Chapter 32
Briseis walked out of the palace into the woods. The woods were like a maze, but somehow, Briseis found that the way towards the cliff was strangely familiar. There was a farmhouse nearby, and she recognized it. An old farmer was living there. And she remembered that day when she was walking towards the cliff, he waved at her
Wait. That day when I was walking towards the cliff?
That made Briseis wanted her memories to come back to her even more. She hurried towards the cliff. She wanted to remember the past by herself, and hoped that she did not need to ask Achilles about that tonight.
She came to the cliff at last. The sun had started to set, and the sea was beautiful. Briseis inhaled, and walked to the edge of the cliff. She sat down near the edge of it, and looked up at the sky. There are clouds in the sky, will it rain soon?
Rain.
To her astound, there was a flashback:
It was raining hard, and the ground was wet. Briseis was sitting on the edge of the cliff, her eyes red from the past hours of crying. She felt cold and uncomfortable sitting in the rain. 'Maybe I should go back to the palace,' she thought to herself, 'maybe Achilles still loves me; maybe he is just playing with Deidamia'
Briseis stood up weakly, and turned to walk back to the palace. Briseis stepped on a rock and slipped. Down the cliff she fell
She was in the palace now, she was standing in front of the door of the meeting hall, and she could hear someone speaking
'You love me, don't you?' It was a very seductive voice. Briseis froze at its words.
'Deidamia, I-' Briseis recognized Achilles' voice.
'We've spent the night together, and I've given birth to your son. His name is Neoptolemus.' The voice, which must belong to the girl named Deidamia, said.
'You love me, don't you?' Deidamia repeated.
'I find it hard to tell you, but-' Achilles said, and was cut off by Deidamia, 'that's enough.'
Briseis stood there silently, yet she was shaking in anger and disbelieve. 'How could he-?' Briseis wanted to cry again. Tears started to well up in her attractive brown eyes, and they were threatening to fall. Briseis shut her eyes tightly.
She did not run out of the palace, but walked very calmly. Her eyes were emotionless, although her heart was crying for her to scream. She walked through the beautiful courtyard, out of the gates, through the woods to the cliff. It was beautiful out there; the sun was setting, making the area of seawater near the horizon reflecting blood red light. There were clouds, high up in the sky, they were grey. The scene was a contra.
She sat there, and prayed for a moment, after an hour or so, it started to rain heavily
Oh yes! Then I fell! Briseis remembered.
I have to ask him about the Deidamia thing after I get back†Briseis thought.
What else? Briseis wanted to know more. Her thoughts drifted back to the time that she was captured†First, she was brought to Achilles' tent, and tied to a post. Then†Achilles entered, right? He cut her hand free, and they had had a conversation. Then he left the tent, and left her there. She also remembered that before he left, he smiled at her. Then? She asked herself, and searched her mind diligently.
She closed her eyes, trying hard to think. A cool breeze brushed past her, and she enjoyed the feeling very much†It was like the breeze they had in the beach of Troy
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. 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.
He carried her into his tent, and he tried to clean her. But Briseis refused his attempt of doing it, so Achilles threw the washcloth at Briseis. It hit Briseis on her chest with a loud 'smack' and Briseis, irritated, threw it back at Achilles. He did not look at her, and drop the washcloth back into the basin. Briseis cleaned herself, and Achilles had offered her food too. They had talked for a moment, and Achilles blew off the candles to sleep.
Briseis, being as stupid as she could be, got off the bed and found a dagger on the floor. She picked it up, and loomed over him
I didn't try to kill him, did I? Briseis asked herself, and opened her eyes. Afraid that she could not remember what would be coming next, Briseis closed her eyes immediately.
'Do it,' Achilles' voice ranged through Briseis' mind like a bell.
Briseis gasped, and did not respond.
Do it,' he repeated, opening his eyes and turned to look at her with his clear pale-blue eyes unhurriedly.
Briseis hesitated, should she do it?
'Do you really think you can kill me?'
'Why aren't you afraid?' Briseis asked in a shaky breath which was merely audible.
'Every man dies, there's no difference to me if I die now or I die fifty years later,' Achilles said straightforwardly.
'If I don't kill, you, others will die, my countrymen will die.' Briseis said reassuringly, more than to herself than to Achilles.
'Many.' Achilles assured her.
Briseis tightened her grip. 'I must kill you. For my countrymen; for my cousins; for my love and loyalty for my nation.'
'Then what is stopping you from doing it?' Again, Achilles was as calm and peaceful as before.
Achilles grabbed her wrists firmly, and repeated, 'What's stopping you?'
They kept staring into each other's eyes for a long time, and slowly, Achilles bent his head down to match his lips with hers. Briseis dropped the dagger, and Achilles deepened their kiss. Achilles disrobed her, and they made love
Briseis gasped and opened her eyes abruptly; her inference had been right. Their relationship had been more than just kissing. No wonder that the feeling of Achilles lying on top of her seemed so familiar
She sat on the cliff very still, and every memory came back to her: How Chryseis was also captured; how Patroclus fell in love with her cousin; how she had promised Achilles to leave Troy; how she had thought Achilles loved her no more; how she was brought to Agamemnon again; how Achilles had risked his life to save her; how she had begged Oenone to save her lover; and how Patroclus and her had went back to Troy to see Chryseis and bid her kinsmen goodbye†It was like they had been locked in a drawer, and now, the drawer was opened, and she had found all the things that she had lost.
Briseis remembered the story that Achilles had told her. It was about two lovers who met in a war, and how they overcame the difficulties and mistrust between them†It was the story of them! He wanted her to remember him desperately! Briseis smiled sweetly at Achilles' efforts on pleasing her in the past few months. He had been very sweet to her, and the most impressive thing was him giving her the rose. Well, the rose had withered long ago; but image of it still remained in her heart.
She looked at the sea, and found that the sun was nearly set. She stood up, contented, and started to walk back to the palace. She had to, at least, get ready for the date tonight
So she entered her room, and selected a pure white dress, which was Achilles' favorite. She went into the bathroom, took off her clothes and engrossed herself into a comfortable hot bathe. She looked around, and for the first time in these few weeks, noticed that it was a huge and luxurious bathroom. The bathtub which she was sitting in for the moment, was immersed in the white marble floor. But what had made it luxurious were the soft and light gauze curtains of the bath.
When Briseis finished her bath, she sat on the white marble floor, squeezing the excess amount of water from her silky hair. She started to sing a song that she had once heard Achilles singing to himself
Remember
I will still be here
As long as you hold me
In your memory
Remember
When your dreams have ended
Time can be transcended
Just remember me
I am the one star
That keeps burning
So brightly
It is the last light
To fade into the rising sun
Meanwhile, Achilles had just finished the mind-tiring and extremely long meeting with the prince of Dodona; and was walking back to his room. He must get himself ready for the date with Briseis. When he reached his room, he heard someone singing. Without thinking he knew who this person was. He did not go into his room, but instead, he headed for Briseis'.
Achilles did not knock the door, as he was afraid that it would disturb Briseis' singing. He had never heard her sang before, and her voice was lovely. He opened the door and entered.
There was no one in the room, and Achilles followed the music and went into the bathroom. Briseis was sitting there, as beautiful as she could be; now drying her hair, her body naked. Briseis was still immersed in her singing, and she did not notice the sudden enter of Achilles.
I am that one voice
In the cold wind
That whispers
And if you listen
You'll hear me call across the sky
As long as I still can reach out
And touch you
That I will never die
Remember
I'll never leave you
If you will only
Remember me
Briseis stopped abruptly and turned sharply at Achilles when he stepped on the marble floor, producing a noise accidentally. Achilles flinched a bit, readied for Briseis' screech of shame and anger. He could remember how Briseis had reacted back when she found that he had changed her robe without her permission. He remembered how stinging Briseis' slap was. He waited for the high-pitched scream to come.
However, it did not.
Achilles opened his right eye slowly, then his left. Briseis was sitting on the floor, still looking at him. She squeezed some water from her chestnut brown hair, and continued to sing:
Remember
I will still be here
As long as you hold me
In your memory
Remember
When your dreams have ended
Time can be transcended
I live forever
Remember me
Remember me
Remember me
When she finished, she smiled sweetly at him. It was a smile so different from those she had smiled those few months†but somehow, it seemed very familiar to Achilles. It was a smile he had longed to see so much in those few months. He froze. Where had she learned how to sing the song? It was a song her mother had always sung when he was small; and he had only sung once in the ship when he, together with Briseis, was sailing back to Phthia
She remembers, Achilles realized.
'Briseis' At that exact moment, it seemed to him that he started to float. His felt so light that he was walking towards Briseis unstably. He kneeled down, and looked straight at her in the eyes. Her eyes were, as usual, very beautiful. But they were different also. They held something Achilles had been dying to see in her eyes those few months. And he realized, without a doubt, that it was love. Undying love.
'Achilles,' Briseis responded to his call, and she smiled beautifully at him.
He leaned in to kiss her without asking her permission; because he knew he needed her permission to touch her, or to kiss her no more. And just as he had expected, she leaned in to meet his lips too. That split second when their lips met, there were no secrets, no uncertainty, no hesitant between them. There was only one thing: love and passion.
They did not know how long they had sat there, kissing. They need not care.
At the moment the pulled apart, they looked into each other's eyes. Their thoughts were the same: how their love had sprouted by Achilles' ship (which had brought him to Troy), with the black sail before Troy.
That's the ending! Is that acceptable?
I'm planning on writing a sequel. Do you think I should?
Anyway, please, review for this last chapter!
Thank you all! I love you!!!!! XD
