Visitor
A story of Troy By BelladonnaRue
Summary: Briseis goes back to Achilles the after she leaves with Priam.
Disclaimer: I don't own Troy or Achilles but Gods how I wish I did. I write only for fun, not for profit.
Author's Note: Please review. I have not been writing long, this is only my second published story, so please be kind. Yes, I know that this is completely inaccurate but since when is Hollywood ever historically accurate? This is also the first time I have ever attempted a love scene, so let me know how I can improve. Thanks and I hope you enjoy!
She knew that this was wrong. She knew she was betraying her family, her country, and her vows to the Gods. She knew but she didn't care. She had to see him again. She hadn't even said goodbye to him. He apologized for hurting her, at least in a way. The man who had saved her twice from a much darker fate. The man who had touched her and made her body come alive under his hands. The man who had watched her walk away with her uncle and she had not said one word. The tunnel she walked through seemed never ending and her body was humming in anticipation of the encounter she would soon have. She thought back on the last few hours and her decision to sneak from the palace in the dead of night to visit the sworn enemy of her country.
She had come back to the palace with the King and was joyously welcomed by Paris and the others. She knew she should be relieved that she was safe in the palace, safe behind the indestructible walls of Troy, but she was not. She had felt safe in Achilles' arms. She had hidden her true feelings behind a smile and no one seemed to notice how often she looked out the window toward the beach.
Helen came up to her, as she stood gazing out to the ocean and the beach just beyond the walls. "Are you well, Briseis? You look troubled." Her blue gaze seemed to notice everything.
Briseis had liked Helen the moment she had met her. She knew the other woman felt as though this war was her fault and there was nothing she could do. "Hmm? Yes I'm fine, just, I don't know, weary." Briseis looked away from that all seeing gaze.
"Weary? I do not think that is what troubles you this evening. You were with Achilles, were you not?" At the sound of his name, Briseis' eyes snapped up to Helen's. "Ah, I thought so." She looked saddened and pleased at the same time.
"What? I don't know what you're talking of. This has nothing to do with Achilles." Even to her own ears, she sounded weak, and she knew Helen would not let this pass. Helen just looked at her, her disconcertingly blue gaze boring into Briseis.
"Oh? And here I thought you were in love with him." She said these words with such calm that Briseis turned to her in shock, no longer trying to lie.
"How did you know?"
"You look like a woman in love." She was smiling now, and Briseis smiled weakly back. "Don't look so upset, Briseis. I am sure no one else notices. Come, let us talk elsewhere." She led Briseis to a small alcove off the main hall. It was quiet and private. "So, do you wish to tell someone about it?"
"Oh, Helen!" She cried, "How can I love him? He killed Hector. He has killed hundreds of Trojans. He will kill hundreds more! How can you not hate me for this?" She was weeping softly and Helen took her into her arms.
"Hush. Of all people, I should know that you can't help whom you fall in love with. If I had a choice, I would never have chosen to love the enemy of my husband and start this war. However, I had no choice, just as you have none. I love Paris so much that it hurts. I would die for him. But I didn't choose for it to be so." She too had tears in her eyes.
Briseis looked at her, love and respect shining in her eyes. "You are truly a princess of Troy. I am glad that you have come to us. No matter what happens I will always be glad." The two women descended into silence, each quietly weeping as they held each other.
Briseis was the first to break the silence. "I will never see him again. At least Paris is here with you. Achilles knows that he will die soon and I never said goodbye to him." She whispered all of this in to Helen's golden hair.
Helen pulled away, eyes big and excited. "You must go to him. Tomorrow night."
"What? No, I cannot, I…What about my family? I cannot betray them. And Apollo, I have taken vows to remain a virgin to him." She stood and was frantically pacing back and forth. This was utter lunacy, this was treason this was…what she wanted more than anything in the world. "How would I get to him, I cannot pass through the entire camp!"
"Come, my dear. Your family wants you to be happy, they love you. You must decide which is more important, stay here and fret yourself to nothing because you would anger your family, or follow your heart to him? The same for Apollo. Do you not think he understands the mortal heart? As for reaching Achilles, I am sure we can think of something."
Briseis turned to her sharply. "You are willing to help me? To go to the man who killed your husband's brother," she asked, incredulously.
"I do this not to help Achilles, but to help you. I know the pain of forbidden love."
"Thank so very much, sweet Helen. I cannot repay you."
"Nor should you. Come, we have much to do."
So that was how she came to be sneaking out of the palace in the middle of the night. Helen had told her of a tunnel that would take her to a cave not far from Achilles tent. 'I must be nearing the end. I have been walking forever' she thought. Briseis was desperately trying not to think about what she was doing, or what would happen if she were discovered, by either the Greeks or her own people. It would not be pleasant. Finally, she saw light filtering through the darkness that surrounded her. Deciding she could see with out the aide of her torch, she carefully extinguished it and hid it in a place where she could find it for her return journey.
She took a deep breath as she steeped out of the cave. She didn't exactly know where Achilles' tent was but she hoped it wouldn't be too hard to find. As it was, she found his tent with little difficulty, seeing only two guards she easily avoided. This was the hard part. She was tempted to turn and run back to the cave, back to the palace, back to home, but a voice from inside stopped her before she moved.
"Who's there?" A shiver raced through her body at the sound of his gruff voice. With another deep breath, she squared her shoulders and pushed aside the flaps of his door. He could not see her face because of the cloak she wore, but she could see him. He sat on his bed skins, not bothering to rise for his mysterious visitor. He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. "Who are you? Tell before you lose your chance."
Briseis felt as though her heart would explode as she drew away her hood "Should I be afraid of you now?" He stared at her in utter shock and disbelief, then his face lost all emotion.
"Why are you here?" His voice was oddly toneless. She had never heard him sound like that. Before she could answer, he spoke again, "Were you sent here by you Uncle?" All at once, she understood. He thought that she…she couldn't believe he would think that of her. Suddenly she was angry with him.
"No." Her voice matched his in coldness and lack of emotion. "I was not sent as a whore for you."
He realized her anger, and her confusion, but he couldn't understand why he was here. Just her presence was muddling his mind. "Why are you here?" He asked again. He walked toward her and tilted her chin with one finger. He forced her eyes to meet his.
"I…I…" Her body was aching for him to touch her, she couldn't think straight. 'Why was she here?' "I had to be with you."
Briseis thought the silence that followed her explanation would go on forever. He just stood there staring into her eyes. Her body was on fire, her mind spinning beyond her control. Suddenly Achilles grabbed her hard, bring his mouth down on her with such force her knees gave way. His strong arms held her tightly against his chest as his mouth ravaged hers. This kiss was different from the others he had given her. This one was hard, desperate, filled with longing. His tongue invaded her mouth savagely, branding her as his own. She matched his passion, clinging to him as though he were the only thing left in the world. In a way he was.
He pulled away, breathing hard. "You should not have come here, Briseis." he whispered against her hair, savoring the smell of her as he did so.
What? He didn't want her? He could not kiss her like that, leave her burning like that, and then tell her to go home. He saw her confusion in her eyes, but she spoke before he had a chance to. "Do you not want me?"
She thought he did not want her? He felt as though his body were of fire, burning from the inside out for her. He could not keep his mind from her lips as she spoke. It was taking all of his self-control not to filing her to the ground and ravage her like a whore. "By the Gods, Briseis, I burn for you." His voice was not completely steady, but he continued on. She had to understand. He could not hurt her more then he had already done. "Briseis, you cannot be here. Do you know what will happen if your people find that you have snuck off into the darkness to come to me?"
"I know what will happen. I don't care. I have already betrayed my people by coming at all. What difference does it make now if I stay?"
He closed his eyes at her words. 'What difference indeed! It would make a difference to him. He did not know if he could let her walk out of his tent, his life, in the morning. He would try to make her see reason one more time, no matter how much it pained him. She did not need to be involved with him, it could only end with her suffering and he would do anything to prevent that from happening. Even deny himself. "Briseis, do you know what I have done? Yesterday, I killed your cousin. I dragged his body through the dust in front of his father, his wife, his son. I have killed hundreds of your countrymen."
She stood tall and proud before him. "I know what you have done. They have told me all of the gruesome details and still I am here. If you do not want me, say so and I shall leave you. Tell me you want me to leave." She eyes were blazing with the same strength that had enraptured him when he had first seen her. It was that strength that would be his undoing. They both knew he could tell her no such thing. He stared at her in silence. This time it was she who initiated their kiss. Pressing her body to his, she felt his surrender.
He gathered her into his arms, never breaking their kiss, and laid down on his bed skins. This was what she had been craving, what her body had been aching for. She knew in this moment that she would never regret her decision to come to him, no matter what the dawn would bring. His hands were everywhere at once, each touch starting fires under her skin. He removed her thin shift with swiftness and she gasped as she felt the cool rush of air. She was not cold for long, however. His hands stroked her breasts as he rained kisses across her face and down her neck. Then his mouth took the place of his hands and Briseis cried out, unable to control her emotions. His hands moved down her body to stroke the very center of her. She was loosing her mind, the sensations were more then she could handle. She needed him inside her now, needed to be complete with him right this very moment. "Achilles…please…"
Her moans undid him. Swiftly, he slid over her, positioning himself, then he was home. They both gasped at the sensation that neither had thought they would ever feel again. "Oh, Gods! Briseis…" She moaned incoherently in response. They moved together, building to their release. Achilles kissed her hard as she came, trying to swallow her cries. He followed her moments later, sinking into the sweet relief of her flesh.
It was a long time before either of them moved, but the thought that he must be crushing his lover penetrated Achilles' foggy brain. He rolled over, taking her with him. She was glad that his hold on her did not loosen. She would not let him go a moment before she had to. "I am glad that you came." Achilles' voice broke the quiet darkness around them. "So am I."
They laid together in silence for a while before Achilles spoke again, "There are still a few hours until dawn…"
"Hmm. So there are. What shall we do?" She turned to him with a smile, all thoughts of tomorrow gone from her mind.
He returned her wolfish grin, "I'm sure we can think of something." He kissed her again before she had a chance to respond.
Dawn came too soon for the lovers inside the tent. Briseis knew she had to go, but it was harder then she had thought it would be to leave him again. They stood together at the entrance to her cave, staring at each other in silence. "Can you come again?" Achilles could not bear the thought of never seeing her again.
"I can try." She was on the verge of tears. "Oh, Achilles, I can't leave you" She threw her arms around him and clung to him as though she would never let go.
"Briseis, you must. You know you must. You must go home to the king and your family and you people." He kissed the top of her head as he held her. "Just promise me that you will come back." His voice was a whisper.
"I promise, Achilles. I promise." She kissed him then, desperate and wild.
After a long moment, he pulled away. "Go now or I will never let you go. Go"
She nodded, unable to speak and then she turned and ran. She ran all the way back to the palace. It was not until she reached the safety of her room did she allow herself to cry.
So, That's it folks, let me know what you think.