Excerpt from Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"You like this king, this Tantalus?" she hears Castor ask. She laughs but doesn't answer.

"He wants you, I believe," Castor adds.

"I believe it too."

"Will you marry?"

"Maeonia is far," Clytemnestra says.

Castor tilts his head and looks at her, serious. "Colchis is far too. So what? Do we stay in Sparta and rot for the rest of our days?"

* * *

Clytemnestra can feel Helen panting behind her. She reaches for her hand to help her up the forest path. Leaves crunch under their feet, and the sun filters through the trees. Along creeks and fallen trunks wild strawberries glow blood red in the shade.

The atmosphere in the gymnasium was unbearable, with groups of Spartiates whispering behind Helen's back as they trained. As soon as the dancing ended, Clytemnestra had taken her sister's arm and led her up the trail that takes them to the top of Mount Taygetus. She knew she couldn't have controlled herself if she had stayed there any longer.

They climb to the peak, where the air is cold and wet and trees pierce the sky like spears. Clytemnestra stops to sit on a large rock, and Helen kneels at her side, her golden hair sweaty and scattered with twigs. From up there, the valley is brown and smooth, the patches of dry yellow land like scars on a warrior's back.

"Do you know about Castor and Polydeuces?" Helen asks. Polydeuces must have told her. Clytemnestra nods.

"Are you worried?" Helen asks.

"No," Clytemnestra says. An eagle flies over their heads, a dead mouse in its beak. Clytemnestra watches it until it disappears, diving from the sky into the depth of the forest.

"I wish I could leave too," Helen says. "I wish I could leave with them."

"And go to Colchis?"

"Why not?"

Clytemnestra shrugs. "I want to see Knossos, or the Phoenician colonies. Or Maeonia."

"Maeonia," Helen repeats.

Clytemnestra squats on the rock, aware that Helen is staring at her.

"You want to marry Tantalus?" Helen asks. There is no jealousy or anger in her voice, just surprise.

Why surprised? Clytemnestra thinks. She thought I would marry some common king, or a Spartan? No… I want to be with someone who is different, someone who makes me look at the world with pleasure, who shows me its wonders and secrets.

"I can see how you change around him," Helen says.

"Is it a good or bad change?" Clytemnestra asks.

Helen looks away, smoothing her tunic. Beneath her poise she may hide sadness and fear, Clytemnestra knows. But her sister has learned to keep the darkness beneath the surface, just as weeds hide under the sea.

When she turns to Clytemnestra again, Helen smiles. "I think good."

* * *

At dinner, Castor and Polydeuces announce their imminent departure. Tyndareus and Leda kiss them. Spartan nobles applaud them.

"We will leave when word arrives that Jason is ready in Iolcos," Castor declares, and everyone beats their cups against the table, cheering. Servants bring wine in golden jugs and platters of bread, meat, figs, and cheese.

"Help yourselves to food, kin and clansmen of Sparta," Tyndareus says. "Tonight we celebrate my sons' expedition!" Another round of applause and cheerful shouts. Helen sips her wine quietly as Polydeuces whispers in her ear. Clytemnestra watches them.

"Are you sad?" Tantalus asks her.

Clytemnestra turns to him.

"I can see you are sad because they are leaving," he says. He is staring at her, waiting, as if ready to hold her feelings and secrets in his hands.

"They will be happy there," she says. "They were born for this."

"For what?"

"To be great fighters. Heroes."

"And you?"

"I wasn't born to be in some other man's expedition."

"What were you born for, then?"

Excerpted from Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati. Copyright © 2023 by Costanza Casati. Excerpted by permission of Sourcebooks. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.