Chapter Two

Astra's daily prayers were interrupted by the sound of a very large bell being rung. She could recognize the hollow tones of this bell anywhere. It was the warning bell. Quickly, she finished her prayer and stood, looking around the temple. The priests and acolytes were frenzied, trying to find what to do, how to protect their temple, how to stay alive, and how to keep the temple a sanctified place for Apollo.

"Briseis!" she called, looking around her for her sister.

"Astra!" she heard an answering call.

"Come with me, sister!" she called, hurrying over to take Briseis' hand.

As fast as she could, Astra guided her sister into a dark, small nook behind a pillar and far out of sight of an intruder. "Stay as quiet as you can, no matter what happens," she said very seriously, looking her sister in the eyes as they crouched down low to make themselves as small and unnoticeable as possible. Briseis nodded, looking terrified.

Minutes or hours later, neither of them could tell, men in strange armour came into the temple. The second she saw them, Astra clamped a hand over her sister's mouth to assure that she would not make a sound. In a few short minutes, they had butchered the priests. The bodies were strewn about the temple, though thankfully they were mostly hidden from both her and her sister's view. Then, the intruding soldiers plundered the temple, taking anything valuable that could be found.

Through the search, the sisters dreaded and feared being found. They huddled together, hardly daring to breathe and certainly not moving a hair for fear that these murderers would come and kill them as well. To their credit, it was no movement or sound of their own which gave them away. Instead, it was the particularly good eyes of one of the men. He spotted Briseis, who was in front of Astra. He quickly stooped down, grasped her arm firmly, and yanked her out of their hiding place.

Seeing this, Astra took off at a spring before any of the men could catch her, though two of them did follow her as she ran through the corridors of the temple. Just when she ran through the back exit of the temple and thought she had escaped, she ran into something quite hard but warm. It felt rather like a person, except that the material she felt was definitely metal. Whoever it was grabbed her firmly and held her with arms strong enough to make it clear she would not be escaping easily. This, however, did not deter Astra. She fought back, trying desperately to tear herself free from his particularly unbreakable grasp.

As she struggled, she heard a familiar voice demand, "Let her go!" It was Hector! Then who was holding her?

Astra quickly twisted around in the person's arms and caught a glimpse of the person holding her. Shoulder length blonde hair framed a tanned face with piercing blue eyes, the eyes of a killer. Seeing him only made her redouble her efforts, one of her arms blindly shot out toward this person's face. Her fist connected with both speed and strength behind, but she was rewarded with only a grunt of surprise and a slight loosening in the grip on her.

This was all she needed. Astra wrenched herself away from this person's hold, straight into Hector. He steadied her by wrapping an arm firmly around her shoulders. His other held his sword out toward her previous captor.

Only now did she truly look at the man. He was staring back with a mixture of indignation, rage, irritation, and, dare she say it, respect and curiosity. Her thoughts were interrupted when the man turned away and said, "Go home, Prince. Drink some wine. Make love to your wife. Tomorrow, we'll have our war."

At this, Astra felt Hector bristle. He looked at the other man in disgust and said contemptuously, "You speak of war as if it's a game. How many wives wait at Troy's gates for husbands they'll never see again."

"Perhaps your brother can comfort them. I hear he's good at charming other men's wives," he said, looking between him and Astra.

Instantly, Astra looked down, feeling suddenly self-conscious in her one-shoulder, white dress. Meanwhile, Hector and the man stared each other down. As he did, Hector kept a firm, protective hold on Astra. "Leave the girl," he said.

Hector raised his sword again and said, "Never."

"Ah, she's related then. She even wears the blue of royalty," the man said, looking her over. His gaze lingered on her waist, which was accentuated by a strip of blue ribbon tied there. The hem of the dress was also blue, which only redoubled the man's certainty.

"Leave her out of this!" Hector insisted forcefully.

"Leave, Prince. Take your sister with you," the man said. He seemed as though at any second he would roll his eyes.

Hector watched the man closely. He thought that he would get a knife in the back.

The blonde man ended it by tsking with a motion of his head, indicating very rudely that Hector should go.

Astra turned back to glance once more at the man. He was staring after her. She could see the indignation in his eyes as her saviour led her away.