me the special charge to look after his son with an eye to grooming him for duties of the kingship he would eventually take on.
Reetha could visit with me at official state functions and I eagerly kept up with life in her court. The epistles and scrolls she has sent to me over the years have piled up. I have saved each and every one. At the end of each scroll she professes love to me. They are priceless.
And now Reetha and I have both acquired the age of 67 years. She's turned most of the day-to-day running of the kingdom over to her son. They can't possibly object to a special friendship between the two of us now that she's in retirement.
Maybe we can find peace in each other's arms…if she'll have me. I will offer myself to her, on my knees with tears of apology for all the time that I kept us apart. Separated because others objected to our relationship. I swear. It would have been better to have been there to watch over her, even throughout her marriage to another, than to be so far away from her face and the comfort of her presence.
I will be an old fool no longer! And I can't believe I have that young upstart Iolaus to thank for this new resolve. Now if I could just get out of this wardrobe…
Oh wait…I think they're going to leave. Good, because I think I feel a big cramp forming in my calf. If I could only reach it to rub out the knot in my muscle…
"Now is this the way you treat guests in your palace, Jason. No refreshments…I'm starved," Iolaus said in a jovial tone.
"Let's go down and raid the kitchen. I'm sure there will be plenty of treats left to satisfy even your appetite," my king replied with a hint of good humor in his voice.
"Wait, Jason. Just one minute…" Iolaus said. He probably wants to straighten himself up a bit. I think he has a fancy for one of the serving girls.
KNOCK…KNOCK…KNOCK
The loud knocking on the door of the wardrobe shocks me. I clutch my chest and draw a deep shaking breath. There had been no warning to prepare me for it. I didn't hear his footsteps approaching the wardrobe. It's no wonder he's a hunter of great reknown.
"You can come out now, Ophistus. We're done with the room," Iolaus tells me through the wardrobe door.
He gives the door a pull and I almost fall into his arms. Thank the gods he's strong enough to catch me and hold me erect. It seems my legs are protesting at having been cramped up in the closet for so long.
"When you can walk again, Ophistus, why don't you join us in the kitchen for a congratulatory midnight snack. Iolaus and I will be having a quiet celebration in honor of my upcoming proposal of marriage to the woman of my dreams," King Jason asks me. I cannot speak from the temporary pain but I nod my head in acceptance of his kind invitation.
"Nothing gets past you, does it, Iolaus?" my king asks his good friend as they turn to walk out of the chamber.
"Not where love is concerned, Jase," he tells my king and I know he's right.
finis
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