Finally, Achilles laughed bitterly. "You've no need to fear me, Prince," he retrieved the plate of food and dropped it noisily at the prince's feet, forcing him to start. "My only intention is to keep you here until it is fully dark. Perhaps then even you might be able to sneak back out without getting caught."

He turned his back on Paris, but could feel his confused stare raking at his back. He contrived to ignore it.

Achilles was tired and angry. He was sick of this situation, sick of his life. He was sick of fighting for glory and sick of knowing it was the only thing worth achieving. He knew that he could win this war. He knew that he was the greatest fighter in the world. But how long would that live on after he was dead? Soon there would be another greatest fighter in the world. He wanted people to remember him, remember his life, remember his death. The only way he could ensure that he did not fade into the insignificance he so feared was to make sure that his were the most spectacular achievements the world had ever seen.

He leant over his wash basin and stared at his reflection. He wanted to be remembered as more than this, more than just this casing of flesh. And this was it. This war, this siege. Herein lay the death that would stop him from fading, keep him alive for thousands more years to come.

He scooped at the cool water and scrubbed at his face, attempting to wash away his anger and his bitterness.

Finally Paris spoke. His voice was soft, curious and vaguely soothing. "Why are you letting me go?"

Achilles sighed. He didn't look up. He removed his heavy bronze breastplate and tried to let the cool water soothe away his tension. "If this war is meant to be won by us, it can only be through the fact that we are the better warriors, the better army. Giving Menelaus the unfair advantage with a Royal hostage is not the way this war is supposed to be won."

Achilles bathed his shoulders and indeed the clean water did seem to momentarily ease his pains. He felt his muscles revel in the sensation, and felt the heat of his skin quenched comfortingly.

There was silence in the tent. Achilles looked around. Paris quickly looked away. Even in the wan light of the flickering lamps, he could see the lad blushing. Achilles paused and felt a smile crawl across his face. He laughed inwardly at this absurd situation, Paris, young prince of Troy, desperate lover of the most beautiful woman in the world, watching a soldier of the enemy army wash.

Achilles turned away and continued, unabashed.

"Thank you," he heard Paris mutter and from the sound of his voice he was still intently facing the opposite wall as thought it had done him personal wrong.

Achilles didn't reply. There was nothing to be thanked for. He wasn't doing it to save the miserable boy's wretched life. He was doing to ensure the war went down in blood and fire, spectacular and unforgettable. He'd already known what to do when he'd seen the hopelessly obvious cloaked figure try to slink through the shadows towards the ships. He knew he'd wanted to throw him back over the walls of Troy, if necessary, to make sure he stayed away from Menelaus and Agamemnon even before he'd ever seen that beautiful face…

Beautiful? Achilles paused. He blinked slowly. He found himself picturing it again. Beautiful? Well, he was young, unmarked by battles. He was a dandy, a pretty-boy, a spoilt prince. Naturally he had to be a fairly spectacular piece of work to woo away Helen of Sparta.

But there had been an honesty, an openness in his eyes that had taken away any such negative assumptions from his face. Yes, he was beautiful.

But that was nothing to Achilles. He stripped off the rest of his armour and bathed his acing legs. Out of curiosity he glanced out through his hair in the direction of the Prince and found that the boy was watching him again. It amused him endlessly but it was with a flush of embarrassment of his own when he realised that the thought of those dark eyes on him caused a stab of desire in the pit of his stomach.

TBC

Author's note: would just like to say thank you to all who have reviewed so far. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know what you think!!