There were a few days of peace while the Greeks gave Menelaus the proper funeral rites. Agamemnon had also allowed a certain number of Trojans to head down to the beaches to collect some of their dead. It was a time-honoured tradition borne from respect that the dead could be returned to their grieving families. They would put the pennies on their forever closed eyes for the ferryman, and with smoke and fire say goodbye to the brave men that had fallen too soon from this world.
Alexa and Aeneous were on the volunteer list to return the dead. Only a small group were allowed into the Greek settlements, lest the Greeks thought it would turn into an ambush. Hector carefully selected the men himself, yet had to stay behind to help plan strategies on the next attack. Surprisingly, when Alexa volunteered Hector did not try to dissuade her in anyway, but sent her to get the carts ready with the other men.
"You're certainly brave, heading into the lion's den." Aeneous said to Alexa, as he tightened one of the straps in his armour.
"You're heading into it too." Alexa pointed out.
"Yes, but I didn't kill a king only a few days ago."
Alexa rolled her eyes at her old friend. "You forget- Agamemnon let me go. All is forgiven. I have as much right to help get our dead men as you."
"Aren't you a proper Trojan woman? Where is your decency?" He said, half-joking. He'd always been fairly protective over her, and she knew he would try and dissuade her from going.
"Proper is an idea conjured and designed by men seeking to enslave women with it." Alexa laughed. "We've fought side by side in battle now. Besides, this is a peaceful mission, with fighting ceased. They want to collect their dead, as do we."
"Pacts can end, and deals can go bad." Aeneous sighed.
"That's why I have this." Alexa returned, holding up a sword. She'd unfortunately been stripped of her handmade one during the first battle and had not seen it since. Perhaps she would find it when they entered the Greek settlements. For now, a common soldiers' sword would have to do. She missed the weight of her own sword, the deliciously sharp edge. The crudely made one she had now felt clumsy, and its edge was dull. Put to the test, it would still make grievous injury, but was not as suited to her body as her previous one. Alexa missed it as much as she missed a dear friend, and so hoped she would find it when returning to the Greek camp.
The settlements were quiet as they marched forwards, taking the dead Trojans and pulling them on stretchers.
"At least the Greeks have the sense to stay inside their tents." Aeneous whispered to Alexa.
"Let us be quick then. I would rather do this task quickly and peacefully, and get back to Troy before sundown."
"Don't wander too far." Aeneous said, taking Alexa's wrist and pulling her close.
"I'll be a moment- I'm just going to have a look for my sword. It is fine, Aeneous. Don't be such a worry. Anyone would think you were the woman." Alexa teased, walking away.
She searched around for a few moments, taking time to look for her sword, but she knew it was hopeless. Alexa took a few seconds to look upon the sky. The clouds were particularly striking today, as if filled with thunder and lightning ready to reign down on them. Her father would say that they displayed the mood of the gods, and right now the gods must be furious. As she was looking up at the sky, a movement made her turn; but harsh hands were already placed down on her mouth, preventing her from screaming. She was dragged behind one of the tents, unable to cry out as one Greek soldier held down her arms and another pushed her into the ground.
"The gods must be on our side, sending a woman into our camp." One laughed.
"Fuck the peace treaty. Love is peace, after all. And it's been too long of a time since I've given my love to a woman." Another boasted.
"I'd rather my own wife, but she lies back at home while I fight in this insufferable country." Another grunted.
They tore at Alexa's dress as she kicked at them, pushing them away. She used all the strength she had left to keep them off her.
"That's it, Princess. Keep fighting. Nothing worse than a woman that lies there like a dead fish. I love taking a woman who has a bit of life in her." The main instigator whispered in her ear, removing his hands from her mouth and pressing his slimy lips to hers.
Alexa bit down on his lip, her teeth chomping down hard. She tasted blood- it filled her mouth until she almost choked, and then his bottom lip came off and she spat it out. It was as easy as biting into an apple. The man screamed in pain as the blood poured down his chin onto Alexandra's face, and soon his fist came down, slamming into her eye. Pain bloomed and blossomed, and she let out a cry. His hand pushed her dress up further up her thighs, and panic rose in Alexa's throat. It was happening; her worst nightmare. She'd never felt so scared, even at the end of a sword with certain death. Death was better than this- this degradation, this ultimate invasion.
Before his meaty hands could push up any further, the man had let go and was backing off. Alexa's eyes flickered open and relief flooded her body.
Achilles had his sword placed on the throat of the man holding Alexa.
She looked at his face, so intense, so determined. She felt safer than ever, even in the clutches of a man who was about to rape and kill her.
"Let her go." Achilles warned.
The man let her go, and Achille's took Alexa's arm, pulling her towards him and standing in front of her.
"She bit my lip off!" the man lisped angrily, pressing a cloth to it.
"The lip should not have offended her, then." Achilles said coolly, though anger still exuded from his body. "In fact, let me ease your suffering."
With that, his sword came upon the man and sliced through his shoulder, killing the man instantly.
"You can't have her all to yourself." another man said, though he was still backing away. "No disrespect, my lord, but the rest of the men will want her as well. She's different to the other women."
"That is why she deserves your protection, not this treatment." Achilles spat.
"We thought she was Helen, at first, because she was so beautiful. But Helen was inside the walls of Troy. This other Trojan Princess, she fights amongst the men. I've never seen anything like it."
"I am not Helen." Alexa said, loudly, as other Greeks gathered round, hearing the dispute. All of them surveyed the scene, looking at the dead body on the ground, and Achilles, standing protectively in front of Alexa.
"She may have the face that launched a thousand ships, but I have the hand that will burn them all down." Alexa said, staring at all the men with hatred in her eyes.
"My Lord, she's a Trojan. She said it herself, she'd burn our ships. No man should have her. We should kill her, now." One of the men said. Achilles turned, looking down softly at Alexa's face. Her eyes flickered at him, wondering whether he was going to kill her. She didn't look away but kept on staring at him as he raised his sword.
Within a flash, he swung his sword, slashing at the throat of Alexa's attacker. He fell to the ground, and everyone remained silent.
"This is a Trojan Princess. She is to be respected, and not to be harmed. You are not barbarians. You are warriors. Warriors do not hurt women. They do not force themselves upon them and murder them. If anyone touches this woman, or harms her in any way, they will face my sword." Achilles vowed. He held his sword up, blood dripping off it onto the sand. There were a few murmurs of agreement and the group around them dispersed.
"Are you alright?" Achilles asked softly, touching Alexa's eye, which was swelling up painfully. He took her hand, guiding her through the camp and towards his tent. They entered, sitting down upon the fur blankets and staring at each other.
"Will you ever stay out of trouble?" he asked her, dabbing at her eye with a cloth.
"Will you?" she retorted.
"As much as I enjoy seeing you again, I certainly do not like it under these circumstances."
"Thank you." Alexa said softly. "I… I would not have been able to handle being-"
"Don't say it." Achilles said, his hands slightly shaking with anger and fury. "I would kill them all if that had happened to you. It won't happen again."
"It might. If Troy falls, the men breach the walls-"
"I will be there to protect you."
"You will be there because you are the one invading! And so, if it does happen, you cannot keep fighting your own men! You will end up killing more Greeks than Trojan people."
"If the men harm you then they deserve to die. Greek or Trojan."
"Agamemnon won't be happy." Alexa told him. "None of them will be happy."
"I don't give a damn about Agamemnon's happiness. Besides, he's too afraid of what killing me will cost him. He'll lose this war."
"Are you so sure of your own greatness?" Alexa asked, with a small smile.
"it's been prophesised. If I join this fight, Troy will fall."
"Forgive me for not being happy about that." Alexa told him.
"I've also been told that if I join this fight, I will die."
"Yet here you are. Do you believe in prophecies?"
"I never used to. But over time, enough of them have been proved right. Even if prophecies are wrong, there is still a strong likelihood that at one point, I will die in this war."
"Then why join it?"
"My mother told me that I had two paths. I could stay at home, fall in love, have children and be happy. Or I could join this fight, die, and be remembered as the greatest warrior who ever lived."
"And you can't have both?" Alexa questioned. One of Achille's hands reached up, stroking at a tendril of her hair.
"That is why I'm beginning to lose my faith in prophecies. It appears I already have both."
Alexa looked into his eyes, trying to figure out what he meant.
"You care so much about being a great warrior, about everybody remembering your name. But when you're dead, you won't know or care about the thousands of people who remember you. What about now, while your alive? Surely it matters more that the people who know you love you, rather than people who remember your name after you've gone?"
"It's all I've ever believed. Only now am I beginning to think that maybe that is better. To be loved, here and now, as I am, rather than in thousands of years" Achille's murmured. "Though I'm not so sure anybody would love who I am now."
Alexa was silent for a moment as he tended to her eye, and she took the cloth from him to wipe the blood from her chin. He wasn't an easy man to love, she was sure of that. The great men never were.
"You're a killer. You're here to kill my family, my friends. You're here to burn my city to the ground and destroy everything I care about. You kill men like it's sport." Alexa said. "I should want you dead. If you die, then this war ends. If you die, everything I love is safe."
"Then you could kill me. You're the only Trojan that shouldn't fear me and could kill me easily." He said.
"But I couldn't. Despite… everything telling me I should hate you, I don't."
"You don't."
"I… The gods will have to forgive me. My family, my country will have to forgive me. Because I don't want you to die. I want you to live. Because I..." Alexa was unable to say the words, but her meaning was clear.
"You love me?" Achilles asked, with an almost boyish vulnerability. Alexa bowed her head, but he lifted her chin up with a finger.
"I do." She whispered.
"And I love you." He stated calmly. Alexa's eyebrows raised.
"Despite who I am? Despite the fact I am your enemy, who you are supposed to kill?" She replied.
"You are the only woman that's turned my head from war. I could leave this all behind… for you."
"You would do that?" Alexa asked.
"I would. Before you, there was nothing but war and glory. I was fighting, but without a reason. Now, I have a reason. I'd fight for you, any day. I'd start wars for you. But life is not that simple and fighting in this war means hurting you. So, I will do the harder thing. I'll reject the fight. I'll tell my men to pack up, sail home. Troy will survive, and so will you and your family."
"And if I wanted to stay in Troy, with my family?"
"Then you could. You will never be my prisoner, Alexa. You have too much honour. You can stay here, in Troy, and I'll still get on that ship and sail away from this war. We will never see each other again and I will still do that, because I know you will be happy and safe."
They heard commotions from outside, heard shouting and voices. They stood at once, exiting the tent. Odysseus was trying to control the Greeks, and Aeneous was in front of him, his face furious.
"We allowed you to come and take your dead. And now this- a dead Greek! You spit on the peace treaty!" Odysseus bellowed.
"My men are all accounted for and have not murdered a Greek. But one of ours has been taken! The princess has disappeared!" Aeneous was shouting.
"Stop!" Alexa cried, pushing forward. Aeneous looked shocked, rushing to her and holding her. Achilles watched with careful eyes at their embrace.
"Does somebody want to explain what in the gods name is going on?" Odysseus shouted.
"The peace treaty still stands." Alexa said, breaking free from Aeneous. "A misunderstanding, that's all. One of your men tried to attack me and break the peace. He is dead now. Allow us to collect our dead and leave."
"Agreed. Do it quickly, before anymore bloodshed, Princess." Odysseus said, holding eye contact. She nodded, and Aeneous gathered the men. They started loading the dead Trojans onto the carts and riding back.
Aeneous took Alexa's arm, drawing her close. One of his hands rose to her eye.
"Are you okay? If whoever harmed you still lives-"
"It is over now. Done. Leave it, I beg of you, my friend." Alexa said, noticing that his face was extremely close to hers. She could feel Achilles eyes on them, burning into the couple.
"Friend?" Aeneous asked, with a hurtful tone. Alexa gently took his hand from her face and removed it. Unable to resist, she glanced at Achilles. He looked furious at Aeneous, laying hands on her. Alexa wanted to explain that there was nothing between her and Aeneous anymore, just childhood romance, but couldn't.
"Come, Aeneous. We must go." Alexa said. Before they left, she turned to Achilles.
"You are returning, then?" he asked.
"I must. There has been enough blood for today. For a lifetime."
"Then I will never see you again." Achilles said sadly, as Alexa drew closer.
"You mean it? You'd leave the war behind?"
"Yes. Perhaps, in decades time, you can leave Troy and come visit me."
"I think I might." Alexa said, now in front of him. "When all of this is over. The next time we see each other, it won't be as enemies."
"We were never enemies, Alexandra." He murmured to her, one hand entwining in her hair.
"May we meet again, brave Achilles."
"Be safe, Alexandra. Don't find yourself in too much trouble."
"Alexa, we must go now." Aeneous said firmly, taking her arm. Achilles paid no attention to him, smiling down at Alexa.
"A moment, please."
"I cannot allow this." Aeneous said angrily. "Your father would kill me if I let-"
"Brother, I suggest you silence yourself before I do it for you." Achilles said calmly, without taking his eyes from Alexa.
"You dare-" Aeneous began, but Alexa turned.
"Please, old friend." Alexa implored him. "Wait by the cart. I'll be there shortly."
Aeneous grunted his acquiesce and walked away, leaving Achilles and Alexandra alone.
"He is in love with you." Achilles stated. "Though it is understandable. I suspect there is not a Greek or Trojan left in this country impervious to you charms, princess."
"An old friend, nothing more. We were childhood sweethearts, I suppose." Alexa said.
"Then for the first time in my short life, I find myself envious." Achilles said.
"No need. He had the attention of a childish girl. You have the love of a woman." Alexa whispered.
"Then I can die a happy man." He replied.
"I'd rather see you alive."
Achilles picked Alexa up and kissed her again, and her hands wound around his neck and shoulders as their lips touched. They kissed until their lips felt bruised and bloody, clinging to each other like they were being ripped apart by death itself. Achilles held her tightly, his warm rough hands tangling in her hair and pulling her hips in closer against his body. Finally, they finally parted to take breath, he looked in her eyes.
"I thought Paris and Helen foolish." Alexa half whispered, half panted at him. "For letting love cloud their judgement, for putting everything and everyone in danger."
"Yet it makes sense now." Achilles concurred, pressing his head close to hers with his eyes closed. He pulled back and looked her in the eyes. "I will tear this world apart for you. I would wage wars no man has ever seen, kill every warrior on earth for you. Damn the consequences."
"Alexa!" Aeneous called, urgently.
"I wish we did not have to part ever again." Alexa buried her head against his chest.
"In the afterlife, we won't have to." Achilles promised her, giving her a swift kiss on the forehead. "Go home, Princess Alexandra."
Alexa wished Achilles farewell and joined Aeneous. They led the carts filled with their dead towards Troy, and Alexa found herself next to a raging Greek. She sighed.
"I can feel your anger burning through like the sun." She said, turning to him. "Just say your peace and be done with it."
"To know where to begin." He immediately spat out, angrily. "I would not assume you do not know how wrong this is."
"It's not wrong. I know right and wrong, Aeneous. It's not that."
"But it is. The man comes to claim your country! He comes to slay your brothers, your father, me. Yet you would treat him better than all of us."
"I do not treat him better, but equal. I love him, the man. Not as a Greek, or my enemy."
"But enemy he is, Alexa. You cannot ignore that."
"He is not enemy to me. Thrice he had saved my life. Turned his back on his brothers, on his fellow soldiers, out of loyalty to me. So, do not dare say he is not worthy of my respect. He has treated me better than many of our own men would." Alexa said, getting angrier now. Part of her knew she would have to face this discussion again and again, with her father, her brothers, all of Troy that thought she was a traitor.
"I know you think me a fool. Or perhaps worse. Perhaps you see me as betrayer of my country. But I love Troy with every beat of my heart. I have sworn to protect it, despite my limitations in this world as a female. I have killed an enemy king, have defended and protected as best I could. So when happiness comes into my life, I deserve it. I deserve love, no matter what form it comes in. I will let nobody treat me as a pariah for following my heart, when thus far it has only served Troy."
"yet now you would see Troy fall? I understand your words Alexa and hold no blame towards you. But when he comes to invade our home, when he and his men breach the walls of Troy, will he not join the fight, and kill our countrymen?"
"As I have killed his? Perhaps. Maybe it would be warranted, Aeneous. You see things in black and white. Us or them. Trojans or Greeks. I do not see that. I see a man I love, and that is all."
"You truly love him?" Aeneous asked, his voice a little less harsh now.
"I do." Alexa said boldly.
"I wish that I were a man such as he." He said quietly, turning around to face her.
"He is a great warrior."
"I take no pleasure in fighting. I only wish I were a man like him so that I could feel the pale shadow of the love you bequeath him." Aeneous said bitterly, looking down at his feet. Alexa paused. She understood more now. Much of his anger had come from envy, rather than hatred of Achilles himself. Alexa did not realise he still held such feelings for her, after all these years.
"You will feel that love someday, I promise. Only it will not come from me. When you meet her, the love of your life, you will forget all about me." Alexa smiled softly, touching his arm.
"I don't think anyone could ever forget you, Princess Alexandra." He grinned back at her, turning to face forward. They began to draw closer to Troy, and as the carts pushed forward, they saw Hector waiting at the gates. Alexa and Aeneous jumped from the carts as the soldiers began to take the dead Trojans inside the walls and prepare them for the funerals.
"What happened?" Hector asked quickly, upon seeing Alexa's eye.
"A swift quarrel, nothing more." Alexa answered quickly. "Be comforted brother, the inflictor is now on the river Styx."
"I dread letting you go out there." Hector sighed, taking her arm and leaving her into the palace. Alexa turned to look back at Aeneous, but he seemed eager to put distance between the pair after their honest encounter. She knew she could trust him to keep her secret; he was an honourable man. As she joined her brother, Alexa couldn't help but wonder why she didn't fall for Aeneous. He was a fine man, and more importantly, they were fighting on the same side. But love was not like an arrow, shooting straight and hitting desired target. It was a mysterious force, that often came ripe with complications and contradictions.