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Odysseus was of the opinion that some oaths were meant to be kept, whilst others could be bent, or even broken.
Anything sworn to his amazing wife had to be fulfilled of course. Although not an official oath, he had personally vowed to spend his life at her side on their wedding day.
Therefore any oaths capable of interfering with that vow must be broken. Such as his oath to defend the marriage of a different woman. Menelaus was a king capable of handling his own problems. Odysseus neither needed nor wanted to waste his time helping the man.
However the main issue with breaking an oath was not the decision itself. The true difficulty lay in having to defend oneself against those who would force a man to uphold it.
A whole fleet of men in Odysseus’ case.
High up on a hill as he was, Odysseus could see the crowd of ships from his salted fields. He grimaced. Did Argamemmon and Menelaus really need to send that many people to test his sanity? One ship would have been enough to have a witness to his madness.
Still, the fleet was a few hours away from arriving yet. That left Odysseus with time to make one last decision.
His grip tightened on the knife in his hand. Were it not for Helen and Menelaus’ nonsense, Odysseus would have long since used it to rid himself of the cursed growths that haunted his back. As it was, the growth required bi-annual removal and he was already a month behind schedule.
It would be best to remove them. The sight of open, bleeding wounds on his back would help to convince Menelaus’ envoy of his insanity. And could he even afford not to? The growths were starting to grow large enough to leave visible indents from beneath his chiton. A sharp-eyed man could easily notice the strange masses and want to further investigate.
Odysseus would like to believe his tongue would be silver enough to make others associate the strange growths on his back with his supposed insanity should they be discovered.
However it would be all too easy for someone to declare the growths cursed. A sign that his ‘cowardice’ offended the gods, dooming him to be turned into a monster the likes of Scylla or Medusa as penance for his crimes.
That would be reason enough for the fleet to kill him. Men are often irrational when faced with the unnatural. They would likely kill him before he could reveal the true nature of his growths, and then use it as an excuse to justify setting fire to his entire island. There were probably many soldiers within that fleet who already wanted to do so. No one liked an oathbreaker after all, not even one who simply wished to remain at home with his family.
Odysseus raised the knife and pressed it against one of the growths. He had done this procedure too many times over the years to fear the impending agony. Removing the growths now would only serve to prove his supposed insanity as well as prevent any accusations of being cursed. It was the safest option for both him and his family.
Yet.
Against his better judgement, Odysseus lowered the knife. Dangerous as they were, the growths could come in useful if Menelaus’ envoy managed find proof of Odysseus’ sanity.
Odysseus cursed himself under his breath as he walked towards his hut to fetch his chlamys. He was a fool. A fool to have sworn any oaths of Helen of Sparta’s father, and a fool to not remove the growths whilst he still had time.
In hindsight, Odysseus needn’t have worried. Palamedes was unobservant enough to be tricked by the careful placement of Odysseus’ chlamys. The envoy did not even think to inspect Odysseus’ carefully prepared hut, let alone his clothing.
Instead he should have been far more concerned with the fleet’s brains than their eyes. Palamedes was blind enough not to notice the similar growths that adorned Odysseus’ son’s back. But he also possessed the cunning necessary to take Telemachus and place the child in the path of a supposed madman’s plow.
Odysseus covered Telemachus with his chlamys as he cradled him. He paid little attention to the envoy’s speech to the crowd as he walked back to his palace. Palamedes’ had proven himself to be a cruel man, Odysseus would hate to know what that monster would do should he learn of what also grew from Telemachus’ back.
The baby slept peacefully that night, unaware of his parent’s torment. Odysseus felt the opposite of fatigue as he read the document Palamedes had sent him. Even Penelope’s presence was of little comfort as his wife placed her arm on his shoulder.
“How long do we have?”
Odysseus sighed as he looked over the sheet. “A month.”
One month for Odysseus to gather his army, supplies and say his goodbyes before sailing off to fight in a faraway land.
“Hm” Penelope took the sheet from him “We could delay this to two months.”
Odysseus smiled “three months with the right excuse.”
He then removed his wife’s arm from his shoulders before undressing to reveal the growths. He turned his back to Penelope. “What do they look like?”
“Larger than I’ve ever seen them…” He could feel his wife hesitate as she leaned towards him.
“And?”
“The skin… is covered in bumps, as if-”
As if something was growing from them. Like hair would grow from a human scalp. Or in this case how feathers would grow from a wing.
“… So it has come to this.” His wife eventually continued.
“I can’t think of another solution.”
Now that Palamedes had proven his sanity, he doubted any other attempts at deception would work on the man. Which left the truth as his only option. Although it would have to be a partial truth if he wanted Ithaca to survive it.
He tried not to flinch as his wife touched one of the growing nubs. “So, do you think I’ll have any feathers by the end of the month?”
“A month would be a bit optimistic, but if you can stretch it to three…”
“Then we may survive this just yet” Odysseus continued.
Of course Odysseus would survive. As would his son by virtue of being Hermes’ grandson. And Odysseus would no longer need to worry about being forced into combat. The gods were known to be far too protective of their offspring to ever make them fight.
But that vicious overprotectiveness had a dark side. Many mortals had been slaughtered or even turned into animals for merely offending the last known demigod. Dozens islands were still haunted by the ruins of cities that had failed to properly acknowledge Dionysus.
Odysseus knew enough of the messenger God to predict how he would react to his existence. If he were to immediately declare himself the son of Hermes. His divine father would likely envelop him in his embrace. The god of thieves may even shed a few joyful tears.
But the euphoria would fade in favour of rage at the current state of Odysseus’ wings. Hermes would kill everyone who had ever allowed Odysseus to hide his demigod status. His mother… His father... Penelope…
No. Odysseus shook his head to dispel the awful thought. He had time. Time let his wings grow. Time to find the words necessary to calm a god’s fury. His father’s fury.
He looked up as his wife placed a hand on his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow as she showed him a pot of ointment.
“I’m not sure if medicinal salves would help boost wing growth, but it’s worth a try.”
Odysseus poked at the ointment, and then dabbed it on his wife’s nose with a playful chuckle.“Your ideas are always worth a try my dear.”
The following months were… challenging. Odysseus first had to bribe a large percentage of soldiers to feign illness so that his ships could not sail. He provided them with plants known cause skin irritation and then taught them how to best feign coughing and fevers. When Palamedes grew suspicious, Odysseus bribed several soldiers within the envoy’s own fleet to make the plague more convincing.
Still, even a fake plague could not keep Palamedes at bay for long. He soon began to insist that Odysseus’ men could undergo quarantine on their ships whilst sailing to war. So to buy more time Odysseus had his seers declare that Ithaca had offended one of the gods. Which meant a noble sacrifice needed be constructed to appease them!
The best way to appease an offended god was to of course construct a giant wooden structure in their honour. After some thought Odysseus decided to have his men build a giant wolf for Apollo. The deities’ ties to plagues and healing provided a satisfactory explanation for Palamedes many questions. More importantly Troy’s patron would be unlikely to deny involvement in Odysseus’ fake plague if it meant delaying Odysseus’ participation in the war.
Of course the Wolf’s construction experienced many delays. Several wood shortages occurred due to unexpected wildfires. Many of the construction workers suddenly fell ill, further delaying all progress. Tragically, just when the wolf looked to be almost complete, several sections had to be rebuilt as the wood was found to have rotted due to exposure to the elements.
Unfortunately with the completion of the wolf came the end of Ithaca’s fake plague. To continue the lie would be to risk implying that Apollo was an unjust god, and the last thing Odysseus wanted was to actually offend the deity.
With the end of the plague came renewed demands from Palamedes for the army to finally set sail. Renewed in person specifically, as Palamedes took it upon himself to pay the palace a daily visit, draining Odysseus’ free time with pointless speeches about honour and respect.
Having to sit there and listen to the irritating envoy for endless hours was certainly a unique form of torture. It made his growing wings ache even more than they usually had over the past few months, to the point were Odysseus was almost tempted to rip off his chiton and declare himself the son of Hermes right there and then.
He would have done so long before the completion of the wolf statue were it not for the state of his wings. Penelope had spent the past two months weaving bulkier and bulkier chlamyses as the masses began to grow into what could potentially be recognised as a functional limb. However the newly grown appendages had been slow to grow adequate feathers. As it was, Odysseus’ wings were currently covered in little pin feathers that had yet to exit their shells.
It was a state of being that was both physically itchy and visually unworthy of being presented to a god. Honestly the growing process was painful enough to make joining the war a tempting prospect just so that Odysseus would have an excuse to amputate the cursed limbs.
He may have even gone for that option were it not for the very real prophecy that the seers had given him. A few months of pain would be nothing compared to twenty years away from Penelope and his son.
All he could do was hope that an additional month would be enough for to make the wings look somewhat presentable. And less itchy.
Of course Palamedes had little tolerance to spare for Odysseus’ shenanigans by this point, which meant that inventing a new issue would be unlikely to work.
So Odysseus instead set fire to all of his war ships, as well as Palamedes’ fleet. He also set fire to all civilian vessels on the island just in case. He did not do the deed in person of course. Several of his men were paid to set the ships on fire during one of the envoy’s many speeches. Odysseus had a lot of fun watching the irritating man’s reaction to the fire. And since Odysseus was in the same room as Palamedes at the time of the crime, he officially had an alibi!
Alibi or not, Odysseus knew Palamedes suspected him of being somehow responsible. But only an insane king would destroy his own war fleet.
Since Palamedes had already proven Odysseus’ sanity, well, the envoy could hardly accuse Odysseus of having lost his mind.
Rebuilding a fleet of warships would take weeks, if not years of work. Years Palamedes did not have. So whilst the envoy sent Menelaus requests for more ships, Odysseus had his men construct a new wooden structure to Hermes since, as he repeatedly told Palamedes, Hermes was the god of travel.
The giant snake was built to match its wolf sibling in size as he did not want to risk offending his father before they could meet. He even instructed his men to work diligently and pay close attention to quality of wood used to prevent any delays. This was a statue that had to be completed in time for the arrival of Palamedes new ships.
Palamedes kept a much closer eye on the boats this time, barely sparing Odysseus a second glance as he approached the port.
“So they’ve finally arrived!” The king exclaimed with fake cheer.
“They have indeed. King Menelaus has instructed us to board the vessel by sun fall so that we can make haste.”
Odysseus raised an eyebrow. “By sun fall? Is it really necessary for us to depart so soon? My men will need time to prepare for the journey.”
He was amused to see Palamedes glare at him “Your men have been preparing for departure for the past three months.”
Odysseus turned to face the envoy “And by that you mean?” He dared to ask with an arrogant grin.
“Your many attempts to convince me of your insanity have failed King of Ithaca. I look forward to seeing how you will apply your… creative strategies to the battlefield.”
The only battlefield here was Odysseus’ face as he tried not to laugh whilst he walked away. Palamedes was a fool to think that Odysseus did not have one last trick to play.
Upon entering his palace Odysseus spoke with his wife before heading straight for Athena’s altar. Despite his parents’ best efforts, Odysseus had managed to befriend at least one deity during his childhood. Athena had been a good mentor. Wise, though fortunately distant enough not to realise that they were related.
They had not spoken much recently. Athena wanted her students to become fierce warriors and strategists, capable of winning a war both on and off the battlefield. By delaying his departure for war, Odysseus had spent the past few months doing the exact opposite of that.
Still he knelt before her altar as he called for her, and bowed his head in respect when she finally arrived.
“So you have finally seen sense.” Athena declared.
“The ships are set to sail today.”
The goddess looked at him for a long moment as if trying to decide what to say. “Good. Your strategic mind will be of great aid to King Menelaus’ forces. You will do me proud.”
“I hope to prove myself worthy of your mentorship.”
“I will look forward to seeing you do so.”
“-However there is something I need to discuss before my departure.”
“That is?” Athena raised a brow.
Odysseus forced himself not to take a deep breath before speaking. “It is a matter that regards Hermes.”
The goddess crossed her arms “The god you built a giant statue for.”
Was that… jealousy?
“Yes, though I have yet to build him an altar in my palace.” Odysseus made sure to point out.
“… As you are on a tight schedule today, I will retrieve him for you.” The goddess said before disappearing.
If Athena were not an all powerful deity, Odysseus would have dared to describe the goddess’ demeanour as having been rather… awkward. Instead he focused on the speech, no, the story he had spent the past three months preparing.
As expected of a god of travel, Hermes was quick to arrive. He was accompanied by Athena, who seemed to have no intention of leaving anytime soon.
Odysseus immediately went down to his knees
“Lord Hermes, God of messengers, Master of travel-” He stopped speaking as a hand fell upon his head.
“Now now darling, no need for such formalities.” Hermes patted him on the head a few more times before gesturing for Odysseus to stand up.
“Now that’s much better is it not” Hermes smiled as Odysseus stood up “So, is this about the snake statue? It is very impressive!”
“The statue is not… unrelated to the matter I wished to discuss. However it is not why I wanted to speak with you.”
Odysseus mentally braced himself for the upcoming conversation before forcing himself to remove his chlamys. He had made sure to style his chiton in such a manner as to expose the wings on his back. They were still rather small in size, but the three months of growing pains had given the appendages enough time to grow a thick coat of shiny feathers. Odysseus would hardly describe the things as beautiful, but they presentable at the very least.
He risked a cautious glance at the deities in front of him. Both were too stunned to speak, so he took the opportunity to continue his story before either god could make any unwanted assumptions.
“I grew up believing that I had been-” He yelped as Hermes launched himself in his direction.
For a brief moment Odysseus felt a stab of fear. Could his parents have been wrong to assume Odysseus was the son of a god? That very seed of doubt had contributed to their decision to conceal their son’s real nature. For if Odysseus were in fact a monster then this conversation could only ever end with the destruction of Ithaca.
To his relief Hermes did not proceed to exile him from the land of the living. Instead Hermes placed his hands under Odysseus underarms and then proceeded to lift him up into the air.
Hermes began to speak in a frantic tone as words spilled out of the deities mouth.
“A son! I have a son! What did I do to deserve such a miracle. I can’t-”
Then the god froze, and turned towards Athena. Goosebumps appeared on Odysseus’ skin as he saw a storm begin to brew in Hermes’ eyes.
“Did you know about this!” Hermes accused with a frighteningly serious tone of voice.
Athena looked almost scared as she looked at Odysseus’ wings “I swear on the styx that I was unaware of your son’s existence.”
Hermes seemed to calm down a little upon hearing this “My son has spent over a decade of his life under your guidance. How could you not have known?”
The goddess paused for a long moment before speaking. “…I’ve never seen a demigod in person before. I knew there was something… special about your son. However I took it to be a sign of greatness, not divinity.”
Hermes frowned. “You’re supposed to be the goddess of wisdom.”
“And you are supposed to be boy’s father, yet you also failed to recognise him without his wings.”
Hermes opened his mouth yet no words came out. Odysseus took the opportunity to interject.
“I was also unaware of my divine heritage until relatively recently” he lied.
Athena narrowed her eyes in his direction “Did I fail to teach you even the most basic of observational skills?”
“Of course not my lady. However demigods are known to be… rare… so I simply assumed my wings to be a sign of something else.”
“Like what sweetheart?” Hermes asked.
The King of Ithaca looked down in shame “A sign that I was cursed.”
Odysseus bled emotions of doubt and fear into this confession so that the gods would be sure of his ‘innocence’. It worked as he could see the sadness and pity in their eyes. Good. Good. This was going well so far.
Hermes tilted his head to one side “But what about your parents? I had several… encounters with your parents in their youth, so they would have known better.”
“Tales of Dionysus’ birth have taught us mortals that a demigod child cannot enter this world without divine intervention. My birth was normal, smooth procedure. So when I later began to grow wings…”
“They sought a different explanation” Hermes murmured.
Odysseus nodded, relieved to see the god follow along with his story. “My parents consulted several healers regarding the matter.”
Hermes brought Odysseus close to his chest. “And what did they say darling?”
Odysseus took a deep breath before speaking “They said I was a monster, that I would need to be killed to spare Ithaca great misfortune.”
The god gasped in horror. “How could they!”
Odysseus leaned against Hermes’ shoulder. “My parents hid my wings to protect me, to save. And when I grew old enough to understand the risk my wings posed…”
He felt Hermes trace the scarred border between his wings and back.
“I thought I had no choice” Odysseus said with the saddest voice he could muster.
“But those wings are newly grown, which means you continued to… hide them… even after discovering your divine heritage.” Athena interrupted.
Odysseus forced himself not to glare at his mentor and instead looked up towards his divine father with wide, teary eyes. “I can only ask forgiveness for my continued deception, however my intentions were noble.”
Hermes let out a small chuckle “I know I’m the god of lies sweetheart, but even I would not consider it noble to lie to your parents.”
“And I understand that Lord Hermes-”
“-Father”
Ah. Yes. Of course. “I understand your position father, however I simply wanted to honour you by gifting you a grandson.”
“No…” Hermes gasped.
It felt strange to purposefully introduce a child to the gods. It was considered bad luck, as the gods were quick to anger when presented with what they could not have. But Telemachus would have nothing to fear from this particular deity.
“We are all aware of the cruel curse the titans placed on our lineage. Athena herself spoke to me of the pain and suffering our family has endured.”
Odysseus felt Hermes arms tighten around him. He let the god hold him for a few long moments before continuing.
“I hoped my mortality and obscurity would allow me to evade the titan’s curse long enough to have a few children of my own.”
As per their plan, Penelope took this as a cue to enter the room with their dear, precious Telemachus cradled in her arms.
“Father, it is my honour to introduce you to your grandson.” Penelope held the child up to show Hermes the little wings that had began to emerge from his grandson’s back.
Hermes’ eyes grew watery. “I- I have a grandson.”
Odysseus gave him a sad smile “I had hoped to give you more grandchildren. But alas Palamedes war ships have grown impatient.”
Fury returned to Hermes’ eyes. “You will not set a single foot on those ships.”
“Even if it means breaking my oath?” The king asked with an innocent voice whilst ignoring the look Athena sent him.
Hermes chuckled “Oh darling, I’m a god silly. Mortal oaths are of no consequence to the divine. Only a fool would try to claim otherwise.”
“I see father.” Odysseus forced himself not to shudder as he remembered the ruined cities of Dionysus.
“Not that you would need to worry about that in your new home of course. Which reminds me!”
“Uh-” Odysseus frowned as Hermes lifted him upwards and span him around.
“Where would you like to live darling? I have a place in Olympus of course, but I also have a home on Mount Cyllene as well as-”
“Ithaca.” Odysseus dared to interrupt “I’d like to stay here.”
Hermes expression turned pained “Oh sweetheart, the mortal realm is not safe for someone as precious as you.”
“My son was born here. Please Father, don’t make me leave my home” Odysseus pleaded with wide eyes.
“No no no no.” Hermes shook his head “Sweetheart, I know you have an emotional attachment to your kingdom, but I refuse to abandon you!”
“Then stay!”
“What?” Hermes frowned.
“Stay here with me. I have several” recently constructed “spare rooms in the palace’s family wing that you could make your own. I could even build you a temple to house your new statue!”
Hermes paused, not saying a word. Odysseus said nothing as he allowed the god to consider his proposal. He had long since known that revealing his demigod nature meant he would never again be able to stray far from Hermes’ sight. If he had to spend the foreseeable future in close quarters with a god, then he would like to at least be able to do so within his own quarters.
Of course Odysseus had some backup plans prepared in case his father insisted he live on Olympus. But they were rather tedious so he would rather not have to implement if possible.
“…I suppose we could stay here for now…” the god eventually decided to Odysseus’ relief.
Odysseus beamed at Hermes before launching himself down into the deity’s embrace “Thank you father you won’t regret this!” He opened his mouth to discuss Hermes’ future living arrangements, only to be interrupted by the youngest person in the room.
“… I believe it is time for the prince’s nap, I believe I can leave the rest of the negotiations to you both.” Penelope was quick to announce as Telemachus began to fuss in her arms.
Odysseus watched as the two deities exchanged a long look, and fought the urge to sigh when Athena accompanied his dear wife. Both he and Penelope had hoped the gods would refrain from being so obviously… overprotective of their new relatives, but alas it was not to be.
Still, was it too much to ask for at least a little subtlety from the goddess of wisdom?
Now that they were alone, Odysseus took a moment to truly examine his divine father. At a first glance the god could be mistaken for human… if seen by a heavily intoxicated man. For all that Hermes was in possession of the same number of fingers and toes as his brethren, the god’s skin was too flawless and his eyes far too bright. That was without even getting started on the… appendages.
Hermes smiled as he caught his stare. “Would you like a closer look sweetheart?”
Odysseus did not protest as one of his hands was placed on the god’s wings’. He frowned. Hermes’ feathers were a lot softer than his own.
“Does that feel nice?”
The king of Ithaca nodded as the god carried him over to a nearby seating area and set him down. He felt himself relax as divine fingers began to work their way through his wings. Both he and Penelope had put a lot of effort into wing maintenance over the past three months, yet they had never managed to make the experience an enjoyable one.
As relaxed as he was, it took a moment for the god’s next words to fully register.
“You told me a very pretty lie today darling.”
Odysseus froze. Then forced himself to relax. He had already discussed this possibility with Penelope. Only a fool would lie to a god of deception and expect to be believed. However if the lie was appealing enough, it might be enough to convince a divine father to humour his mortal son.
“…Did you enjoy it?”
Now came the true moment of reckoning. Odysseus had spent the past three months crafting a story. One of oblivious parents that had unknowingly raised a demigod child. Of a son who only remained hidden out of a desire to provide grandchildren to his divine father. Of a king who had carved out a comfortable place for Hermes in his kingdom.
All he could now was wait to see if Hermes would be willing to continue that story to its happy conclusion. Or if the god would instead bring ruin to what Odysseus loved in the name of truth and vengeance.
Hermes chuckled as he pulled Odysseus closer to him.
“It was perfect darling.”