Amidst the ear piercing cries of joy and relief that echoed throughout the city, the gigantic wooden horse was pulled into Troy by those only too happy to do so. The horse symbolized the end of the war for all, or so the Trojans thought, as they did not even begin to think that a different end faced them…
Hundreds of brightly coloured petals fell down into the courtyard by dozens of ecstatic women who stood on surrounding balconies, crying with joy. The refreshing wind soon swept up many of the delicate petals and carried them through the city for all to see.
Young maidens, in their best and beautiful robes, twirled and danced in the courtyard while people watched and waited for the horse to be pulled there. Many soon joined in with the dancing, allowing their defenses, which they had built at the beginning of the war, to now fall as it seemed to have ended.
The city was filled with the sweet essence of victory, but it was not the bitter victory of conquering over another land, it was the victory of being alive and the thought of facing a bright new world where there was no war.
Small children, who had been born during the war, were amazed at the sudden change to their homeland. They had known no life different from the war and danced happily at the prospect of a new life that was suddenly possible.
A smile was spread across the lips of almost everyone, but there was no smile on the faces of the Greeks who hid within the horse. They strained their eyes with seeing, through the slabs of the horse, what was happening beneath and around them. Their hearts raced with fear because those in the horse were outnumbered and knew they would be killed if caught, so they were silent and were scared to even breathe.
Those concealed within the horse were not the only the ones to feel less than inclined to smile, as Helen's face was less than joyous. She sat in her throne in the courtyard, watching as the horse was pulled there, and felt sick with guilt. She hated herself for leaving Menelaus and their daughter, she hated herself for loving Paris, and even though she hated what Odysseus had asked her to do, she remained firm with the conclusion that she would perform what he had asked.
The daughter of Zeus knew she could no longer remain in Troy. There were too many memories, too many people that she could not hide away from, and so she wanted to run from them. She wished to run from her shame.
It was not only the Greeks who did not smile with happiness, Andromache did not smile, instead she felt like crying tears of rage. She could not comprehend how the people around her, including Priam, could smile and laugh as if hundreds of lives had not been stolen by the Greeks, the Greeks who had built the horse which now stood proudly in the courtyard.
Andromache wanted to scream at them all, she wanted to remind them of those now dead, she wished to remind them of her beloved Hector. She felt tears creep into her eyes when thinking about Hector because she missed him so much. He had been her everything, nothing could have parted them except death … and now it had.
"No!" screamed a loud voice and hundreds of faces turned to Princess Cassandra who rushed into the courtyard. She ran to her father and knelt down in front of him, crying madly.
"Father," she cried, and the city was filled with silence as everyone strained their ears to hear her, "you must burn this horse. It brings the end to us all, you must burn it. You must!"
Priam grabbed Cassandra's hands forcefully and tried to pull her to her feet, determined not to be shamed by his daughter in front of his people.
"No, father, please," wept Cassandra and she tried to rip her father's hands off her. "You have to burn it, please, father! If you do not burn it then we will all die!"
A loud gasp from each Trojan rushed through the city when they heard Cassandra's words, and Priam looked to his daughter with anger blazing in his usually kind eyes.
It then shocked everyone to see Priam slap his own daughter's face, to slap her so hard that she fell to the ground. She fell to the feet of the horse which she claimed brought death to them all and her tears suddenly stopped.
"I will no longer accept your madness!" snarled Priam, his voice shaking with fury, and he glared down to his daughter. "I will not allow you to put fear into our hearts once more, not when the Greeks have left. You speak lies, and I will not allow it!"
Priam then turned to two of his guards and ordered them to take Cassandra to her chamber and make sure she did not leave it.
Hecuba, who had also not smiled with her people as the horse was pulled into the city, watched as her daughter was taken away. She then looked back to her husband, shocked and frightened by what he had done because she had never believed him possible of such a thing. Hecuba looked to those around her, angered that they could celebrate when her two children were dead. She slowly rose from her chair, swaying slightly as she felt faint, and returned to her chamber with a flock of handmaidens behind her.
Helen had felt her heart stop when Cassandra's words echoed throughout the courtyard because she knew they were the truth, the horse would bring the end to Troy. She lowered her head as she tried to gather her composure and then lifted it slightly after a moment, determined to appear unmoved by the sudden outburst from Cassandra.
Andromache looked at Priam, horrified by what he had done. She then looked to the palace, where Cassandra was now being escorted to, and rose to her feet. She handed Astyanax, who was giggling happily at the rapturous joy and laughter which had begun once more, to his disgruntled nurse and headed towards the palace.
The palace was almost empty as everyone was celebrating in the city courtyard. Andromache made her way through the halls, her heart racing quickly as she pondered over Cassandra's words.
The guards, positioned outside Cassandra's chamber to make sure she did not leave, looked at Andromache with surprise when she reached them. They were even more surprised when she asked for admittance into the chamber, but agreed and opened the door for their princess.
Andromache entered the chamber cautiously, afraid of how she might find Cassandra. She immediately saw Cassandra looking out of her balcony, from where she sat, with a goblet of wine grasped firmly within her hand.
"My father has never hit me," said Cassandra, her voice low, and she touched her cheek, where she had been slapped, "not even when I misbehaved as a child."
Andromache walked across to where her sister-in-law sat and sat down beside her. She saw Cassandra's red cheek from Priam's blow and immediately sat up and dipped a cloth in a basin of water, which sat beside Cassandra's bed, and then lightly dabbed it on her friend's cheek.
"I know what you wish to ask me," said Cassandra, and she looked at Andromache. "I knew you would come to me."
For a moment Andromache could not speak because she was somewhat surprised Cassandra had read her thoughts. She took the cloth away from Cassandra's cheek and looked down to it before returning to her chair beside Cassandra.
"Is what you said … to your father … is it … is it true?" asked Andromache, her voice shaking somewhat.
Cassandra looked at Andromache thoughtfully for a few moments before shaking her head. She knew what would happen, and even though she had tried to change Troy's fate by telling her father, she knew she could not because the gods would not let her.
"I wanted my father to burn the horse," Cassandra finally said, "but only because it had been made by the Greeks." She was silent for a moment, and then spoke again. "I thought my father would believe my words and then burn the horse."
Andromache looked at Cassandra, unsure of whether or not to believe what she had said. She could not forget how Cassandra had known what would become of Hector and did not stop it.
As her mind turned towards thinking that what Cassandra had told Priam was true, and what Cassandra now said was a lie, she felt as if the thought was suddenly pushed from her mind.
"What was the point of this war?" Andromache said after a few moments, although it was no question, and she sounded as if she spoke more to herself than to Cassandra. "Hector could have been spared; he could still be alive now if the war had not started." She was silent for a moment but then spoke again. "Neither country won in this war; instead Death triumphed over us all."
Cassandra said nothing but placed her hand on Andromache's and held it tight. Neither of them spoke for hours, instead they looked to the night sky and listened to the celebrating outside.
When night had fallen, many Trojans returned to their homes and enjoyed the prospect of sleeping without the fear of another day of war ahead. There were other Trojans, including some guards, who were drunk with happiness and wine, and so they slumped against various walls and slept peacefully.
There was one, however, who was neither drunk or asleep, but wide awake and standing in the shadows of the courtyard.
It was Helen, cloaked in black, who loomed in the shadows and waited, as Odysseus had instructed her, for the courtyard to clear. She had waited there for hours, barely moving as she scanned the surrounding area.
It was not long before the courtyard was still, everyone having either left or fallen asleep. Helen had waited like a snake about to strike and now stepped out from the shadows when she saw the area was clear. She then slowly walked towards the horse, her breath suddenly quickening.
As Helen walked away from the dark shadows and towards the horse, she felt eyes staring at her, but knew it was not Trojans looking at her, and had never felt more terrified. She stopped beneath the head of the horse and only now released that she had Troy's fate in her hands. She could either scream that there were Greeks in the horse, therefore saving Trojan lives and instantly condemning the lives of those in the horse, or she could knock on the foot of the wooden horse, which would signal to the Greeks that the courtyard was clear.
Before she had even realised it, Helen tapped lightly onto the horse and could immediately hear the soldiers moving within it. She stepped back in horror, not because she had knocked on the horse, but of what she had started.
A small opening at the base of the horse's stomach suddenly opened and ropes dropped down from within it.
Without even waiting for the soldiers of Greece, who were chosen to hide within the horse, Helen quickly headed towards the walls of Troy.
Almost all of the guards who were defending the walls were either drunk, therefore too dazed to notice Helen, or asleep against their posts, and the stench of wine hit Helen like a strike to the face when she passed them. She quickly walked up the steps, picking up the hem of her cloak and robe so she did not fall, and soon stepped onto the wall.
Without pausing to think, Helen picked up the nearest beacon of light and held it in her hand for a few moments before dropping it over the wall. The beacon fell to the ground, still burning brightly.
The beacon signaled to the rest of the Greek army that it was safe to come forth, that the plan was in motion.
The Greek army had sailed to an island called Tenedos, not far from Troy. There the soldiers had waited, after burning their camp and abandoning the horse, until night fall. Once night had fallen the Greeks sailed towards Troy once more and waited on the sea for the signal.
"What are you doing here?" asked a voice behind Helen.
Helen spun around to see a guard looking at her suspiciously. She saw that the man had not recognised her until he saw her face and watched as realization dawned over him.
Before Helen could even speak, she saw a figure creep up behind the guard and in an instant, before she realised what was happening, she saw the guard's throat slit by the figure that had crept up on him.
The guard was pushed to the ground and Helen then saw Menelaus standing there, a knife in his hand that dripped blood onto the ground. She gasped quietly and held a hand to her mouth for a few moments, unaware of what to do or say. She glared at her husband, her husband who she had not seen this close for ten years.
Helen felt a tidal wave of emotions overcome her as she looked at Menelaus. She saw his eyes wander over her face and released tears of shame. She then threw her arms over Menelaus and clung to him, scared to let go of him because she did not want to see the fall of Troy.
Menelaus suddenly froze when he felt Helen lean against him, but he did not wrap his arms around her. He felt scared, scared to give his heart to Helen once more because he feared that she would only break it again.
Despite his fear, however, Menelaus slowly wrapped his arms around Helen. It was then that he knew that he would always go back to Helen; always follow her, because he loved her. He did not care how many times she would break his heart; all he wanted was to be with her.
"Return to your chamber, Helen," said Menelaus, his voice low. He then looked into her eyes as she began to back away from him. "Stay there, I will come for you soon."
Helen said nothing and walked down from the wall and headed towards the palace. She blocked out the screaming and tried to block out the images she saw, but after seeing a woman dragged from her home and then seeing the woman's young sons killed, she found she could not block those images from her mind, and she felt more tears seep from her stone-like face.
A/N: I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, so I will now. Hermione was at first promised to Orestes, who also happens to have been Agamemnon and Clytemnestra's son. I shall only say that Menelaus promised both Orestes and Neoptolemus his daughter's hand because I may choose to add some of this to the story at the end.
I've not included Orestes in this, and so I've not mentioned him before now. Thank you for all of the reviews too :)
Queen Arwen – The story will be ending soon, there's only a few more chapters left. I'm glad you liked the portrayal of different emotions, and I'm also glad you liked the reaction to Odysseus's plan :) Thank you for the review!
Kal's Gal – I'm glad you like the story so far and thank you for the review :)
Lily – You may not see this as you don't want to read the fall of Troy, but if you do see this then thank you for reviewing :) I understand if you don't want to read the end as it is sad. Also, I'm glad you liked the last chapter, thanks!
Idun03 – I'm glad you liked the last chapter and how I'm putting the details together, thank you! I'm also glad that you found it interesting to see more of the Greeks, and thank you for the review :)
Measureayear – Thank you for the review! I'm glad that you're still excited about this, even though you know what's going to happen, thank you :)
Gaby – It was definitely horrible for Helen to betray the Trojans, especially as she lived with them for ten years. I'm glad you liked the last chapter, thank you :)
Caz-jket – I suppose Neoptolemus and Hermione together could be a weird match, but it happened so I've wrote it, lol ;) Thank you for the review and I'm glad you liked the last chapter!
Priestess of the Myrmidon – This will go on for a bit yet, at the most I'm planning five more chapters. Go Andromache, indeed :) I'm glad you liked the last chapter, thank you and thank you for the review.