Liberty groaned, every inch of her body aching. "Mom, can I have some ice?"
she called out. Slowly, she became aware that she was on the back of a
horse, in a strong pair of tanned arms. She yelped, starting the horse and
almost causing both riders to fall off.
"Calm down, girl! You're all right," the man growled into her ear, righting both of them on the nervous steed. "One of the villagers found you in the sand and brought you to the temple. I am bringing you to the city."
Liberty's eyes widened. This man was not speaking English, but she could understand him perfectly. "What city?" she asked cautiously.
With a swell of pride in his voice, he answered. "Troy. My home."
Troy. This was good. She had been headed in the right direction after all. Dizziness crept up on her and Liberty's eyes were heavy-lidded with sleep. "Mmm... wake me when we get there," she said softly, dozing off in the security of this stranger's arms.
"No need. We're here," he said in an amused tone.
"Hector! Hector!" voiced cheered in the streets.
Liberty shot upright. "Hector?" She turned her head and stared at the rugged-yet-friendly face of the Trojan prince. "You're Hector?"
Hector smiled and bowed his head slightly, his dark eyes sparkling. "That I am. And you are?"
Liberty bit her lip. "I'm... Liberty. Liberty of... Nowhere."
"Nowhere?" Hector joked. "I have heard of that place. Is it beautiful there?"
"Fabulous," Liberty answered in a dry tone. She looked around. "Did someone happen to grab my bag?"
Hector nodded to the horse behind them. "My brother, Paris, has some questions about the strange contents of your bag." He turned and smiled at his younger brother. Paris grinned back.
Liberty looked at Paris over Hector's shoulder. He was equally as good- looking as his brother, but in an entirely different way. While Hector had broad shoulders and bulging muscles, as well as many battle scars and an unshaven face, Paris had smooth-looking skin (also bronze colored from the sun), large, questioning, dark eyes, and a thin, lean body. Hector was ruggedly handsome while Paris was beautiful.
'I can see why Helen ran off with him,' Liberty thought to herself, eyeing the Trojan princeling. 'Maybe I'll seduce him away from her to try and stop this war.'
Hector halted the young stallion and a guard immediately appeared to help Liberty to her feet. Everywhere she looked, people seemed content, and even happy, with life in Troy. They were obviously not yet aware that a thousand ships bearing Greek soldiers must be on their way. She wished she could cancel the fight on both ends and keep everyone safe.
A young woman appeared out of a doorway and ran into Paris' arms the moment he was off his horse. She was beautiful, in a white flowing gown, with golden hair down to her buttocks and eyes as blue as the sea after a storm.
"Helen." Liberty could see the similarities in the way they looked. Both had the same color of hair and eyes, the same lean frame (though Liberty boasted larger breasts), and the same shapely legs.
Hector put a hand on the young woman's shoulder and also looked at the couple. "Yes. That's the love of my brother's life." His eyes darkened. "And most likely the biggest mistake any Trojan has ever made." He looked down at Liberty. "You look somewhat like her. How do you know so much about us?"
Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out. How could she explain this? Fortunately, her stomach answered for her, loudly.
Hector laughed and escorted her up a flight of stone steps to a large room filled with fabrics, pillows, and tables. "You must be famished. Here, Desert Rose, come and sit. Eat your fill and then we'll see about getting all that dust cleaned off. I must now find my wife and son. I will see you again soon, I am sure."
Liberty's heart dropped at the mention of his wife and son. She had caught herself moving away from her target, and falling for Hector. She sighed and used the nearest napkin to wipe a layer of dirt off her face and hands as two servants appeared with trays of food.
"That woman," Helen said, brushing her hair and looking into the mirror at the form of her lover, Paris. "She looks like me. Did you notice?"
Paris moved over behind Helen and began caressing her neck and shoulders. "I did notice, but Hector was far too possessive to let me touch her."
"That is well, because you are my lover, not hers," Helen said in a low tone. "If Hector wants to take her as a mistress, that is his business."
Paris smiled. "Hector's morals would prevent him from ever bedding a woman other than Andromache."
Helen gave his reflection a pointed look. "And your morals should prevent you from touching a woman other than me."
Paris bent down and kissed the side of his lover's head. "I love you more than anything. I would never touch a woman other than you." He turned her head to face him and kissed her deeply. "I would give up my life for you."
Helen sighed. "If Menelaus gets his way, you just may."
Paris nuzzled Helen's neck. "If it has to be that way, then so be it." He stood up and moved to the door. "I am hungry. Would you like me to fetch you anything?"
Helen shook her head and Paris disappeared out the door. He found his way to where Liberty was attacking her food like a starving animal.
"May I join you, or do you planning on eating every morsel in the kingdom?" He sat on a cushion next to her. "I put your bag in the room down the hall from mine. I thought you might want to take a bath and perhaps a nap after your meal."
"Thanks," Liberty muttered through a mouthful of food. She swallowed hard and gave the young man a sheepish look. "Pardon my manners. I just feel like I haven't eaten in thousands of years." She offered him a plate of fruit and her gaze lingered on his perfect hands as he picked up a pear and took a bite out of it. "You know the entire Greek army is going to come to take Helen back and get revenge."
Paris stared at her, startled. "How do you know all this?"
Liberty shifted uneasily. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
The young prince studied her warily. "Try me."
Liberty gave him a skeptical look, and then blurted out. "Apollo told me."
Paris was shocked. "Apollo? The god of the Sun talked to YOU?" He popped some berries into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "You must have some sort of connection with the gods then." He looked at her clothes. "You obviously aren't from around here."
Liberty looked down at her ragged clothes. She was wearing red plaid "punk" pants with straps and chains every which way, and a black muscle tank with the words 'MADE IN THE USA' scrawled across it in white lettering. They were dirty and torn in some places.
"Were you a slave?" Paris asked, fingering one of the chains on her pants.
Liberty giggled. "Believe it or not, no, I was never a slave." She unhooked the straps from her pant legs and handed them to him. "I'm definitely not from around here either. From what I gather, one of my ancestors was a daughter of Zeus himself. Maybe that's my connection."
Paris thoughtfully rubbed his chin as he watched this young woman eat before him as soft foot steps echoed down the hall. The figure of a petite young woman approached the table shyly as she brushed some of her long shoulder length brown hair out of her face, pushing it behind her ears.
"Um...excuse me...my lord Paris...but I-I've come to take the lady to her bath is...ready..." she stammered over her own words obviously shy in the presence of the young Trojan prince as she looked down at the floor.
Paris smiled as he rose to his feet, "Ah good good." He went over and placed a hand on the young woman's right shoulder. "Liberty this is one of my servants, Charis. Let her tend to you and serve you during your stay here in Troy. You don't mind do you Charis?"
Charis blushed at the touch from Paris as she shyly shook her head, "N- no...not at all my lord P-Paris. I do not mind. This way my lady." She stepped away from Paris as Liberty rose to her feet and followed Charis down the large hallway to her room.
Charis gently pushed the door open to reveal an ornately decorated room. Lush thick rugs of animal pelts were on the floor, rich fabric curtains dark as the night sky hung over the window, allowing some of the sunset to spill into the room. The bed was covered in a matching cover and big thick, plushy pillows all over it. In the corner of the room was a door way that led to the bath room, which was a room in itself.
"The bath is this way. Water has already been drawn for you." Charis motioned to the tub. "And your bag is here." She pointed to it sitting on a nearby table. "If you need anything, please don't hesitate to summon me, after all, the Prince has left me to tend to you." She sat in a nearby chair touching her shoulder where Paris's hand was moments before and a small blush spread across her cheeks.
Liberty chuckled. "Got a crush on someone?" She reached over and plucked her black messenger bag from the table and opened it, checking to make sure everything was in there and intact. "Paris is beautiful, isn't he?" She looked at the servant with an arched eyebrow. Charis' gaze was somewhere in the heavens, most likely making a new constellation of the princeling. Liberty smiled and dug a tube of liquid lip gloss from her bag. "You and me will get along just fine, I think." She dropped her bag on the floor by the door and sat down on the bed, gesturing for Charis to sit beside her.
"Tell me about yourself, Charis," Liberty inquired. "I'm eager to learn about this place and all of its people. I know about Hector and Paris already, but I want your point of view."
Charis, who was not accustomed to having conversations with the more powerful members of the household looked at Liberty with wide-eyed disbelief. "I- I would not presume to trouble you with the details of my life, Lady," she mumbled, casting her gaze to the ground.
"Trouble me? Please, trouble me!" Liberty fell back on the bed, her blonde hair splaying out behind her like a fan. "I want to know everything. I want to know everyone." She looked at the meek servant girl. "I want you and me to be friends."
"I am not allowed to be 'friends' with royalty," Charis said softly.
"Well it's a good thing I'm not royalty then, isn't it?" Liberty smiled.
Charis looked up at her. "If it's true that you are descended from Zeus, you most certainly are royalty." She began to smooth the bedcovers around Liberty, looking troubled.
"You think I care about that?" Liberty stood up. "I'd rather have someone forced to cater to my every whim like me and be a good conversationalist than a brick wall." She winked. "I know you're accustomed to being part of the scenery when it comes to Paris, but you really should have a mind of your own. That's what I believe anyway."
A small smile tugged at Charis' lips at the mention of Paris. Liberty noted it with a smug look of her own. "So tell me what you think about Paris."
Charis slowly sank into a chair and a dreamy countenance overcame her. "He is the sun that shines on me every morning and the star I wish upon every night. I pray to the gods that somehow I could overcome my servant status to be with him... just once... but I know that could never happen. Sometimes I swear he smiles at me though. A secret smile that is all his own. I know he is infamous for bedding many women, but I don't care. I would be his on a whim if he so desired."
Liberty grinned. "I thought so." She slowly applied some lip gloss and went back over to her bag, dropping it inside. "We'll have to work on making you more than a whim," she said softly.
Charis moved beside her, looking into her bag. "What sort of strange things do you have in there," she asked curiously.
Liberty moved the bag to the table and tipped it upside down, emptying the contents over the surface. "Wow, I didn't know I had brought so much stuff with me." She organized it in little piles, naming and explaining everything to the servant girl as best she could. "This is my Discman and a bunch of CDs... hmm... New Found Glory, Matchbox Twenty, NOFX, Maroon5, Linkin Park, Trapt, Yellowcard... Britney Spears? ICK! I didn't know I brought so many. Oh, they're um, they're bands. Groups of people who play instruments and sing." She opened the Linkin Park CD case and pulled out the shiny disc. "This CD has music embedded in it and this..." She picked up the Discman. "...plays the music through the headphones for you to listen to." She grabbed the set of small speakers and plugged them into the Discman in place of the headphones.
Charis watched, her curiosity piqued, as Liberty put the shiny disc inside the Discman and pushed a button.
"It's a good thing I brought my speakers." Liberty found the song she was looking for and turned the volume up. A low and steady beat emanated from the speakers, startling Charis. It was music she'd never heard before, but it was music.
"I want to heal, I want to feel, what I thought was never real. I want to let go of the pain I've held so long. I want to heal, I want to feel, like I'm close to something real. I want to find something I've wanted all along. Somewhere I belong." A voice echoed through the room.
"That's amazing!" she gushed when the song had ended. "How did they manage to get that man's voice inside that box?" She gently touched the speakers.
Liberty blinked, wondering if Charis could understand what Chester Bennington had been singing. "It's far too complicated for even me to understand. I just go with it." She dropped the Discman and CDs back into her bag. "Let's see. What else have I got? Lip gloss... brush... makeup of various sorts." She giggled, dumping them back in her bag as well. "Ooh, The Lord of the Rings." She picked up a large, leather-bound book. "This book is amazing. There are epic battles, good versus evil, friendship, death, and of course love and life. It's a giant fantasy that actually could have happened." She pushed it across the table and sorted through the other items. "A bottle of water, a bunch of pens, my notebook..." Those were all deposited back into the bag along with the makeup. "My demo reel..." Another shiny disc went into the bag. "Deodorant, sunglasses, body mist, painkillers, Kleenex... I'm going to need all those later, I'm sure." She moved those things over by the book.
"Ah well. To the bath I go. You can go blend into Paris' scenery now," she joked to Charis, strolling into the bathroom.
"HOLY HELL!"
The servant girl appeared at her side immediately. "Something wrong, my lady?"
Liberty pointed at the bath with large eyes and a gaping mouth. "That tub is bigger than my first swimming pool!"
The bath was made of white marble and stood in the middle of the room. Semi- transparent curtains hung all around it, and the water itself smelled of perfume. Flower petals dotted the surface and some had sunk to the bottom. Steam rose and disappeared quickly through a skylight.
"All this because they think I'm related to Zeus, I bet." Liberty looked at Charis. "If not for that fact, I'd probably be in the dungeon right now."
Charis smiled and laid a stack of towels on one of the stairs into the bath. "Not likely. They treat women with respect in Troy." She rubbed her hands on her robe and looked at the strange girl. "Would you like me to help you bathe?"
Liberty grinned. "Nah, that's perfectly okay. I can wash myself." She looked at the bottles situated on the rim of the tub. "I just have to figure out what each of these is."
Charis picked each one up and identified it.
"Right. Shampoo's the only one that matters right now." Liberty gestured to the door. "You can go blend into Paris' scenery now, but we're going to have a talk about that later, you and I."
Charis looked quizzically at the blonde before disappearing through the door, closing it behind her.
Liberty took in the elegance of the room once more. "This crystal clear water ain't going to be clear for long." She shed her clothes and stepped into the steaming water. "Oh yeah. That's the stuff." Immediately, dirt seemed to fall off her body to the bottom of the bath. She submerged herself in the water and rubbed her hair furiously, trying to get all the dust out. When she surfaced, she reached immediately for the shampoo and lathered her hair.
She heard footsteps and soon after, the door opened. Liberty smiled, expecting Charis, but it was Hector that appeared instead.
Liberty shrieked and sunk down into the bath, trying to cover herself.
Hector blushed and immediately looked away. "Em, Lady Liberty?"
"Don't call me that!" Liberty squealed, looking around for something to cover herself with, not wanting to soak the towels just yet. She paused. "Lady Liberty... how... patriotic. Yeah. Don't call me that."
Hector bowed his head. "Apologies, lady, but I would like to speak with you."
"In the tub?" Liberty squeaked, and then shifted around so that nothing would be in view unless Hector stepped closer. "Okay, well... you can look now, I suppose."
Hector raised his gaze to meet hers, his cheeks still flushed. He moved closer to the tub and Liberty shrieked again.
"Stop moving!" she squealed, realizing the white linen towels wouldn't do much to hide anything if she used them anyway. She drew her arms over her chest and glared at him. Hector immediately sat on the floor.
"From down here, I can't see anything, Lady, can I move closer? I wouldn't like to shout at you."
Liberty laughed, despite herself. "As long as you stay down there, sure. You can move closer. Did you choose to corner me now when I can't escape? This must be some interrogation I have in-store for myself."
She noticed for the first time that even out of his armor, he still looked like a warrior. He wore a blue toga and dark leather sandals. She scrubbed at her soapy hair, nervous. "So what is it that can't wait, Prince of Troy?"
Hector looked as nervous as she was. "I have just spoken with Paris. He tells me that you are descended from Zeus himself. Is that true? I'd like to know where you come from, and how you seem to know so much about us."
Liberty sighed. "One second." She submerged herself again, rinsing the soap from her hair. "Okay," she sputtered when she resurfaced. "I'll tell you everything I know, even though you probably won't believe any of it."
She then explained to him that she was from the future and that Zeus somehow brought her back in time and Apollo had told her to go to Troy, but she didn't tell him why. Hector listened intently, his intense gaze never leaving hers.
"So that's my story," she concluded, rinsing the soap off her face. She then looked around. "Um. I have a question for you."
Hector gave her a direct look. "What is it, my lady?"
Liberty smiled. "Well, two questions. One, do you believe me? Two, I have towels, but what am I supposed to wear? My old, ragged, dirty clothes?"
A smile slowly spread across the elder prince's face. "To answer your questions, I think I do believe you, but I'm not sure. And, I'll have someone bring you a robe immediately." He stood and, noting that Liberty didn't move or shriek this time, cast one look at the soapy water that was hiding her body. He immediately chastised himself, reminding himself that he was married with a son, and left quickly.
Liberty saw his face darken as he left and wondered if she had done something wrong. She didn't have time to wonder long, however, when Charis appeared with a long white robe like the one Helen had been wearing. She quickly dried herself and dressed, wanting to go find King Priam and see whether he could be convinced not to fight this war, and also to have a long chat with Charis and find her true feelings for Paris. Perhaps she could be the link to sending Helen home.
"Calm down, girl! You're all right," the man growled into her ear, righting both of them on the nervous steed. "One of the villagers found you in the sand and brought you to the temple. I am bringing you to the city."
Liberty's eyes widened. This man was not speaking English, but she could understand him perfectly. "What city?" she asked cautiously.
With a swell of pride in his voice, he answered. "Troy. My home."
Troy. This was good. She had been headed in the right direction after all. Dizziness crept up on her and Liberty's eyes were heavy-lidded with sleep. "Mmm... wake me when we get there," she said softly, dozing off in the security of this stranger's arms.
"No need. We're here," he said in an amused tone.
"Hector! Hector!" voiced cheered in the streets.
Liberty shot upright. "Hector?" She turned her head and stared at the rugged-yet-friendly face of the Trojan prince. "You're Hector?"
Hector smiled and bowed his head slightly, his dark eyes sparkling. "That I am. And you are?"
Liberty bit her lip. "I'm... Liberty. Liberty of... Nowhere."
"Nowhere?" Hector joked. "I have heard of that place. Is it beautiful there?"
"Fabulous," Liberty answered in a dry tone. She looked around. "Did someone happen to grab my bag?"
Hector nodded to the horse behind them. "My brother, Paris, has some questions about the strange contents of your bag." He turned and smiled at his younger brother. Paris grinned back.
Liberty looked at Paris over Hector's shoulder. He was equally as good- looking as his brother, but in an entirely different way. While Hector had broad shoulders and bulging muscles, as well as many battle scars and an unshaven face, Paris had smooth-looking skin (also bronze colored from the sun), large, questioning, dark eyes, and a thin, lean body. Hector was ruggedly handsome while Paris was beautiful.
'I can see why Helen ran off with him,' Liberty thought to herself, eyeing the Trojan princeling. 'Maybe I'll seduce him away from her to try and stop this war.'
Hector halted the young stallion and a guard immediately appeared to help Liberty to her feet. Everywhere she looked, people seemed content, and even happy, with life in Troy. They were obviously not yet aware that a thousand ships bearing Greek soldiers must be on their way. She wished she could cancel the fight on both ends and keep everyone safe.
A young woman appeared out of a doorway and ran into Paris' arms the moment he was off his horse. She was beautiful, in a white flowing gown, with golden hair down to her buttocks and eyes as blue as the sea after a storm.
"Helen." Liberty could see the similarities in the way they looked. Both had the same color of hair and eyes, the same lean frame (though Liberty boasted larger breasts), and the same shapely legs.
Hector put a hand on the young woman's shoulder and also looked at the couple. "Yes. That's the love of my brother's life." His eyes darkened. "And most likely the biggest mistake any Trojan has ever made." He looked down at Liberty. "You look somewhat like her. How do you know so much about us?"
Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out. How could she explain this? Fortunately, her stomach answered for her, loudly.
Hector laughed and escorted her up a flight of stone steps to a large room filled with fabrics, pillows, and tables. "You must be famished. Here, Desert Rose, come and sit. Eat your fill and then we'll see about getting all that dust cleaned off. I must now find my wife and son. I will see you again soon, I am sure."
Liberty's heart dropped at the mention of his wife and son. She had caught herself moving away from her target, and falling for Hector. She sighed and used the nearest napkin to wipe a layer of dirt off her face and hands as two servants appeared with trays of food.
"That woman," Helen said, brushing her hair and looking into the mirror at the form of her lover, Paris. "She looks like me. Did you notice?"
Paris moved over behind Helen and began caressing her neck and shoulders. "I did notice, but Hector was far too possessive to let me touch her."
"That is well, because you are my lover, not hers," Helen said in a low tone. "If Hector wants to take her as a mistress, that is his business."
Paris smiled. "Hector's morals would prevent him from ever bedding a woman other than Andromache."
Helen gave his reflection a pointed look. "And your morals should prevent you from touching a woman other than me."
Paris bent down and kissed the side of his lover's head. "I love you more than anything. I would never touch a woman other than you." He turned her head to face him and kissed her deeply. "I would give up my life for you."
Helen sighed. "If Menelaus gets his way, you just may."
Paris nuzzled Helen's neck. "If it has to be that way, then so be it." He stood up and moved to the door. "I am hungry. Would you like me to fetch you anything?"
Helen shook her head and Paris disappeared out the door. He found his way to where Liberty was attacking her food like a starving animal.
"May I join you, or do you planning on eating every morsel in the kingdom?" He sat on a cushion next to her. "I put your bag in the room down the hall from mine. I thought you might want to take a bath and perhaps a nap after your meal."
"Thanks," Liberty muttered through a mouthful of food. She swallowed hard and gave the young man a sheepish look. "Pardon my manners. I just feel like I haven't eaten in thousands of years." She offered him a plate of fruit and her gaze lingered on his perfect hands as he picked up a pear and took a bite out of it. "You know the entire Greek army is going to come to take Helen back and get revenge."
Paris stared at her, startled. "How do you know all this?"
Liberty shifted uneasily. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
The young prince studied her warily. "Try me."
Liberty gave him a skeptical look, and then blurted out. "Apollo told me."
Paris was shocked. "Apollo? The god of the Sun talked to YOU?" He popped some berries into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "You must have some sort of connection with the gods then." He looked at her clothes. "You obviously aren't from around here."
Liberty looked down at her ragged clothes. She was wearing red plaid "punk" pants with straps and chains every which way, and a black muscle tank with the words 'MADE IN THE USA' scrawled across it in white lettering. They were dirty and torn in some places.
"Were you a slave?" Paris asked, fingering one of the chains on her pants.
Liberty giggled. "Believe it or not, no, I was never a slave." She unhooked the straps from her pant legs and handed them to him. "I'm definitely not from around here either. From what I gather, one of my ancestors was a daughter of Zeus himself. Maybe that's my connection."
Paris thoughtfully rubbed his chin as he watched this young woman eat before him as soft foot steps echoed down the hall. The figure of a petite young woman approached the table shyly as she brushed some of her long shoulder length brown hair out of her face, pushing it behind her ears.
"Um...excuse me...my lord Paris...but I-I've come to take the lady to her bath is...ready..." she stammered over her own words obviously shy in the presence of the young Trojan prince as she looked down at the floor.
Paris smiled as he rose to his feet, "Ah good good." He went over and placed a hand on the young woman's right shoulder. "Liberty this is one of my servants, Charis. Let her tend to you and serve you during your stay here in Troy. You don't mind do you Charis?"
Charis blushed at the touch from Paris as she shyly shook her head, "N- no...not at all my lord P-Paris. I do not mind. This way my lady." She stepped away from Paris as Liberty rose to her feet and followed Charis down the large hallway to her room.
Charis gently pushed the door open to reveal an ornately decorated room. Lush thick rugs of animal pelts were on the floor, rich fabric curtains dark as the night sky hung over the window, allowing some of the sunset to spill into the room. The bed was covered in a matching cover and big thick, plushy pillows all over it. In the corner of the room was a door way that led to the bath room, which was a room in itself.
"The bath is this way. Water has already been drawn for you." Charis motioned to the tub. "And your bag is here." She pointed to it sitting on a nearby table. "If you need anything, please don't hesitate to summon me, after all, the Prince has left me to tend to you." She sat in a nearby chair touching her shoulder where Paris's hand was moments before and a small blush spread across her cheeks.
Liberty chuckled. "Got a crush on someone?" She reached over and plucked her black messenger bag from the table and opened it, checking to make sure everything was in there and intact. "Paris is beautiful, isn't he?" She looked at the servant with an arched eyebrow. Charis' gaze was somewhere in the heavens, most likely making a new constellation of the princeling. Liberty smiled and dug a tube of liquid lip gloss from her bag. "You and me will get along just fine, I think." She dropped her bag on the floor by the door and sat down on the bed, gesturing for Charis to sit beside her.
"Tell me about yourself, Charis," Liberty inquired. "I'm eager to learn about this place and all of its people. I know about Hector and Paris already, but I want your point of view."
Charis, who was not accustomed to having conversations with the more powerful members of the household looked at Liberty with wide-eyed disbelief. "I- I would not presume to trouble you with the details of my life, Lady," she mumbled, casting her gaze to the ground.
"Trouble me? Please, trouble me!" Liberty fell back on the bed, her blonde hair splaying out behind her like a fan. "I want to know everything. I want to know everyone." She looked at the meek servant girl. "I want you and me to be friends."
"I am not allowed to be 'friends' with royalty," Charis said softly.
"Well it's a good thing I'm not royalty then, isn't it?" Liberty smiled.
Charis looked up at her. "If it's true that you are descended from Zeus, you most certainly are royalty." She began to smooth the bedcovers around Liberty, looking troubled.
"You think I care about that?" Liberty stood up. "I'd rather have someone forced to cater to my every whim like me and be a good conversationalist than a brick wall." She winked. "I know you're accustomed to being part of the scenery when it comes to Paris, but you really should have a mind of your own. That's what I believe anyway."
A small smile tugged at Charis' lips at the mention of Paris. Liberty noted it with a smug look of her own. "So tell me what you think about Paris."
Charis slowly sank into a chair and a dreamy countenance overcame her. "He is the sun that shines on me every morning and the star I wish upon every night. I pray to the gods that somehow I could overcome my servant status to be with him... just once... but I know that could never happen. Sometimes I swear he smiles at me though. A secret smile that is all his own. I know he is infamous for bedding many women, but I don't care. I would be his on a whim if he so desired."
Liberty grinned. "I thought so." She slowly applied some lip gloss and went back over to her bag, dropping it inside. "We'll have to work on making you more than a whim," she said softly.
Charis moved beside her, looking into her bag. "What sort of strange things do you have in there," she asked curiously.
Liberty moved the bag to the table and tipped it upside down, emptying the contents over the surface. "Wow, I didn't know I had brought so much stuff with me." She organized it in little piles, naming and explaining everything to the servant girl as best she could. "This is my Discman and a bunch of CDs... hmm... New Found Glory, Matchbox Twenty, NOFX, Maroon5, Linkin Park, Trapt, Yellowcard... Britney Spears? ICK! I didn't know I brought so many. Oh, they're um, they're bands. Groups of people who play instruments and sing." She opened the Linkin Park CD case and pulled out the shiny disc. "This CD has music embedded in it and this..." She picked up the Discman. "...plays the music through the headphones for you to listen to." She grabbed the set of small speakers and plugged them into the Discman in place of the headphones.
Charis watched, her curiosity piqued, as Liberty put the shiny disc inside the Discman and pushed a button.
"It's a good thing I brought my speakers." Liberty found the song she was looking for and turned the volume up. A low and steady beat emanated from the speakers, startling Charis. It was music she'd never heard before, but it was music.
"I want to heal, I want to feel, what I thought was never real. I want to let go of the pain I've held so long. I want to heal, I want to feel, like I'm close to something real. I want to find something I've wanted all along. Somewhere I belong." A voice echoed through the room.
"That's amazing!" she gushed when the song had ended. "How did they manage to get that man's voice inside that box?" She gently touched the speakers.
Liberty blinked, wondering if Charis could understand what Chester Bennington had been singing. "It's far too complicated for even me to understand. I just go with it." She dropped the Discman and CDs back into her bag. "Let's see. What else have I got? Lip gloss... brush... makeup of various sorts." She giggled, dumping them back in her bag as well. "Ooh, The Lord of the Rings." She picked up a large, leather-bound book. "This book is amazing. There are epic battles, good versus evil, friendship, death, and of course love and life. It's a giant fantasy that actually could have happened." She pushed it across the table and sorted through the other items. "A bottle of water, a bunch of pens, my notebook..." Those were all deposited back into the bag along with the makeup. "My demo reel..." Another shiny disc went into the bag. "Deodorant, sunglasses, body mist, painkillers, Kleenex... I'm going to need all those later, I'm sure." She moved those things over by the book.
"Ah well. To the bath I go. You can go blend into Paris' scenery now," she joked to Charis, strolling into the bathroom.
"HOLY HELL!"
The servant girl appeared at her side immediately. "Something wrong, my lady?"
Liberty pointed at the bath with large eyes and a gaping mouth. "That tub is bigger than my first swimming pool!"
The bath was made of white marble and stood in the middle of the room. Semi- transparent curtains hung all around it, and the water itself smelled of perfume. Flower petals dotted the surface and some had sunk to the bottom. Steam rose and disappeared quickly through a skylight.
"All this because they think I'm related to Zeus, I bet." Liberty looked at Charis. "If not for that fact, I'd probably be in the dungeon right now."
Charis smiled and laid a stack of towels on one of the stairs into the bath. "Not likely. They treat women with respect in Troy." She rubbed her hands on her robe and looked at the strange girl. "Would you like me to help you bathe?"
Liberty grinned. "Nah, that's perfectly okay. I can wash myself." She looked at the bottles situated on the rim of the tub. "I just have to figure out what each of these is."
Charis picked each one up and identified it.
"Right. Shampoo's the only one that matters right now." Liberty gestured to the door. "You can go blend into Paris' scenery now, but we're going to have a talk about that later, you and I."
Charis looked quizzically at the blonde before disappearing through the door, closing it behind her.
Liberty took in the elegance of the room once more. "This crystal clear water ain't going to be clear for long." She shed her clothes and stepped into the steaming water. "Oh yeah. That's the stuff." Immediately, dirt seemed to fall off her body to the bottom of the bath. She submerged herself in the water and rubbed her hair furiously, trying to get all the dust out. When she surfaced, she reached immediately for the shampoo and lathered her hair.
She heard footsteps and soon after, the door opened. Liberty smiled, expecting Charis, but it was Hector that appeared instead.
Liberty shrieked and sunk down into the bath, trying to cover herself.
Hector blushed and immediately looked away. "Em, Lady Liberty?"
"Don't call me that!" Liberty squealed, looking around for something to cover herself with, not wanting to soak the towels just yet. She paused. "Lady Liberty... how... patriotic. Yeah. Don't call me that."
Hector bowed his head. "Apologies, lady, but I would like to speak with you."
"In the tub?" Liberty squeaked, and then shifted around so that nothing would be in view unless Hector stepped closer. "Okay, well... you can look now, I suppose."
Hector raised his gaze to meet hers, his cheeks still flushed. He moved closer to the tub and Liberty shrieked again.
"Stop moving!" she squealed, realizing the white linen towels wouldn't do much to hide anything if she used them anyway. She drew her arms over her chest and glared at him. Hector immediately sat on the floor.
"From down here, I can't see anything, Lady, can I move closer? I wouldn't like to shout at you."
Liberty laughed, despite herself. "As long as you stay down there, sure. You can move closer. Did you choose to corner me now when I can't escape? This must be some interrogation I have in-store for myself."
She noticed for the first time that even out of his armor, he still looked like a warrior. He wore a blue toga and dark leather sandals. She scrubbed at her soapy hair, nervous. "So what is it that can't wait, Prince of Troy?"
Hector looked as nervous as she was. "I have just spoken with Paris. He tells me that you are descended from Zeus himself. Is that true? I'd like to know where you come from, and how you seem to know so much about us."
Liberty sighed. "One second." She submerged herself again, rinsing the soap from her hair. "Okay," she sputtered when she resurfaced. "I'll tell you everything I know, even though you probably won't believe any of it."
She then explained to him that she was from the future and that Zeus somehow brought her back in time and Apollo had told her to go to Troy, but she didn't tell him why. Hector listened intently, his intense gaze never leaving hers.
"So that's my story," she concluded, rinsing the soap off her face. She then looked around. "Um. I have a question for you."
Hector gave her a direct look. "What is it, my lady?"
Liberty smiled. "Well, two questions. One, do you believe me? Two, I have towels, but what am I supposed to wear? My old, ragged, dirty clothes?"
A smile slowly spread across the elder prince's face. "To answer your questions, I think I do believe you, but I'm not sure. And, I'll have someone bring you a robe immediately." He stood and, noting that Liberty didn't move or shriek this time, cast one look at the soapy water that was hiding her body. He immediately chastised himself, reminding himself that he was married with a son, and left quickly.
Liberty saw his face darken as he left and wondered if she had done something wrong. She didn't have time to wonder long, however, when Charis appeared with a long white robe like the one Helen had been wearing. She quickly dried herself and dressed, wanting to go find King Priam and see whether he could be convinced not to fight this war, and also to have a long chat with Charis and find her true feelings for Paris. Perhaps she could be the link to sending Helen home.