Arrgh! I feel so insulted by our favourite reviewer!!

Well, anyway, those words can never stop me from writing this story.


Chapter 3

His hand came so suddenly without any warning, and Briseis knew she could never get away before it reached her veil. Before she started to panic, Achilles had already grabbed Briseis' veil and pulled it off. Fortunately, just beside Briseis was a washcloth. Briseis covered her face with her hands and snatched it to use as her veil temporally.

Achilles was discouraged, so he scowled and asked Briseis, 'Why don't you let me look at your face?'

'If you do look at me, you'll die!' Briseis exclaimed furiously.

'That's what you want,' Achilles said, to Briseis' surprise, a bit bitterly.

Briseis bit her lower lip. That was what she wanted actually. But if looking at her face could really kill someone, she would have already removed her veil already. 'I need you to protect me.' Briseis was quite surprised for her lying ability.

'You are just a slave of mine, why do you think I will protect you?' Achilles inquired.

'You will.' Briseis said, convincing herself more than Achilles.

To her astound, Achilles smiled at her answer. 'You're right. I will protect my properties.' He stood up to get out of the bathtub. Briseis closed her eyes and turned her head away from his direction. This man has no dignity or whatsoever. Briseis decided.

Achilles' voice disturbed her thoughts, 'Hey, girl.' She looked up at him, and found the warrior already dressed. 'What's your name?' he asked, while throwing the veil back at her.

Briseis turned her back to him and put on her veil. She pondered if she should tell him her name... But it would be very inconvenient for her after she escaped from Achilles if she told him her name. 'If you're not telling me your name, how am I going to address you? Do you want me just to call you "girl"?'

It's already very fortunate for me that you're not calling me 'slave'... Briseis thought insubordinately.

'Okay, then I'll call you "girl",' Achilles said frivolously.

Briseis did not say anything. 'Have you a mother?' Achilles asked. He would know like to know who her mother was, only a beautiful mother could produce such a beautiful daughter.

'I had a mother.' Briseis said, on the verge of tears now. 'Her name was Maia.'

Maia? Achilles had never heard of such name.

'Why were you in the palace?' Achilles asked, still wanting to know the reason.

'Why should I tell you?' Briseis snapped at him. Achilles was puzzled and angered. He raised his hand a bit, wanting to slap her. What had he done wrong? Why was the girl being so defensive? He glanced at her. The girl was sitting on the floor, crying a bit, thinking of her parents, and was as helpless as she could be. Was he, the great warrior going to intimidate such a feeble and powerless girl? He sighed a bit, and bent down to look at her.

'Are you tired?' he asked, and was surprised how gentle his voice could be. Briseis sniffed I bit, and nodded. 'If so, go to sleep. We can share a bed.'

Briseis' eyes widened with fear, and she shook her head and backed away. It was very obvious to Achilles that she had misunderstood him. 'Please, don't...' she begged, her voice breaking a bit.

'It's not like that I'll take advantage of you.' Achilles said to her. But Briseis still shook her head vigorously with mistrust. Achilles sighed. This girl was so hard to deal with. 'Okay,' he said, defeated by the girl at last, 'I'll sleep on the floor than.' Achilles threw a few blankets on the floor, and made himself comfortable. Briseis did not move, she just sat on the floor and looked at Achilles with her huge watery eyes. 'What? Are you not sleeping? I'll have the bed then!' Achilles said irritatingly, sitting up to climb up the bed.

'No! I'm sleeping.' Briseis said and flopped onto the bed as quickly as she could. Achilles chuckled a bit, and lay on his so called 'bed' again. He closed his eyes, and in his mind, a pair of hazel brown eyes appeared immediately. Briseis' eyes undoubtedly. They were perfectly shaped, and her lashes were very long. They fanned out very neatly, and curtained her brown orbs. He could swear that he had never seen such beautiful eyes. He wondered how the girl could look like. Was her face really disfigured, like what she had said...? No, I don't think so. She said it just to prevent me from looking at her... Achilles thought.

However she looked like, it remained a mystery to Achilles. He really wanted to look at her face, to see how beautiful she was, but somehow, he was a bit afraid that what she had told him about the curse of Aphrodite was true. It could be. The girl seemed so gentle and caring; maybe she would never like anyone to die, even if he/she was her enemy.

The girl shifted a bit on his bed, and he could see her hair was dangling loosely on the edge. He reached out and touched those silky curls. He could not understand why he had grabbed that hair so forcefully in the palace this afternoon. He had humiliated her so much in front of his men when he should have treated her gently. But when he had first seen her eyes this afternoon, he thought he ought to let her know that he was very strong and could never be defeated. What had he been doing? Was he showing off?

He shook his head mentally. When he had been carrying her to his tent today, he had thought of making her his woman. But after a few conversations between them, he found that he could not do it. The girl was too innocent to be made a woman now. Maybe she was too young to experience such things...

The next morning when Achilles woke up again, Briseis was already out of bed. She just went into the tent, carrying his washbasin when he sat up. He rose without a word, got himself dressed and went to wash his face. Briseis sat on the bed and combed her hair. There was an awkward silence between them, and Achilles was desperately thinking of something to break it.

'Good morning,' Achilles said, trying to be as warm as he was. He opened his mouth again, wanting to say her name. But he suddenly realized that he did not even know his slave's name.

'Nice morning, milord.' Briseis returned his greeting with a bit of repulse.

'What's your name?' He asked, looking up from the washbasin. He did not want to give up on knowing the girl's name. Briseis' eyes were very distance and remoteness, yet she was still running her hands through her hair. And to Achilles' surprise, she answered him distractedly, 'Briseis.' It was a just a very simple word, but Achilles felt himself being warmed up by the name of the girl. It was like a spell, spreading warmth and (a tiny bit of) affection from his head to toes.

Achilles leaned on a post, and watched Briseis as she started to tidy up the bed.

'Why are you wasting your time watching me, milord? Don't you have to go to war today?' Briseis asked, her gaze still on the sheets.

'No. I would have woken up very early if I have to go to war.' Said Achilles as he crossed his hands in front of his chest, trying to find a more comfortable position.

'Besides, I found you quite interesting.' He added.

Briseis stopped unexpectedly, and glanced sideways at her master. She was getting a bit nervous. Her master was, in her opinions, extremely flirtatious. She found it very hard to respond to his words. What he had just said was an example. Not knowing what to say, Briseis remained silent.

'Hey, Briseis,' Achilles said. He found that Briseis' name flowed out from his lips smoothly. He grinned a bit, 'Is it true?'

'What do you mean by this?' Briseis said, a bit annoyed by Achilles. But he was her master after all, and she had no choice but to respond.

'The "men dying if they look at your face" thing.' Achilles said.

'What if I tell you my mother was a Gorgon?' Briseis nearly snapped at the man.

'She wasn't,' Achilles frolicsomely. 'You can't be that beautiful if your mother was a Gorgon.' Briseis glared at him. 'Besides, your hair doesn't seem to be serpents...' Achilles added, fleeting a look at Briseis' mass of nearly-black brown hair.

'I have told you,' Briseis said silently. 'My face looks disgusting.'

'What if I tell you that I'm not afraid of dying?' Achilles asked. 'Would you let me to look at your face? Just one look?'

'I can't let you do that.' Briseis replied. 'I must make sure that my safety is guaranteed.'

'You're just my slave. I can ask you to do anything.' Achilles said, raising his voice a bit. He was starting to grow impatient of the girl not letting him see her face. What was drawing him into this wrath? Why was he desired to look at Briseis' face so much?

She raised her head high, and in a very intrepid tone, said, 'You said you will kill your captives when they are not obeying you. Now I refuse to remove my veil. Why don't you kill me?' Briseis' answer was quite surprising. Achilles would never have expected such words came from the mouth of this petite little girl.

'What if I will free you?' Achilles said.

Briseis looked at Achilles. Was he going to free her if he could just have a look at her face?

'Yes.' Achilles said, answering the question in Briseis' mind. 'I will free you if you let me look at your face. Just once.'

Briseis thought hard. It was a very tempting idea. She could enjoy freedom once again. She could go to the palace of Troy to find her cousins. 'I...' Briseis had nearly brought herself to be in agreement with Achilles' offer, but at the last moment, she stopped herself. How could she face her dead parents if she let this man see her face? She had even promised them not to let anyone look at her face before their death. They had seemed so concerned about this matter. 'No... I will still be your slave, as long as you won't ask me to remove my veil again.'

Achilles had been so sure that Briseis would agree when he had offered her freedom. But what she said was out of his estimation. Could he resist the temptation of no looking at her face? Why was Briseis so concerned about him looking at her? What could be more than having freedom? Achilles did not understand Briseis' motive of refusing his offer.

'Why?' he asked, trying to hide his desperation of knowing the answer. Was it because that she did not want him to die?

'Can you promise me about that?' Briseis asked him back instead of answering him. She was glad that she could have something to distract Achilles.

'I can only promise you that I will not look at your face on purpose...' Came the answer. And Briseis was grateful enough already.


Ha Ha! I'm not letting Achilles sees Briseis' face! At least not in a few chapters... I guess...

By the way, do you like the chapter?

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