Chapter Ten

Yes, I had loved Helen. But what of our love? What made our love so special that we had to be together? Only the Gods would know such a thing. What of us, what of me, Paris of Troy? I cannot say who I belonged to. For once, I had control over myself…who to love, what to do. Sometimes, one has to choose between what they want to do, and what they need to do. But that is also the hardest decision ever to make.

Apollo

Paris' hands were bound with rope. He groaned in exhaustion and despair. I cursed Agamemnon who was probably drinking on the deck with his crew. Oh, what a merry little party. A prince is lying barely conscious below decks, with little food or sunlight and soon he would be asleep from all the wine.

"Prince of Troy! Get up and look at me! Apollo's here, I'm here to help you."

I shook him when he didn't awake immediately. Please, Paris, you can't be unconscious forever.

A groan. I held my breath. He was alive. It wasn't too late to save him.

"Apollo," he gasped. He opened his eyes and closed them again. Perhaps it was too painful to even do that. His body was pale from being neglected from the sun for too long. Too pale for my standards. I stroked him with my sunstroke so that his skin turned bronze, a healthy color. It was no remedy for the disease. His forehead was drenched in sweat from a fever.

I scooped some saltwater from the ocean and I sprayed his face with it. He sputtered the water, gasped some more, and made an effort to sit up. He looked so frail, leaning against the wooden board.

That is when I saw. The cause of his groans. Paris tried to conceal it from me, but I saw the bruises on his arms. I saw the dried blood on his lip.

"Who did this to you? Tell me!"

"A-A-Agamemnon," Paris replied. As I thought. Who else would torture Paris for the sole purpose of making him suffer?

"Why did he wound you so?"

"He got drunk."

"How long have you been onboard?"

"Four days. I became ill on the first day. There was a draft coming in at nights, which didn't help my recovery much. But I feel better now. It must have been the saltwater."

"It's an ancient remedy. It always works. Come, I'll take you out of here."

"Many thanks, Apollo."

"You should be saying that to your sister."
"Cassandra? She wishes me dead."

"No, Paris, she has changed. I think that she forgives you."

Perplexed, Paris drifted off into sleep. I carried him and flew to Troy, leaving him on his bed to rest. I trusted that Helen would nurse him back to health.

I knew that time was running short. Arrangements had been made for Helen to be sent back to Sparta, after Cassandra warned her father that their affair would bring destruction upon the city. Menelaus was dead. The Greeks were losing. It was all in Paris' hands to allow Troy to win this war. If he didn't, all my work would come to naught. The tree of my plans would bear no fruit. All he had to do was sacrifice his desire. His love. Helen. If he was noble, he would lift his own curse and redeem himself, otherwise he would experience unbearable heartbreak.

Paris

I do not understand. Helen is not speaking to me, to comfort me when I need her the most. Is it that it is finally time for us to say goodbye? Is our relationship falling apart before my very eyes? I remembered that Apollo had told me that I had a decision- to save my city at the cost of Helen.

But was that possible? Would I be strong enough to live without her?

Helen sat next to me for hours holding my hand. She was silent. She periodically traced the lines on my palm as if reading my destiny. She squeezed my hand.

"What is the matter, my sweet? Do tell me what is the matter." I asked uneasily. Helen replied, "Forgive me, Paris, for not speaking to you. I don't know what's the matter with me. I feel as if I've spent a hundred years with you- a hundred years of happiness. I just feel so guilty, so angry that so many deaths were caused because of me. Do you think, that if I wasn't as beautiful, the same amount of Greeks would be commanded to fight for me? If I wasn't as beautiful, would I have been married to Menelaus?"

"It is not your fault, Helen, that the Greeks declared war on us. They wanted to seize the land's riches, get gold; they used you as an excuse. But you deserve more than that. If you weren't beautiful, Menelaus wouldn't have cared for you…but if you weren't beautiful to the world, I would have still loved you. Because you are my world."

I gazed at her lovingly. She gave me a sad smile, and I drifted off to sleep.

Helen

I do not know why Paris is not healing. I worryabout him. Why can'tI heal him? Is love not the greatest remedy of all that rids all sicknesses? I feel, after all this time, that weweren't meant to be together. As hard as it is, it is true. It is so hard for us tobe together, to love each other.

What is love? How canlove be described? For with ParisI truly felt in love for the first time. He looked beyond my face into my heart. He gave me everything he owned. Menelaus only offered lust. IloveParis. I cannot deny that. And he loves me. But something is missing. Some invisible bond that can make us be together. This war isbreaking us apart. No matter how hard we hold on,this time,we may beparted.