Hey! Thanks again for the reviews! I promise I will update regularly.

Now here's your favourite chapter 5...

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Chapter 5

After Achilles had left, and Briseis had finished her judging of what kind of person Achilles was (which she could not draw a conclusion to), she studied the tent carefully.

It was a big tent. At least she thought it was. And the tent was neat. There was a great bed, covered with white fur. It seemed very comfortable. And it was very different from the beds they have in the palace of Thebe. Briseis wondered why Achilles would need such a great bed. Although he was very tall, he was not fat..... Briseis laughed at herself. No warrior was fat.

She continued the exploration of the tent with her hazel eyes. There was a rack, where all the great warrior's armors and weapons were held. It had occupied a lot of space, she noticed. She had always hated violence, and she didn't understand why men always had to settle disputes by fighting, which led to battle and war. Fighting, to her, was always a ignorant way to solve problems.

Thud.

Briseis' heart tensed as soon as she heard the footstep. Whose footstep could it be? Had Hector come to her rescue? Maybe the old priest had told Hector that Briseis was captured by the Greeks, and he decided to take action. He should know the way better than everyone. He was the Trojan prince after all.

But she was proved to be wrong when a Greek soldier stepped through the flaps into the tent. Briseis stood and stepped back, afraid when another Greek soldier had stepped into the tent.

The two soldiers seemed to stare at her for a moment, and one said, 'sure the girl is the one the High King is telling us to bring.' They are both young, and they seemed to be very strong. But Briseis showed no sign of fear. She would never show physically strong men her fear.

However, she was screaming with fear inside her mind. Her eyes darted all over the tent, thinking of a way to escape from the two soldiers.

No way of escaping.

She was grabbed by the arms again the second time in the day by Greek soldiers. Though she learnt from the previous experience that she could never fight the Greeks, she still kicked all the way with every ounce of her strain towards wherever the two Greeks were taking her to.

She was sure they were taking her to Agamemnon, the King of Kings, as they stopped in front of a ship, which was carved aristocratically. Three of them stood there, on the deck outside the entrance which very likely, led to the meeting hall of the Greeks.

'A great victory was won today.' Said a voice which Briseis didn't recognize. But judging by the pleased, yet greedy tone of the speaker, she knew the voice came from none other that the High King Agamemnon himself. 'But that victory is not yours. Kings did not kneel to Achilles.'

'Perhaps the King is too far behind to see, the soldiers won the battle.' Said another voice which Briseis recognized, Achilles'. Judging from the speech, Briseis knew the two were having an argument.

Sure Achilles' word had angered Agamemnon. Because when Agamemnon spoke again, his voice was astoundingly infuriated, 'history remembers kings, not soldiers.' He paused for a moment, and Briseis heard him got up and paced, towards Achilles, no doubt.

'Tomorrow I'll batter down the gates of Troy. I'll build monuments of victory over every islands of Greece. I'll carve Agamemnon in the stone.' Agamemnon said heatedly.

But Achilles was not the least taken aback by the little tirade of Agamemnon. Instead, he said repulsively, 'be careful, King of Kings, first you need victory.'

Agamemnon must have paced again, only lighter, as Briseis noticed his voice was projected in a different position when he spoke again, and yet she hadn't noticed his footsteps. 'Your men sacked the temple of Apollo, yes?'

Achilles replied smoothly, in his calm and deep voice, 'you want gold? Take it. It is my gift, to honour your courage. Take what you wish.'

'I already have,' said Agamemnon smugly. He called for his guards and the two Greek soldiers ushered her inside the hall, still holding her arms firmly. Briseis started to release herself from their grips again, knowing Achilles was there and felt more courageous. She looked at Agamemnon. She saw him at last. His greedy, scandalizing voice suited his face flawlessly. And the vicious, cunning man spoke again, 'Spoils of war...'

Achilles' expression twitched from calm to irate immediately, and with an agitated voice, stated, 'no arguments brothers,' He looked down at the floor, deciding if it was a wise action to fight for Briseis or not. 'But if you don't release her, you'll never see home again.' Briseis was looking at him intensely, with a warning look in her eyes. But Achilles paid no heed to the look of her, 'decide.'

Wasting no time, Agamemnon cried out to his guards, and the soldiers came rushing in. Achilles wasted no time also, and unsheathed his sword from his back at once, readied to fight. Briseis' heart raced at once. If another fight should start, these Greek soldiers had no chance of winning the flaxen-haired warrior in front of them. And losing the fight meant death to them.

Vision of the dead priests invaded her mind again. And at the moment, she could only think of one word that could describe death: horrendous.

If these men have to die, it's my entire fault. They have not sinned. They are just following the orders given by this dim-witted king without a heart.

The thought of these men dying for her made Briseis filled with guilt and sorrow, so, she gathered her strength and yelled out, 'Stop!'

It was the second time in the day that she found herself could silence a group of Greek soldiers, and she was quite astonished. She looked at the Greek soldiers, and, in a very menacing way, said, 'too many men have died today.' She then looked at Achilles, and said, 'If killing is your only talent, that's your curse.' She paused for a moment, catching her breath, and continued, 'I don't want anyone dying for me.'

Achilles pondered over the words of Briseis. Of course, he could disregard them and killed the soldiers; but a part of him wanted to obey her. But there was no time for him to think it over again. Before he could make his decision, Agamemnon sneered, 'well...well. The mighty Achilles silenced by a slave girl...'

Agamemnon walked over to Briseis, and played with a lock of her beautiful hair. 'I'll have her give me a bath tonight. And then...who knows....' As Briseis heard this, she felt her stomach churned with disgust.

'You sack of wine!' Achilles yelled, outraged. 'Before my time is done, I will look down upon your corpse and smile.' Said him frostily. After his words was said, Achilles took one look at Briseis and strolled out of the tent.

'Tie her up, and bring her to the lower deck.' Agamemnon demanded. He turned to Briseis, and said slyly, 'you're a useful pretty thing, aren't you? Don't worry, I won't take you, although it will be a loss. Taking you means I'm going to die in Achilles' hands. No. I'll make use of you wisely.'

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How's that? I've spent a lot of time in this chapter. Hope you like it. I'll update as soon as possible.

As for chilled-acid, I think you'll have to do the bold and italics in the document manager in the FF net. After you have uploaded your document, you have to edit it on the web. And thanks for the reviews!!!