:Summary: Cassandra, daughter of Priam and sister to Hector and Paris, is blessed with seeing what is to come, but cursed to never be believed. Thought mad by her own people, can an enemy become more when he alone seems to believe what no one else will? Achilles/OC. Movie Canon.
:Disclaimer: I do not own 'Troy' or any of the characters associated with the film or the writings pertaining to it or them in any way. I technically don't even own my OC – All I have is individual events that make up this story.
Chapter One
"Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity…"
"And so we ask ourselves: Will our actions echo across the centuries?"
"Will strangers hear our names long after we're gone?"
"And wonder who we were? How bravely we fought?"
"…How fiercely we loved?"
Sunlight streaked hot and angry across the sun scorched dessert plain. The crunch of hooves and sandaled feet over cracked and dried earth sent dust up into the air, the remains of men long dead and gone, where the men and their horses and their kings breathed them in.
A sea of men parted for a golden warrior, a warlord loved so dearly by the Gods.
The sickening crunch of a spear embedded in a shield.
The killing blow to a neck left unprotected.
The Lion prowled before the Lambs, baiting and eager, watching like a starved beast.
He breathed in the dust of past warriors as the dust took flight around his feet. It curled around his nose and filled his lungs with the power of Gods. A restless immortal hidden in the shell of a man – blessed to be remembered always and forever, but doomed to die. Life filled his every move, but it would not last… the shadow of death hung over him like the black clouds of a cursed voyage. It followed him, licking at his heels, ravenous and hungry to consume the light that glowed from his sun darkened skin and golden mane…
A soft sound of disappointment hummed at the back of her throat, her brow twitching with vague and halfhearted distress. "…what a pity."
Briseis frowned at her cousin, "What?"
"…the lion will die."
The two cousins were standing side by side in the as they and the rest of Troy awaited the return of their princes. In the distance cries of joy and welcome could be heard echoing off the stone columns of Trojan homes and buildings. The cries drew nearer and nearer with each passing second.
Briseis gave the other girl a befuddled look. "Lion? What are you talking about, Cassandra?"
"The shadow of death follows him…" The Trojan princess continued with a distracted voice, dark eyes distant and vacant. Her gaze turned to Briseis, clearing and focusing on her cousin's soft face. "But his is darker than yours or mine… he will die a painful death. Slow and miserable. I find it rather sad…."
Briseis frowned again, regarding her cousin with a disapproving stare. "You're brothers are safe and home; what are you doing daydreaming silly stories of lions and shadows?"
"It's not a story," Cassandra insisted halfheartedly. She already knew Briseis would call her a liar. "He will die… and I think a lamb will be his killer."
"A lamb is going to kill a lion?" Cassandra nodded and Briseis scoffed at her, "Enough, cousin. No more stories. Look… see? Here come your brothers, welcome them home. No more talk of lions and lambs."
Briseis turned to watch as the princes of Troy were embraced in turn by their kingly father, a smile spreading across her face. She hurried off then to greet her cousins as well, the white of her priestess robes slapping at her ankles. Cassandra watched her go, watched as her brothers embraced their cousin. She felt a pang of bitterness in her chest as she watched their happy faces; they all thought she was a liar, or at the very least insane. Lions and lambs… it made no sense to her either, but she knew it was true. The things she saw were always true, but never believed – even when they came to pass, no one believed she'd known it would happen.
"Is it really so horrible to be seeing us again?"
Cassandra lifted her gaze as a voice chuckled to her; her eyes settled onto those of her beloved elder brother, Hector. A smile immediately warmed her face and she breathed an apology as he smiled back. The crown prince of Troy looped his long, strong arms around his little sister and embraced her close to his broad chest. He smelled of saltwater and wind and Cassandra breathed it in deep while his embrace tightened around her; a wave of relief washed over her as the brilliant man pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"Cassandra…" Hector soothed a palm over her dark curls, "my beautiful sister. I've missed you."
"And you, I, brother." Her eyes shot over the man's shoulder, brow twitching and lips smirking upon seeing Helen of Sparta. "I see you've brought more than a treaty of peace back home with you…"
Hector sighed and shook his head, "No, that is your brother's prize."
"Paris is your brother as well…"
"Not today, it seems." The younger Trojan prince said. He approached his siblings with a comfortable face despite the tension that had captured his voice while looking at Hector. Paris too enveloped his sister in a tight hug.
"My heart sores to see you well, sister." Paris told Cassandra with a kiss of his own to her pale face, "You kept yourself out of trouble, I assume."
"More so then you, dear brother, I assure…" She smirked at the prince, her brow arched high over dark eyes that gave another pointed glance back at the lovely blonde woman standing not quit out of ear shot. She gave the nervous woman a small smile and jutted her chin out towards her, "Introduce me to your lovely lady, Paris?"
Paris sighed around his own smile as he drew Helen in to his side and presented her to the Trojan princess. "Cassandra, this is Helen. Helen, this is my little sister, Cassandra."
Helen bowed her head politely, her expression tight with nerves and eyes full of fear. She smiled, but it did not reach her bright eyes; the poor thing was scared to death. Cassandra couldn't blame her. Her being here, she had much to be afraid of. The Trojan princess reached out and embraced the other woman, pressing a sisterly kiss to one blonde temple and then to the other.
"Welcome home, sister." Cassandra told the other sincerely, smiling warmly to Troy's newest princess.
The breath that left Helen then was the deepest sigh of relief Cassandra had ever heard or felt; the poor thing looked as though she might cry even as a true smile lit up her glowing face. "Thank you."
Cassandra nodded, chuckling lightly as she released the blonde and she could see the beaming, prideful smile on Paris' face from the corner of her eye. She took hold of Helen's slim hand, clasping it tight in her own and keeping her new 'sister' close to her side as though she had been a part of her family all along; Cassandra chuckled again, "I've been wondering when Paris would finally bring you home here to us with him. I've come here to welcome my brothers home many times, wondering each time if it would be the day you'd come up those steps with him…and today you finally have."
Helen's brow twisted into confusion, not understanding. And Paris laughed, the sound coming out as though it were more to himself then to anyone around him; he shook his head and placed a hand on Helen's back with an amused look as he explained, "My sister enjoys telling stories. Prophecies, she calls them. She's very creative, you will see."
Cassandra only smiled as Helen's face relaxed and the pair enjoyed a moment of amusement over Paris' explanation. She let the moment pass, silent despite the hurt that had bloomed deep in her chest. Of course… once again she was cast aside as a silly girl with a flair for storytelling. It was better than being called a liar, she supposed, or crazy, but not by very much. It still stung no matter how used to it she became – she'd known Helen of Sparta would come to Troy on the arm of her brother for nearly a year now. And she knew the greed of Agamemnon and the bitter rage of Menelaus followed close behind. Soon the Greeks would be at Troy's gates… but no one had believed her when she'd first shared this prediction and no one believed her now that it was coming true.
Every time she tried to warn her father or her brothers or cousin of things to come, good or bad, she was laughed off. She was called a colorful storyteller or a liar or a silly girl with her head too far lost up in the clouds; at times she even felt as though her family were almost ashamed of her. And she angered her father whenever he caught wind of her sharing her foresights – such a claim as seeing the future was a gift that belonged to the Gods and the Gods alone. She mocked them with her stories, he would tell her.
'Damn the Gods and their gifts!' she thought, 'The fault is theirs.'
Hearing her brothers laugh her off was still far worse than her father's anger or disappointment though. It was her curse though, and she had lived with it for many years now; still… she wondered if she would ever become numb to the pain in her chest. She wondered if she'd ever find anyone, she wondered if there even was anyone, who would ever believe her.
Just one person, just once… it would be nice to have someone believe in her.
REVIEWS are greatly appreciated!
Also, chapters will get longer - This is only the opening...