He feels like he’s done something horrible. Guilt and grief twist in his heart, but they’re unmoored. His head doesn’t know what caused them.

He steps forward, not at all sure what he’s doing, reaches for the bloodied cloth-

And jolts when a hand lands on his arm.

“What are you doing?” Polites asks.

Odysseus opens his mouth - and can only tell the truth. “I don’t know. I don’t remember.”

Polites’s brow furrows. “Don’t remember what?”

Odysseus’s eyes slide back to the bundle. “What is that?”

Polites lets out a sharp little sound and turns his friend fully to look in his eyes. “Odysseus. Tell me what you remember.”

Odysseus closes his eyes, heart kicking up as he concentrates. He should remember. This isn't right. "I...the wooden horse," he murmurs. "It worked. They let us inside."

Polites nods, lips pressed tightly together. "And after?"

"Fighting." Of course there would have been - was. There are bodies scattered around. The streets of Troy are quite save for spirited Greek cries and fires burning. "We won." Even now, joy and wonder and triumph leak around around the wall of his confusion.

"Did you hurt you head?" Polites asks, already reaching to run gentle but no-nonsense fingers across his scalp.

"I don't think so," Odysseus answers, but he knows by this reaction he's still failed the test. There's something he's forgotten. Something important.

"It doesn't feel like it," Polites agrees tersely, "but we still need to get you to a healer. Something's not right."

Panic is starting to creep up the back of Odysseus's neck now. What happened? What did he do? Why can't he remember?

Polites pulls him away again, squeezes his hand tight. "Come with me, Odysseus. We'll get you taken care of, I promise."

Odysseus clamps teeth on a trembling lip and allows himself to be guided. Somewhere deep in his mind, something stirs. A thundering voice, threats, something warm and soft in his arms, looking down from the walls - and his mind seems to snatch the visions away before he can pin them down.

He's not sure he wants to remember.