(A/N) Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed!! I had a few comments about people being afraid I would slip into the clique "she hates his guts" thing and all I can say is wait and read. I want this to be as unclique as possible. Also, I'm sorry for grammatical errors or if my syntax is awkward. I don't have a spell check or a great computer so please bear with me. I reread my chapters before posting, but I occasionally miss something important. Thanks again, and please review!! Even two words can make my day.

Lagniappe
Chapter 2: A Love For One's Country

"Eetion requests an alliance, does he?"

"Yes, good king," the other responded bowing his head of curls in Priam's presence. "It would honor him to have you on his side in the face of so many adverse enemies; two countries unified in peace."

Priam smiled slowly, glancing to the angry face of his eldest son sitting at his side and then upon the youth kneeling before his throne. "You care for your country very deeply, don't you Prince Podes?"

After an awkward moment, the young prince nodded softly adding, "Yes I do, good king. It is the very flesh of my skin and bones."

"I suppose few men unlike yourself would do anything for their country. Such matters require courage," Priam said languidly giving a pointed look to Hector whom softened slightly at the statement. "But still," he continued; "I find it odd that your father would seek our alliance so suddenly and so eagerly, especially with the Greeks so keen on currently expanding their empire across the Aegean."

"My father thought you should like to have a strong ally on the peninsula in case of an invasion," Podes stated mildly avoiding the frigid look set squarely in the Trojan heir's gaze.

"Or maybe he seeks a caretaker for his own insecurities," Hector bit, his voice rasping in malice as he stood to advance on the kneeling young man watching the king's knees in terrified doubt. Only his father's hand raised in front of his breastplate halted his actions forcing his tirade to the side with a bitter hiss.

Priam stared at Hector's back a moment reading the tension laying beneath his straining muscles and motioned for the Thebian to stand. "I will consider your offer," he said quietly, barely loud enough for the entire counsel to hear. "We will meet again later for more intimate negotiations once I have discussed your proposal with my advisors. Until then, feel free to tour our great city and enjoy our people. I think you will find the experience to be quite agreeable."

"Thank you," Podes smiled warmed by the king's calm disposition. He bowed to the counsel before quietly taking his leave, the sound of the door thumping behind him as it closed a signal for the room's remaining inhabitants to begin their disputes.

"We can't do this, father," Hector pleaded stomping back to his father's side and gesturing hopefully to him with open hands while his eyes beseeched those of the older man. "Thebe is one of Agamemnon's first targets on the peninsula. If he attacks the city will be destroyed in days long before we can reach them through the Idaean Gulf."

"Yes, but perhaps our influence on Thebe will deter Agamemnon," a counselor piped standing quickly to emphasize his point. "He has yet to gain any true strength in Greece. Besides, Thebe is endowed with many virtues being so close to the Kemer River. It may be to our advantage to accept their proposals."

"They are endowed with silt and game animals, nothing that would be of use to us should the Greeks lay siege," Hector countered walking to stand before the counsel with stately strides, his rich robes thrashing about his legs with each step a clear reflection of his mood. "Our influence is not enough to drive Mycenae away from notions of conquering anything that touches the Aegean. If we interfere so closely as to make sudden alliances with weaker areas he will not hesitate to attack us too. We are part of the Aegean as well as Thebe and a more important one at that. Greece may not exceed us in power now, but soon it may. Why start hostilities now?"

"Our wall stands..." another tried to interject.

"And it is but a wall!" Hector yelled back glaring at the elderly men set arrogantly in their chairs around a stagnant pool. He braced his thick shoulders glaring meaningfully at each nonchalant face. "We use it to defend ourselves against those outside the city when danger could just as easily be wandering inside the city as well. A wall is merely a temporary barrier in war."

Priam smiled smoldering the brazen look in his son's eyes minutely. He rose from his seat stepping down to face Hector's inexorbably frustrated eyes imploring his own to understand his complex reasoning. "You are wise, Hector, for being such a young man," he fondly soothed placing his withered hands on either side of the prince's face, his thumbs gently brushing the light beard that grew there. "You are a great commander and I trust you confidently with my army and kingdom. But you are still young, and you so easily forget," he paused to place a paternal kiss atop the youth's forehead; "Apollo watches over us, favoring our country above others."

A weary look crossed Hector's eyes as he peered solemnly at his father's calm expression. "I know father, but the power of the gods cannot be weighed so greatly in our cause."

"And why not?" Priam asked still gripping his son's face firmly between his hands. "Who has more power than the gods themselves?"

"No one, father," he replied looking quietly to his feet. "Apollo watches over us, of that I'm sure and thankful. But even Apollo must bend his will to that of Zeus's." Glancing upward he sought his father's confused stare and held it as he finished, "Zeus favors the Greeks, father, and no one may protect us from the king of the gods himself."

They analyzed each other a moment, each trying desperately to discern the true feelings of the other upon the matter before silently looking away.

"I will discuss this matter with my counsel. In a few days I will meet with the Thebian ambassadors again and see what propositions might be made to our benefit should an alliance be finalized. In the mean time, I expect you to keep the army on its feet and in battle condition in case we are called on again."

"Yes, my king," Hector replied stoically, his formal address the only sign of his anger and defeat as he stalked as nobly as possible from the affairs room, stopping only momentarily to change from his regal clothes before heading toward the stables on the far side of the palace.
Hector groaned softly to himself, sweeping his brush against the accumulated grime coating his horse's flanks with fluid, hasty strokes. A man could only take so much turmoil in a single day before his mind slowly began to fall precariously toward the steep precipice that shielded his sanity from the firey demon's of his temper below. And a man could only bear his younger brothers' stupidity to a sensable level. Taking a horse from the stable and releasing it in the paddock was one matter; taking the stable and releasing it into the unfenced plains of the Trojan perimeter was an entirely different matter. A matter he felt inclined to personally punish his brothers over.

It was a fair prank indeed, Hector mused. One that would buy the two imps enough time to raid the stable for barley and wine before any capable hand was able to chastise them and foil their plot. All it took was the flick of a latch from the main paddock and each inhabiting horse was free to wander as they pleased causing every immediate stable hand to jump onto their own, stabled horse's back and rush upon the herd before they could scatter making the job of rounding them up harder than it seemed. It was no small task whatsoever. It had taken thirty equestrians four hours to round up some thousand horses from the plains and now each was caked generously in a thin layer of sandy mud.

A fair prank indeed. A sound whipping seemed in line for the young princes curtesy of their eldest brother himself. Tomorrow he planned on making them clean all the horses lacking current care, and they would work until they were done. Between himself and the grooms, only three hundred had been cleaned in a two hour span.

He could already feel the ache in his shoulders, weary from every meticulous stroke given each horse. The grooms weren't much better off either by the look of them, each favoring his back and arms with a visible limpness. Soon the night shift would come in, however, and the pace would be swiftened despite their being only a fourth as many stable hands working in the evening and even fewer at night. He'd have to make sure they left about one hundred horses for his brothers' punishment the next day. They'd earned it after all.

With a deep sigh, he resumed his task catching each mud cluster with the course bristles of his long brush. A few stable hands talked quietly amongst themselves, snickering occasionally as one made a witty comment obviously happy for some sort of short relief from their duties. One pointed at the opposite side of the stable making an outline with his finger as he quietly spoke causing the others to watch and laugh at his antic joining in with their own.

Perplexed by the gesture, Hector scanned the area spotting a woman of slender stature standing near the east entrance, her hand playing idly with the forelock of a curious, bay horse whom stood calmly enjoying her ministrations from the door of his stall

Realizing what the men were most likely mocking for their own enjoyment, he called out, "The horses in the fourth stable have yet to be fed."

The men looked up recognizing his authoritative voice and nodded dispersing their meeting and returning to their chores with only a few more words passed between them as they left, the mood of their conversation relatively shaken. Hazel eyes watched his back curiously as he shook his head in irritation and bent to loosen the lead of his current charge, the horse stomping in excitement as he was led from the confines of the grooming block back to his allotted stall.

"What brings you to the stables, my lady?" he asked in a polite voice, releasing the horse into its stall before turning to look at her.

She was a pretty thing, tall but not masculine in her figure. She refused to meet his eyes, watching him with mild glances as she hid her face cautiously behind the head of the horse she gingerly pet. When she continued to ignore his advance, he continued.

"My lady, it isn't very proper for you to be here unattended," he said coaxingly noting how her eyes nervously flickered across the floor as he spoke. "Where is your escort?"

He heard her clear her throat definitively before raising her head and casting a wayward glance in his direction searching his face with a wary sweep.

"I'm sorry to have intruded, good sir. Please accept my apologies," she quietly stated keeping her eyes well averted from his own as she turned to leave, a bit hesitant as she reached the exit that led into the streets of the city.

He frowned lightly to himself upon seeing her distraught features, her eyes scanning the perimeter for a semblance of something familiar yet seeming to find none in the vicinity. With brisk, momentous strides, he came to her side peering out into the slowly darkening court just outside the stable, currently deserted at the approach of dusk.

"Where is your escort, my lady?" he questioned her, the bewilderment in his tone not escaping her as his eyes deftly searched for an absent presence.

"He must have wandered a bit while waiting for me," she quickly answered stepping away from his side as he looked suspiciously over her lanky form. The challenge in his eyes shook her, but she replied with a chaste smile that slightly assured him and decreased the sharpness of his gaze fractionally until it was bearable to watch. "I will be fine, sir," she said teasingly. "Not even the wolves could catch me in this fair city."

Nodding slowly, he inclined his head and took his leave allowing the young woman to be on her way peacefully. The soft scuffle of her thin soled sandles brushing against the relaxed pavement rustled ruefully in his ears as she gradually disappeared into the dim glow of the setting sun. When he turned around to gauge her progess, she was gone amidst the rising buildings and lower awnings of Troy. He sighed lowly to himself before adjusting the leather halter and lead still occupying his hands and left to search the paddock for yet another grimy horse to clean.

(A/N) Sorry if Hector seems a bit OC right now, and I'm trying a new approach to Andromache since the movie doesn't show much of her personality and everyone seems to have made her a bit more brazen than I think she would be. I may be taking quite a few artistic liberties on this one. Please review!!

Special thanks to: Julia, Trust No One, Aragorn's Girl Arwen, Psychotic Tanuki, :), Freakazoid, Sarahw, Anariel, w, shi-sha, Another Me, and orliNkeira for reviewing, I hope to hear from you again!! And a particularly special thanks to maryscot for emailing me and being a fun, new person to talk to.