A/N: The very first time I watched 300 this came to me. I had just finished reading The Illiad so the way they talk is because of that.
Spartan CowardDilios stared at the ground in shame. The left side of his face, already smarting with the pain of his infected eye, now throbbed in painful time to the beating of his heart. He dared not test the Queen's anger by calling out in pain but stood there, silent. He could feel the Queen's enraged gaze upon him, demanding answers, but he wouldn't look at her, so great was his shame.
It was silent save for the gentle whispering of the winds blowing through his beard, hair and chlamys. It was far too silent.
"Well?" The Queen's soft voice broke the tense quiet.
He said nothing.
"Well what have you to say, O bitch-hearted Spartan?" He winced at the insult but, again, said nothing.
"As your Queen I demand you speak!" Her voice, usually soft, broke in fury and…was it…sorrow? This, perhaps imagined, emotion he perceived in his Queen's tone unstuck his voice.
"What would you have me say, my Queen?" His voice was almost gone; raw from three non-stop days of screaming in pain and victory, roaring their proud warcry and the effort of just surviving. His voice, like his body, was near the breaking point.
"Look at me, Dilios." Startled, slightly, by the use of his name, he lifted his head. He could only see with his right eye, but it was enough to see any emotion that might play across his queen's features.
The Queen courteously stepped into his full range of view. Her fiery eyes caught and held his battle-weary one.
It was a struggle to keep his Spartan Reserve and not flinch when she lifted her hand to him. Surprise flickered upon his face when he felt her hand rest gently upon his left shoulder.
Ignoring his expression, she spoke softly, "I would have you tell me the truth, Dilios. I don't want anymore far-fetched tales like the one you dared give voice to just now."
Despite himself, he felt indignation flare up inside his heart at her words. No matter how good of a storyteller his King thought him to be, some things he could not have made up, like the agonizing soul searing cries of grief that had sprung from Captain's heart the day Astinos died.
Against his better judgment, he angrily whispered, "My Queen, you are mistaken. I would never think to deceive you or any other by speaking the tale if it were not true. Every part of what I have said is true, and if it is not, then let Zeus himself fling me down to Tartarus!!"
Catching his breath, he stepped back from the Queen's touch.
"How do I know you're not lying, Spartan?" Her voice had softened but still held an edge of doubt.
"You'll just have to trust the words of one who was there now won't you?" His voice held an edge of bitter sarcasm that he refused to keep hidden.
The Spartan Queen hissed at him, even more enraged that before.
"Yes, trust the words of a coward!" She laughed spitefully at his beaten form.
Had he been a lesser man (or not a Spartan, though he was sure there was no distinction) he would have stuck his Queen for her remark. Gentle Dilios instead growled low in his throat.
"I am no coward, Lady. I would have stayed, aye and died too!, alongside my brothers, (for it was certain death to stay) had my godly King Leonidas permitted me. Instead, he bade me use my unique talent with words to tell of our victory."
The Queen scoffed.
"Victory? If any of what you say is true then there is no victory, and my husband, your king, lies dead."
Suddenly tired of fighting, Dilios remembered the necklace he'd so tenderly carried with him. Pulling it out, he stepped toward the Queen and held out his hand.
Placing the token of his King's love for the Queen gently in her hand, he shouldered his shield.
As he walked away, he looked back and, careful not to stare at the look of sorrow on her face whispered just loud enough for her to hear, " I have a grand tale to tell, my Queen." She looked up from the necklace and nodded at him.
Dilios saw the young Prince run toward his mother. As they met on the road, the young Prince stopped and stared, and Dilios could see the accusation shine clearly in the boy's eyes and hear the words "Spartan coward. Dirty cowardly Spartan." echo through his head.
Walking away, towards his own family, he knew, no matter how much he did, he'd never be able to atone for this.
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-- I'm aware that that's not how that particular scene played out but it could have happened like that…maybe…in another dimension.
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--the last sentence means he'd never be able to be forgiven for living when the King had died.