Someone rapped a fist against the side of my pounding skull. I moaned and looked up, into the eyes of Artemis that, usually full of insanity, were now full of disdain. "Oh, damn," I muttered, and rolled over, sitting up. She folded her arms across her chest. "So you know what this means," she stated.
"Yes. I do."
"Well, I hope you're happy."
Was it worth telling a goddess it had been well worth it? No, I didn't think so. "Um, I…was," I drew the words out carefully. Artemis snorted and threw her hands up into the air in defeat.
"By all accounts, you lost me as your patron when you broke your chastity."
"Well, I never really had a choice about that before, did I?" I shot back. "It's not exactly like I was a priestess. For the gods' sakes, it was the first time that it was ever an option!" Achilles sat up beside me, rubbing his face with a hand, ruining my point.
"Alright, maybe the second time too," I admitted. Artemis still glared at me. It was the first time I had seen her looking reasonably sane. "Fine! Third!"
Artemis narrowed her eyes. "Surely, you've displayed wanton behavior-" I sputtered at her, but she held up a hand, and my voice mysteriously stopped in my throat. I grumbled in indignation. "-But you're also not completely to blame." She glared at Achilles, who glared back, every inch as offended as the goddess. "Be glad I'm not Athena who you've disgraced, because unlike my warring sister, I don't believe in unfair killing. The only men and women I've killed deserved it. Also, I think I know a way out of this."
"What?"
"You see, you're both under patronage of Athena, and I don't think my sister was entirely forthright when she explained this plan of sending you to war with me."
"You have my attention…"
"I think, although very wrong and against my orders, Athena somehow paired you two together because you're both her favorites. So if this…abhor- uh, sanction, was set into action by a god, well, I can't do anything about it. Which means that you probably couldn't have helped it anyway."
Achilles frowned, the beginnings of anger starting to show across his face. "What? What's that supposed to mean? Are you implying, Artemis, that without the help of a goddess I couldn't have-" I casually reached across and covered his mouth with a hand before he could say anything that would further complicate the situation.
"I'm sure that's not what she means," I comforted him, and turned back to Artemis, who was looking skeptical. "So if this is the case, that means that you can continue to be my patron, even though I'm no longer a virgin?"
She nodded. "That's exactly what I mean."
"I don't see the problem with that, then."
"Good. Neither did I. This works so well. I didn't want to lose you. Gods know that you're one of the only interesting ones I have left," she confided, the regular insanity beginning to creep back into her blue eyes and soft voice. "As for you," she said, looking hard at Achilles. "If you harm one hair on her head, or one heartstring, I can do things to you that will make Medusa and the Gorgons look like children. Understand?"
Achilles nodded, and Artemis smiled, sparkling. "Good. Well then, take care." She disappeared.
We couldn't keep our hands off each other. I clung to his waist, a slender arm around his muscled stomach. If I turned, smiling coyly and flirting, teasing him as if to walk way, he would cling to my hems, like a child.
"Signey, not so close to the wall!" I yelled at the little girl. She turned, bright fair hair gleaming in the sun. "I'll be careful, mother," she promised, and I shook my head, walking over and picking her up. "It's a long fall," I told her, staring into her solemn blue eyes, so much like her father's.
"Yes, it is, and if you would, please put the child down," a voice behind me instructed.
I started, stiffening as I gently bent down and put my daughter on the ground. Turning, I slipped my hand to my side, feeling for my knife.
"And drop your knife as well."
I left go of it, and it clattered onto the ground.
"And the one hidden in your sandal."
That one dropped too. I turned to face Agamemnon. "What do you think you're doing, Agamemnon?" I asked. A smile creased his face. "I think I'm getting rid of the great Achilles' family."
Not taking my eyes off him, I spoke to Signey. "Signey, darling, come here, please," I asked, and I felt her press her cheek to my leg, wrapping her little arms around it. "Now, I want you to be quiet. I have to talk to this man for a moment, understand?" She nodded, her gold hair bouncing.
Agamemnon's eyes were focused on her, a slight sneer on his lips. "Look at her, so small and helpless." He crouched down, resting his arms on his knees. "Where's your father, Signey? Why isn't your father here to protect you?"
"Because her mother is," I told him coldly. He reached a hand out, beckoning to my daughter. "Come here, Signey. Come to Uncle Agamemnon."
A breeze caught my blue dress, swirling it around, and I reached down and tugged at Signey's hand. "Don't touch him; he's not your uncle," I warned. "Stay here, with me." As I talked to her, I watched her slowly slip a hand down, to the ground, and it closed around something. Nodding at me, she raised it behind her back to me, and I took the dagger from her. "Good girl," I coaxed, and Agamemnon caught the exchange a second to late.
"No!" he cried, lunging forward. I shoved Signey behind me and stepped in front of her, between the warrior and the child. "Agamemnon, you crossed the line. You don't threaten my family," I warned him, tightening the grasp on my dagger.
"Wretch," he spat at me. "I should have seen you killed long ago. Now, I'm too late, and I'll have to kill you, Achilles, and your spawn! You stupid woman, didn't you learn anything? Odysseus might have saved you then, but now it's only you and I, Chryse. All alone, out here, on the walls of Troy. It's a long way to fall…"
I gritted my teeth. "The only way to my daughter is through me, Agamemnon. And I remember the last time we met like this, you were the one who was carried away. Care to try again? You're that foolish, tsch," I clicked my tongue at him. "Come on, if you want."
The redhead grinned, and closed in on me. "Signey, run," I commanded, and I heard her little feet hitting the ground behind me as she obeyed. Agamemnon saw her running, and leaped forward. I met his dagger with mine, leaning into him to upset his balance. He outweighed me, but I was quicker and more agile. Raising my foot, I kicked him in the stomach, and he dropped back, gasping. Tucking my dress's hem into my belt, I turned and ran after Signey, who was furiously pumping her stout legs as fast as she could. "Athena!" I called, "Artemis!" I received no answer.
My dress was my undoing. It unfurled from my belt, and fanned out behind me. Agamemnon caught it, yanking me back. Fighting back, I clawed at him, biting, kicking, doing anything I could, but he pulled his blade out and pressed it to my neck. Leaning over the wall, I was caught between a blade and a drop.
From the ground, a moving head caught my eye. Gold flashed on armor, and Achilles stopped below us. "Go on, shout," Agamemnon urged. "Shout for your husband." I refused, keeping my mouth shut. I wouldn't cry for help. By doing so, I would draw him into the trap.
"Call him!" The blade pressed tighter against my neck. But it didn't matter that I hadn't. Achilles had seen and heard, and was running to us on his own. "I'll wait for him," Agamemnon told me. "That way, he'll watch as I kill you, kill your child, and then kill him."
His mistake was that he decided to wait. He relaxed in anticipation, and I knocked my head to his, making him back up, clutching at his skull. I whirled, but before I could go anywhere, he caught my skirts again. I saw my small daughter before me by a few yards. "Signey, go! Run!" I yelled at her. "Mother!" she cried.
"Chryse!"
We all turned. Agamemnon now stood between Achilles, and Signey and I. We were all silent for a moment, Signey past sobbing, Achilles' eyes wide with fear, and I stuck between my family, not able to help either.
Agamemnon looked at Achilles and smiled. "Hello, favorite of the gods. What brings you here? Bad luck? Have they deserted you already?"
Achilles gritted his teeth, jutting out his jaw in rage. "Agamemnon, unhand my wife, and let her and my daughter go. Your quarrel is with me alone, not with them. They have no part in this."
"I don't think that that's wise. How about a trade? I will trade your life for your wife's and daughter's. Otherwise," He drew the dagger-blade closer to my throat and put pressure on it. "Otherwise…they die."
"Done," Achilles said, without thought, ignoring my frantic eyes. "Let her go."
"Oh, wise choice, very wise. It might be your first," the king said, letting me go, stepping back and bowing to my glorious husband where he stood in all the fear and righteous wrath. Signey stepped forward toward me, and I gestured to her, still feeling the unease of a trap. "No, Signey, stay back. Behind me," I warned carefully, but it was too late. My little daughter, serious blue eyes watering with tears, stepped forward, holding her arms out to me.
Agamemnon lunged forward and scooped her up, and she screamed. "Mother! Father! " The red-headed king of the Achaeans held my daughter over the walls in two arms.
"No! " Achilles and I cried together, leaping toward he who held our sobbing child.
"Stop!" Agamemnon ordered, moving father away. "Take one more step forward, and I will drop her, I swear on Zeus's head."
"You never swore on anything that you didn't believe in," Achilles snarled. "Swear on your own head!"
"Careful," Agamemnon warned, his tone sweet and bitter. "Watch your famous temper, Achilles. Every and each word you say could bring your daughter closer to her death."
"Achilles," I whispered. "Do what he says. Watch your words. Signey, darling, hush your crying. Everything is going to be fine, I promise," I coaxed both gently, my voice and words not coinciding with my thoughts of spilling this man's blood, the one who dared to harm my family. "Agamemnon, stop this foolishness before anyone gets harmed. Put Signey down, and I promise, on Athena and Artemis, who are my patron gods, we will work something agreeable out that we will all be happy with."
"That is impossible; I'm sorry, dear girl. The only agreeable thing I can think of would be the death of all of your family. So, I think I'll start with this one. A pity, she would have grown up to be as beautiful as her mother, though maybe as treacherous. So maybe it's good she'll die before she can do any of the damage that's in her blood." He leaned over the walls edge, and something ripped from both Achilles' and my mouths at the same instant, in a cry of the most desperate measures. "Athena, defend your young lives! "
At the same instant that Agamemnon let go of our fair-haired child, a fierce wind blew in toward the walls, and she was snatched from his hold into strong and gentle arms. Athena descended onto the ramparts, holding my daughter in her arms and turning to Agamemnon with eyes that burned like a furnace.
"Agamemnon, son of Atreus, do you dare endanger the lives of those that are mine?" she thundered, and he cowered below her, shielding his face from her mighty wrath and power. She let Signey go, and she ran to her father and I, clinging to us and crying quietly as we smoothed her hair and kissed her brow.
"You're alright now, darling; it's all over; hush, don't cry," I whispered, and Achilles gathered us both into his arms, guarding us fiercely.
"I will have your life for this, Agamemnon. I warned you once before, and I'll warn you a time again: Your life belongs to me," Achilles grated, holding onto his daughter. "All the armies in the world might try to defend you, but I will be the one to watch your blood run out of your body."
I nodded to Athena. "Thank you, goddess, for coming when we needed you most."
She smiled at me gently. "I always protect my own, Chryse, always. When ever you need me most, I'll be there." Turning on Agamemnon sharply, she continued at him. "I'll see you down to your council, King of the Achaeans, where you will be judged by them as to what the worth of your life is after you try to harm the lives of others they hold dear." She disappeared, and he with her.
"Come," Achilles said. "I am not done with him. We'll return to our camp, and then I'm going to the council. Are you alright? You're not harmed?" he asked fearfully, checking my face and arms. "He didn't touch you?"
"No. I'm fine. Just a bit shaken up," I admitted. "I'll take Signey back with me; you go straight to the council."
"I'm not letting you out of my sight until our men are around you. I'll go with you back."
I will never forget that day. I sat just inside the great tent's door, with the flap open so I could keep an eye on Signey where she sat outside playing in the dirt and mend one of the horse's bridles at the same time. Not that I really needed to keep an eye on the girl; every man in the camp of the Achaeans adored her and would gladly play nursemaid to her.
Watching my daughter absent-mindedly, just staring at her as she drew with chubby child-fingers in the dry dust, a flash of armor and flying dark hair caught my eye. Turning my head, I saw Athena sweep by the tents, heading in the direction of the battlefields. Her gray eyes open wide, and her hands grasped at the sword at her side, crafted for her by Hephaestus the god-smith. A chill ran through my heart, stopping it for a beat, and I stood up. The bridle dropped from my lap and hit the ground with a dull thunk, creating a small cloud of dust to rise where it had fallen unnoticed.
A moment later, as Athena vanished from view, Artemis with the wild eyes appeared beside me. Her own dark hair was wind-blown and in disarray, but she didn't seem to notice. Raising a hand, she pointed out in the direction Athena had gone. "Go," she commanded, and the fright in her voice stirred me out of my trance.
I flew from the tent, past Signey, who looked up in shock as her mother blew past her at a dead run. The feet I had inherited from my silver-footed mother didn't fail me now, as they never had. The swiftness of the nymph-sprinters sang through my blood and veins, and I raced after the war-goddess, catching sight of her at the edge of the gathered warriors at the battlefield. She pressed her way though them, and I followed.
Two men were fighting in the middle of the battlefield, circled by their fighters watching them. I recognized Memnon from the pale goddess that stood behind him, his mother, the goddess Dawn. The Lord of Ethiopia towered over his opponent, even though the other armor-clad man was not either short nor slender. That warrior didn't need to be recognized, for I knew him as well as I knew myself or my daughter.
Achilles and Memnon squared off in battle, leaping at each other, cutting, slashing, hacking, hoping to gain any hold over the other. I'd seen Achilles fight numerous times, even been beside him in battle years ago. The sight of him in combat no longer terrified me, but instead I waited with grim anticipation.
Finally, I saw two more join the fight. Behind Memnon stood the great black figure of Fate, and behind Achilles was Athena herself. I relaxed, knowing the outcome. I didn't have to wait long. Achilles thrust his blade through Memnon, and the son of Dawn fell mightily. Fate picked him up, and disappeared off the fields.
The warriors of Troy broke and fled for the gates of the city as my husband stripped the armor of Memnon off the fallen fighter. Straightening up, he gave chase to the Trojans, and his own feet, like mine, a gift from his own nymph mother, were faster still then the Trojans. As the gates opened, he stood between them, slaying those who ran past, keeping them open as the Greeks ran to join him.
Cries rang from the walls of Troy. "Troy is taken! Troy is taken! Achilles enters!" I ran in the throng of Greek soldiers, feeling as if in a dream. Athena turned as she ran, scanning the crowd, and her finger came to rest on me. The men on either sides of me turned and looked. "Chryse! Chryse comes again to join us!" Ignoring their shouts, I ran to the gates of the great city.
Suddenly, the crowd stopped, and I was trapped behind a wall of men's bodies. Achilles turned, hearing what the Greeks were shouting, and he raised a hand out toward me, palm out, telling me to come no further. From behind me, Athena pushed on me, screaming. "Forward, Chryse! Don't halt here!" She raised a finger towards the walls of Troy, and above on the ramparts a figure drew a bow.
"No!" I screamed, thrusting the men around me out of my way with all my might. The arrow flew, and Achilles turned to look at me again to see what had caused my outburst. As he turned, the arrow plunged into his heel. His heel, the one place Thetis of the sea had failed to dip her son into the dread river Styx. He dipped, recovered, made one more thrust at a Trojan, and then crumbled.
I pushed my way out of the crowd as he fell, running to his side and falling to my knees by his body, staring at the horrible arrow that seemed to sprout out of Achilles' heel. He looked at me, and I looked at him with wide eyes, so shocked I was past the point of weeping. "Chryse…take Signey back with you…to Athens and stay there," he told me, eyes fluttering. "I'm sorry…always, I'll-" His eyes closed and didn't open again.
I leaned down and kissed his brow as the wind began to howl around us and the wails drifted from the ocean. Turning, the soldiers of Greece and Troy turned to look at the sea as the sea nymphs rose and sang their dirges.
Turning, I looked up at the battlements of Troy. "Damn Helen's lover!" I cried out in rage. "May the gods damn Paris and his cursed wife, the ones who brought this war upon us!" From where he stood, Paris dropped back, his face pale and hands clenched around his bow that had felled the great Achilles.
Athena scooped my fallen husband up in her great arms, and I followed her back to the camps. Men came to the sides of the path as we passed, bowing their heads. Artemis stood in front of our tents, her arms around Signey's small shoulders. Thetis stood at her side, and my own mother flanked Thetis. The three goddesses wailed as Athena and I approached with the body, but Signey merely stood strong, looking over her father's body with his calm blue eyes, no tears, no cries, only a little regret on her face.