Every inch of me shook as I fastened a gold diadem around my neck

Every inch of me shook as I fastened a gold diadem around my neck. I wore a
dress the same color as when I meet the Trojans; but was styled so that a
single strap held the gown. I didn't bother with a cloak, since the island
was as hot as Hephaestus' lair. I tied the top part of my hair with a piece
of twine, but allowed the rest to hang on my shoulders. With one last deep
breath, I turned on my heel and entered the deck, where chaos was bustling
everywhere. I sighed at the work of Ares and turned to find Odysseus. I found
my old friend by the spare, tiny boat that we would row to shore in. He turned
from his companion when he saw me walking towards him.

"Alala! Come, come, we mustn't keep the king." I nodded and smiled.

"Of course. Such behavior from and ambassadress is unheard of." Odysseus
laughed at this.

"My dear cousin, you've done far worse than keep a king." I shoved him
into the boat and jumped in after him.

Oh, just be quiet!" I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head
at my companion, who was laughing hysterically. The ride to shore took a turn
of the hourglass that Odysseus had conveniently brought with him. By the time we
reached land, our ship was at least fifty men closer than when we left.

"We have to arrive first, so we don't seem to be rude. Then our armies
can come."

"I know this, you twit!" I cuffed him lightly on the ear and looked down
distastefully at my dress. "Curse women's fashion. How I wish I was wearing
a man's tunic!" I hiked up the flowing crimson and leapt out of the boat
and onto the hot sand.

"Princess Alala, wait!" I ignored the calls of Odysseus and made my way
towards the ten guards waiting about five men away from me. When I reached
them, I nodded my head.

"Take me to you're king." I demanded. One guard sneered and stepped
forward.

"A woman bows before men; ambassadress or not." I gave him a death glare
and grabbed the loose breast plate he wore and pulled him inches from my
face.

"A princess doesn't bow to dung." My eyes quickly spotted a large pile
of horse droppings. How convenient. I threw the startled warrior into the
steaming mess. While he screamed with anger and disgust, I turned to his
companions. "Take me to your king," I repeated. They quickly turned and
made their way up the hill of sand. By the time we were at the top, Odysseus
had caught up to me.

"That was quite a show, Alala." He grinned back at the warrior who was
still scraping bits of brown from his copper armor.

"Many thanks, cousin. I'm glad you found my act as a vicious princess
entertaining."

"That was anything but an act," he scoffed. I kicked him in the shin and
jerked my head towards the warriors. Odysseus nodded in understanding and we
walked in silence for the rest of the way. By the time we did reach the
magnificent palace, the sand from the beach was wedged well into my toes, but
that didn't stop me from entering the throne room with the grace of a
queen.

The hall fell silent as I padded up to the throne of the king.
"My lord." I bowed to his feet and then rose slowly. "I am Alala,
Ambassadress and Princess of Sparta." Many voices murmured after my powerful
voice echoed off the walls.

"So the legends are true?"

"It would appear so." I said bluntly. As the king pondered my response
as a compliment or and insult, I scanned the room to search for a young man
with blonde hair and gorgeous blues eyes. I saw none.

"Well, Princess. Would you care to dine with me and my eldest daughter?
Along with her...er…guest." He motioned to a girl with long brown curls
and a proud smirk on her lips. There was a bigger, and much more muscular
girlsitting next to her with wide eyes. I nodded and accepted the king's
invitation. I sat next to the bigger girl and smiled.

"Hi there. What's your name?" The eyes went from wide to being filled
with an emotion I recognized as slight hurt. Those eyes…as clear as the
ocean itself. It was then that I also noticed the golden curls that fell
around his face. I drew a sharp breath and felt stinging salt rise to my eyes.
"Achilles," I whispered. I seized his hand under the table and squeezed
it. He quickly jerked it away and ran it up my arm and to my face, seizing it.
Before I could make any movement, Achilles pressed his lips against mine and
pushed me down onto the table.

"Oh, I say!" I heard a man yell in exasperation. It made me more joyous
inside and I returned my lost lover's eagerness. When he pulled away for
breath, I wrapped my arms around him.

"Oh, Achilles! I thought… I didn't see…"

"What? You mean, the Princess's apprentice is a man?" I turned and
faced the voice with the wrath of the Gods.

"Hero, if you please. He is more of a man than you'll ever be."

"It seems you should know that. How many times have you been to his bed,
eh?" I was startled by the ice crystal voice of the princess. Several men
laughed while Achilles only wrapped his arms more tightly around me as the
king scowled.

"That's enough, Deidamia. You may leave now."

"As you wish, father." She smiled wickedly at me as she stood slowly. As
she walked by us, she leaned forward to my ear. "I've been to his bed
many, many times." She laughed as I went stiff. She placed a quick kiss of
Achilles' lips before departing the room. When I turned back to Achilles,
hewas no longer smiling. Neither was I.

"You did, didn't you?" I hissed. He opened his mouth to say something,
then closed it. I shoved him hard into the table and spat on the blue gown he
wore. "You bastard of the Gods! May your soul burn in Tartarus!" I pulled
my gown to my knees and fled to the door, hearing several voices call
after me, but none of them mattered.

He lay with another woman. How dare he?! How dare he come into my life and
leave it as if it were a used face cloth? I collapsed in angry spasms on the
Earth and shook with tears of hatred. Hatred for Achilles, hatred for my
vulnerability, and hatred for her. I will never forget the way she smirked
with such evil at me. My hatred was replaced quickly with anger. I felt the
same thrill I felt when the Trojans came; the hunger for blood. I tore at my
gown and pulled my sword from its sheath. I stood slowly and walked to the
palace.
I entered the throne room with a different air than before. Instead of poise
and grace, keenness and danger lingered around me. I lowered my head and
scanned the silent crowd for the man who deserved as much misery as he caused
me. There, on the floor. He was crouched over; his head lowered to his
goblet.
I said a quick prayer to Artemis then jumped in front of him. With the flat
of my blade I raised his chin. His eyes were slits and red. The beautiful blue
was surrendered to the darkness of loss.

"You disgust me," I murmured. He lowered his head and shuddered. I
dropped my blade and stared with horror at my sword hand. I swear I heard Ares
laughing with pleasure. I knelt down to Achilles and rested my forehead
against his. "What am I going to do with you?" He lifted his head as I
lifted mine and smiled.

"Come." He leapt up and ran toward the bronze door.

"You fraud!" I yelled after him and ran after him, laughing all the way.
I caught him two men away from the palace and tackled him onto the grass.
Achilles rolled over and pinned me down. But he pushed himself over a little
too much; and sent us rolling down the lush green hill. I clung to him the
whole time and savored his scent. Finally the hill ended as did our roll.

"Alala…" Achilles mounted me and pressed his lips firmly against my
neck. Then he pulled away to look deeply into my dark eyes. "I never meant
to hurt you," he whispered. I squirmed a little and pushed myself away.

"Then why did you do it?" I shot, "Why did you lay with that viper?
You have a thing for princesses, don't you?" He laughed.

"I prefer ambassadresses more, I think." He bent down to kiss me again,
but I jerked my head away. "Oh. So is this how you want things to be?" I
turned back to him with sad eyes.

"I can't trust you anymore. That's the way you wanted it to be."
Achilles pushed me away and stood up; glaring down at me.

"Fine. At least Deidamia has kept her bed warm for me." I gasped at his
wickedness and shuddered at the thought of him bedding such a creature as the
princess I saw. I stood up and glared at him with anger that coursed
through me like Zeus' thunderbolt.

"This isn't the Achilles I knew back in Sparta. Where is my lover?"
Achilles looked as if he had been slapped across the face. Then he regained
his poise.

"I'm not a boy anymore, Alala. I'm a man. And it's time you started
acting like a woman."

"You mean a whore?" I spat. Anger and madness flashed
before the eyes of my once beloved. He reached for the sheath tied to his
waist and drew a sword.Fear crept into my heart; and I darted into the woods.

Artemis, help me!

Athena, save me!

I prayed and wept as I crashed through the grasses of Skyros. Suddenly, I flew right into a solid wall. I cried out in pain and looked up. Not a single brick was laid. As I felt around me, I found that I was covered by and invisible wall. I stood and circled the invisible wall. As I took a step, my
foot landed on something hard and smooth. I looked down to see a white bow
with a gold arrow.

Don't disappoint me, sister.

I couldn't tell if the voice belonged to Artemis or Athena, but I grabbed the bow and positioned the arrow. Sheer terror gripped me; but I held my position and waited for Achilles to come crashing through the trees.

Ares, give me the war strength. I knew it was dangerous praying to
the war God after invoking his rival, but I need his blessing before I could
do any man harm…or worse.

And what would you give me?

Anything, I mentally replied.

Achilles crashed through the bushes with a raised sword and a look of madness
upon his face. I released a war cry and let the arrow sail from the bow and to
the target. I was aiming for his heart, but the arrow started to drop
downward. Just when I was about to curse and run, the arrow pierced my
pursuer's heel. I had to cover my ears as he howled like no man would ever
dare to in Sparta.
His cry echoed above the branches and echoed through the island. I laid down
the sacred bow where I
found it and backed away.

"Good bye, love." The familiar words escaped my lips. The young man
lifted his head in wonder. Before he could respond, I fled the site,
humiliated. Curse Aphrodite for putting the words in my mouth! With a burst of
anger I ran towards the palace and stopped before one of the guards

"You! Where is the temple of Aphrodite?"

The guard pointed down the hill and told me to take a left when I reached
the bottom. So I ran again; and entered the temple of Aphrodite. It was quite
simple, with a few white pillars and simple marble steps. The most
spectacular sight was the large white statue of the goddess of beauty. I
stalked right up to it and spat.

"Who do you think you are?!" A priestess ran up to me and seized my arm.
I jerked it back and pushed her away.

"I am Alala. Princess of Sparta, and daughter of Zeus. Enemy of Aphrodite
and ally of Artemis and Athena." I leaned down to stare intensely into her
fearful eyes. "Any more questions?" The priestess shook her head and
backed away. "Then get out of my sight!" She turned and ran out the temple
and down the steps, crying all the way. I then turned back to the statue.

"You! Do I look like a doll? A piece of wood and cloth for your amusement?
Well I'm not! I'm bones and flesh, skin and hair. Yet you choose to treat
me like a piece of filth!" I spat on the statue again. "You disgust me,
whore of the!" The air around me cracked with energy that wasn't there before. It
turned into anger, rejection, hate, sorrow. It made me fearful. I
took a step back to escape the negative atmosphere, but it immediately
followed me. I took another step and tripped over my gown.
A loud thud echoed through the temple as I fell on the floor. The energy
then gathered into one, beautifully horrible shape. A faint pink glow gathered
around the energy;
and then it burst.

"You." There was something left of the energy. "How dare you defy me.
After all I gave you!" A woman stepped in front of me. She only wore a
transparent pink sheet that draped over her shoulder and fell to the floor.
Wispy blonde hair fell over her shoulders and landed on her elbows.

"No," I said calmly. "I have every right to defy you. After all
you've done to me." The goddess flinched and knelt down.

"I have done nothing. Except given you what every girl prays for. Beauty
and love."

"I never asked for it," I replied dully. Aphrodite's eyes flashed
anger and she stood up sharply.

"Then I can take it back?" I thought about my beauty. I thought about
the love that radiated from Achilles and poured into the soul. I thought about
the broken heart that I carried for two years and that I still carried now
from that very love. It hurt so much.

"If you wish." The goddess looked shocked and drew back. "I can do
without beauty and love. It's strength and power that I need to complete my
destiny."

"You are the most peculiar girl I have ever seen." Aphrodite flipped her
golden hair and took a few steps back. "Why can't you be like Helen?"

"You mean the golden whore?" I mockingly tapped my finger against my chin and cocked my head. Then I shook my head. "I could never be like her. I could never put my own feelings before
my country and husband." Aphrodite looked taken aback; and only then did I realize what I said. The goddess's flawless white skin flushed red. She raised a shaking finger to
the temple entrance.

"Get out of my temple. Get out!" I circled the goddess and backed up to
the steps slowly. I had I feeling that I should be watching my back. When I
reached the last step, I turned and ran. Far, far away from the place where
so
much fear had encircled me. It made my skin crawl to think I was fearless in
the presence of Artemis, Athena, and Ares; but I was consumed with terror in
the presence of Aphrodite.

I slowed to a walk and shuddered slightly. I decided to go to the other
temples of the three gods I worship the most. Only then would I be strong
enough again to face all that I had unraveled.