Chapter 28
"Like Waking from a Dream"


Recommended Songs: "Monotov's Private Opera" – Third Eye Blind & "Maps" – Yeah Yeah Yeahs


Hector walked brusquely through the palace corridors, returning from a brief discussion with Euryalus about the remaining military preparations to be made before their journey south to Cilicia. In the morning light, the cream colored stone of the palace walls nearly glimmered, and the murals painted along the halls came to life with the vibrancy of their colors shown at full force. A restless energy shifted within him as he drew nearer and nearer to his destination, but it was not an effect of his exotic surroundings or the lengthy list of responsibilities still requiring his attention that day. It all seemed insignificant in comparison to the young, naked woman still sleeping in his bed. She had barely stirred when he slipped away from her side earlier in the morning, and he took that as a sign of her indulgent abandon. It pleased him since he wanted her to feel sheltered and relaxed in his chambers… He wanted her to feel at home. When he finally reached the two large wooden doors leading to his quarters, his movements shifted to slow and cautious as he opened one door. He didn't wish to wake her and sought to make as little noise as possible though it was not quite so easily managed with the large bronze hinges latching the doors to the wall. He cringed each time they screeched or groaned even the slightest bit, and it seemed an eternity that he was stood coaxing the door open inch by inch. Once inside, he descended one step, leaned out toward the center of the room to peer around the black drapes surrounding his bed, and checked that she was still sound asleep. To his relief, she was lying on her stomach with the blue sheet haphazardly drawn about her waist, so low that he could faintly make out the dimples punctuating her lower back. One lithe leg hung out uncovered, and her hair was strewn about his pillows in an unruly mess of curls. He shut the door then, slipped off his sandals, and made his way to the foot of the bed, granting himself a better look at her. She was his guilty pleasure, and even in sleep, he felt drawn to her, wishing to bury himself beside her once more to feel the heat of her skin beneath the sheet and her soft body fitted perfectly against his own. Without hesitation, he began untying the front of his vest, but his gaze turned from his hands when he heard the sheets rustling and watched her clumsily roll onto her back, throwing one arm overhead. With the sheet still lowered on her body, her breasts remained uncovered, and he smiled licentiously, enjoying how the morning light illuminated her shamelessness in sleep. She displayed her body without the consciousness to care. The almost childish position amused him, and yet his gaze centered on her chest where her supple breasts tantalized him. The black material of his vest fell from his arms a moment later, and with his chestnut eyes still fixated on her sleeping figure, he edged around the stone frame, pushed back the black drapes, and sat beside her, careful not to disrupt the surface of the bed too much and wake her. She moaned softly in the back of her throat, a warning that he had been caught, and he grinned while drawing his fingers beneath her chin and back toward her ear.

The callused tips tickled her skin, and an enticing smile tugged at her lips as she caught his hand with her own and murmured, "Hector." Her voice was lowered and raspy with sleep, and she had yet to even open her eyes, hinting that she was still on the verge of dozing. But for all that, she reminded him of his appetite for her, and he bent to devour her lips in a heavy kiss. He was addicted to her taste and drew his tongue across her bottom lip to savor that velvety skin before it dipped within, deepening their kiss. Her response was gradual as the drowsiness wore off, and she could not imagine being awoken in a more pleasing manner. When he pulled away, she lifted her head from the pillow to chase after his lips, but he remained out of her reach. She surrendered easily enough, still too tired to follow him very far, and settled back on the bed to stretch from the crown of her head out through the tip of her toes in a very catlike fashion. It brought her breasts back into his line of sight as though they were asking for his attention, and he immediately shifted lower down her body to draw his lips over them. Both her hands cupped the back of his head, burying her fingers into his curls, and she sighed in pleasure and arched her back somewhat to encourage him. His teeth took hold of the hardened skin, and he nibbled lightly on it, almost teasing himself as much as he was her. A soft moan slipped past her lips, and with her head propped upon a pillow, she watched him savor her, simultaneously entranced by his skill and impatient for more. He forced himself away before he lost control. He would have to be content with that taste, but he couldn't wait much longer to have his fill of her.

"You are a siren," he grumbled in irritation and lay down on the bed beside her, propping himself up on an elbow.

"I've barely spoken a word," she challenged with a satisfied grin.

He smirked and brushed his lips across hers yet again, pausing to peer down into her eyes. "All the more dangerous." Her eyes shone mischievously beneath him, but she did no more, heeding his warning from the previous night. It both pleased and annoyed him. Some part of him wished she would push him to surrender to his desires, but his morals and respect for her guarded his more carnal needs with an iron grip.

"Where did you go?" she asked while modestly drawing the sheet further up her body to tuck beneath her arms and hide her bust from his sight.

It was just as well. He was having difficulty concentrating on anything else that morning. How ironic that a virgin reduced him to an awkward, overly stimulated teenage boy. 'The gods do have a sense of humor,' he mused briefly before answering, "I needed to speak with one of the generals. There's still much to be done."

"You will not leave soon…" she chanced, and the hopeful tone to her voice was unmistakable.

He smiled and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "I can't be sure, but I will be busy, Myrina."

So easily did he acknowledge the unspoken words as though he could read her thoughts: he would be too occupied to see her. "I understand… How long will you be gone?"

"Not long." He rolled onto his back and cupped his head with his hands. "A year. Perhaps two."

"That is not long?" she scoffed.

"I will call on you when I return as I always have."

She briefly considered what she would do in a year, let alone two, without him after learning of his feelings for her the night before. It would feel like an eternity, but she promised, "And I will be waiting." He shifted onto his side once more to see her, and she tentatively smiled at him when she noted the sober look on his face. Once more he had deciphered the unvoiced words, but he did not comment on it for the time.

There was a knock at the door, and he grimaced as he realized his duties had caught up with him and ruined their chances at a private morning together. He slipped off the bed and grabbed his vest from the floor, drawing it back up his arms to sit on his shoulders. He glanced back at the bed on his journey toward the door only to see Myrina had ducked beneath the sheet and out of sight. He grinned and restrained a chuckle. No one in the palace had any misconceptions about where she slept last night, and they undoubtedly had their own conclusions as to what the Prince and his mystery woman did under the cover of darkness. It amused him all the same, but he forced a more stern expression as he opened the door, prepared to face anything. Rather than a servant, there stood his younger brother Paris with a broad grin plastered across his face, and Hector frowned in annoyance at being interrupted by such a menace. "What is it?"

"Is she still here?" he asked curiously, attempting to peek around his older brother's burly frame.

Hector purposely blocked the room from his sight, and he asked dryly, "Don't you have some woman to chase after?"

Paris scowled at the jab. "I didn't mean to interrupt." The older prince remembered then that he had failed to tie his vest before opening the door which hinted at more inappropriate activities, but he still considered Paris with the same perturbed expression, unfazed by the comment. "I thought you would want to know that Aeneas just arrived. He's on his way here to see you no doubt."

Hector nearly growled in annoyance. He was always pleased to see his cousin, but on this occasion, it would force him to send Myrina home that much sooner. He couldn't risk Aeneas seeing her and recognizing her. He wasn't ready to reveal his relationship to his friend just yet and certainly not in this manner. A new concern crossed his mind, and he turned to his brother with a suspicious gaze. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Aeneas doesn't knock," he rejoined and grinned mischievously once more before slipping away without another word. It was true that Aeneas often disregarded common courtesy with his friends, and Hector was slightly surprised by his brother's consideration. It was to his benefit for once, and he quickly closed the door.

"You'll need to leave before Aeneas sees you," Hector called toward the bed as he padded out to the balcony and retrieved her crumpled gown from the night before. He didn't have the patience to wait for a servant to fetch her peasant clothes and tossed the gown onto the bed in front of Myrina who was seated with the blue sheet drawn about her. Instead of hopping out of bed to dress as he expected, she stared at the gown with a blank expression. "What is it?"

"I cannot return home in this," she protested softly.

"Why not?" She gnawed at her lip and attempted to find the proper words to explain how her father and brothers would react if they saw her in such a revealing dress. "There's no time," he said impatiently. "I'll have a servant bring you your old clothes at the palace gates."

She sighed in defeat and considered his expectant expression. "Do you plan to watch me?" He rolled his eyes and stepped outside to call on a servant who could prepare her things and gave her the privacy to slip into the dress. The material fell around her in the same way it had before, and she ran her hands over the wrinkles in the dress, trying to smooth it out. The gown was too beautiful to be cheapened by crumpled material, and Hector returned a moment later to see her. In the daylight, the dress lost the almost magical appeal it had the night before, but she still looked lovely in it, disheveled hair and wrinkled material aside. He smiled and approached her to drape the material around her slender body and clasped it at her left shoulder for her. She shifted the blue cloth further across her to cover the deep cut from sight and dreaded riding home in the delicate dress. It seemed like too much stress for the gossamer material, but she had no other option. Hopefully her father and brothers would be at sea, and she would be able to change before they returned that evening and saw her. She supposed she would slip the dress beside her shell necklace, two gifts from her prince that had no place in her meager life.

"Let's go," he said and took her elbow to guide her out of the room and down the hall, choosing a less known path where he doubted they would run into his cousin. He walked swiftly, taking long strides, and she was forced the gather the front of her dress in her hands and lift it slightly off the ground so that she didn't trip on it and stumble. She understood his haste since she also didn't want to face Aeneas, but she simultaneously was disheartened with how quickly she was being taken away. The previous night had been like a dream, and now she was literally being thrust back into her rightful place, back to her village and to her mundane chores. At the palace gates, her old white stallion was waiting along with a pack containing her clothes, and the same soldier from before was waiting to escort her home. Hector took a black cloth from another servant and offered it to her. It was a cloak since she had seemed apprehensive about riding home in the revealing dress. Despite the heat, she was grateful for the cover which could perhaps protect the lovely dress as well, and she draped it over her shoulders, clasping it at her neck.

The time had come so soon, but for once she was the one who had to ride away. Unlike Hector who always mounted his steed and galloped off without a second glance, Myrina hesitated before him, wishing to steal away their final moments. Likewise, he had never been forced to release her, and he quickly forgot the eyes watching them as he cupped her face in his hands, bent forward, and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss. Such public displays were frowned upon, but in that moment, he didn't give a thought to anything but her. Even as he pulled away, he kept his forehead firmly pressed against hers and peered into her eyes. "I will see you before I leave for Thebe," he swore in all sincerity. She nodded gently, and he reluctantly released her. With the complicated layers of material shrouding her legs, he helped her mount her horse and settle herself. She pulled up the hood of her cloak and gave him a half-hearted smile from beneath the shadow settling over her face. He nodded firmly in a final farewell and smacked the horse, sending them both out the gates and through the city. He watched her galloping between the buildings with a heavy sense of disappointment. He wished to call her back to him, but he held his tongue. One day he wouldn't let her go, but even as the thought passed through his mind, she glanced over her shoulder back at him only once. Her slender, cloaked outline smoldered against the white stone of his city, and the hood overshadowed her, masking her features from his gaze and granting him only a vague hint at the woman he sent away. In that second where time paused, the haunting realization settled heavily within him: she would never be his.

Myrina and Lysander reached the outskirts of her village by late afternoon, and she paused with the Trojan soldier to straighten her cloak and be sure she was unrecognizable. "Can you see me?" she asked while looking at him from beneath the hood. For some reason her heart was thundering in her chest. Perhaps it was the fear that her father and brother would be waiting for her inside their house. She didn't feel prepared to see them yet.

"No," he assured her for the umpteenth time along their journey, and she exhaled shakily as she turned to look out at her village from the plains stretching between Troy and her home. The ride back seemed so much shorter to her dismay, but she could ride forward. Returning to Troy was not an option. Lysander gave her a moment to gather her bearings before he asked, "Are you ready, my lady?"

"Yes," she lied all too swiftly, and they pressed onward, galloping through the center of her village until they reached her family's plot of land. She dismounted easily and scanned the front of the house for any movement inside that might betray the men's presences. When she was content with the still house, she considered the soldier a final time. "Thank you for your kindness and your help," she said earnestly, grateful that Hector had sent this escort for her instead of another. He was not condescending or arrogant toward her, and she appreciated that when she felt so lowly in comparison to the regal company she was called to join the night before. Lysander bowed his head slightly in a gesture that she didn't feel she deserved before galloping away and leaving her to face her fate. She had made her bed, and now she would be forced to lie in it –alone. She always felt much stronger with Hector, capable of facing the palace and dinner with the royal family, but now she could barely find the courage to pass through her own doorway. Instead, she guided the stallion away to give him water and food.

Suddenly, Isidora rushed out as quickly as her old bones would permit and called out, "Myrina!" The young woman faced her, and Isidora pulled her into a tight embrace as though she had been gone for months, not simply one night. She was grateful for that comfort all the same, but Isidora took her shoulders and said, "Go inside now before anyone takes notice of you. The women are all a flutter about your stay at the palace."

"How could they know?" she asked with a deep frown, never wishing to be the subject of their mean-spirited village gossip.

"They saw you riding out of the village with that soldier yesterday, and it certainly raised suspicions. Then Aeton..." Her wrinkled features fell, and she shook her head. "He made such a loud fuss when your father told him where you had gone. It's a wonder you didn't hear him all the way in Troy."

"He's angry with me? Is father upset? What of Alkaios?" Her tone turned desperate as she voiced the questions that had been tormenting her the entire ride home.

Isidora took the reigns but would not answer her. "Go inside, girl! There's bread on the table." Without another word, she guided the steed away, and Myrina was left to duck inside the home. She entered the kitchen and tore off a chunk of bread. She had not eaten before leaving Troy, and she hadn't realized before now how famished she was. Still, the nerves shifted around restlessly in her gut, and after only a few bites, she couldn't stomach anymore.

She removed the cloak from her shoulders and folded it in her arms only to hear another voice call through the home, "Myrina!" She immediately recognized the source and reluctantly faced the doorway where Korina soon appeared. The other woman's jaw fell, and her eyes swept over Myrina's body, taking in the luxurious material and gown she wore. "Myrina," she repeated in a softer tone and approached her slowly, "you look like a princess."

She laughed sheepishly and glanced down at the disheveled dress, uncomfortable with the look Korina gave her. "His sisters would scoff were they to see me in such a state."

"You met them?" she gasped with her chocolate eyes widening in surprise.

"Well… in a sense, yes."

Korina took her hands and held onto them tightly. "You must tell me everything. Don't spare a single detail."

"There's not much to tell," she said shyly. "The prince invited me to the palace, and I shared dinner with his family."

"You dined with the king!"

Again, Myrina shifted humbly and shrugged. "It was not so special."

"Oh Myrina… Will you marry him?"

The younger woman frowned and blushed at the forward question, barely remembering her prior lie in time to formulate an answer. No one knew how long they had truly known one another. "I doubt it," she finally decided. "Surely he will marry a princess. He only wished for my company…" She trailed off as she realized what that made her sound like.

"After so many years?" Korina pressed excitedly. "He would not present you before his family so casually. You must realize what this means!"

Myrina's attention, however, had been caught at the first question without taking into account what followed afterward. "Years?" she repeated uneasily with her heart clamoring inside her chest.

"I told her," Isidora explained from the doorway where she returned from attending to the horse, and Myrina blanched at the blunt admission.

"Yes, I know!" Korina gushed with a broad smile. "But don't fret. I would never tell a soul. You are a sister to me. I would not betray your trust." Myrina stared blankly at her, suddenly overwhelmed by this information. For years she had guarded Hector away, and now someone knew without her consent. She felt vulnerable and exposed and backed away from the two women until she felt the kitchen table hit her lower back. Korina advanced forward, but Myrina lifted her hands, wordlessly begging for some space to breathe and process this news. "Please don't be upset Myrina. I'm so happy for you!"

"Does Aeton…?" she wondered, unable to voice the unthinkable.

"No! No! I swear I have told no one."

She placed a hand over her racing heart, monitoring its pace through her skin, and gathered her waning strength. "Be honest with me… What did they say?" Both Korina and Isidora stared back at her with shifting expressions, clearly uncertain whether to be honest or to lie, or even where to start. Silent, tense minutes passed with Myrina turning from one woman to the next, and finally she blurted out, "Will you please tell me before I go mad!"

There was a familiar voice from outside the home, and all three women straightened in alarm, praying it was not what they thought until the voice drew closer and louder. "You may ask them yourself!" Isidora grumbled and stepped aside. "Go run to your room and change before they see you like this!" Myrina didn't need to be told twice and sprinted down the hallway to her room like a bolt of lightning. Isidora and Korina no doubt moved to distract the men before they called for Myrina who couldn't seem to unclasp the large, gold pin at her shoulder. Hearing their voices echo through the halls of the house, her anxiety increased tenfold, and she bent forward, slipping the dress with the draping still attached over her head. She quickly rolled it into a ball and it threw it beneath her bed. She then grabbed her normal garb, slipped on the dress which now seemed a bit scratchy in comparison to the other delicate fabric, and positioned her mother's pin in her hair. She could hear the sounds of the men talking inside the home, and she hesitated at her door, partially torn between hiding away and facing her fate.

"You ungrateful sack of wine!" Aeton's voice billowed down the hallway. Myrina flinched at the crude comment which she was sure was intended for her.

"Ungrateful?" Alkaios shouted back. "I'll make twice what I do now and be able to send a portion home for you all!"

"You don't think you're needed here with your family?"

"Aeton, Alkaios, stop!" Their father yelled out, but his call was ignored.

"I'm worth more gone than I am here… You're not angry that I'm leaving. You're angry that you didn't have the balls to do it when you were young."

By this time Myrina had crept through the hall to peer around the corner and watched the scene unfolding in their vestibule. Without warning, Aeton roughly grabbed Alkaios by the shirt and threw him against the wall. Alkaios retaliated with a swing to his brother's face, making contact with his cheek, but Aeton didn't stop. He pinned him there, stooping inches away from his face, and yelled, "I am the only one who cares about this family! I am the only one who has taken on that responsibility and don't you ever forget that!"

"Leave him alone!" Myrina cried out and pushed forward toward the pair.

Aeton's furious gaze slid away from his younger brother to her, and he released Alkaios if only to turn on Myrina who squared her shoulders to meet him. "And you! Running off with the prince behind your father's back!"

"Am I to ignore a call from the Crown Prince of Troy?" she countered audaciously, but on the inside she was trembling.

"What am I to do with you now?" he spat angrily. "Who would marry a prince's whore?"

"Aeton, don't speak that way to your sister!" their father rebuked loudly.

"Why not? Have you nothing to say to her? Should we all celebrate her return and pray she carries his bastard child within her?"

The old man's face darkened, and seeing that disappointment, Myrina felt the pressure of unshed tears pulsing behind her eyes. "I am not his whore… I love him."

"You can't understand love," Aeton growled out. "You're too selfish and too stupid to realize what love is. Shame us no longer, Myrina."

"What shame have I brought to this family? The prince called on me."

"And he will forget your name but a moment after it leaves his lips."

"No."

"No? You foolish girl! Now I will be forced to support our father, my wife and unborn child, and you once the prince has had his fill."

"I'm not his whore," she whispered again and felt the warm tears rolling down her cheeks, betraying the pain his words caused her.

"That lie may ease your own doubts, but everyone gathered beneath this roof sees the truth… You are a poor village girl. Why would he ever want you for more than a night?"

"A cat may look at a king," Korina interjected in her friend's defense.

Aeton easily ignored his wife, maintaing Myrina's gaze and seeing her subtly crack beneath it. "You have no place at his side." His eyes narrowed, and his shoulders rose and fell with his rapid, unmeasured breath. "I am only relieved our mother is not alive to see what you've become."

Without warning, Alkaios tackled Aeton to the floor, and the two men tumbled forward, nearly knocking Korina, their father, and Myrina over in the process. The latter three scrambled out the way of the brothers wrestling with each other. Alkaios was still on top and swung back to land a decent punch above Aeton's eye, splitting open his eyebrow in the process, but Aeton soon overcame his younger brother, rolling on top, and punched across the face again and again until their father finally pulled him off.

"Get out! Both of you!" the old man roared with such a force, the walls nearly quaked.

Aeton was breathing heavily and backed away toward the door with the cut above his eye bleeding down his face. His voice cracked as he pressed, "I am the one who takes care of this family. Remember this moment. Remember how you both spat on me…" He clumsily swiped at the blood trickling down from his eye and set off back home. Only a moment later, Korina followed after him while wiping at her own tears. Isidora and their father turned to face Myrina, but the young woman had disappeared from the entryway.

She stumbled somewhere between walking and running toward the barren courtyard with the lone stone bench sitting out in the late afternoon light. She easily crumbled down onto it, wrapping her arms around herself, and bending forward to rock against the tightening inside her. With one turn of events, her sweet, young love had turned sour, and she felt sick from ingesting it so completely and believing in it so fully. Had it all been a dream? Had she been played for a fool and blinded by her own fantasy? The grass rustled nearby, and she straightened in alarm to see Alkaios approaching. One side of his face was beginning to swell from the blows it had taken, but he was more focused on his younger sister and her tearstained face. He settled down beside her and wrapped an arm around her narrow shoulders in a comforting manner that he never had before. "He had no right to say that to you."

"Yes, he did." She swallowed heavily and shook her head. "I never wanted this. I never asked for this." She took a deep breath and considered her brother through teary eyes. "Do you think I'm his whore?"

"No." He rubbed her shoulder to bolster his answer. "He is the crown prince. You could not disobey his call."

"But we didn't-" The words caught in throat as she remembered who she was speaking with, but it was so difficult not to point out that her virtue was still in tact despite what gossip might say.

Alkaios shifted uneasily, not wanting to hear about that aspect of his younger sister's life, and decided, "He was angry with me. He shouldn't have taken his frustration out on you."

"Why were you fighting?"

"Because when Troy's army marches south, I will go with them."

Her expression widened in utter shock, and she sputtered, "Why?"

"I cannot face another day within the confines of this village... I don't want to become a fisherman." His agitation was evident in his tone, and he pressed on, "Do you know how frustrating it is to live the same day over and over again and to know that this is the rest of your life? That there is nothing else to be expected?"

"Yes," she admitted gently, but she more stunned that her feelings were shared with someone else -with Alkaios no other!

"It will be better for the family," he said, more to himself than to Myrina. "I will send money... And when I return, I'll bring the family honor."

She smiled at his profile which was so stern and somber as he said the words. She had never noticed before how he had matured from the brother who had once hidden a crab in her bed to this man unafraid to face the world and set himself apart. "What will I do without you?" He turned to look at her, and she laughed slightly. "I'll have no one to speak with but Isidora and father."

He mirrored her smile, and his eyes shifted across her face before he wondered, "Do you still remember mother?"

"Only bits and pieces of memories... but every year I recall less of her. I can't remember the sound of her voice anymore."

"You favor her so much," he admitted. "Sometimes I can almost see her staring out through your eyes."

An unhindered smile tugged at her lips, and she felt the tears pricking her eyes once more. "Really?"

He nodded and looked away, uncomfortable with the emotional exchange. "Don't let Aeton bully you while I'm gone... You're stronger than you think. Don't forget that."

"I won't," she promised and impulsively bent forward to kiss her brother's cheek. "I'll miss you."

He smiled and stood from the bench. "You will?"

"Yes," she said with a soft laugh.

"Then you'll make your barley soup before I leave?"

"Why? You always said you hated it."

He grinned and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I feared you would become arrogant if you knew how much I enjoyed it."

"You liar!" she accused, but she was absolutely beaming to know his aversion to her cooking had all been a hoax.

"What will you do about it? Call one of your prince's guards on me?" he teased.

"Soldier of Troy or not, I can still whip you," she warned with a devious grin.

"You would have to actually catch me first." Within a second, they bolted off to the field behind their village with Alkaios in the lead and Myrina steadily gaining on him. As they sprinted through the tall grass with the sun setting across the sky overhead, they oddly found some level of deeper acceptance in resurrecting their childhood game, and the weight of the day was soon abandoned.


Author's Note: Hey lovies! Aeton was a major douche face in this chapter, but he is actually a good guy. He's just worried the family is crumbling around him and feels like he's the only one trying to hold it together. He'll take the stick out of his arse later :) I'll be eager to see how you all react to the next chapter. I'm not sure if it's what you're expecting or not!

Thanks to AmyLNelson, Syrena Swift, and KawaiiHawaiian for the super sweet reviews! Lots of love for you ladies :D

Amy: Yay! Hector did in fact tell her he loved her, but I felt like it had to be in this amused way -like 'are you kidding me? why the heck do you think I want you here, you retard!' I guess he could have been all lovey dovey 'you + me = us' haha but I wanted to keep things lighthearted after their uh... teenage wet dream session ;) Hopefully you liked this chapter and thanks again for the review, gorgeous! xoxo

Syrena: OMG! I laughed so hard at the YouTube link! Jesus Christ... That was epic. Thanks for that :) YEAAHHHHHHH. I'm glad you enjoyed their naughty scene. I actually had a good friend of mine read through it and give me feedback before I posted it cause I was kinda nervous about going that far with it BUT I'm glad to see you appreciated it :D Andromache is still on the horizon. You'll learn more about that in the next chapter... sweating yet? Hope you enjoyed this chapter :D

Kawaii: Hey dialogue junkie! A nose bleed? I hope not haha Those would not be pleasant! They found some understanding and reciprocation of feelings and now in this chapter they're all over the map again haha So sorry for that! As far as Andromache goes, I'm going to be honest, I haven't really decided how I'm going to make her behave yet. I actually don't want her to be some heinous bitch because I don't see her that way. You know I think that she's really going to be Hector's equal in way, but that's all going to play out very soon :) Hope you liked this chapter as well xoxo