To Troy

"I will NOT go to Troy!" said a very angry, very pretty young woman. Her voice was strong and stern, but strangely childish just then.

"Please, my daughter. I ask you to do this. For me. It will bring us honor," said another, older woman. She was gazing at the younger woman helplessly as though she was completely at the younger woman's mercy and not her mother.

"No! I have brought us enough honor, Mother, through victories. Troy is not a place for me now. Paris stole another man's wife and he must pay the price," the younger woman snarled, her dark eyes gleamed with a viciousness that was rarely seen in women.

"Please, my daughter," her mother begged. "You do nothing else for me. You do not marry and have children and have a family; something that should have been done years ago! You carry around your sword and bow and fight for whatever you chose. I ask you to fight!"

The younger woman stopped and stared hard at her mother. True she had no husband nor children, but what was expected from the daughter of the God of War? She was Telopi, daughter of Ares and a vicious warlord. Marriage was not for her, no matter how many times she told her mother that.

"Alright," Telopi said. "I will go to Troy and fight. But only for you, Mother." But even as she said it, every scrap of sense she had was telling her not to go. Telopi, though being the daughter of Ares and a mortal woman, was the sort of woman the men cursed. They would mutter behind her back then beg her for help when they needed her. The very thing had happened on this day. A messenger from Prince Hector of Troy had arrived to ask her assistance against the Greeks. She didn't see why she should go since not many of the men in Troy, including Prince Hector and King Priam, would take her seriously. She was a warrior and the best warrior ever, perhaps only with Achilles to rival her skills. So why wouldn't they listen to her?

A smile spread across her mother's face. Telopi shifted uncomfortably and looked away. She summoned in the messenger and said, "Very well. Prince Hector of Troy will have Telopi, daughter of Ares, as an ally." The messenger nodded vigorously and bowed to Telopi before leaving. Telopi scowled and twirled her long dark hair in deep though about this war. She may not have been immortal but she had the beauty and strength of a god.

Telopi nodded to her mother before walking out of her home to assemble her faithful men. On this island, she was queen and all knew it. It was an island of her and her warriors, occasionally a soldier would be married and have his family here, but most were loyal to Telopi alone. She walked across the marble courtyard of the large home built for her and her mother and rang a huge bell. The bell echoed and gonged and was heard throughout the island. It was the sign to call her men to her.

Sure enough, in less than ten minutes a group of thirty men were assembled before Telopi. Most of the men had brought bows and arrows, having been called away from hunting. Telopi glanced around at her soldiers, her army, the only force she needed. They were the only men to take her seriously and they had good reason to: most of them had fought with Telopi for nearly six years and won every battle they had been in.

"I'm sorry to call you away, but urgent news. I don't believe any of you have heard of the troubles in Troy, but it seems that the young Prince Paris has found himself love in another man's wife." She paused and glanced around while a few men snickered. "Word came to me this morning that Prince Hector is in need of assistance. Kings Menelaus and Agammenon have no doubt gathered an army by now. We set sail for Troy."

After a decent journey, a boat with a red sail with a spear and a dog on it sailed into Troy. Telopi breathed out a sigh in relief to see that the Greek forces had not yet arrived. They were still ahead of the Greeks, for now.

As the boat sailed closer to Troy, the outlines of several figures could be seen. About ten men on horseback were on the beaches, apparently awaiting her arrival. Telopi scowled once more and gripped a spear in her hand. The spear was for her comfort, but she felt an overwhelming desire to throw it at the figures. But at this distance there was no way that even she could hit them.

"My lady, we have arrived at the beach of Troy," Ammathus, Telopi's commander and most trusted soldier, informed her. She nodded as the boat jerked as it hit land.

"Ammathus, come with me on shore. The rest of you stay here for now. I have a feeling we'll have to move the boat," she said as she dropped the spear and walked out of the boat towards the group of riders.

The riders, who had been trailing them from shore, watched Telopi warily. It was probably more because she was a woman and less because she was the daughter of Ares. Then she recognized the front rider from his rich armor as Prince Hector. She smirked and bowed very slightly, almost rudely to him. He nodded his head and said, "Lady, thank you for answering our call. Your loyalty will not be forgotten. My father and I will see to that." Telopi bit back a bitter response and waited for him to continue. "We realize that you have had a long journey, but we ask that you sail your boat a bit farther down the coast, preferably to the back of the island. This is the path that the Greeks are predicted to take. Then we will escort you to Troy."

Telopi nodded, she had expected as much. Turning to Ammathus, she waved her hand and spoke to him briefly. He nodded, gave a weary look at the riders, then went back to the boat. Telopi turned back to Hector, disdain clear on her pretty face, and said, "How far down would you suggest?"