"No, you look fine," Polites' voice sounded along the deck and Odysseus and Eurylochus turned to see Polites coming back, smiling broadly. Behind him was the girl, Cassandra.
She had been scrubbed clean, and her stained, too-short chiton had been replaced by a deep blue tunic, one of Odysseus' finer belongings. It was cinched at her waist by a wide leather belt. Her hair had been combed and cut to her shoulders, to even out its length. Polites had a steady hand. Now that it was clean, Odysseus could see that her hair was fair, shining gold in the morning sun. It was bound back with a braided cord that Odysseus recognized as Polites' own headband, the red cords a stark contrast to her hair.
She still wore no shoes, and the tunic was too short for a proper woman's dress. Her bare arms were still bruised, and the chafing on her wrists was red and raw, but it would take time to heal her wounds.
She looked older in the new clothes, and once again, Odysseus reassessed her age. Maybe twenty. Her eyes were still unfocused, gazing out at things none of the rest of them could see.
"Cassandra," Odysseus called as they approached. "You look very beautiful."
The girl's cheeks flushed pink again, and Polites laughed.
"See, I told you," he said. "I hope you don't mind, captain. None of the crew had any spare clothes—"
Odysseus raised a hand, "It's completely fine. Penelope insisted I bring a trunk full of finery to a war. I doubt that chiton's seen the light of day in years."
In truth, that blue tunic had been one of Odysseus' favorites, but, a little lie didn't hurt.
"She says you rescued her," Polites added, smiling down at Cassandra, who was still blushing. "Though also she said a lot of strange things about how we are all going to die."
"With your help," Odysseus said to the girl, "I hope to change that fate."
"I believe... that you believe it to be possible," Cassandra replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "I want to see you try."
The baby in Odysseus' arms began to stir, finally waking in the warmth of the sun. He opened his mouth and uttered a pitiful wail.
"What happened?" Polites jumped, looking down at Asterion for the first time.
"Meet the newest member of our crew," Odysseus said, holding up the crying child. "This is Asterion. "He's had a long night, and he's probably hungry."
"We will all be hungry soon," Eurylochus muttered. "An infant cannot live on dry bread."
"We can mix the bread with water," Odysseus argued. "I'll take care of it. You focus on taking care of the men."