He grins, clapping his hand in greeting around Aetos’ large forearm. 

“It was a miracle indeed, brother. I rejoice too, to see that you have all kept yourselves together without me.”

“Ambrosios, King. Welcome. There is much to discuss.”

“Agamemnon! Sheltering your eyes from the sun, I see?”

He steps in. “King of Ithaca! It is a good omen indeed to have you with us.”

A smile towards his son. “Ophellios, come. Tell us of how you returned Ambrosios to us.”

He steps forward humbly into the tent, now formally invited. 

“O great kings of the Achaeans, I do not wish to boast before you. I prayed to my Sire, and the Heavens listened to me and guided His Majesty, the King of Ithaca, back to us in soul.”

He dares to look around, calm – but he does not lay eyes on Aetos once. The act is almost certainly deliberate. The Cretan lord is left cold without the boy’s gaze.

“I hope only that I have now proven myself.”

Childish. 

"You have done your duty; be content and go."

He turns on Ambrosios. "What counsel then, old friend?"

He looks to his father first, who nods. The prince bows and is dismissed.

Ambrosios catches him by the shoulder before he can go. When the prince looks back, almost startled, he is met with the king’s smile again.

“Thank you again, old friend.”

There is no ill will between us.

…

A good man. 

“Of course,” he shapes his lips into the right words. The king lets go of him and he departs.

At last he takes his empty seat at the council.

“Now, lords. The son of Hyranon told me of some details, but also that you would not allow him the luxury of information. I am rather poorly educated on our status, I must admit.”

He leans forward, his hands laced beneath his chin. “Who here has ever entered Ilium?”

...The son of Hyranon. 

Hmm. 

"Heavenly sire," was it?

In truth, the boy does not look much like his father. Too fair, too willowy and graceful, too lithe and soft - it had not occurred to him before, but...

He mutters something inaudible to a counsellor. 

"I have not. It is a fearsome fortress."

“Need I remind you that the war has only just begun? Surely some of you will have visited old Priam?”

A few kings nod, and share their stories briefly.

There are rumours about him, some more wild than others: he was a strong and brave man, he is aged but still a warrior, no, he was always a coward and the theft of Helen was his idea, no, his sister ransomed him from Heracles with a golden veil, no, he was favoured of Zeus himself for his wit, no, he...

“Yes, I have once visited. Long ago. Ilium is vast in size and its princes are strong. Truly I had thought it a kingdom of nobility.”

“Good. We need an idea of what it looks like on the inside – any maps we can draw together, any hidden cracks from within that cannot be perceived from outside. We are laying siege to this place, kings; this is no ordinary war. We must crack the tortoise’s shell.”

Always the Ithacan must know all that is to be known; always he thinks himself wiser than other men. But Aetos has a feeling that no device of Athene's will bring low Troy - only pitiless bronze. 

In any case, he can draw together all they know. 

...And follow up on the question of the "heavenly sire". 

He is assembling a small embassy of kings to ride with him to the walls of Troy.

Who will come?

He will. 

Her favourite is clever, and most mortals are not. Most mortals also do not have the counsel of the Goddess of Wisdom; there is always a path through the web of the futures if One cares to look...

“Let me go with you.”

"No. Of the counsel of kings you are ignorant, and upon some little careless word may depend all this war, its triumph or ruin - only return to your tent and sit and be safe."

He takes a step forward. “I know Paris. It may be better to send a friend than to send a fool with a blade.”

Hm. He does make a point.

The King of Ithaca watches silently as Aetos packs the saddle of his horse, and he does the same. The young prince Ophellios is certainly eager, already carrying his own provisions.

"Watch your tongue, boy, unwiser kings have taken them for less."