(A/N: This will be the longest chapter, but it develops the plot, my story
will go all the way to Achilles' death)
**Chapter 4**
One year later, 13 year old Deidamia stood in front of the mirror, while a servant tied her hair into braids. Deidamia was old enough to have her own children now, and it was only right for her to be married. Lycomedes had not chosen a husband for her yet. Lycomedes had changed since 5 years ago, he was no longer obsessed over trying to marry off his daughters, and he wasn't planning to marry off Deidamia for at least half a year.
Deidamia started to ponder of her wedding. Would she marry a handsome prince? Where would he be from? Crete? Argos? Athens? She heard that the prince of the neighboring kingdom of Phthia, the son of King Peleus, was about her age, but whoever the boy was, he was off to study with the great Chiron, so that was no good. Besides, it would be her father who chose her husband.
Just then, one of Lycomedes messengers ran up to her. "Princess, the King would like for me to alert you and your sisters that there shall be a banquet tonight and hopes for you and the rest of your sisters to appear."
Deidamia stared at the messenger. "But I am a girl! Women are never allowed at banquets!"
The messenger cleared his throat. "However, the King says it is an exception because he would like to show the guest his daughters."
"All right," Deidamia said. "You may go now." The servant backed away as Deidamia continued walking.
Deidamia heard a loud thud behind her, and she turned and saw Pyrrha collapsed on the floor. What Deidamia did not see was that as Achilles turned his head and admired Deidamia's looks to himself, he had ran into the wall.
Now Pyrrha was kneeling on the floor, holding onto her head, groaning in a voice that was extremely low for a girl.
Deidamia excused her servants, ran up to Pyrrha and bent down. "Are you all right?" Deidamia asked.
Pyrrha rubbed her head and made a crooked grin. "I guess I was not paying attention."
Deidamia held out a hand, and helped Pyrrha up. "Do you need anything? Does it hurt? I can send my maids to get you a wet cloth to put on your head."
Pyrrha shook her head. "No, it's all right." Pyrrha then grasped Deidamia's hand to hoister herself up.
As Pyrrha picked herself up, one of her feet had been on the tunic. As she stood up, the force of it caused the girdle to fall off, splitting the gown from the chest to bottom.
Pyrrha quickly clutched onto her tunic and sat down on the floor. Deidamia gave a small giggle. "It's all right, let me help you up." Deidamia tried to pull Pyrrha up, but Pyrrha would not let her.
"It's fine, really." Pyrrha said, trying to brush Deidamia off. "You go on without me."
"Don't be silly, let me help you."
"No, Deidamia, please, I'm fine." Pyrrha's eyes were wide, as if she were afraid of something.
"Look, Pyrrha, I'm just trying to help." With that said, Deidamia grabbed Pyrrha's hand and yanked her up.
Immediately, the front of Pyrrha's gown flew open, exposing Pyrrha to Deidamia, who screamed and fell back in horror. Pyrrha quickly pulled her robes back together and turned away.
What had caused Deidamia to fall back in horror was something that she saw on Pyrrha's naked body. There was something she saw that should not have ever been in existence on any girl.
Deidamia screamed again, and this time, Pyrrha ran up to her and clamped her hand, or rather, his hand over Deidamia's mouth.
"Be quiet." Pyrrha hissed. "Somebody might hear."
Deidamia gave him a push and stepped back. "What is going on?" she asked, trembling.
Pyrrha sighed. "Look, Deidamia, I did not want to tell you this way." Pyrrha sighed. Deidamia pressed her lips together, and trembling, she folded her arms across her chest. I must be going mad. Deidamia thought.
Pyrrha then started to talk, looking only at the floor. "My name is not Pyrrha, and I am not your sister. I am Achilles, the son of Peleus, king of Phthia, and Thetis, the sea goddess. A prophecy was told that my life would be cut short if I join the Trojan War, and too keep me from joining it, my mother disguised me as a girl and sent me to your father and pretend to be one of his daughters."
Deidamia stared at him. "Does my father know about this?"
Achilles nodded. "He, my parents, I, and now you are the ones who know."
Deidamia still could not go over the fact that Pyrrha, a sister whom she knew for 5 years, was non-existent, and really a boy.
Before Deidamia could say anything, the same messenger who told Deidamia about the guest arrived to escort Deidamia to the banquet. Deidamia quickly followed him, while Achilles left to change in his room.
Deidamia's 4 younger sisters were already there as King Lycomedes saw them. The older ones, being married off, were no longer there.
"Ah, yes, and this is the eldest of my maiden daughters, Deidamia." Lycomedes said, as Deidamia took a seat.
The guest turned out to be an old man named Theseus, who was king of Athens. He was a kind old man with gray hair, and his muscles proved that when he was young, he must have been a very powerful man.
They sat at a long table, with Lycomedes at one end, Theseus at the other, and the 5 princesses and Achilles at opposite sides. Naturally, a conversation started to pass the time, but none of the princesses dared to say anything, because it was not a women's place. The conversation was based only on Lycomedes and Theseus, but Deidamia listened with her head bent down, determined not to look at Achilles, who was sitting across from her at the long table.
"I thank you for letting me stay here, King Lycomedes." Theseus said. "I find this palace quite extraordinary, especially the way your daughters dine with you. Everything about Scyros interests me, and I once again thank you for your hospitality."
"Oh, the people of Scyros would always be pleased to give hospitality to any guest." King Lycomedes said. "But do tell me, why do you travel alone?"
Theseus sighed. "I was king of Athens, with a beautiful wife, Phaedra, and my bastard son, Hippolytus. I thought everything was going perfectly, until I returned home one night, only to find Phaedra dead. She had slain herself, and there was a note in her hand, addressed to me. Phaedra had written that my bastard son, Hippolytus, had raped her, and she took her own life in order to avoid the shame.
"I then prayed to the god Poseidon, to punish my son. Hippolytus was then drowned at sea. I later learned that Hippolytus was innocent, and I had wrongly caused the death of my own flesh and blood.
"It turns out that Phaedra approached my son, loving him, but he rejected her love. As revenge, she took her life and blamed him. Being the fool I am, I fell for Phaedra's lies and convicted my own son. My own son, my flesh and blood."
Theseus broke down and wept, and Deidamia immediately felt sorry for him. She looked up, and Achilles' eyes met with hers. She turned away, and focused on Theseus, but for some reason, she longed to meet Achilles' gaze again.
Shakily, Theseus continued. "I have nobody left. I brought ruin to my family. My father, Aegeus, had jumped into the sea when he thought I had perished in a fight against the Minotaur, just because I had forgotten to switch sails. Castor and Polydeuces, princes of Sparta, captured my mother, Aethra, because I had first abducted their sister, Helen. My mother is now her slave, and I am too old to fight for her. My first love, Ariadne, I had left on the island of Naxos. My wife, Phaedra, has been unfaithful to me and killed herself. And now my son, I brought forth his ruin.
"So Lycomedes, I hope to stay until my death. I ask of you to shelter me, like I had once sheltered Oedipus."
Lycomedes gave Theseus a friendly smile. "I will let you stay." He said.
Theseus gave the king a smile and merrily, he told the royal family about his life in Athens and mentioned his youthful adventures for the rest of the night.
After the dinner was over, Deidamia got up and sat next to Theseus. The old man looked weary, but he smiled at Deidamia and began to speak to her.
"You are Deidamia, the eldest?" Theseus asked.
Deidamia nodded. "Theseus, I just want to say, your story has touched me more than anything else that I ever remembered."
Theseus smiled. "I have faced many things and known many forces, but one force I never came to know was love. I never knew true happiness in love. Ariadne was the closest that I had ever come to when love is involved."
"But surely you were loved, by your father and comrades?"
"I was, and I did not lack of this. My father, Aegeus, took his own life for me, while my best friend, Pirithuous had many adventures with me. However, the love between a man and a woman is one I never knew."
Theseus then turned to Deidamia, and put his hand on hers. "So Deidamia, when you meet your one special love, do not fear him, embrace him. Seize the chance." Theseus said. He then got up and went to the tower of the guests, while Deidamia got up and started walking away.
Seize the chance. Theseus' words echoed in Deidamia's head. Seize the chance.
Something about what he said clicked in her mind, but what?
Seize the chance.
Deidamia stopped in her tracks. She knew that she reacted to his words this way because something Theseus had said reminded her of a condition she was in. Her heart started racing, but what was it that related to her? What was it?
Deidamia leaned against a wall. She tried to guess. Was it her father? Her sisters? Achilles? Her kingdom? She tried to name more, but her mind only rested on Achilles. She tried to brush him out of her mind, but couldn't.
Suddenly, Deidamia knew the answer. It was Achilles. She loved him. That was the answer.
But that was ridiculous. She could not possible love somebody who she only truly knew for a day. Deidamia brushed Achilles out of her mind out of her mind and tried to think of her wedding. It was no use, however, because then she started thinking of marrying Achilles. Instead Deidamia cleared her thoughts completely and went to sleep.
That night, Deidamia awoke with a start. There were voices outside. *That was strange, who would be up this late at night*, Deidamia thought. She climbed out of bed, went out of her room, and tiptoed to a window.
Outside, lanterns were glowing in the dark night sky, and there were about 20 men walking, along with King Lycomedes. Deidamia could not hear clearly from so far up, but she saw her father direct the men to walk, and they arrived at a cliff.
Deidamia then saw her father point at somebody, whom was being lifted up into the hands of the other men. Theseus! He seemed to be struggling, when several of the men hoisted him up on their shoulders and, to Deidamia's horror, the men threw him off of the cliff.
Deidamia clasped her hand over her mouth to keep her from letting out a shriek. This could not be happening. Her father was a brutal murderer! Why would he do something so atrocious? Deidamia felt tears brimming in her eyes and started to cry. Theseus had such a hard life, and her vicious father had made it worse.
"Deidamia? What are you doing here?" a voice asked.
Deidamia looked up, and saw Achilles, who was rubbing his eyes. Her crying must have woken him up. Seeing Achilles only made her cry harder.
Achilles bent over her, and offered her a handkerchief.
"What happened?" Achilles asked, as Deidamia wiped her eyes.
"My father," Deidamia said in a choked voice. "He killed Theseus. I just saw him do it."
Achilles dropped his mouth open. "But why? Theseus was so kind, and all he did was ask for Father's-I mean, your father's hospitality." Achilles was so accustomed to referring to Lycomedes as his own father that switching back seemed hard to do.
Deidamia shook her head. "I don't know why my father would do such a thing. I hate him."
Achilles sat next to her, and put his arms around her. Shocked at this sudden move of compassion, Deidamia's heart gave a squeeze and the girl jumped up.
"I have to go now." Deidamia said, backing away from Achilles. She didn't like the way she was feeling, and quickly ran off, with a stunned Achilles standing behind her
One year later, 13 year old Deidamia stood in front of the mirror, while a servant tied her hair into braids. Deidamia was old enough to have her own children now, and it was only right for her to be married. Lycomedes had not chosen a husband for her yet. Lycomedes had changed since 5 years ago, he was no longer obsessed over trying to marry off his daughters, and he wasn't planning to marry off Deidamia for at least half a year.
Deidamia started to ponder of her wedding. Would she marry a handsome prince? Where would he be from? Crete? Argos? Athens? She heard that the prince of the neighboring kingdom of Phthia, the son of King Peleus, was about her age, but whoever the boy was, he was off to study with the great Chiron, so that was no good. Besides, it would be her father who chose her husband.
Just then, one of Lycomedes messengers ran up to her. "Princess, the King would like for me to alert you and your sisters that there shall be a banquet tonight and hopes for you and the rest of your sisters to appear."
Deidamia stared at the messenger. "But I am a girl! Women are never allowed at banquets!"
The messenger cleared his throat. "However, the King says it is an exception because he would like to show the guest his daughters."
"All right," Deidamia said. "You may go now." The servant backed away as Deidamia continued walking.
Deidamia heard a loud thud behind her, and she turned and saw Pyrrha collapsed on the floor. What Deidamia did not see was that as Achilles turned his head and admired Deidamia's looks to himself, he had ran into the wall.
Now Pyrrha was kneeling on the floor, holding onto her head, groaning in a voice that was extremely low for a girl.
Deidamia excused her servants, ran up to Pyrrha and bent down. "Are you all right?" Deidamia asked.
Pyrrha rubbed her head and made a crooked grin. "I guess I was not paying attention."
Deidamia held out a hand, and helped Pyrrha up. "Do you need anything? Does it hurt? I can send my maids to get you a wet cloth to put on your head."
Pyrrha shook her head. "No, it's all right." Pyrrha then grasped Deidamia's hand to hoister herself up.
As Pyrrha picked herself up, one of her feet had been on the tunic. As she stood up, the force of it caused the girdle to fall off, splitting the gown from the chest to bottom.
Pyrrha quickly clutched onto her tunic and sat down on the floor. Deidamia gave a small giggle. "It's all right, let me help you up." Deidamia tried to pull Pyrrha up, but Pyrrha would not let her.
"It's fine, really." Pyrrha said, trying to brush Deidamia off. "You go on without me."
"Don't be silly, let me help you."
"No, Deidamia, please, I'm fine." Pyrrha's eyes were wide, as if she were afraid of something.
"Look, Pyrrha, I'm just trying to help." With that said, Deidamia grabbed Pyrrha's hand and yanked her up.
Immediately, the front of Pyrrha's gown flew open, exposing Pyrrha to Deidamia, who screamed and fell back in horror. Pyrrha quickly pulled her robes back together and turned away.
What had caused Deidamia to fall back in horror was something that she saw on Pyrrha's naked body. There was something she saw that should not have ever been in existence on any girl.
Deidamia screamed again, and this time, Pyrrha ran up to her and clamped her hand, or rather, his hand over Deidamia's mouth.
"Be quiet." Pyrrha hissed. "Somebody might hear."
Deidamia gave him a push and stepped back. "What is going on?" she asked, trembling.
Pyrrha sighed. "Look, Deidamia, I did not want to tell you this way." Pyrrha sighed. Deidamia pressed her lips together, and trembling, she folded her arms across her chest. I must be going mad. Deidamia thought.
Pyrrha then started to talk, looking only at the floor. "My name is not Pyrrha, and I am not your sister. I am Achilles, the son of Peleus, king of Phthia, and Thetis, the sea goddess. A prophecy was told that my life would be cut short if I join the Trojan War, and too keep me from joining it, my mother disguised me as a girl and sent me to your father and pretend to be one of his daughters."
Deidamia stared at him. "Does my father know about this?"
Achilles nodded. "He, my parents, I, and now you are the ones who know."
Deidamia still could not go over the fact that Pyrrha, a sister whom she knew for 5 years, was non-existent, and really a boy.
Before Deidamia could say anything, the same messenger who told Deidamia about the guest arrived to escort Deidamia to the banquet. Deidamia quickly followed him, while Achilles left to change in his room.
Deidamia's 4 younger sisters were already there as King Lycomedes saw them. The older ones, being married off, were no longer there.
"Ah, yes, and this is the eldest of my maiden daughters, Deidamia." Lycomedes said, as Deidamia took a seat.
The guest turned out to be an old man named Theseus, who was king of Athens. He was a kind old man with gray hair, and his muscles proved that when he was young, he must have been a very powerful man.
They sat at a long table, with Lycomedes at one end, Theseus at the other, and the 5 princesses and Achilles at opposite sides. Naturally, a conversation started to pass the time, but none of the princesses dared to say anything, because it was not a women's place. The conversation was based only on Lycomedes and Theseus, but Deidamia listened with her head bent down, determined not to look at Achilles, who was sitting across from her at the long table.
"I thank you for letting me stay here, King Lycomedes." Theseus said. "I find this palace quite extraordinary, especially the way your daughters dine with you. Everything about Scyros interests me, and I once again thank you for your hospitality."
"Oh, the people of Scyros would always be pleased to give hospitality to any guest." King Lycomedes said. "But do tell me, why do you travel alone?"
Theseus sighed. "I was king of Athens, with a beautiful wife, Phaedra, and my bastard son, Hippolytus. I thought everything was going perfectly, until I returned home one night, only to find Phaedra dead. She had slain herself, and there was a note in her hand, addressed to me. Phaedra had written that my bastard son, Hippolytus, had raped her, and she took her own life in order to avoid the shame.
"I then prayed to the god Poseidon, to punish my son. Hippolytus was then drowned at sea. I later learned that Hippolytus was innocent, and I had wrongly caused the death of my own flesh and blood.
"It turns out that Phaedra approached my son, loving him, but he rejected her love. As revenge, she took her life and blamed him. Being the fool I am, I fell for Phaedra's lies and convicted my own son. My own son, my flesh and blood."
Theseus broke down and wept, and Deidamia immediately felt sorry for him. She looked up, and Achilles' eyes met with hers. She turned away, and focused on Theseus, but for some reason, she longed to meet Achilles' gaze again.
Shakily, Theseus continued. "I have nobody left. I brought ruin to my family. My father, Aegeus, had jumped into the sea when he thought I had perished in a fight against the Minotaur, just because I had forgotten to switch sails. Castor and Polydeuces, princes of Sparta, captured my mother, Aethra, because I had first abducted their sister, Helen. My mother is now her slave, and I am too old to fight for her. My first love, Ariadne, I had left on the island of Naxos. My wife, Phaedra, has been unfaithful to me and killed herself. And now my son, I brought forth his ruin.
"So Lycomedes, I hope to stay until my death. I ask of you to shelter me, like I had once sheltered Oedipus."
Lycomedes gave Theseus a friendly smile. "I will let you stay." He said.
Theseus gave the king a smile and merrily, he told the royal family about his life in Athens and mentioned his youthful adventures for the rest of the night.
After the dinner was over, Deidamia got up and sat next to Theseus. The old man looked weary, but he smiled at Deidamia and began to speak to her.
"You are Deidamia, the eldest?" Theseus asked.
Deidamia nodded. "Theseus, I just want to say, your story has touched me more than anything else that I ever remembered."
Theseus smiled. "I have faced many things and known many forces, but one force I never came to know was love. I never knew true happiness in love. Ariadne was the closest that I had ever come to when love is involved."
"But surely you were loved, by your father and comrades?"
"I was, and I did not lack of this. My father, Aegeus, took his own life for me, while my best friend, Pirithuous had many adventures with me. However, the love between a man and a woman is one I never knew."
Theseus then turned to Deidamia, and put his hand on hers. "So Deidamia, when you meet your one special love, do not fear him, embrace him. Seize the chance." Theseus said. He then got up and went to the tower of the guests, while Deidamia got up and started walking away.
Seize the chance. Theseus' words echoed in Deidamia's head. Seize the chance.
Something about what he said clicked in her mind, but what?
Seize the chance.
Deidamia stopped in her tracks. She knew that she reacted to his words this way because something Theseus had said reminded her of a condition she was in. Her heart started racing, but what was it that related to her? What was it?
Deidamia leaned against a wall. She tried to guess. Was it her father? Her sisters? Achilles? Her kingdom? She tried to name more, but her mind only rested on Achilles. She tried to brush him out of her mind, but couldn't.
Suddenly, Deidamia knew the answer. It was Achilles. She loved him. That was the answer.
But that was ridiculous. She could not possible love somebody who she only truly knew for a day. Deidamia brushed Achilles out of her mind out of her mind and tried to think of her wedding. It was no use, however, because then she started thinking of marrying Achilles. Instead Deidamia cleared her thoughts completely and went to sleep.
That night, Deidamia awoke with a start. There were voices outside. *That was strange, who would be up this late at night*, Deidamia thought. She climbed out of bed, went out of her room, and tiptoed to a window.
Outside, lanterns were glowing in the dark night sky, and there were about 20 men walking, along with King Lycomedes. Deidamia could not hear clearly from so far up, but she saw her father direct the men to walk, and they arrived at a cliff.
Deidamia then saw her father point at somebody, whom was being lifted up into the hands of the other men. Theseus! He seemed to be struggling, when several of the men hoisted him up on their shoulders and, to Deidamia's horror, the men threw him off of the cliff.
Deidamia clasped her hand over her mouth to keep her from letting out a shriek. This could not be happening. Her father was a brutal murderer! Why would he do something so atrocious? Deidamia felt tears brimming in her eyes and started to cry. Theseus had such a hard life, and her vicious father had made it worse.
"Deidamia? What are you doing here?" a voice asked.
Deidamia looked up, and saw Achilles, who was rubbing his eyes. Her crying must have woken him up. Seeing Achilles only made her cry harder.
Achilles bent over her, and offered her a handkerchief.
"What happened?" Achilles asked, as Deidamia wiped her eyes.
"My father," Deidamia said in a choked voice. "He killed Theseus. I just saw him do it."
Achilles dropped his mouth open. "But why? Theseus was so kind, and all he did was ask for Father's-I mean, your father's hospitality." Achilles was so accustomed to referring to Lycomedes as his own father that switching back seemed hard to do.
Deidamia shook her head. "I don't know why my father would do such a thing. I hate him."
Achilles sat next to her, and put his arms around her. Shocked at this sudden move of compassion, Deidamia's heart gave a squeeze and the girl jumped up.
"I have to go now." Deidamia said, backing away from Achilles. She didn't like the way she was feeling, and quickly ran off, with a stunned Achilles standing behind her