Chapter 15A day had passed, enough time for Aeneas to bring the Trojans ashore and gather his companions. They sat at the long table in Gyas’s command tent. At the prince’s request, the tent flaps had been lifted and bright sunshine streamed inside. He would not skulk in the darkness.
Aeneas took his seat at the end of the table opposite Gyas. The mercenary was having a whispered conversation with his aide Akestes, who was seated at his right hand. Each would occasionally glance in Aeneas’s direction, making him feel uneasy. Nobody had heard from the mercenary since he had deserted the Trojan ranks seven years ago, but it seemed he’d been busy. Yesterday Gyas had explained why he’d defaced the cairn of Aeneas’s father.
‘Your father was a great man. He deserved a better monument than a si
