"This way, dear Odysseus." Nestor's halls are wide and lavish.
Even with all his guests, there's space for my crew, but they return to my ship when they get the tools.
I'm jealous they can leave so early. I want to go and help with the repairs too, even if there's not much we can do before the night sets in. Here, the amount of Spartans is too damn high.
It's almost prophetic we ran into each other in Pylos, when I wanted to avoid them more than anything. I lied in Messenia that they're allied to me, which they could treat as an insult.
"Let me introduce you to someone." My host doesn't make my life easier by forcing me on them.
My only luck is that the Messenian king must still be steaming with rage.
He won't talk about his humiliating defeat to anyone, let alone to the Spartans.
It's ironic that he sabotaged my prize and gave us rotten supplies.
I'd be in much bigger trouble if he swallowed his pride and talked to them instead.
He still can, so I'd rather leave soon and sail home to Ithaca. But the king of Pylos has none of that.
"These are the princes Alyzeus and Leucadius."
The first two he introduces are the hunters I pissed off by shooting their prey.
I immediately forget their names, and they don't show much interest in me either.
They are young and hot-blooded, but as the guests of the same ruler, they can't act on it anymore.
"These are Thoas, Damasippus, Imeusimus, Aletes, and Perilaus." He continues with more forgettable names, but I pretend to care. I don't want any diplomatic blunders here.
The sooner the Gambit is ready to set sails the better. Homer doesn't mention Odysseus again until the Trojan Wars, apart from courting Penelope. And that's a disaster.
"They're all brothers, but I want you to meet their sister." Was that another wink? Is he playing a matchmaker? I hope not because as I said, a woman is the last thing I need.
We approach a girl, around the same age as Ktimene. Come on, Nestor, she's way too young.
I don't care about the customs of this era, I don't want a wife or a mistress, let alone a child.
"Iphthime, where is your father?" He asks her, and the girl looks confused with her big brown eyes. Her hair is shorter and darker than my sister's and lacks that exciting orange tint.
The waves still reach her shoulders, bare in her simple, yet elegant tunic. I wouldn't call her ugly, but her face lacks anything worth mentioning. It's warm and kind, but as average as it gets.
Still, I better be careful with her, and her many brothers. The woman my namesake courted was also a Spartan princess, and it cost Odysseus an arm. Let's avoid the same mistake.
"He must be helping my older sister to prepare for the feast, Good King." She explains, looking for them as well, then her gaze stops on me. "Who is this man, My Lord?"
Her voice is pleasant to the ears. It rings with excitement and curiosity, unlike her brothers'. She even blushes a bit. A teen with a crush on me should stroke my ego, but I'm worried.
"Ah, this is Odysseus, son of Laertes, the future king of Ithaca. And this is Iphthime, daughter of Icarius." He introduces us at last, and while her name doesn't ring a bell, her father does.
"It is a pleasure to meet you here in Pylos, Princess." Come on, why is his name so familiar? He must be a Spartan noble, but their king is Tyndareus, Helen's adoptive father.
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A woman with so many courtiers that will lead to armed conflicts, including the Trojan Wars. Spartans don't have it easy with these girls, are they?
Iphthime in the meantime blushes even more. The servants carry in the food, signaling a huge feast about to begin, but I can only think about that name.
"Let us eat and drink, and praise Posseidon." Our host toasts and I find myself at the long table.
There is an empty seat on my right, and the blushing princess on my left. Ugh, Nestor.
He is a great storyteller, his voice echoing in the great hall during much of the feast.
He talks of his adventures, including legendary boar hunts and his time on Argo.
I miss most of it, lost in thought and wine, but I've read about these searching through Greek myths.
It's surprising how close his retelling is to them, but where did I hear of Icarius?
The Sparta they came from is different from Leonidas' kingdom. Like Messene, their city should not exist yet, but these guests tell me it does.
According to archeologists, the Dorian Invasion lays the foundation of the famous dual-kingdom.
If I understood Athena's intention, that's the event I'm supposed to delay.
Doing so will help me return to my time, and I better keep my arms intact if I intend to succeed.
It would be best to avoid Spartan princesses and all attention, but Nestor has other plans.
"Now let us hear something interesting, dear Odysseus." His voice is getting hoarse, and he demands a story about my recent journey.
"Again? I told you what happened since my return already." Reminding him isn't enough.
The guests had wine aplenty, and while I lost myself in thought, they got drunk.
"Come on you expert hunter, tell us a good story." The prince who called me a peasant earlier is the loudest to demand. Was he Leucadius? No, I guess Alyzeus. It doesn't matter.
"A good story?" I'm sure they'd find my hunting accident hilarious, but it would be too short.
"Tell them how you named your ship Messenian Gambit." My host demands, making matters worse. Yeah. The one thing I don't want these Spartans to hear. Oh well, there's no choice.
"It started with 300 sheep stolen from our humble island of Ithaca." They will bug me until they get an interesting story, so I'll leave the part involving them out. My audience loves it.
The wine helps with my stage fright, allowing me to color it here and there for extra laughs. I concentrate on the story so much, I miss when someone takes the empty seat by my side.
"So my servant found the shepherds. He fed some sheep with wet wheat to make them bloat, and dressed my sailors up as a courageous nation's troops." Credit where credit's due.
"So what have you ever done in this?" The laughing princes won't miss pointing out that I paint Eumaeus as the real hero of the anecdote. The outcome is the same.
"What can I say? I'm blessed with trustworthy servants. In the end, Polycaon was shaking in fear and gave us that ship as reparations. Of course, I had to call it the Messenian Gamble."
"And that Gamble almost sunk before reaching Pylos." They laugh, but that's part of the story.
This should be enough to please them, and I can leave soon. I sit back, trying to hide behind a huge pile of food, when I finally notice the newcomer by my side.
And once I see her face, I forget about everything else.