An Unlikely Union

Quick Comment: Again thanks loads for all the feedback, keep it coming! This is part 6 .... lots of dialogue in this one I'm afraid which I don't think is my strong point. Not sure if I like this chapter actually but there you go - didn't want to spoil it by over-writing it!

I am going on holiday for a week on Saturday so just to let you know Chapter 7 won't be ready until after I come back ... but I promise I will post it as soon as I return! I plan to do lots of work on this fic whilst I am away so hopefully it will be a good chapter.

Take care until next Saturday .... x

6. A Spark of Hope, A Blaze of Distrust

"Look at you prince Hector. Nothing more than a scruffy wretch."

Achilles stood in the doorway for a moment eyeing his rival, then made his arrogant approach. He stood over Hector, who still slouched on the bench, as if to enhance his power. Not that he needed to – everything about him was intimidating, including his reputation.

Sofia had heard almost as much about him as she had Hector. Rather than being praised as a hero like Hector, Achilles seemed more mysterious. It was rumoured he was half mortal, the son of sea goddess Thetis and that he was born to be a killing machine, a lord of war. Perhaps he wasn't as large as Sofia had first thought. She could now see that he was no taller then Hector - but his arms were thicker and his chest broader ... if that was possible. They must have been equally matched in battle, she thought.

Strange how they were similar in their well-bred, proud manner. But at that moment, as Achilles stood hostile in front of Hector, they looked so different – Achilles a glowing example of masculine health in his splendid armour and Hector dirty and bruised, barely clothed in a ragged robe.

Achilles clutched a sword in his right hand, perhaps prepared if Hector tried to attack. He held the long, sharp shaft of bronze lazily down his side. Sofia daren't look up and transfixed her eyes at his massive chest, shielded by his shiny breastplate, expertly moulded to the shape of his body. She could see her own reflection in it, her face filthy, her lip swollen red and crusty with blood, her eyes wide with alarm. For a moment she did not even recognise herself. She did not recognise the dirty, dishevelled creature staring back.

Hector appeared to be uninterested; He did not feel Achilles' visit a special enough occasion to warrant standing. He sighed, crossed his arms and looked at him tiresomely.

"Why are damning me with your presence, Achilles?"

"Why, I have come to see my favourite captive of course, come to see whether he will get on his knees and plead for his life."

"That will never happen as long as I draw breath, you ass!" Hector spat, his body tensing and his eyes turning black with resentment.

"I would be pleased to personally oversee halting it ..." Achilles lifted the sword and held the very point forebodingly close to Hectors throat, looking down the shaft at his target. Hector did not flinch, seemingly unthreatened. He certainly had nerves of steel. And the guts to match. He glared at Achilles.

"You should have finished me on the battlefield. I hope pity did not stay your hand because as soon as I have the chance I will lop off your head and set it on a pole at the Scaean Gates."

Achilles untensed his sword arm and let it rest by his side again. Arrogantly amused by Hectors threat, he threw his head back and laughed, his long blond hair shaking. The very tip of the sword dragged on the flagstones as he moved, causing musical friction.

"Before or after I chop off all your limps and feed them to the lions whilst you watch? I will gladly do it for Patroclus."

Hector frowned and shifted uncomfortably; he knew he deserved to be slain in revenge for killing Patroclus. If anyone had slaughtered his younger brother Paris in that disregarding way, he would not stop until he had sought his revenge.

"I killed him because I thought it was you. He wore your armour, fought like you. I would not have engaged the boy in battle otherwise. Even your men thought it was you." He explained penitently.

Achilles was unmoved by Hectors confession. He raised his eyebrow again almost in disgust, just like he did at Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra. His hand automatically tightened around the hilt of the sword.

"So they have told me. I had taught him the art of battle but he was not ready."

Achilles thought about his cousin: young, enthusiastic but naïve and perhaps a little overconfident – just as Achilles had been at his age. He was eager to fight for Greece as soon as their black-sailed ship had beached on Trojan shores. But Achilles had ordered his cousin to stay with the ships - he wanted to ensure his safety but Patroclus must have assumed it was a slur on his sword-skills. He must have disguised himself as Achilles in order to kill Hector, to prove his worth.

Hector sensed his feelings of regret:

"Patroclus was a commendable opponent. You taught him well. He had me in a tight spot a few times ..."

"You are not worthy to speak his name Hector, you are not even worthy to kiss his feet!"

Achilles' shout echoed around the cell, his normally stern face was visibly upset, his eyebrows gathering to the bridge of his nose in anger. He found it disrespectful that Hector, a man that was no better than a toad in a cave dare mention his dear cousin's name.

Hector sighed again at Achilles' antagonising and uncrossed his arms, rolling his dark eyes in tedium:

"Enough Achilles. Why are you here?"

"To prepare you."

"For what?" Hector shrugged at the riddle-like answer. He could not have predicted what was to follow.

"Your escape." Achilles answered, matter-of-factly.

"Escape! You truly are as mad as they say!"

Hectors black eyes looked at Achilles incredulously, wide with surprise. He chuckled to himself, really believing that Achilles was either crazy or teasing – perhaps both. He ceased slouching and sat up properly, grasping the edge of the bench with his large hands and leaning forward slightly in curiosity. Sofia on the other hand almost threw off her submissive disguise and leaped to her feet in sheer surprise ... but she somehow managed to keep her cool head, for the moment anyway.

Achilles looked even more irritated at Hectors disbelieving reaction:

"Careful Hector or I will leave you in here to rot."

Hector slouched back down, adopting his apathetic stance again:

"Explain yourself Achilles. This banter is tiresome."

"Two nights from now there will be a celebratory banquet at the barracks - to celebrate Agamemnon's precious royal prisoner and how you will ultimately win the war for us. He has promised the men an orgy of drink and women ... most of the guards will be there, drunk and busying themselves with slave girls. These cells will be undermanned, staffed by inexperienced young guards that can be easily overwhelmed."

"That's all well and good but I cannot rip through metal and stone with my bare hands!" Hector exclaimed as if he was trying to rubbish Achilles detailed plans.

"When they deliver some food to you in the morning, you will find a key hidden in a lump of bread. These doors can be opened from the inside. When you find your way out of the cell block, do not linger. It will be pitch black but you should be able to make out some trees to your right - they will provide you with adequate cover. Run deep into the forest and continue due north for about a mile - do not stray. You should come to a clearing where there will be a horse and some weapons waiting for you. Head northwest. A day's ride away is a small port-town where you will be able to get lodgings and charter a ship back to Troy. You will obviously have to keep your identity secret; pretend to be Greek. The odds of you making it aren't good – the guards will be on your tail quicker than the wind. But you are cunning enough to evade them I think, if only for a while."

Achilles had obviously put a lot of thought and effort into his industrious escape plan.

"Why would you help me, Achilles?"

Hector was understandably wary but Achilles had expected that question from the beginning.

"Agamemnon has disrespected me for the last time; I wish to wipe that inane grin off his fat face. Your escape would really dampen that ego of his."

Hector narrowed his eyes at Achilles as if he was trying to look through his soul, searching for his real motives.

"How can I trust you?"

"You can't. But you don't have a lot of choice. Look Hector, I have no quarrel with you or the Trojan people. I came into this war for glory and fame only; to ensure my name lasts thousands of years. But something in my life - in me - has changed. Perhaps I would rather be known as Achilles the merciful rather than merciless."

Hector paused and thought for a moment, eyes still narrow. He hadn't believed a word of what Achilles had just said. A diligent assassin such as him merciful? It was not possible. But he was right, Hector had no choice. He either had to take a chance and unite with Achilles, be used as a pawn in his plans against Agamemnon or stay trapped in the cell .... Either way he was bound to perish.

"Two conditions Achilles."

"You are not exactly in a position to ask me for favours, Hector! ....." Achilles chuckled in disbelief, mocking this foul, indignant creature slouching disrespectfully before him.

Undaunted, Hector continued:

"One. You supply me with some at least half-decent garments. I will not get very far as an escaped prisoner looking like one."

Achilles rubbed his chiselled jaw with his left hand as he thought about it:

"Fair point. I can smell you from the other end of the corridor. And the second?"

"The girl comes with me." He said firmly. It was more of a statement rather than a request.

Sofia couldn't believe her ears. Hector wanted her to go with him! What? Why? How? She felt suddenly overwhelmed with a myriad of different emotions: gratitude, confusion, excitement, fondness, fright .... her heart thumped so fiercely in her chest it was like it was trying to escape from her ribcage. The fast-flowing blood made her dizzy, rushing to her head and causing a strange headache. Was she about to faint? She concentrated on breathing deeply so that her feelings did not betray her calm façade.

Achilles found Hectors loyalty hilarious ... why was he so protective of such an inconsequential slave girl?

"Lord Hector! Who would have thought it! Thinking from between your legs rather

than between your ears! I didn't think you of all men would be a fool over a pretty face!" He laughed.

Hector however, was not amused:

"I will not leave her fate or body in the hands of Menelaus, even you must understand that." He answered sternly.

Achilles could see his point. There were rumours that Menelaus had a thing for torture and gained sexual gratification from restraining his women, raping them, putting strange objects inside them, half asphyxiating them. He had slapped one of his regular girls in the face so hard all her front teeth were missing. Achilles had discovered her on clear night on the battlements of the palace, ready to throw herself off in despair. Achilles had managed to talk her down but she died a few weeks later anyway, in mysterious circumstances. Hector had also witnessed first hand Menelaus' disregard for women. A man of no morals, he would share his marital bed with two or more women whilst his wife resided in the room next door. He would force those girls to perform unspeakable acts whilst his young wife Helen listened. No wonder Helen had literally jumped at the chance to escape to Troy with Paris. Sofia did not know of these stories - Hector had purposefully kept them from her. He did not want to or see the need in alarming her any further.

"Perhaps the Trojans are not as barbaric as we Greeks like the think. How very chivalrous of you Hector ... I just hope the wench is worth it! I suppose it will rile that sack of wine even more to lose the special gift for his brother ... although she will slow you down ...." Achilles added thoughtfully.

"It's a chance I'm prepared to take." Hector was adamant.

"So be it. I'm expecting you to ask for the moon on a stick next! Well, you have two days. I can keep Agamemnon and his guards away until then easily enough. My advice to you is to conserve your energy and have that wench tend to your wounds; I guess she owes it to you now! Two days Hector ... two days ..."