Hey! Here's your chapter 16! Exciting...

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Chapter 16

'What? Are you hurt?' said Agamemnon cruelly. 'This is the real character of the prince of Phthia. He bedded women, and casts them aside, leaving them be, not caring if they are beautiful or not.'

Briseis shook her head with mistrust and disbelieve. She knew Achilles had grown tired of her already, but she could never imagine that he would give her to the brutal, uncivilized king Agamemnon.

Agamemnon had continued to say the horrible and distressing words, but Briseis could not hear them. She knew the king of kings was very pleased with the defeated sight of her, but she could not help but looked disconsolate. She felt her breathe became more and more heavier until she thought she was suffocating. She tried very hard to breath in more air, but no matter how hard she tried to breath, the situation did not changed. She needed Achilles. He was what had caused her, suffocating. The sickly sweet feeling had made her that weak. She needed him desperately. She shut her eyes as tight as she could, and put her hands over her ears. She just wanted to block everything out. She just wanted to survive with her happy memories.

You can close your eyes to reality, but not to memories.

Hector's words rang through her mind again. And she knew he was right. She had closed her eyes to what was happening before her, she had put her hands over her ears so that she would not hear the harsh words of Agamemnon. But she could not stop the sad and miserable memories flooding her mind, taking over her: the memories of Thebe, the city that she had spent her lovely childhood; the memories of her cousins, which made her missed them even more; the memories of her love Achilles, which reminded her of him abandoning her, giving her to the monster in front of her.

Briseis' thoughts were disturbed by the strong grab of Agamemnon on her collar. 'You are afraid of me now, aren't you?'

'Never!' Briseis yelled at him strongly.

Agamemnon's temper rose again. He slapped her right cheek forcefully, causing Briseis to tumble on the hard wooden floor loudly. Her left cheek stung. She was sure that there was a red mark on her face. 'Have you been thinking that I would not slap that pretty face of yours, but cherish it?' He laughed in a wheezing-like way. 'Yes, I cherish the beauty of yours. But after I've taken pleasure in your body, I'll enjoy myself slapping your face.'

Agamemnon turned and walked out, slamming the golden framed rosewood door shut. Briseis felt weak. The world beside her suddenly seemed to swell and turn. Before she even knew, she fainted into the darkness of her memories.

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Achilles climbed the stairs leading to the entrance hall, fuming. He had already stepped on a few wooden stares so hard that they creaked and cracked. He strolled angrily towards the entrance of the hall. How dare he take my Briseis?

'Lord Achilles, according to the High King, you are not allowed in!' said one of the two soldiers courteously, which were guarding the entrance of the meeting hall.

Achilles had tried hard to control his fury, not to let it out on anyone except Agamemnon and his two cronies. But that soldier had gotten on his nerves, so he shoved him aside so hardly that he hit the deck with a loud 'thud'. That soldier groaned in pain, and the other soldier had to help him to get up. And before they looked up, Achilles had already gone into the hall.

The hall was empty, which was natural, seeing that it was night. Achilles had thought of going down into the lower deck, to explore the maze-like ship and save Briseis himself. But Patroclus also could not find his way in the lower deck, so Achilles decided to call for the king instead. Achilles took in a deep breath and yelled for Agamemnon. Guards flooded into the hall at once, circling Achilles. He feared not, and just stood there, waiting for the High King to show up.

At last, at a snail's pace, Agamemnon stepped into the hall. At once, Achilles felt his blood boiled. Agamemnon signaled the guards to leave the hall, and silently, yet hostilely, the two looked at each other.

'Have you stolen my girl from me, again?' Achilles asked heatedly.

Agamemnon smiled, and turned his back to Achilles. He did not answer, and that aggravated the already furious Achilles even more.

But Achilles already knew the answer. Briseis was held by Agamemnon again. And he had also broken his promise: He had not protected her from harm, and he was desperate to have the girl back. 'The fighting is between you and me, so why do you have to take the girl? She should not be involved.'

'But I think the girl is all that matters. She should be involved,' said Agamemnon pretending-to-be-wisely. 'I have done as you have said, sent the girl Chryseis back to the priest of Apollo. And that's the point. I have to take your girl to in order to fill the empty space of my portion of war prize. I am having the girl to make sure that it measures up.'

Achilles felt himself nearly exploded with wrath. Agamemnon's words made him despise the king even more. And he was pondering: should he draw that silver sword of his, and kill the pigheaded Agamemnon? Or should he just threaten the King to give him back Briseis? He decided against the latter, as Agamemnon was always unmovable by mere words. So, he slid the blade swiftly from its sheath, ready to kill the king and end this fight of words between them. 'You leech! Commander of trash! You dogface with your cur's eyes and your antelope heart! Listen, this time, you must pay for your intolerably disgusting behavior with your own blood!'

Fear took over the High King as he realized Achilles was serious. If he did not give the girl Briseis back to the young and irascible prince, his own blood would be shed by the sword Achilles was holding.

So, as coward as he could be, Agamemnon called for his guards, and he ran down to the lower deck. Achilles had tried to shove away the guards, but they would not make way, so he killed them and ran after Agamemnon, following him slowly and quietly, hoping he could find and save Briseis. He could hear the panting of the king, and he followed him unnoticeably. Whenever Agamemnon turned around, Achilles would find a room or a corner to hide. A few times he had made some noise, but, to his surprise, Agamemnon was so dumb that he did not notice, and thought he was safe.

After a few turns, Agamemnon stopped in front of a golden framed door, and entered.

Judging by the luxurious door, Achilles knew at once that the room belonged to Agamemnon.

He waited till he was sure Agamemnon would not come out again, and walked tentatively towards the door as quietly as he could be. Be bent down slowly, and peeked into the oversized keyhole. He felt his heart skipped a bit faster as he saw Briseis in the room. But worried swept over him the moment he realized that the girl was lying on the cold wooden floor unconsciously. His eyes searched for Agamemnon, but he could not find him. The king's bedroom was too big, and the keyhole only revealed so little of it. It was already very fortunate for the young prince to see his lover.

When he was readied to slam open Agamemnon's heavy door, he heard Agamemnon speak: 'wake up, girl'

There was no response from Briseis Is she dead? What if she is? What will I do then?

Achilles froze for a moment, panicking. He immediately lowered himself to peep into to keyhole again. He saw Agamemnon walking over to Briseis, and kicked her hardly on the stomach. 'I said wake up!' Agamemnon yelled. To his relieve, Achilles saw Briseis stirred.

So Achilles straightened up curtly, and his knees had knocked on the hard wooden door, producing a noise.

'Who's that?' Agamemnon barked, 'haven't I told you not to come in after dinner? You guards are always useless! Now go away!'

Achilles smirked at the silliness of the king. Most of Agamemnon's guards were already dead.

Achilles turned to walked towards the opposite side of the corridor, wanting to make his way to kick the door open. But he was too careless. This time, the sword's sheath which was held to his back clashed a bit on the door, producing another noise.

Achilles frowned, what was wrong with him? He was always known as being cautious.

He heard moving sounds in the room. Agamemnon should have noticed that the person outside his door was Achilles. A person even stupider than the king should have known it. 'Shh...' He heard Agamemnon told Briseis not to make any noise, although Briseis was still lying on the floor weakly, unthreateningly.

Achilles stood there, waiting for the door to open to see Agamemnon's frightened face. But, the third time of the day, Achilles was too careless. Too careless for his own good...

The door opened slowly, and it did disclose a terrified-looking Agamemnon.

Agamemnon kneeled to Achilles, and said, 'forgive, Prince of Phthia, for my offense and wrongdoing and harsh words.' He looked up at Achilles, and continued, 'I apologize for anything I have done that has upset you. And please, spare my life.'

Achilles looked down upon the coward at his feet, and said disgustingly, 'Do you think you deserve my forgiveness?' The corner of his eyes noticed that Briseis sat up slowly and stretched herself a bit. He smiled inwardly. He would never let her go again, and would let her to decide her fate. Whether she loved him or not, he would protect her. He turned his head to look at her, and their eyes met.

Agamemnon's actions drew his attention as he hugged his legs. 'Please, spare my life.'

He heard Briseis screamed, and his head jolted up, turning his attention back to her, unaware of the wicked grin plastered on the king's face. Before he knew, he felt pain on his right heel, his vulnerable spot, and he lost all his strength. He fell on the floor slowly, and saw Agamemnon standing up. 'Today is a day to be remembered,' said Agamemnon hysterically, 'the great Achilles, dying in the hands of the all mighty king of kings, Agamemnon, because of a woman!' Agamemnon bent down, and pulled out the dagger that had stabbed his heel. He lowered the blade to his neck. Achilles closed his eyes and welcomed his death. He did not regret in coming for Briseis. At least he had been taught by her to love, to forgive, to spare. He had lived a happy live. And her mother had been right. He would never return to Phthia after he came to Troy.

'No!' Briseis' scream rang in his ears. I am sorry, Achilles thought silently, I cannot save you from Agamemnon.

There was a blunt, yet loud noise, and he heard loud 'thud' on the floor next to him.

He opened his eyes faintly, and saw Agamemnon lying next to him, knocked out. A pool of blood starting to from beside the king's head.

Achilles smiled weakly. At least Briseis cared for him enough to try to save him from the swine. But it was no use. He had been stabbed on the one fatal point but all parts of his body. He smiled, contented, and felt Briseis hugged him to her chest.

Achilles gratefully accepted her gentle and tender hug. He enjoyed the softness of Briseis, and smiled at her in the dim light of the candles in the room. He saw Briseis had tears in her eyes. He reached out to touch her soft cheeks, wanting to wipe away the tears. But Briseis closed her eyes.

'Why must you come to save me? You should have left with your Myrmidons...' she said, and a tear fell onto his face.

Achilles rested his head on her soft chest, and in a merely audible voice, whispered, 'because, I love you.' He felt another teardrop on his face, and he closed his eyes.

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Don't you worry! Achilles is not dead yet!

I found that the scene that Achilles was following Agamemnon a bit too dramatic, isn't it?

By the way, I'm leaving home for the airport in 15 minutes.

Therefore, I'll not be updating for 6 days.

So, PLEASE DON'T THINK THAT THIS IS THE END OF THE STORY! Please!

Anyway, please review!