Chapter 9
Victory
The victorious couple slept under the watchful eyes of the Gods and mountain-dwelling nymphs and satyrs for the rest of that day and the entirety of the next. So great was their exhaustion, their elation, and Hippodameia’s grief, that it was as though they could not wake from a tortuous dream in which they relived every moment of that race. The cries of horses and crushing of rock, the splintering of trees and the spinning of wheels, all of it went round again, and again in their minds, even as they lay upon the soft ground with their arms clasped about each other.
On the second morning, Pelops awoke to the soft nuzzling of one of the stallions, the beast’s hot breath blowing on his face to awaken him. He opened his eyes slowly to see the tree above him, whistling soft
