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Language Note/Summary: I realise that there was some confusion about the last chapter as to who's PoV was last. I always tell who's opinion it is in the Language Note/Summary. It was Helen speaking. Sorry for any confusion. Anyway, in this chapter you get Achilles first, then Hector, then Andromache, then Briseis. And the quote is obviously said by Odysseus in the movie (and it makes a lot of sense). The poem is spoken from either Briseis' or Achilles' view. This is a really short chapter, because I'm focusing on the next one.
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When We Are Two
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"War is young men dying and old men talking. Ignore the politics."
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Soft whispers of promised devotion
haunt me in the quiet of this night.
I am alone.
In my bed of leaves and loneliness I lie
all by myself.
I dream of soft whispers,
of a promise not yet kept.
a promise I wanted you to make
a promise that you made.
Deny thy people and take my name, you said.
Run with me to a place untouched
in my heart, sleeping in my soul.
I reach out my hand
and you're not there.
Can you feel me in this hour,
in this hour of dimming desire?
Yet in the quiet of night I can hear you,
I can feel you.
Breathing.
Into me.
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There was a face staring back at me. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. High cheekbones. Firm jaw. It was me. My face. Is this who I am? My mother's words came back to me.
"Your glory walks hand in hand with your doom."
Am I to die in this war? For what? For who? Agamemnon? Menelaus, a man who can't even keep his own wife in the bedroom, and is now sulking in Hades? I came here for glory. Fame. I wanted immortality. I found love. Peace.
Is that what I want? No. I want Briseis' love. But you can't have it. Yes, but I can save her. I can save her and Troy. I can live knowing that she will be safe and with the ones she loves. I can live in peace.
And there was only one thing that I could do. Leave.
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Andromache told me everything. I had always suspected how Briseis could have escaped to Troy so easily. Now I knew why. Because Achilles didn't chain her to him. Because he loved her.
Fall in love with Briseis? A priestess of Troy, a niece of Priam? I could not believe that he could love someone other than Patroclus and noble Thetis. But a cousin of Troy? My cousin?
But I had seen the look that had gone between them. It was a look of love. He looked at her the way that I had looked at Andromache when we first met. Of course, she had not been so eager to marry me. But differences were sorted out quickly and now she was my world.
I had spoken to her extensively of my death. And here I was, whole and safe in Troy. Troy was safe, now.
But what would Achilles do tomorrow? Would he come to battle and knock down our gates? Or would he not come to battle and sail away from our shores. For the sake of Troy, I hoped so. For the sake of Briseis, I was not sure.
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Hector was breathless when he came through the gates. He was still breathless when I told him of the earlier events.
"I know," he said wearily. "I saw."
When Briseis returned to her chambers, she broke down and wept. Poor thing. the mysterious ways in which the Gods work. Why do they punish innocent children like her?
I left her alone⦠it seemed that she needed to think everything through, understand what was happening. But I do not think that she needs to think about it. She knows perfectly well what is happening. That is what I fear. If Achilles dies, or leaves, or conquers Troy and gives her to another man, she will die of grief. And if she does not die, she will be dead anyways.
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I feel so different, now. I know that I am protected. But only a few days ago I was protected by an enemy. A lover. Now, I am protected by family and friends. My country-men. I feel so different, now. I feel as if part of me is still there, in his tent on the sandy shores. I feel that I am two.
Did he see me? Did he recongnise me? Of course he did. Does he still love me? You could see it on his face. Do I love him? Of course I do. I was happy, even for all my tears. He knew who I was. He knew who he was. But what would he do tomorrow? Would he remember himself tomorrow?
I fear the sunset. I fear the sunrise even more.
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So, what do you think is gonna happen next??? REVIEW!!!
