The Unclaimed (University of the Gods Trilogy Book 1) (15 page)

“And you think she would have gone for that?” Arissa said, sneering. “She didn’t die when Troy was taken, she was one of the few to survive.”

“Yeah, but she wouldn’t have known that, would she?” Cassandra replied.

“So you would have lied to her?” Alexander asked.

“It would only have been a lie if I hadn’t meant to see it through”, Cassandra said and Alexander’s eyes widened in shock. “But she would have been given the chance to give herself up voluntarily.”

“Or else?” Alexander said.

Cassandra didn’t say anything.

“So you think that killing one to save hundreds is a valid thing to do?” Ariadne, who had now reached the back row, said and her full concentration was on Cassandra.

“I think that sacrificing yourself for the greater good is an honorable thing to do.”

“And her death would have been a sacrifice?” Ariadne said and you could have heard a pin drop in the classroom.

“No, but mine would have been”, Cassandra said and saw Ariadne’s pupils widen.

“Because I would have made sure that when Menelaus came to Troy to request Helen back before the war started, that he would have gotten her. I would have drugged her and dragged her out of the city and given her back to her lawful husband and they would have gone home and lives would have been spared. And then I would have gone back to Troy to await my punishment.”

Ariadne laid a hand on Cassandra’s shoulder.

“That punishment would have been death”, Alexander said.

“Sometimes it is worth giving up your life for others”, Cassandra said, meeting Ariadne’s eyes.

“Very good”, Ariadne said and went back to the front row. “Unfortunately, human nature is different and I am afraid that this sacrifice would have been in vain. Can you tell me why, Alexander?”

Alexander, who was still pondering Cassandra’s answer, nodded slowly.

“The men were ready to fight”, he said and although he was answering Ariadne, he seemed to be talking directly to Cassandra. “They had come all that way to wage a war and they wouldn’t just go home again like that. Menelaus would have simply declared Helen’s abduction a slight of his honor and then started the war anyway.”

Cassandra guessed that this had indeed sounded better in her head, nodded and shrugged.

“At least I would have tried”, Cassandra said. “And who knows, maybe it would have ended differently.”

“Probably not”, Ariadne said and Arissa sneered. “But it would have been a brave thing to do.”

Ben who had been looking at her shrewdly all the time she was talking, slammed his hand on the table.

“It would have been a stupid thing to do”, he said angrily. “There would have been a hundred more sensible ways to go about that and although I don’t deny that it would have taken a lot of courage to do it, there wouldn’t have been much use of brains, would there?”

Cassandra, about to sit down, sprang up again.

“So you would have watched your whole family get killed before you would have done anything?” she replied angrily. “You would have just stood by and watched innocent men and women getting slaughtered? And for what? Because someone thought he could steal something that didn’t belong to him? Or because it is human nature to want to destroy and conquer? Maybe I wouldn’t have used much of my brains that day but by the gods I would have used my heart. Are you sure you have one?”

Ben sprang up and was immediately held back by Wolf. Ariadne was just about to say something when the bell rang.

“I think that is quite enough for today”, their teacher said over the commotion that had started because everyone wanted to get out of the classroom as fast as possible. “Your assignment for our next class is to go home and think about how you would have won the war and write it down in a seven page paper. Cassandra, you will have to rethink your strategy but so will you Arissa. I don’t like cruelty and neither do I indulge needless sacrifices. And you need to get your temper under control, Hades. Otherwise, you and Hammersmith will be done for this semester. No credits, no becoming a Protector, are we clear?”

Ben and Bear both nodded and left the room shortly after. Hector made Cassandra stay in the room until everybody else except for Ariadne had left. Just when Cassandra passed her, her teacher asked her to stay for a minute. Cassandra nodded for Hector to go on and stood with her arms folded protectively around a book.

“I admire your dedication to a cause”, Ariadne said coolly.

Her teacher barely reached up to her chest, still Cassandra felt like she was about to be chided like a child

“I thought you just said that I was stupid to consider taking such an action”, Cassandra said and stuck out her chin defiantly.

“I didn’t say that you were stupid, I said what you were planning on doing was stupid”, Ariadne said and carefully rearranged her papers for the tenth time. “I would like to think that you would go talk to someone first before you did something like that for real.”

Cassandra was momentarily confused by the change of direction this conversation took.

“I don’t know what you are talking about”, she said neutrally and wished she could simply leave the room.

“I am just saying that if you were planning on doing something heroic like that, that you should reveal it to someone and not try to face it alone”, Ariadne said. “I am not saying you should come to me but to someone you can trust to help you because you shouldn’t have to decide something like this, whether it should be your life to be given to save others.”

“Isn’t that what becoming a Protector is about?” Cassandra asked. “To give your life to save others?”

“In the right situation”, Ariadne said. “But sometimes there are other ways. Don’t ever forget that.”

Cassandra wasn’t sure why this was so important to Ariadne but she promised that she would keep it in mind. She was just about to leave when Ariadne called out to her once more.

“You know, you shouldn’t call him heartless”, Ariadne said and Cassandra stopped to look back at the small figure clutching her books and papers like a treasure. “He has the biggest heart of you all. He just doesn’t know how to use it.”

With training each day, studying for exams and extra lessons with Ben, Cassandra found that time passed very quickly. During their training sessions together, Ben was always quiet and withdrawn. When she mentioned the three girls, he told her that Heracles was still looking into their deaths but that the Nereids hadn’t seen the creature again and thought it was gone. He also said that he was sorry for the girls’ death but she felt that he was preoccupied with something else entirely. Another time, when she tried to talk about another incident involving Bear beating one of the Unclaimed to a pulp, he snapped and told her that they were here to train, not to talk so she didn’t try again.

And suddenly it was the morning of New Year’s Eve. In the evening, all students had been invited to attend a big dinner at the palace. As contestants, Hector and Cassandra had been asked to the upper floor together with the demigods and some selected Claimed. Their friends would have dinner on the ground floor and Charlie said it was much more fun down there anyway. Cassandra and Hector promised to join them later but first they would have to survive dinner with the “Aristoclaimed” as Pandora called them.

A few days before the event, Cassandra had sat with Alexander after training and they had joked back and forth about this and that when he suddenly asked her what she would be wearing for the occasion. Cassandra instantly lost her appetite.

“I am not sure”, she said and shoved her still half-f plate to the side. “I haven’t thought about it yet.”

She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

“You know, dancing really isn’t my thing”, she said and shrugged. “Maybe I shouldn’t go at all.”

Alexander laughed and shook his head.

“Dancing isn’t my thing either”, he said. “But I will still enjoy the music and especially the people.”

Cassandra wrung her hands.

“I really don’t want to be there”, she said agitatedly. “Couldn’t I just stay downstairs with my friends?”

The moment she said it she knew she had said it wrong. Alexander’s face fell and his smile vanished.

“I was hoping you considered me to be your friend as well”, he said and she hated the formality in his voice.

“I do. You are”, Cassandra said, lost for words. “It’s just that… I really don’t see how Hector and I fit up there.”

Alexander thought for a moment.

“It doesn’t matter whether you think you fit or not. You have a right to be there and you should exercise it. You will be the only Unclaimed upstairs and that should count for something. Consider it a start.”

Cassandra closed her eyes and then sighed.

“Fine”, she said. “But I am not wearing a dress.”

Alexander laughed.

“I am afraid you don’t have a choice in that either”, he said. “And although I must say that you wear your training outfits very well, I don’t see how you would feel comfortable in them in a room full of ball gowns and tuxes.”

Cassandra felt all color drain out of her face.

“Are we talking big flowery puffy dresses that make noise when you move in them?” she said while Alexander tried his best to keep his face straight.

“I am afraid we are”, he said evenly and Cassandra buried her face in a cushion.

“This is getting worse and worse”, she mumbled and had a vision of herself dressed in a pink monstrosity. That made her laugh so she looked up and met Alexander’s amused expression.

“Fine”, she said. “I am going. But no flowers, no puffed sleeves or rustling fabrics. And no dancing.”

“Agreed to that”, Alexander said. “After all, I am not sure you could considering that you would be wearing high heels, could you?”

Cassandra threw the cushion at him and Alexander caught it with his good hand and threw it back at her. The throwing and shouting and giggling eventually got so loud that three guards came rushing in, swords raised and asking if everything was alright.

Cassandra, her hair disheveled and her cheeks flushed, emerged from behind one of the sofas, placed the cushion on the sofa and went towards the door.

“Sleep well, Alexander”, she said with as much dignity as she could muster under the circumstances.

“You too, Cassandra”, Alexander said and bent his head a little, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “And won’t it be a pleasure to see you in a dress.”

Cassandra threw the cushion straight at him, then she ran for the door, evading the raised swords of two of the guards with a quick move that sent them running into each other and was out of the palace faster than a thought. When she arrived back home, she was still laughing. She spontaneously hugged her sister who was studying for her exam the next morning and then fell into her bed, exhausted. That night she dreamed of turquoise eyes, myriad pink cushions and faceless dolls. And she dreamt of being swirled around on high-heels by hundreds of Bens dressed in tuxedos so black they were like tiny holes in the world.

That had been three days ago and Cassandra still felt uncomfortable at the thought of having to wear a dress. She had never worn anything but the leather clothes she had brought with her. She had never had her eyebrows plucked or her face painted, and she just shaved her legs because it was practical. But she knew that Alexander expected her to look good and that he had given her enough money to make that happen. Only Cassandra had spent it all on buying blankets, wood and bread and medicine for themselves and the other Unclaimed so that they would all get through the cold months. The other Unclaimed hadn’t exactly been enthusiastic that it had come from her but had accepted the gifts.

“They don’t like being treated like charity cases”, Pandora had said to which Charlie had replied that they should be happy someone was finally doing something for them. But Cassandra didn’t care either way. She knew it was hard to accept something you felt you hadn’t earned yourself but she had also seen that sometimes life just got a little easier with a little help. And money.

She touched the new leather clothes, the only extravagance she had allowed herself, that felt like a second skin and kept her warm. She laid the new sword she had gotten Hector on the kitchen table and snapped at Jim, who was playing with his new Bunsen burner, to leave it alone when he stretched out his hand to touch it. Charlie, who smelled like he had bathed in garbage, smiled his rotten smile and let himself fall down on a chair next to her.

Summer came in, talking excitedly to Hector about her new herbarium and when she saw Cassandra, she let out a cry and spontaneously hugged Cassandra, thanking her for the present. Pandora happily showed them her new necklace with a tiny, but real diamond on its pendant. Beside her, Charlie raised one of his currently very bushy eyebrows.

“And what did you get me?” he said in exasperation and Cassandra pulled out a shiny flask that was so thin, it wouldn’t make a bulge in his trousers yet held more liquid than you’d expect.

“You shouldn’t have”, Charlie said ironically but Cassandra thought his eyes softened for a moment. “Let me see. I guess you didn’t get anything for yourself?”

Cassandra shrugged and indicated her clothes.

“Is that what you are wearing tonight then?” he said and shook his head.

Cassandra didn’t say anything but apparently the expression on her face was enough to set off her sister.

“You haven’t bought a dress yet?” Pandora asked, appalled, and Cassandra sighed.

“Why is everyone so concerned with what I am wearing?” Cassandra said, exasperated.

Pandora and Charlie looked at each other as if Cassandra was the crazy one.

“Because it’s a party”, they both said in unison.

“It’s where you go to have fun. Meet people”, Charlie said, showing way too much of his wine-stained teeth. “Have sex.”

“Don’t want to hear it”, Jim said, humming and clapping his hands over his ears.

Pandora, ignoring Jim’s antics, was looking at her sister thoughtfully.

“You can’t go like that. No one is going to want to dance with you”, she said as if Cassandra should care.

“I don’t want to dance”, Cassandra said and Pandora got up and took her into her arms.

“The poor thing”, she said in Charlie’s direction. “She is delusional. So what are we going to do?”

Cassandra wanted to say that they were going to do nothing but apparently she didn’t have a say in this.

“I think I can get her an appointment with Madame Margot. She still owes me a favor”, Charlie said, stroking his beard.

Pandora shrieked.

“Marge is great! You should totally do that”, she said excitedly. “She is the best!” She pointed at her hair. “She is the first one who has ever made this whole mess work.”

Charlie looked curiously at Pandora.

“And how were you able to afford Madame Margot’s prices, I wonder?”

“We found an arrangement“, Pandora said with a smirk and the way she said arrangement made Cassandra’s nose itch.

“Can I come with you?” Pandora asked and before Cassandra could say yes, they were on their way to this Madame Margot, whoever that was. Cassandra strongly felt that she would rather go into a fight with the hydra again than to wherever her sister was dragging her. At least with the hydra she knew what to expect.

“Don’t worry”, Pandora said while they were walking over campus. “Madame Margot is really nice. I mean, she is also quite judgy and won’t be pleased by your overall lack of attendance to your general appearance but she can work wonders, I promise.”

“That makes me feel so happy”, Cassandra said but Pandora, who was usually quite aware of Cassandra’s moods, was so excited about going to Madame Margot’s that she simply kept on talking. Eventually they stopped in front of a round stone building with big wooden doors which opened as if by themselves when they knocked. Pandora simply dragged her in after herself. Cassandra had expected something more extravagant, colorful even, not the white-washed, almost sterile atmosphere she encountered in the small room that seemed to be something like a reception area. It held nothing but a high wooden desk behind which a stern, breathtakingly beautiful young woman was keeping guard with nothing but a pencil poised slightly above a huge black book. By the look in her eye it was obvious that Pandora and Cassandra were not on the list.

Cassandra had never been so intimidated in her life and hated that she felt that way. She was about to turn around, when the door behind the beautiful girl opened and another long-legged girl in a sort of toga that was so short it only covered what was really necessary, came in and smiled at them. Pandora did the shrieking thing again and excitedly hugged and kissed the girl, whispering something into her ear, before she turned around and introduced Cassandra, who was still standing in the doorway, not knowing what to do or where to turn. This girl’s nose also wrinkled slightly when she took in Cassandra’s appearance but then forced herself to smile a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Be nice”, Pandora whispered loud enough for Cassandra to hear. “She is my sister. And Charlie sends his regards as I am sure you already know.”

“Pandora, Charlie didn’t tell me she was an almost hopeless case”, she said with a voice too deep for a woman. Cassandra opened and shut her eyes several times but still saw a beautiful girl.

“Stop teasing her, Marge”, Pandora said but seemed to be having a lot of fun, too. “By the way, Cassandra, this is Madame Margot.”

Cassandra murmured that she had gathered that much already.

“So you are wondering what I am”, the girl said and started towards Cassandra. Cassandra tensed.

“Don’t worry”, she said and walked around Cassandra. “You will never guess right.”

Now her voice was high and melodic but her face had changed into that of a beautiful young man. Cassandra blinked again but couldn’t make out the true face.

“Let’s see, what do we have here”, the man-woman said, still circling Cassandra. “Very fine cheekbones, nice eyes, good skin. Body in excellent shape. And what does she do with it?”

His voice was shrill and accusatory all of a sudden.

“Nothing.”

The boy with the female voice sounded offended. Then he turned into a she again.

“How can you care so little for your appearance? And what are those?”

She pointed disgustedly at Cassandra’s clothes. Just then Pandora whispered something in a language Cassandra didn’t understand into Madame Margot’s ear which made her smile.

“Alexander’s contestant you say?” she said and looked thoughtfully at Cassandra. “And a friend of Charlie’s? You have some powerful – and in Charlie’s case entertaining – friends, girl. Pandora, get her into the room at the back and naked and I will see what I can do.”

With that she disappeared through the door again. Pandora had to laugh at Cassandra’s look of sheer terror

“I am not going to get naked”, Cassandra said, aghast.

“Yes you are”, Pandora said. “And now we have to at least get rid of our shoes.”

And with that she gave her shoes to the girl behind the high desk.

“Take good care of them, Sal, will you?” Pandora said and the girl looked like she had bitten into a lemon. “We don’t have a lot of time so I will just lead her through dressed, ok?”