(A/N) Hello all you beautiful people willing to read my little story. This is my first Troy fic and I decided to have a little fun with it. The style will take after many of my other fics and I plan on trying to stay relatively true to many aspects of Trojan life. I've also decided to follow neither Homer nor the movie; rather, I'll use them for reference.

This is a Hector/Andromache fic based on their earlier courtship which was depicted in neither The Iliad or Troy. I've read a few of the A/H fics out there particularly by Adania and Mary-Scot and have decided to take a bit of a... twist... to the normal sequence of events used to make the pair fall in love. I hope you enjoy the story and please leave a review to tell me what you think so far or if you have any suggestions.

Disclaimer: I am the owner of neither Troy or the Iliad. They belong to their respective creators. I am merely borrowing the ideas and indulging the inspiration they have forthwith given me.

Beguiled
Chapter 1: A Hatred of Politics


The air was stale, bitter with a malicious texture of sweat and sand that coated his flesh like a grainy skin. An odd omen, he thought looking out upon the vastness of a placid, rolling sea disturbed only minimally by a small ship cutting smoothly between the angular waves. It would hit the beach in only a few moments he decided as emissaries from the nearby city flocked forward from within the harbor to intercept the arriving ship. Sighing in annoyance to himself, he scanned the many figures below with a disgust he rarely felt for his own people.

Apparently the Thebians had set course the moment they heard of Priam's slight interest in allying himself to their limited country. Knowledge of King Eetion's slowly diminishing health and the lack of his sons' experience in politics were well known leaving the elderly man with little choice but to seek alliances for himself with other, stronger rulers.

He sighed again fitting his helmet securely upon his head for all to view, the high, ebony tail a sure sign of his status swaying across his back as he moved. Politics. He hated them with a passion that seared and swelled with the severity of an open wound that made his teeth clench and his mind broil with daunting and distracting thoughts. Hopefully his father would deal with these dependants quickly and efficiently before their ideals and plight caught his sympathy, if not...

"Antenor!" he called. "Take the men back into the city and make sure they are paid just as well as they fought."

A large man rode forward, his shoulders back and his stance relaxed as he approached. "Will you not be accompanying us, my Prince? The city is but a few minutes away."

"I have business to attend to," he said looking pointedly down at the docking ship being serviced below in the harbor.

The other man chuckled softly under his breath raising a thick hand to smooth the wiry hairs against his neck. "They just keep coming, don't they? One vulnerable city after another. Pretty soon it looks as though your father will have more of a lecherous brethran than an empire."

"Indeed, but that isn't what concerns me so greatly," the younger man nearly groaned leaning heavily against his horse's withers. "What bothers me about all these alliances is that he sends me to make them and deal with theses foreign people when he knows I hate arrogant men and their distorted ideas of politics. I have more demanding ways to use my time."

"Think of it as practice, Hector," Antenor smiled weilding his mount closer to firmly grip the distraught prince's shoulder. "Your father wouldn't send you to deal with these old, winded ambassadors if he thought you could not deal with it yourself. It makes him proud to know that you can do it with little guidance."

An odd expression passed the youth's face while his free hand absently adjusted his helmet and armour. "I must go," he said effectively ending the exchange. "Make sure all the soldiers tend their horses before they are paid."

Antenor nodded watching the prince slowly canter toward the group of Thebians and their respective Trojan guides, a wary, boding feeling settling deep within his stomch. He waited until he could hardly define the horse's fluent movements before calling out to the brigade of soldiers, ordering them to carry on towards the gates with only a single glance over his rounded shoulder.

Hector felt the stiffness in his horse's stride acutely, the wiry rise and fall of the muscles beneath his own legs slightly trembling from wear. Servants worked quietly on the ship raising objects from under the hull and depositing them carefully on the sand as others arranged materials methodically on wagons waiting to be taken to the palace. He quickly counted ten emissaries sent doubtlessly by his father to receive their early guests and nearly thirty Thebians, four of whom wore fine linen and held themselves with a sense of decorum. They spoke amicably between themselves gesturing now and again at an item being placed in a wagon or a spot on the horizon of some importance obviously glad to be grounded and at the end of their journey. As he approached the conversation fell dry, perplexed expressions dotting the faces of both Trojans and Thebians.

"Welcome," he said firmly removing his helmet for the sake of being polite and accomodating. "I'm Prince Hector of Troy, eldest son of King Priam." He dismounted smoothly taking the reigns and handing them to a Thebian servant whom rushed poignantly to his side.

A young man stepped out from among the group, his auburn hair falling in curiously tight curls about his face and his mouth stretched wide in an amiable smile. He stretched out a long, thin hand and Hector took it rigidly declining from offering back his own warm smile at the other's caprice and tenacity.

"I'm Prince Podes of Thebe, third son of King Eetion," he replied enthusiastically hardly perturbed by the other's stoic mannerisms. "I'm honored to finally meet you, the man behind Troy's impregnable army. I've heard many stories."

Hector allowed a ghost of a smile at the young prince's admission but remained silent upon the interjection of another voice.

"My prince," an emissary spoke out interrupting the pair. "I thought you were still campaigning in the south."

"As a matter of fact I was just coming home when I spotted your ship coming upon the horizon," he said amusedly giving a pointed look to Podes. "I thought it would be a fair idea to greet our visitors personally before they arrived in the palace, but I'm afraid I can't stay. I have yet to reach the gates and I have not seen home in two months. Many people are eagerly awaiting my report as well."

Slipping his helmet securely over his head once more, he nodded to the men before retrieving his horse from the servant and slid himself fluidly onto the animal's back.

"A wise decision," Podes mentioned looking through the mid-day sun to see the shadow of Hector's face beyond the opening of his bronze helmet. "Hurry home, Prince Hector. I'm sure you've missed it sorely while you were gone and I'm sure you have been missed just as deeply by your family and your people in return."

"Thank you," he warmly replied grinning wryly and gathering the reigns in his hand, situating his fingers through the cords. "I shall see you shortly once you arrive at the palace. Our men will help you until then," he said gesturing to the ten men that stood to his right with a nod. His gaze scanned the harbor where the ship was steadily anchored assuring himself that everything would be properly cared for during his absence.

The other prince nodded in affirmation watching Hector's eyes flick precariously around the area taking in every detail and issue with precision and accuracy. And then they stopped, his eyes fixing on an object far beyond the Thebian prince's shoulder. His expression became bewildered and vaguely curious as he stared entranced causing the other to turn and seek out the source of his interest.

A lone maiden stood silhouetted against the slowly setting sun, her profile facing the onlookers as she too gazed out at some space in the horizon, a whimsical smile gracing her defined features softening them to a feminine quality.

Podes's smile rounded taking on a mature theme as he addressed Hector once more from below his horse. "My sister, Princess Anromache."

"Your sister?" Hector replied disbelieving, his voice etched in irritation. "Why would King Eetion send his daughter to Troy?"

Unaffected, Podes continued smiling despite Hector's harsh tone. "Father wished for her to see the world before he arranged a marriage for her. He said it would make her wiser and better endowed for possible future suitors."

"I doubt Troy should have been the choice of all places to send her though," he nearly growled, annoyance tinging his words. "It's too far a distance for a woman to travel for something as trivial as seeing outside her country."

Podes shrugged, "I suppose, but it isn't my place to question my father; besides, Troy is a magnificent city with little to be desired. It would easily fulfill most of her intellectual needs I would suppose." He thought a moment before continuing, "She's a fine woman, very learned and talented. You two may get along well. He gave Hector an jubilant glance before calling out her name, motioning for her to accompany them when she turned. "Come give your regards to Prince Hector!"

She stood for a moment staring casually down at them, her quiet beauty laying latent in the corners of her eyes as she calmly scrutinized the carvings and lines running along the surface of Hector's helmet trying to peer beyond its folds. A moment later she turned retreating down into the open hull of the ship and out of sight of those watching without a single word or form of acknowledgement to any of the men waiting expectantly on the harbor beach.

"I think you may want to reconsider the possibilities of the princess and I becoming well acquainted," Hector remarked sarcastically slightly offended by being so easily avoided.

One of the Thebian ambassadors snorted puffing out his chest indignantly. "Impudent woman," he muttered slightly shaking his head. "She knows nothing about respect. It's best to just ignore her really."

An annoyed look passed Podes's eyes before he quickly shook it away and turned to stare back at Hector as the Trojan prince adjusted his armour squarely atop his shoulders. "I must appologize, Prince Hector. Usually she is not so rude. I'm sure she's just tired from the long journey and isn't sure of her actions."

Hector nodded in understanding turning his horse back toward the direction of his illustrious city, his home. "Welcome to Troy, Prince Podes. If your people should require any services once you reach the city just ask and we shall try to accomodate you, until then I must be on my way."

"Thank you," Podes replied, his mischievious smile slipping quickly back into place as he watched Hector ride away at an even gate before becoming solemn once more.

He turned to the ship advancing up the boarding plank and carefully ambling to the opening of the hull where he could hear a series of soft sobs and quiet sniffling echo within the rigid compartment. "Andromache?" he questioned lowering himself to look down into the room below.

"I can't do it," he heard her whisper between sobs, the urgency in her voice entreating in its melancholy timbre.

"Can't do what?" he asked only to hear her sobs becoming more forceful as she refused to answer.

He lowered himself down slowly seeking out her hunched figure sitting huddled between the wall and a barrel, her legs raised protectively to her chest as she swaddled them in her arms crying

"Andromache, what do you mean you can't do it?" he inquired stepping closer to her prone form until he stood in front of her, his stature bent at the waist to stare helplessly at her shaking and heaving body.

"Please don't do it," she pleaded. "Please don't sell me to that man."

"What's gotten into you?" he asked her a bit harsher than he intended grabbing her shoulders and shaking her gently.

"He's a murderer!" she cried out suddenly recoiling from his touch and burrowing into the sanctuary her corner offered. "That among other things. I don't want to belong to him. Please, I couldn't live such a life," she cried, her emotions welling in the base of her throat. "Don't give me to him."

Podes watched her silently as her back trembled and her shoulders shook with the force of her wrenching sobs. Instinct compelled him to reach out and hold his sister, but the circumstances were different now than they had been in Thebe and there was little he could do to alter that. Their entire family had made sacrifices to keep the kingdom protected and prosperous, now it was her turn to do the same. As much as it deeply tore at him, he neglected her pleas, turning soundly on his heel and advancing back toward the surface of the ship.

"We leave for the gates of Troy in less than fifteen minutes, be out and ready by then," he stated, the callousness in his voice causing her weeping to diminish out of shame rather than comfort. Before he was out of earshot, however, he carefully told her, "Don't grieve so soon, Andromache. Hector may not be willing as far as we know."

He heard her sniffle and her dress rustle slightly as she nodded her ascent before he retreated down the boarding plank back toward the group of elder men still talking along the beach as the servants hurried to manage their belongings. In the back of his mind, a noble part of him hoped Hector would in fact accept his father's gift, no matter how much it pained his sister. For the good of his people, he prayed. Soon the Greeks would come for Thebe, and then it would be too late.
And so the stage is slowly being set. Please review, it would mean far more to me than you may realize and it takes but a minute or so.

Also, Podes was in fact the name of one of Andromache's seven brothers. He was in Troy when the city was sacked and he was killed by Menelaus during the seige. His name is pronounced poe-d-ace; poe like Edgar Allen Poe and ace like the card. I have yet to see someone else use him in their story though so I suppose I'm the first. I'll have a few other small facts about Andromache and Hector's families later on in the story, but until then, do your own research!! lol, j/k Thanks for reading!!