Written
By: Katelyn Abbott
Cassandra
was aware that she had once had the admiration of the Trojan people. Brilliant
beauty such as hers with her brown curls the color of chestnuts, her brown eyes
as dark as chocolate, her china nose, her dainty mouth, her even white teeth,
her full lips as red and soft as rose petals, and her skin as smooth and soft
and white as ivory had attracted the Trojan peoples’ attention towards her. She
was called the second most beautiful woman in the world, but it was her
intelligence, her charm, her desirability, her elegance, and her friendly and
gentle nature that had captivated people like the Trojans towards her. The
Trojan people were drawn towards the princess like moths to the flame as her
eyes seemed to search through the soul of every person whoever locked eyes with
her. The people of Troy had ended up coming to her to ask her to solve their
minor spats and problems for them. Cassandra had enjoyed her people’s
admiration of her as she loved the challenges they presented to her to solve
for them, her reputation as a problem solver, and seeing her father King
Priam’s pride in her for handling these minor issues for him. However she also
feared it for the envy that it had invoked from the Trojan people especially the
young women around her.
The
young women of Troy had been envious of her. Envious of all of the attention
and the burning looks of desire that men gave her for her beauty. Envious of
how Cassandra could have the beauty, intelligence, charm, and desirability
which they lacked. Envious of how Cassandra did have dozens of suitors and even
had the sun god Apollo endlessly pursue her to be his lover. Envious of how she
was still enticing to men even after Apollo cursed her to be able to see the
future and be correct in her predictions, but never be believed by anyone and
she was supposedly driven insane because of it. These young women felt that
they deserved all of the blessings that Cassandra had been born with instead of
Cassandra and it got them to not accept her for who she was, care nothing for
her, and despise her because of it.
How
Cassandra continuously envied these young women and felt that they were foolish
to envy her for such trivial things. All of her blessings had brought her
nothing but misery and pain. Blessings such as beauty, intelligence, charm, and
desirability to men could not help her break Apollo’s curse on herself. These
young women did not know what it was like to be able to see the future and be
correct in their predictions, but never be believed by anyone like she did. They
did not foresee the crying, death, endless hunger and thirst, fire, grief, and
illness that the Trojan War would bring to their people as she did. They did
not endure smelling the repulsive smell of the earth stained red with their
countrymen’s blood or hear the cries of children, the groans of the dying, and
the screams of women as she did. Cassandra envied them for it.
Cassandra
did not accept these young women for who they were, cared nothing for them, and
despised them for being foolish enough to envy her when she should be the one
who envied them. Their biggest concerns in life were over what they ate at
their meals, which gown they would choose to wear during the day, or when they
would be able to play ball with their friends as soon as they were done the
chore of washing the clothes at the sea shore unlike hers’ were. They could
continue to dream about the men who would be their future husbands and how many
children they would have unlike she could. They did enjoy having the trust of
their honored fathers, their dear mothers, and the brothers and the sisters
they adored while she did not. They were free of being able to forsee the rape,
slavery, theft of riches and splendid treasures, and
widespread slaughter coming to Troy when Troy was destroyed like she did. They
had no guilt over being unable to prevent the horrors that were coming to Troy or
know how it was like to be nearly driven insane from the visions invading their
minds like she did. It was her fate to bear alone and she was jealous of them
for it.
She hated the young
women who envied her for being fools not to realize that they were the
fortunate ones in life and being grateful for the great luck the Fates had
given to them unlike the horrors they had made inescapable for her.
They were the lucky
ones and Princess Cassandra of Troy was not one of them.
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