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Chapter 21
Briseis looked at Troy. It was growing smaller and smaller, and disappear eventually, as the ship sailed nearer and nearer to Phthia. Troy will be in my heart, always.
She was on the upper deck, and the sky was still dark. It was a few hours after they had started the sail, and Briseis knew very soon the bright and glistening stars would fade into the rising sun. Troy had also faded into the horizon, so there was on point to be gazing towards the direction. Briseis knew it, but she was still looking for the city with her hazel brown eyes desperately, hoping to catch a last glimpse of it.
The more important your past is to you, the more you want to hold onto it. But what is gone was gone. The quicker you let go of the past, the sooner you'll find happiness.
She had thought Andromache's words never came to her use when she was still living in Thebe. But now, the words might be the guidelines for her, something she could cling onto and live with it. Her past was important to her, and undoubtedly, she would never want to let go of it. But after she moved beyond it, she would be finding new happiness in Phthia. She must always remember that Achilles loved her. She could not ask for more.
'Briseis,' Achilles was next to her, watching her thinking all the time. Briseis turned and found her vision of Achilles blurry. She had not known it, but her eyes had welled up again, and her misery had brought Achilles' pain too. Briseis blinked away the tears, and tiptoed to kiss his cheek. 'I'm fine.' She said softly, not wanting to break the silence of the peaceful night.
'Would you like to go down?' Achilles asked, hugging her to him. 'It's getting cold in here. I'm afraid that you may catch a cold or something.'
Briseis smiled. This was the caring side of the deadly warrior. His love and care for her was what made her love him. No one would know that the great Achilles, well-built and tough, could be so gentle to a woman. 'I'm stronger than you think I am.' Briseis replied, but headed for the lower deck anyway.
'Briseis,' Achilles said, and his words held her back. His voice was the same, deep and mature. But this time, there were some differences. His voice always contained a hint of banter when he spoke to her, but it was missing. Briseis stopped abruptly, he sounded so serious, and it worried her a bit. Briseis did not move, but just stood there, pondering over what to do. Should her put on a cheerful smile, and bounce back to him, asking what is he wanting to tell her? Or should she just turn to look at him? Achilles had exempted her from doing any of those she had been thinking of, because he had walked over to her.
He noticed her uneasiness, but he said nothing. Taking her hand, he led her to where she had been standing again, to the spot which she was looking at the direction of Troy.
Achilles smiled at Briseis, lifting her worries. 'Have you heard of Hephaestus?' he asked.
'Of course I have. He is the smith god, the great artificer, the lord of mechanics. He is son of Zeus and Hera, and had been hurled off Olympus once he was born. For a night and a day he fell, and his legs were broken when he hit the edge of the sea, am I right?'
Achilles nodded, and said, 'Have anyone told you who save him?'
'I've heard from the priests that Hera looked down from mount Olympus and found him making beautiful ornaments with seashell, so she brought him back.' Briseis answered.
To her surprise, Achilles shook his head. 'These were only stories and rumors. My mother knows him.' He said, and grinned at Briseis' bewilderment. 'After he fell, he was swept away by the tide into the sea. He sank. But he was fortunate that my young and playful mother caught him. She did not know what to do with him, so she kept him in her cave.' Briseis eyes widened with disbelieve when Achilles paused for a moment to think of how to present his version of the story. The god was so misfortunate!
Achilles tugged Briseis' soft curls behind her ears, and continued, 'She gave him some shells and pebbles to play. And she was amazed at the way the crippled child worked the shells and pebbles into fine and dainty jewelry.' Achilles paused again, looking into the watery brown orbs of Briseis. To him, her eyes were the finest jewels in the world. He laughed at himself, and reminded himself to continue the story, as Briseis seemed to be very anxious to know what was coming next, 'One day she appeared at a great festival of gods wearing a necklace he had made. Hera noticed the ornament, and asked how she had come by it. So my mother told her about the child, and Hera divined that it was her own son, and demanded him back.'
Briseis looked pitiful, as though she thought she was the misfortunate god herself. For a moment she thought about it, letting the story sank into her heart. After this, she looked into Achilles' clear blue eyes, and asked him, 'why are you telling me this story?'
'The story hasn't end.' Achilles said, and grinned, 'before he left my mother, he taught her something, in return for her care for him. He taught her how to make beautiful seashell necklaces.' Achilles said, and reached for his pocket. Out of it he pulled a necklace, made of pearly white seashells. The seashells gleamed and glistened in the moonlight as the young man held it in front of Briseis, who was gaping at the beauty of the necklace itself.
'It's beautiful,' Briseis managed to breathe out.
'It's for you,' Achilles smiled and said. 'I promise you now, to love you forever. This necklace symbolizes my oath.'
Briseis gazed at Achilles. To her, the world around her seemed oblivious to her. All she knew was the man she loved promised to love her back for her whole life, and she could hardly believe it. Briseis could not help, but smile so widely that a light of brightness reached her eyes and the sweet dimples that appeared less these days crept up onto her lovely cheeks again. That was already enough for Achilles to know her acceptance. He gently caressed her face, 'Here, let me put it on for you.'
Briseis stood in front of him, and he brushed her soft and silky curls away, revealing the ivory skin beneath them. Stealthily, he inhaled the scent of her hair, which smelled of jasmines and lilies, and did the clasp. There was a sort of awkward silence between them for a while as they were both savoring the one romantic moment in their lives. They had stood there, like that, for nearly ten minutes until Achilles pulled the girl he loved into a passionate kiss. He held her in his arms, and she was small and tiny to him. Achilles tried not to hold her too tight, as though he would break the delicate form of her easily. Well, it was hard not to. Their kiss was so fervent that Briseis had to moan when Achilles had bit her lip accidentally.
Achilles heard Briseis moaned, and let go of her. 'Let's go inside. It's getting cold out here.'
So eight days had passed quickly, and the two lovebirds spent the days happily, talking with the crew and Patroclus. And at last, they arrived in the shore of Phthia.
Briseis had been right; it was very different of Phthia to Troy. Phthia was very noisy and crowded, while Troy had always been peaceful and quiet, and the people would talking quietly instead of shouting and yelling prices to each other in the markets.
Briseis ascended the chariot, and Achilles put an arm around her waist, preventing her to fall. Briseis had a motive to tell Achilles that she knew how to drive a chariot, but she liked the feeling of being protected, so she pushed the idea aside.
The palace was not far from the docks, so they arrived quite soon, after a few minutes. The palace was made of white marble, and it was not far from the cliff. Briseis enjoyed the scene when the shiny building materials of the palace reflected the sunlight. Briseis narrowed her eyes a bit, the sunlight was too bright. 'It's designed for making it more difficult for the enemies' archers to shoot.'
Briseis nodded as the large oak-wood gates opened for them to go in. There were statues in the courtyard, and there were flowers, lots of them.
'Come on. Let's get to our room.' Achilles said, looking at Briseis. 'I'll show you around.'
'But I haven't seen your father and mother!' Briseis nearly exclaimed.
Achilles smiled in amusement, and said, 'My mother is a sea nymph, and she lived in the sea. She comes to visit me sometimes, but she stays in the sea most of the time.'
'How about you father?' Briseis asked.
'He should be dead already. But my mother had brought him to the sea also, and that makes him immortal.' He whispered into Briseis' ears. 'Don't tell. It's a secret. No one knows about that.'
'You rule the country?' Briseis nearly exclaimed again.
Achilles nodded, and helped her down the chariot. 'Thank you.' Briseis said sweetly, and they both stared into each others' eyes. The gesture was seen often these days.
'Hey,' Patroclus cut in, 'Are you two lovebirds going to stare into each others' eyes forever, no rest and no meals?'
The couple separated, and Briseis smiled embarrassedly at her lover's cousin. It had been some time since she heard Patroclus joked. He had been unusually quiet these days. And Briseis knew Patroclus was sad, even though he was laughing together with Achilles now. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes that betrayed him to Briseis. She knew he had been thinking of Chryseis.
After lunch, Achilles showed Briseis around the palace, and Briseis had found the way easier to memorize than she had imagined. Achilles' (a.k.a Briseis') room was huge, and she found the bed was soft and comfy.
Briseis was in the palace for a couple of weeks, until something horrible happened that ruined the love of the two.
Ha! Ha! I decided to end the chapter like this!
Please review. And I promise to update soon.
By the way, tankbbg, I cannot promise you that Patroclus and Chryseis will have a happy ending! :(
Anyway, if I finish this story, what do you think I should do? Should I write a sequel? Or should I start another completely different story? (but please relax, this story is having at least 30 chapters)
What are your opinions about it? Do tell.
