Andromache woke to see Helen standing over her, calling her name in a frightened voice.
"What is it?" Andromache asked, throwing her blankets off and standing up. "What's wrong?"
She followed Helen to where the body of Briseis lay, and knelt before it. She touched Briseis' skin gently, but she already knew that she was dead. There was a smile around the edges of Briseis' face, and for the first time since she had returned from the Greek camp, she looked truly at peace.
Helen sobbed softly, and Andromache took her in her arms.
"It's alright. It's alright," she soothed gently.
Helen drew back from Andromache sharply. "You knew!" she accused. "You knew she would die this night!"
"I knew," Andromache agreed.
"But…But how?" Helen asked, a wild expression appearing through her tears.
"Look at her, Helen. If you were the Gods, looking down at that poor child last night, would you not grant her peace?"
"You could have saved her!" Helen blamed Andromache.
"Saved her? No, for nothing could have saved her heart. She died the night Achilles was taken from her, and she died again when all she had left of him was killed. She is finally with him once more. In Elysium"
Helen was shaking her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. "It didn't have to be this way. She could have died old, had children and grandchildren," she was sobbing bitterly as she spoke.
Andromache wrapped her arms around the distraught woman once more. "She is at peace, Helen. She had suffered much, and now there is no more pain, no more sorrow for her. Let her go, for she is finally with the man she loves. She is finally free."
A/N: well, what do you think? It's finished now, just in case you hadn't realised. Any glaring errors? Anything good about it? At all? Please R&R – any suggestions on improvements will be very welcome, as usual. Thank you all so much for reading it!