Gee, thanks for your reviews... Here's my chapter 9 for you...
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Chapter 9
'My Lord,' Eudorus entered the tent, and found himself looking at Achilles, which were in a blue robe. Achilles was holding a cup of wine, and he positioned him to be silent. Eudorus looked at the bed of his lord and, to his surprise, found the beautiful Trojan captive lying there, covering by the thin blanket. It was obvious that she was completely naked, and he immediately knew what had happened between his lord and her.
Eudorus smiled, he had known that his lord would be interested by this girl very much when Eudorus had first seen the girl. He was quite sure that this girl would change Achilles as his own wife had once changed him from a brutal man to a more intelligent one.
Achilles followed him out of the tent.
'The men are eager to know if we are going to fight, the army has set of to attack Thebe, the city next to Troy.' Eudorus said, looking at his lord. Through all these years of fighting, Eudorus and Achilles had grown close, and Achilles respected him.
Achilles hesitated. He already had his girl back, so why not going back to fight? But he was still fuming over Agamemnon had taken his war prize from him in such a disrespecting way. And if Achilles had not been around, Briseis would be raped by Agamemnon's men. How could the King do such thing to a girl like her? Achilles thought furiously, and again, he felt his blood boiled in his veins. 'My orders still stand.' Achilles said repulsively.
'King Odysseus wants to talk to you,' Eudorus stated simply.
Achilles turned to walk away, still deep in his thoughts. He paused and turned to Eudorus, still thinking if he had made the right decision, 'Tell our fellow Myrmidons to get ready,' Eudorus smiled. 'We are sailing home in the morning.'
'Home?' Eudorus asked charily. He thought Achilles would not be reluctant to leave the war behind, at least he thought Achilles would not leave so soon. They had scarcely fought. 'Home.' Achilles said evidently, and walked off to find Odysseus' tent.
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Briseis woke up to the sound of someone speaking, and found herself lying on a large bed. She wondered what had happened...
Suddenly, visions of last night's events suddenly rushed back to her... The rescue......The tension between Achilles and her when they were throwing the washcloth at each other...... The attempt of her to murder the greatest warrior in the world...... The passion in Achilles' clear pale-blue eyes...... the clattering sound of Achilles' dagger when it hit the floor of his tent in the moonlight...... and the burning sensation of her skin when Achilles had ran his hand on her thigh......
Realizing what she had done, she sat bolt upright and found herself naked, just adding more to her guilt. She raw feeling between her legs made her felt a bit dizzy; and her mind was now in chaos.
She had given up her virginity to someone she barely knew, which she did not even know if the person would love her back. The most important of all, she was the priestess of Apollo, and she had vowed to remain her innocence in order to serve him. It was just a few days ago when she had made her vow, but now... Briseis could not even think of what her punishments of dishonoring the Sun God would be. And what about her cousins? How would uncle Priam react when he find out that she was now his greatest enemy's woman? And would Hector even want to acknowledge her presence in his heart again when he know? (She was sure Paris would not hate her, as Paris had started this war by bringing Helen back to Troy...) What should she do? Surely she could not go back to her homeland again, as she had betrayed Thebe and Troy. Where could she go when the war between the two nations had ended? Achilles would never bring a captive back to his home, and there was no misgiving about that.
The problem would not be brought up if she had killed Achilles. Now, her future was unsure.
She should have killed him! Why had she not? What had been stopping her? And deep in Briseis' heart, she knew what had been stopping her to kill this man. But she was so afraid even to acknowledge herself what that thing was. Love. She could not help it. He had been so gentle to her. He had made her feel special in his arms. He had even saved her from the savage, barbarian Greek soldiers.
Briseis sat on the king sized bed of Achilles, the thin wool blanket wrapping around her body securely. She wanted to get out of bed, but she had got nothing to wear. The virgin robe of hers lay on the floor silently, waiting for its master to pick it up, and wear it again. Briseis stared at it, and shook her head slowly. She could never wear the silky white material on her flawless body again, since she was now Achilles' woman.
Achilles, who had destroyed the golden statue of Apollo in front of the temple. Achilles, who had mocked the gods. Achilles, who had changed her so much. Achilles, who had made her feel loved.
Briseis let tears of shame, confusion and uncertainty rolled from her once bright and cheerful hazel eyes down to her fair, radiant cheeks which had never been kissed by any man before the night before, except for her kinsmen. Briseis wanted to talk to Chryseis, to ask for her advice. But Briseis was now in the enemies' camp, and she knew she would never see Chryseis again. Slowly she raised her delicate hand up to her face and brushed the tears away. The thing had made her the guiltiest was she had devoted herself to the enemy out of her free will, and she could not even resist the temptation of sleeping with Achilles.
But how could she resist? Achilles had been too gentle and tender to her. The thought of him made her smiled softly, although her heart was still filled with black grief. Many times had she tried to stop herself from loving the great warrior, but she had lost eventually.
And now she felt so lost.
Briseis sighed heavily, and lay down on the bed once more, waiting for Achilles to come back into his tent. She had to ask him for something to wear. And before then, she could not get out of the bed, being totally naked.
As soon as she had closed her eyes, Achilles walked in, so Briseis had no choice but to sit up again. She looked up, and their eyes met at the same moment. Briseis blushed furiously, and looked down at her lap. This man had seen her naked. And she still could not believe that she gave up her innocence to him...
Achilles walked towards the bed. 'How are you feeling?' he said as he sat on the bed next to her.
Briseis sniffed and said, 'I little sore I think.'
Sure Achilles had seen her tear strained face, because his expression twitched into a gentle and caring one when he looked at her closely. 'What is it?' He wondered aloud. 'Have I hurt you?' Briseis wrapped the blanket around herself even more securely, and shook her head vigorously, then said, in a merely audible voice, 'No, you didn't.'
Achilles' concern for her shocked her so much. Surely he did this to every woman he had slept with. Briseis glanced at the white, silky material on the floor, and asked Achilles, 'do you have anything for me to wear? I cannot put on those robes now...' Achilles smiled at her gently, and walked out of the tent.
Briseis sat there looking at his back, bewildered by his movements. Where is he going? Bit by bit, Briseis drew a conclusion that Achilles did not want her to leave the tent... It was then he had reentered the tent, carrying some women's clothes with him.
'Here,' he threw them at her.
'Where do you get them?' asked Briseis curiously.
'There must be someone that helps to cook the warrior's dinner, right?' Achilles said subtly, looking into Briseis' hazel eyes again with an expression that she could not understand.
'Thank you,' Briseis said softly, and waited for him to get out of the tent while she could get dressed. But again, she had forgotten that Achilles was just a warrior. And warriors were not supposed to be sensitive.
'Well, what are you waiting for then?' Achilles said, 'get dressed. Don't you want to have breakfast?'
He didn't get the message that she wanted him to leave the tent.
'I...I... can you get out of the tent while I get dressed?' Briseis asked straightforwardly. Achilles looked taken aback by her words. Never had a woman in his life that he had slept with asked him not to look at her body. He leaned closer to her, making her to flinch back a bit. 'Why should I?' he asked mischievously. The girl was very interesting. She seemed so delicate, but yet she was very strong mentally.
After the long should-Achilles-get-out-of-the-tent-when-Briseis-get-dressed debate, Briseis surrendered and put on one of the dresses Achilles had brought her in front of Achilles' eyes.
'Do you regret it?' Asked Achilles out of the blue.
'About what?' she asked him back although she already known what he was asking her.
'About... last night.' Achilles said plainly.
Briseis thought for a moment... Of course, she felt guilty that she had betrayed her nation, but the touch of Achilles had made her completed. She had never felt this way in her whole life. The most important of all, Achilles had made her felt so special...especially when she was in his arms.
Briseis shook her head, and Achilles felt relieved. At least she had not been crying because of regret. His eyes followed her when she lay on the soft bed (again), and he followed her movements. He put his arms around her slender waist. Briseis leaned on his chest, relaxing herself in his arms. Achilles felt contented as he sniffed in the scent of her hair. It was intoxicating. Perhaps he should sail back to his home together with her...if she was willing to do that. The thought was quite disturbing. He had come to Troy for glory, and for his name to be remembered. He would never dream that he would fall hopelessly in love with a girl. Women had their way of complicating things. Odysseus' words rang through his mind like the warning bell of Troy. He had heard it when he had first arrived at the shore, when he was still certain of his destiny, just like her mother Thetis the Silver Feet had said, which his glory would walk hand in hand with his doom. But now, his destiny had changed, and he had grown care for Briseis, which was quite unbelievable.
'Am I still your captive?' Briseis' words broke his thoughts.
'You are my guest,' he answered as softly as the question had asked.
'Guests are allowed to leave whenever they want to.' Stated Briseis.
Achilles said nothing. He did not want to let the girl go. At least not now.
'When are you going to leave this war behind you?' Briseis wondered aloud.
'The time when you are willing to leave Troy and Thebe behind you.' Came the answer.
'As long as I am with you, I can leave Troy and Thebe behind...' she said, 'But you have to let me to send a message for my kinsmen first...'
'It's a covenant.' Silence.
'You have saved your nation.' Achilles added, and found the girl was already asleep in his arms. He hugged her tightly to him...
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Hey, what would you prefer?
Short chapters and frequent updates.
Long chapters with less frequent updates.
I'm asking you this because I'm having a writer's block....
So, do tell me about it.
