Hey! I'm here again......
And sorry for the late update.....
Just enjoy, ok?
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Chapter 7
Briseis smiled in the strong and muscular arms of Achilles. She knew she should not feel this way, she should have fought with all her might to get away from her supposed enemy's arms. However, Briseis could not. She felt so safe in his arms, they were very strong, no doubt, but they were very gentle as well. She felt protected inside his arms, and they shielded her from the cool night breeze.
Briseis moved her head to a more comfortable position, but she did it slowly, not wanting Achilles to know. Bit by bit, she opened her left eye, and stole a speedy glance at Achilles.
Achilles was looking upwards. If Briseis' judgment was right, he was looking at the sky in a very serene way.
Maybe he was counting the stars.....Would he be that romantic? He does not seem to be the type...
Briseis' lips curled again. She did not know why she smiled, and she felt silly and childish when doing that. She felt like the whores that always smiled seductively at Paris; or those young ladies (that according to Briseis, had no dignity) who would giggle when Paris walked by.
Maybe those young women cannot control themselves too....maybe they are just like me.... I shouldn't have despised them....
'Stop looking at me and turn your head away. You are making me uncomfortable,' stated Achilles bluntly. Briseis felt a blush slowly crept up her cheeks, and she buried her head in Achilles' chest halfheartedly. What a dumb brute..... Sure he doesn't know how to talk to a priestess....
He carried her in silence. Briseis hated silence between two. It had always made her feel awkward. But somehow, the stillness between Achilles and her did not affect her much. Somehow, she could not really understand this kind of stillness between them. It made her feel peaceful.
A cool wind blew, and it brushed the gold locks of Achilles away from his eyes, and he held Briseis tighter. Though she had tuned her head towards his chest, she still glanced sideways at him, and stared into his crystal- clear blue eyes. They could make her drown, and the sight of them, to Briseis, was breathtaking.
Briseis shut her eyes and snuggled closer to his chest when she knew he started to bow his head a little bit to look at her. She would never know that Achilles was slightly blushing when he had asked her not to look at him. And she would never know that Achilles was looking at her goddess-like features (long lashes, kissable lips etc.) when she had shut her eyes tight and snuggled closer to him.
Achilles had reached his tent, and laid Briseis down on his bed gently. Briseis smiled secretly at first. But suddenly, she remembered where she was, and who she was. It was then she slapped herself mentally:
You are the priestess of Apollo! Furthermore, you are a Trojan, and you are not supposed to feel contented in the arms of your enemy when your countrymen were suffering from death and destruction from the battle!
Briseis sat up immediately, only found that Achilles was already sitting on the bed beside her, holding a washcloth, and his washbasin in front of her. He leaned a bit forward, wanting to tend her wounds. She moved away a bit, and hoped that Achilles could be subtle, or sensitive enough to get the message that she did not want him to touch her.
But warriors were never known at being either subtle or sensitive.
So, being as dumb as he could be with girls, Achilles tried to clean her face again. Briseis had wanted him to do it, but she had vowed to serve Apollo for her life. So she slapped his hand away with repent and guilt.
Discouraged by Briseis' reactions, and not knowing how fragile Briseis could be, Achilles' threw the washcloth forcefully at her chest. Achilles was very powerful, and the towel went smacking onto Briseis' chest hardly, and it hurt at lot. Briseis, being as childish as she was, and irritated by Achilles' violence, threw the washcloth back to him with all her strength. Achilles lost his patience, and put the washcloth into the washbasin roughly, and the water came splashing out onto the floor.
Achilles turned around and grabbed a salver of food on the table. Wanting to break the awkward silence and tension that was created between the two, Achilles said, 'At least you fought back, and that takes courage.'
Briseis reached for the washcloth in Achilles' washbasin tentatively. She did not look at him, but she replied, 'I was just protecting myself from your horrible countrymen. And that's natural for everyone to do it. Even a dog defends itself when it's attacked.'
Achilles frowned, watching the girl cleaning her face. She should not have said that to him. No one would ever dare to say such things like she did to him. But this girl in front of him showed him no sign of fright. Smirking, he said with a trace of amusement on his lips, 'do you think you're a dog?'
Briseis blushed a bit, and stopped cleaning her wounds. She looked bolt upright at him, and asked him if he was playing with her or not. Achilles raised one of his brows, amused that how could a girl be so naïve. He thought he had never met someone so small and innocent. Briseis finished cleaning herself, and put the washcloth back into the washbasin lightly. She turned to Achilles, and looked at the salver of food which Achilles was holding. Her stomach rumbled noisily. She felt blood flushed onto her cheeks and crimson creeping onto her neck.
Fortunately, Achilles did not notice and continued with his food. The awkward silence of Briseis caught his attention and looked up. Without another word, he asked, 'Why don't you eat? You should be very hungry.' Briseis immediately reached for the food on the salver and stuffed it into her mouth. 'I don't think you've eaten anything in nearly two days.'
Briseis nodded, unable to answer him as her mouth was stuffed with food.
Achilles watched her with amusement again, and with the tenderest voice he had, said, 'Did he hurt you?'
Briseis looked up at him questioningly. Who do you mean?
'Agamemnon.'
Briseis shook her head, and swallowed the last piece of food. 'No. At least.... Not in that way.' She answered timidly. And Achilles smiled at her in a very caring way that Briseis could not stand to look at him. Briseis started to be frightened. She started to be afraid that she would start to like this great warrior, the greatest enemy of her nation. She was also afraid that she would deceive her vows to Apollo. But somehow, although she did not want to worry about this, she could not deny that she was even more terrified that if she really fell in love with this man, he would not love her in return. And Briseis knew that she could never be able to bear the consequences of falling in love with this man. Falling in love with Achilles meant too much for her.
'Why...did you choose this life?' asked Briseis cautiously, not wanting to anger the irascible man.
'What life?' he asked, although he already knew what she wanted to know.
'To be a great warrior. To fight. To kill.' Said Briseis delicately.
'I was born to be a warrior. I was born to kill. I was born to end lives.' Achilles said simply, with no trace of regret in his expressionless voice.
Briseis could not understand this man. He could be so gentle in one minute, but could sound so cruel in another. 'You're doomed.' Briseis said.
'Everything is more beautiful for the doomed,' Achilles said, staring into Briseis' eyes. His lips moved a bit. It seemed like he wanted to add something, but he stopped himself from saying anything.
'Do you think the Gods will want to live to kill?' asked Briseis sarcastically.
'The Gods have nothing to do with my living.' Achilles stated pointedly.
'The Gods have everything to do with it...they-' Briseis was cut off by Achilles' words, 'You have devoted your life to the Gods. But let me tell you. The romance is one-sided.' Achilles leaned towards Briseis, staring intensely into her hazel eyes.
'Let me tell you something you will never learn in your temple. The God envy us.' He paused for a moment to look at the astounded face of Briseis, and the questioning eyes of her. 'They envy us because we are mortal. They envy us because we have the ability to die. In the end that is our one true gift. Every moment is precious because we are doomed.'
Achilles hesitated, and reached out to touch Briseis' face. 'You will never be lovelier than you are now.'
Achilles stood up. And he smirked at the way Briseis was gaping at him, not knowing what to say. He knew he was successful. He knew his words had an indescribable impact on her. He turned and left the tent. 'I think I need to give you some time to think about it. Am I right?' He left the tent without another word.
Briseis sat there, gaping after him. She would not agree with his words, but somehow they seemed to make some sense. Briseis stopped pondering over if his words were right or wrong. There was something more to it that she had to think over with. There was an extremely unusual feeling inside her (which she didn't know where), when Achilles had talked to her softly about the gods, and touched her face. She really wanted to know what that feeling was. She had heard from Adromache about how a person would feel when she fell in love. But surely she wouldn't?!
Briseis looked at her lap, filled with mixed feelings. The touch of Achilles was just... wonderful. It made her feel fantastic. Like her back had suddenly sprouted wings and she could fly up high into the sky towards mount Olympus to tell the God of Love, Aphrodite herself about how light- hearted she was.
But how about Troy and Thebe? Her cousins might be inside the palace, anxiously waiting for her return. Chryseis could be crying, and she might be begging Hector to think of ways to save her. Chryseis might have cried for day and night of her absence. Even after Briseis had devoted herself to the Sun God, Chryseis had always gone to the temple to talk to her. The soreness of her cousin over her was unbearable to her to. Men would be dying because of Achilles, because of the war. What could she do?
And Briseis knew, deep in her heart, that Troy's greatest enemy, Achilles, must be dead.
She felt puzzled, and lay down on the bed slowly, still thinking of what to do. She could never betray her county. No son of Troy or Thebe would betray his nation, let alone her, being a princess and the devoted priestess of the Sun God Apollo. She let herself to forget about her worries, and lay on the bed very still. She had nearly drifted off to sleep when she heard Achilles came back into the tent.
He blew off the candles and lay on the other side of the bed, and drifted off to sleep, as Briseis could hear his breath becoming more and more stable.
Slowly, very discreetly, very quietly, she got off from the bed and search for a weapon that could kill. Maybe a sword or a dagger. It doesn't matter, as long as it could take away the life of this mighty warrior in front of her, lying on the bed in a deep slumber. In the dark, she found a dagger on the floor and walked very slowly towards Achilles.
She loomed over him, and gently pressed the blade on his neck. She hesitated. Could she kill this man? She remained in her position for some time, still pondering if she was doing the right thing...
'Do it.' This sudden voice from Achilles startled her, and she nearly dropped the dagger.
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Hey. Is that exciting? I always love cliff hanging! XD
And for Fanfiction Police, thanks for the advice, I'll try to improve my writings....
Also, please tell me how you think about this chapter. It's great isn't it?? X3
I'm telling you all this because I want reviews.....you should have know it.
Thanks for the great reviews anyway.
