Chapter 7
Two days afterwards, Briseis woke up early, like she had always been. Dawn had just hit the beach of Troy, and it was still very dark.
Briseis sat up and rubbed her eyes. She stretched a bit, and got off the bed. On the floor was Achilles, and he was sleeping soundlessly. Briseis stood there and stared at the handsome young man. There was something about him that made Briseis felt weird. She was his slave, yet he took care of her like she was someone very important to him... The most confusing thing was that he always stared at Briseis and that made her very uncomfortable. Briseis wondered if he treated every captive of his this way.
Briseis took the washbasin in her hands and walked out of the tent. They were going to have a war again; Briseis inwardly hoped that Troy would win the battle and the Greek army would leave soon. But somehow, deep in her heart, she did not want the Trojans to win the war; Briseis wanted to stay longer, and she would never want to leave her homeland. But she could not even dream of wanting the Greeks to win, as it would mean that her fellow relatives would die. It seemed to her that she wanted the war to go on forever.
After filling the basin up with water, Briseis went back into the tent thoughtfully. Achilles was still sleeping, and Briseis walked over to the rack and got down from it Achilles' armour. Achilles was going to the battlefield again, and that meant more of her countrymen would be dying; the thought made Briseis felt guilty of not wanting the war to end.
Part of Briseis wanted to go out of the tent to look at the sun rise, but part of her told her not to. After what had happened the few days, Briseis decided that it was not a safe thing to roam over the camp of the Greeks. She had not told her master about what had happened, because she was afraid that Achilles would be furious about it. She was sure that he would find out who were those two soldiers—seeing that he really cared for her, and what might he do to them... Briseis did not want to think about it.
Briseis had nothing to do, so she just sat on her bed (Achilles' bed, to be exact...) and ran her fingers through her hair. She did not need to go to the kitchen to fetch their breakfasts. After that day, Argia had always brought their meals to them by herself; Briseis had tried to tell her that what had happened that day was an accident, but Argia insisted, so Briseis thanked her gratefully.
Briseis heard noises from Achilles' direction, and she turned to him. He sat up fuzzily, and when he saw her, he smiled dreamily.
'Good day, milord,' Briseis said, and smiled vaguely back at Achilles through her veil.
'Morning, Briseis.' Achilles said as he stretched and left his tousled bed. Briseis looked away. She knew that her lord had a habit of sleeping nude, and she would avoid any chance of seeing anything she was not supposed to see. Briseis helped Achilles put on his armour, but still averting her gaze from any part of Achilles' body. 'Why are you looking at the weapon rack?' Achilles asked curiously, 'you are not planning to kill me, are you?' he added good-naturedly. Briseis looked at Achilles timidly, not knowing if she should tell him the truth or not. Sometimes he could be quite humourous.
Briseis turned to tidy up his bed, and Achilles went to wash his face. Not long afterwards, Argia arrived with their breakfasts and Achilles left with his Myrmidons to war after he had finished.
Briseis was left alone in the tent, and after she had made sure that the army was gone, she filled the bathtub and had a long, comfortable bath. It was nearly noon when the flaps flew open, and Briseis' eyes widened with fear. She was still unclothed in the bathtub without her veil, and she would never know how to deal with it if it was her master...
Fortunately, it revealed Argia.
'Oh, Briseis, you are bathing.' She smiled at Briseis. 'I thought I ought to take those trays.' She pointed at the silver breakfast trays on the table, which Briseis had not returned to the kitchen. 'You know, you should not bath in here. It's not quite safe... at least I don't think so.' The woman lectured. 'Next time you bath, you can come to me. I'll lead you to a place which you can enjoy yourself so much without anyone knowing.'
'Thank you.' Briseis smiled gratefully at Argia, and she came near to the bathtub. 'If you have not been wearing your veil for your whole life, I'm sure that now the Greeks and the Trojans will be fighting for you instead of that Helen.' Argia said, and reached out a hand to tug a lock of Briseis' silky hair behind her ear, 'I wonder if you have any relations to Aphrodite.'
'I'm just a daughter of a priest.' Briseis started, 'Have you seen Aphrodite before? Why are you saying that I look like her?'
'I'll tell you someday when you're ready.' Argia said as she smiled at Briseis kindly. Briseis was sure that Argia would be a very loving and caring mother. 'Now, I'm leaving, and you are to leave the dear little bathtub of your master's and dry yourself. You are having a bath which is too long for anyone.' With this, Argia left without another word. Briseis dried herself and put on her dress and veil. Everything around her seemed to look better; she had not been enjoying a bath like this for so long. And the little chat with Argia seemed to help her lighten her mind; she did not know why or how, but it just did.
After that, she went out of the tent. The Greeks had left, and it would be safer if she go outside than before. The sun was shining brightly, and the sea was very calm. Briseis shielded her eyes with her hand. The sunlight was making her hard to see. Briseis felt bored, so she roamed around the edge of the sand and collected some seashells. She remembered that she had always did so when she was young, together with her friend from Thebe, and they would be looked after by Chryseis' older sister, whose name was Andromache. She even remembered that the two close friends had laughed so hard that they could not breathe when they saw Hector and Andromache held their hands in a shy way.
Briseis wondered how time could pass so quickly. After a blink of her eyes, the sun was already setting, and she could see steam gushed out of the chimney of the kitchen hut. And not after that, she saw the Greek army returning to their campsite.
Briseis pouted, it was very enjoyable out here, and she loathed going back into the tent. But she had no choice; she would rather be bored or face Achilles than being made fun of by the soldiers. So, reluctantly, Briseis stood up and left the comfortable spot which she had been sitting for nearly the whole afternoon.
She had just finished preparing for his bath when the flaps were flown open and walked in Achilles. He glanced at Briseis, and he smiled lightly at her. Briseis walked over to him and helped him to remove his clothing. Achilles thanked Briseis, who was not looking at him again, and doused himself into the water. Briseis started to wash his back when she talked, which was rare; Briseis seldom talked to him initiatively, and he was quite surprised.
'How did the war go, milord?' Briseis asked him softly, while gathering his golden locks.
'It's been... fine.' Achilles answered. He could not find the right words to say to Briseis. He knew that she was concerned about her family. The army had sacked one of Troy's allies today, and Troy was getting weaker. He did not want to worry the girl, so he said nothing more.
Briseis brushed Achilles' hair away from his neck, and found that there was a new wound there. She touched it gently. Maybe it was her compassionate nature that made her did it, or was it something else? Briseis shook her head; she did not know the answer. 'Does it hurt?' Briseis asked as she found a thread and a needle and started to suture the wound. It was not really deep or serious, but it needed to be mended.
'Not quite.' Achilles said absentmindedly. 'It is your hands that are tending my wound after all.' He added purposefully, and grinned when Briseis did not say anything. She started to wash his back again after she had dealt with the wound.
'Be more careful when you're on the field, milord.' Briseis told Achilles considerately. Yes, maybe she disliked Achilles in some way, but she still did not want him to get hurt; maybe she was too caring.
'Gee, you talked like you're my wife.' Achilles said, and chuckled a bit at his own words.
To his surprise, Briseis grew quiet for a moment, before she said in a very slavish way, which made Achilles felt guilty of making her his slave, 'I'm just your slave.'
'But you've made me feel like I'm your husband in some way.' Achilles told her light-heartedly, trying to ease the tension between the two.
Briseis stopped unexpectedly. Was Achilles implying something? Was there an underlying meaning in his words? But whether there was or was not, Achilles' words made Briseis blushed and felt edgy. So she threw the washcloth at him in a forceless way, and went to sit on the bed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. 'If that's making you feel uncomfortable, you're going to clean yourself without my help, and I'm not going to help you to tidy up your things.' Briseis said as she moped unconcernedly.
The great warrior rendered speechless. Was the girl throwing a tantrum at him? He could not understand the girl's purpose of saying that... But the best thing to do now was to cheer up the girl. 'Hey... I'm just joking... no, don't make me wash my back by myself, please, please, please, my good Briseis...' Achilles pleaded hopefully.
Briseis fleeted a glance at him impersonally, but to his surprise, a smile slowly crept up to her beautiful and enchanting hazel eyes. Achilles stared into those mesmerizing brown orbs, and secretly wished that he could get one look at her face.
Briseis' heart softened at the beseech of her master. 'Who tell you that I'm your good Briseis?' she said, but she still went back near the tub, and started to wash Achilles again.
'I just know you are,' Achilles said complacently, and relaxed when Briseis gave him a shoulder-rub with her impossibly soft and delicate hands. 'You are my good, good Briseis.' Briseis blushed a bit, but she still tittered at Achilles' words. She felt like she was starting to like her master more and more... But in Achilles' heart, Briseis was already more than just a slave to him.
Ah! I think that's sweet... I don't know!
I just can't help but felt the sweetness of the two when I'm rereading the chapter...
Hope you feel the same way too...
Do you like the chapter? Review!! I promise you I'll update soon.
