Andromache quietly shut the door to her and Hector's chamber, she watched her husband walk around the room and familiarize himself with objects he had not seen for weeks. His armor shone with the light seeping in from the balcony, and Andromache smiled weakly, she had lost count of the amount of times she had seen that armor blaze beneath the sun. He turned to look at her, which caused her to lower her head.
"Why were you comforting a stable hand?" he asked, he spoke calmly but Andromache could detect a hint of annoyance in his smooth voice.
"I told you Hector," Andromache said slowly, "I was comforting the man because he lost the woman he loves."
Hector shook his head. He was weak and tired from being away from Troy for so long, a storm had hit his ship which caused the delay of returning. Hector stared at his wife, his eyes wide and sad because so many scenarios of what Andromache's relationship was with the stable hand now spun through his head.
"Please Andromache; please do not lie to me." He said quietly.
Andromache raised her head and walked to where her husband stood; she lifted his bowed head with her fingers and gazed into his eyes. "I'm not lying to you Hector."
"Do you expect me to believe that a stable hand poured his heart out to you?" whispered Hector, and looked back into his wife's eyes.
"Yes," Andromache whispered, she whispered so quietly that Hector could barely hear her words and instead read the movements of her mouth to understand what she was saying. "Please Hector, please believe me." She bowed her head, feeling the sting of tears gathering in her eyes, she had to make Hector believe her.
If Andromache failed in lying to her husband effectively, then he would not rest until he had answers to every question about the entire matter, which would mean Polyxena and Nickolas' secret would be revealed. Andromache would not allow her friends lover to be killed, she would make her husband believe her no matter how badly the guilt struck at her insides.
Hector looked at his wife, and his eyes softened slightly when he looked into her anxious blue eyes. He remembered the first time he had seen Andromache, seen her by the lake in Thebe, at the time he had thought her to be a beautiful woman who he presumed lived in Thebe, he never dared believe she would be his wife.
"You would not lie to me, would you?" He asked, and searched Andromache's eyes for even the slightest trace of deceit.
Andromache shook her head slowly; she breathed in heavily and looked at her husband. She felt guilt gurgle in the pit of her stomach. "I'm not lying to you Hector."
Those words stung Andromache bitterly and she clenched her fists tightly, allowing her nails to cut into her skin. She would never forgive herself for lying to her husband.
Hector smiled and kissed his wife. He then picked her up into his arms and carried her over to the bed. She helped him remove his armor and then her mind relaxed as he lay next to her on their bed. Andromache kissed her husband fervently, and made love to him.
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Hector ran his fingers along Andromache's slender abdomen; she shivered by his ruff touch. Andromache made a mental note to herself that she must examine her husband's hands the next day and treat them with oils.
Moments of silence passed before Hector rose from the bed and walked over to where his clothes lay in a heap of the floor. He began to dress, choosing to dress into his skirt first.
Andromache watched her husband and sat up in their bed. She quickly stood up from their bed and tip-toed over to her husband, still naked. Andromache brushed past her husband, pretending to be going to where her peplos lay, but then she turned to her husband. She quickly untied his skirt and grinned cheekily as it fell to the floor.
Hector tried to hide a grin, but he did not succeed. He tried to pick up his skirt but Andromache stepped so close to him that her body touched every inch of him. He laughed. "I need to see my father, he only allowed me to find you and delay our talks if I promised to speak with him about the voyage no latter than noon!"
"But the treaty was signed!" moaned Andromache, and ran her fingers down Hector's chest. "The voyage was successful, what more can there be to discuss?" She knew there was an awful lot more to discuss, but she didn't want to be separated from her husband again, even if it was for a few hours.
"There's a lot more to discuss," said Hector, he gently moved Andromache a few steps away from him and picked up his skirt. He quickly tied his skirt around his toned waist.
Andromache walked over to the other side of the bed and picked up her peplos. She dressed into it and then sat down on the bed. She watched as her husband put on his shirt and sandals, and tidied his hair. Andromache didn't help him, she only watched him closely.
Hector walked over to his wife and knelt down in front of her, he kissed her forehead. "I love you Andromache."
"And I love you," replied Andromache.
She watched as her husband left their chamber. Andromache then held her head in her hands and bottled away the tears of guilt and grief.
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A/N: Quite a short chapter, but the next few should be the usual size again.
DreamSprite – Thank you for reviewing, I'm glad you like the story and I'll definitely continue to update.
Lady Hades – Lol! I'm sorry I update too quickly, I'm just excited to write the fall of Troy and explore that, although I'm not excited to write Hector dying. I will say that updates may not be as frequent because I'm quite busy at the moment. Thank you for the review!
Kitera-n-lil – Thank you, I'm really glad that you like the story and liked the last chapter. Thank you for the review!
Donna Lynn – So far I'm thinking that Hector will realise, or learn about the whole thing with Nickolas and Polyxena, but if it happens then it will probably soon, I'll try to make it happen. And thank you for reviewing!
Spider (Queen Arwen) – Thank you for the review! It's good that Hector is back, I don't like him being away so he'll not leave Troy again until he goes to Sparta.