There is no cure to be found when the one you love has gone, and Andromache felt the bitterness of this as she walked through the palace with Astyanax. Astyanax walked a few steps ahead of his mother, choosing his steps carefully as he was still unsteady on his small feet.
Dawn had approached Troy and the palace was still as Andromache and Astyanax walked to the stables, Astyanax had begged his mother to see his father's horse. He seemed ignorant of his father's whereabouts and Andromache still had not told him where Hector was, she couldn't even form words in her mind that she could say.
Andromache was surprised she had made it through the night; she had remained awake all night, sometimes sitting beside Astyanax while he slept and sometimes standing out on the balcony. She felt lost and felt as if she had lost all purpose in living, except to care for Astyanax.
Hector had been everything to Andromache; he had not only been her husband and lover, but her friend. She had confided in him and he had confided in her. With Hector gone, it felt as if a vital part of Andromache had gone too, without Hector she felt as if she couldn't function.
"Stables!" cried Astyanax and he began to run as soon as he saw the stables.
A gasp escaped Andromache's mouth when her eyes caught sight of the stables. The stables had been Hector's refuge, one place he found peace except from when he was with her. She shook her head slowly as the thought that Hector would never walk in those stables again crept into her mind.
"Hector," whispered Andromache, her lips barely moving. She felt tears creep into her eyes but she didn't release them. She inhaled deeply and called for Astyanax to stop and wait for her.
Suddenly, loud cries erupted from the walls of Troy. Andromache could barely see the men on the walls from where she stood in the palace and she turned to Astyanax and called to him again.
"Come here, Astyanax," said Andromache quickly, fear in her voice. She knelt on one knee and picked her son up into her arms, once he had come to her. She looked around for a servant but saw none and then hurried to the entrance hall, hoping to find an explanation for such noise there.
Once Andromache had reached the entrance hall with Astyanax clinging to her, she saw streams of people flooding out of their homes and racing to the gates of Troy. Her eyes widened in confusion, she couldn't understand what madness had suddenly consumed them, but then she saw the cause.
Amidst the crowds of Trojans, a wagon made its way to the palace. Andromache swayed on her feet, feeling as if she were about to fall to the ground with pain. Her heart felt as if it were being ripped in two as she saw the body of Hector, her loving husband, on the wagon. She hadn't even been told that Priam had gone for him, she had never been warned of the pain one felt when seeing a loved one dead.
Tears that had gathered for so long now began to sting Andromache's eyes. She feared releasing them because she knew if she allowed one tear to rush down her face, then she wouldn't stop.
A stab of pain shot through her as she looked at her husband's body, a pain so agonizing that she had to clench her fist to keep the pain within her. Hector's body was covered, but Andromache could still imagine the expressionless face of her husband, she could still imagine his brown eyes that no longer held emotion.
"Oh Hector, my son!" sobbed Hecuba as she arrived in the entrance hall, and saw the wagon approach the palace. She was surrounded by five handmaidens who had followed her everywhere since Hector's death. She looked like death; her face was pale and her eyes were bloodshot and filled with tears.
Andromache sharply turned her head to look at Hecuba; she opened her mouth in shock for a moment because she had never seen the Queen of Troy so lost in grief.
Hecuba rushed down the stairs from the entrance hall and to the wagon which had stopped at the end of them. She flung herself onto Hector's body, uncovering his face and hands to kiss them.
Priam stepped off the wagon and went to his wife to comfort her but she pushed him away.
"You allowed that woman to stay!" screamed Hecuba, not caring that hundreds of Trojans watched her. "I told you that Helen would bring death to us all, I told you to send her back to her husband! You didn't listen to me, your wife and Queen of Troy!"
Paris quickly entered the entrance hall, closely followed by Helen and Polyxena. He had heard the grief of his countrymen from his chamber, where he had drowned in his own pool of sorrow. He went down to the wagon, and ordered for the Trojans to step back, to give his family space.
"Mother," Paris said softly, "come back to the palace and allow Helen to take you to your chamber. You need to rest."
"Helen?" snarled Hecuba and raised herself to her full height. "I have secretly hated her all the years she has been here because I've been afraid of angering your father who takes pity on her! I hate Helen with every bone in my body and I wish to the gods that she had died instead of Hector, instead of the hundreds of Trojans who fought to defend us!"
Paris's face was void of emotion. He inhaled quietly, and stepped closer to his mother and attempted to put his arm around her but she pushed him away. It was then that his face betrayed the torment, the guilt and sorrow he felt within.
Helen watched as Paris didn't defend her against his mother, and it was then that her heart began to break as she realised that Paris didn't really love her. She silently stepped away from the hall and walked away, battling with her own guilt and sorrow.
Andromache saw Paris turn away from his mother and walk away into the palace by another door. She then stared at the face of her husband, which still lay uncovered.
"Daddy?" said Astyanax and pointed to the body of his father. He narrowed his eyes in confusion, wondering why his father lay on the wagon and why he didn't wake up. "Why is daddy there?"
Andromache gasped with horror, she hadn't even thought to cover Astyanax's eyes or take him back to their chamber. She saw that both Hecuba and Priam had heard Astyanax, and were looking to her to see what she would answer to such a painful question.
"Daddy … daddy has," stuttered Andromache, trying to form suitable words in her mouth to say to her small child.
Cassandra suddenly appeared from a corridor leading to the hall; she walked forward to Andromache and smiled weakly to her sister-in-law. "Your father has gone to live with the mighty gods, Astyanax."
Andromache opened her mouth to speak, but Astyanax quickly spoke before her.
"When will he come back?" he mumbled. He looked again to the wagon, confused at how his father could be with the gods when he lay on the wagon.
"He'll not come back," whispered Andromache, each word a trial for her to speak, "but he'll always watch over you, my darling." She then embraced her son tightly and walked away to her chamber with him.
For nine days Hector was mourned within Troy. His body was laid in one of the great halls within the palace, and Trojans were allowed to see the body of their fallen prince and pay respect. It was only at night or early in the morning, and alone, that members of the royal family came to see Hector and pay homage.
Soldiers and simple countrymen braved their fears and stepped outside of the walls of Troy and went into the hills to collect timber for Hector's pyre. They were faced with no Greek, as Achilles had stayed true to his word and no Greek was allowed to attack Troy. Instead, the Greeks were occupied with funeral games for Patroclus.
On the tenth day, the day Hector was to be burned, Andromache rose before dawn and went to see the body of her husband, leaving Astyanax with Xanthe. She wore a black veil and robe with gold jewelry, including a necklace Hector had given her when Astyanax was born.
She quietly entered the hall where Hector's body rested and ordered for the guards to leave before kneeling down beside her husband.
For a few moments all she did was stare at his face, the face which had lost all warmth and love it had once retained for her. She picked up Hector's hand and kissed it, wishing to feel his skin against her lips once more.
"You've left me a widow," wept Andromache, and she allowed tears to fall from her face which had been mounting in her eyes since the day of Hector's death, "and you've left our son fatherless. You swore never to leave me, and yet you're gone!" She breathed in deeply and cradled Hector's hand within her own. "Since you have died I've wished that I had never been forced to marry you, so that I could be spared this pain, this constant suffering within my heart. But when I look at you, when I look at our son and feel the love I feel for you, I know that I would suffer again and again because you loved me and I loved you!"
A door to the hall suddenly opened and Paris entered alone. He immediately saw Andromache knelt beside the body of his brother, and turned to leave but she noticed him and rose to her feet.
"You may stay," said Andromache clearly, she had quickly hid her grief and wiped away her tears while Paris wasn't watching her. "I am leaving now."
"Don't go because of me," said Paris sadly, and quickly walked to Andromache. He pulled her back as she moved to leave and she slowly turned to face him.
"Remove your hand from my arm," said Andromache sternly, her eyes were full of loathing for Paris.
Paris returned his hand by his side. "How is Astyanax? Does he ask for Hector?"
Andromache lowered her head for a brief moment, but she soon raised it and stared into Paris's eyes. "He is well, and yes … he does ask for his father."
"How are you?" asked Paris. "You've been in your chamber with Astyanax for days, and you no longer come to the great hall for the evening meal."
"I am no longer in line to be Queen so I assumed I was not needed in the hall," said Andromache quietly.
Paris was silent for a few moments while he absorbed Andromache's words. He stepped closer to his sister-in-law. "You are still a Princess of Troy, Andromache, and you'll forever be honoured and respected throughout the city." He paused for a second and then spoke once more. "You are allowed to grieve, Andromache, no one would think any less of you."
Andromache's head shot up in anger. "Grieve? I am allowed to grieve, am I? How dare you presume that I do not battle with the grief of myhusband? Every night I am tormented with dreams filled with memories that I shared with Hector, but I keep my grief to myself because … because-,"
"Because you're strong," interjected Paris. He then departed from the hall silently and returned to his own chamber.
Paris was not surprised to find Helen away from their chamber when he returned there, he presumed she was in the market and buying more needless robes or jewelry, and so he sat out on their balcony with a cup of wine. His eyes wandered over the city of Troy, the city that his ancestors created, and he knew that soon his home would be sacked by Greeks because of his acts and because Hector was dead.
The last words of Hector continued to swirl through Paris's mind, they tortured him as he slept each night and even more as he looked at his home. It was madness to think he could defeat such a warrior as Achilles, he thought, especially when Hector, the greatest warrior of all of Troy, had died by his sword.
Paris sank back in his chair and dropped the bottle of wine to the floor; it was when he heard the crash of the glass against the floor that he finally began to weep. He leant forward and held his head within his hands as he grieved.
Helen soon returned to the chamber, she had been to the temple of Aphrodite to pray and not to the market. She saw that Paris had succumbed to his grief out on the balcony, and for a moment she felt pity for him and was going to rush to his side, but she ignored him, her heart still bleeding from the realization that he didn't love her.
Silence consumed Troy as night fell over it. Thousands of Trojans gathered in the city square and surrounded the great pyre that had been built for the fallen Prince Hector.
Hector's body, woven in a white robe rimmed with gold thread, was carried by some of his devoted soldiers. They carried him through the crowd of mourning Trojans, and lead the way to the great pyre.
Andromache led the relatives of Hector as she was first to follow his body, she cradled her husband's crown within her hands and stared ahead, a distant gaze across her eyes. Behind Andromache, Priam and Hecuba walked together and clung onto one another in their grief. Paris followed his parents with Helen by his side, and his sisters followed behind him with other relatives following closely behind them. Polyxena, her eyes wide and bloodshot, carried Astyanax as he slept.
The royal women took their places on the thrones facing Hector's pyre, and watched as the soldiers rested his body on it. Cassandra sat beside Andromache, and held onto her sister-in-law's hand.
Priam climbed up the ladder of the pyre, once the soldiers had stepped away, with a lit torch clasped firmly in his head. He placed two coins on Hector's eyes, the coins for the boatman that would take his son to the underworld.
"You were the dearest to me of all my children," Priam said quietly as he looked at his son. "I loved you from the moment you were born and to the moment you died." He paused for a moment, unable to speak because of the flood of tears that rushed from his eyes. "Rest well, my son."
He then dropped the torch on the pyre and slowly descended down the ladder. He stepped away and sat in his throne and watched as the fire engulfed his son's body.
A sudden cry broke out among the Trojans that started even more wailing from men and women as they watched their prince burn. Astyanax, still cradled within his aunt's arms, suddenly awoke and began crying.
Polyxena rose from her throne and stepped away with Astyanax, she handed her nephew to his nurse and was about to return to her place when she felt a pair of eyes watching her. She slowly turned her head and looked into the shadows of the hall behind her.
For a brief moment Polyxena thought she was looking at Nickolas, the man a part of her still loved even though he was dead. She stepped nearer to the man, almost hypnotized by his eyes, and as she drew closer, she saw it wasn't Nickolas…
A/N: Thank you for the reviews, I really appreciate them, and I hope you liked this chapter :)
meitsiwong36 – I'm not sure how many chapters this will go up to yet, I originally planned for this to be 50 chapters, but I'm past that now so I don't know. I assure you that Paris will suffer, and the characters you listed in your review as dying will die in this (unless I change my mind). Thank you for the review :)
Queen Arwen – Thank you so much, I'm really glad you enjoyed the scene with Cassandra as I was a bit worried about that. I miss Hector too, and I'm considering writing a short fic where he doesn't die, but I'll finish this up first, and I'm sure yours wasn't stupid. Thank you for the review :)
Priestess of the Myrmidon – I'll definitely read Firebrand over the summer, thank you for recommending it. I'm really glad you loved the last chapter, thank you, and thank you for the review :)
Kitera – I'm really glad you liked the last chapter, thank you! And thank you for the review :)