Courage
Oh by Apollo!
Hector stared down at the lad before him, drowning in his own blood, and for the first time in a long while he felt physically sick.
He had fought this boy as if he were Achilles and he had killed him as if he were Achilles, but he was not yet dead.
Hector's breath caught as he realised what he had to do. It was too horrible, but better than letting the lad die the way he was.
With the bloodied chokes on his ears Hector reached for his sword – he had hesitated too long already- and plunged it into the young Grecian, killing him swiftly. A shudder wracked his body and he drew it out again.
That simple action had taken a different kind of courage from what he would need tomorrow, because tomorrow he knew he would have to walk out boldly to meet his death.
The fateful words rung in his head,
"It was his cousin."
Hector knew that he had only one day left to live.