A/N: Hope you enjoy, I was just at a university thing for my school. It was a total recruitment ploy but it was cool enough, we got to go to dances and stuff and we met lots of cool people so I guess it wouldn't be so bad if they were only trying to get us to go to that school. Oh well, here is chapter fifteen. Hopefully I will be posting this at the same time as fourteen so my fingers are crossed for reviews. This chapter may be slightly historically inaccurate but roll with it, it'll all work out.

Chapter Fifteen - A Love Story

The Greeks had suffered some great losses and this pleased Achilles. His strategy had humiliated Agamemnon and this delighted him immensely. He would not fight until Briseis was returned to him and it did not look as though that was anytime soon. It pained him to be using her as a pawn but if it humiliated the King of Kings what did it matter? If his plan continued going so smoothly she would be returned to him in three days, maybe less.

He missed her, it had to be said. He missed her eyes and her hair covered covering his chest and the lovable way she would pout when he disagreed with her. He knew why the Trojans wanted her back so badly, she was charming. How both princes had managed not to take her when they had the chance he could not figure out, were it up to him she would never leave his side.

The dream resurfaced in his mind. It had occurred several times since she had left, there had been more children or she had looked older but it was always the same. She would smile at him and they would be in Larissa and she would laugh her irresistible laugh. He missed that laugh and stroking her back at night when she was speaking about Troy.

She had spoken quite a lot about Troy; she loved that city and everyone in it. She knew ever street and passageway but had refused to reveal them. She had spoken of her brothers, at his insistence. She had told him every detail about her kin. For example Melanon liked fair haired women like himself while Pramadas favored girls with dark hair, Cariaxis would take anything and most of the others weren't all that interested in women, yet. She knew that Hentayol had snuck out of his room almost every night when he was five to play with the street children and that Cartanye had done the same thing the year prior. She knew that when Eopedeus was alone he sang to himself for reasons she did not know or that Balcamen would take Melanon's horse out every week and her older brother never knew.

He wanted the meet her brothers, he felt like he already knew them but he remembered how he thought he had already known Briseis and how wrong he turned out to be. He stood and walked out of the dankness of the tent. The setting sun covered the horizon with an array of colour. He walked around the perimeter of the camp three times before the stars were uncovered in a cloudless night. He had found that most every night in Troy was cloudless, as were most days. It was obvious why most people here were so happy and why merchants loved traveling here.

The camp of the Greeks was enormous and the tent of Agamemnon could be seen throughout all of it. She was inside there; it would be simple to retrieve her. There couldn't be more than seven guards and even if there was, he was Achilles, who would dare stand up to him. But he had to wait, she would be returned to him soon and he would be free to do with her whatever he wanted.

The warlord prowled around the camp, speaking with warriors and kings as he went. Odysseus was the only one with noteworthy information. Because he attended all of the meetings with the King of Kings he knew what was happening with every person in the camp. This was normally simply gossip but tonight it was important beyond all recognition.

"The Lady Briseis is ill." He had said, summoning Achilles to his tent. "Agamemnon has no use for ailing women. It was spoken that he may return her to you, her illness being only one of the reasons." He could have shouted in joy but he did not, composure was important and the Ithacan King was clever. It could only be a trial to test his reaction. He must stay calm.

"Thank you old friend. You could not know how happy I am."

He laughed. "I think I might, after all you are not the only one in love." He was shocked by this reply. He was not in love. He couldn't be, it was impossible. He was Achilles, the man without a heart he could not love another. Or was that really true? There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted her back but did he love her?

Odysseus seemed to notice his internal struggle. "Don't think of my friend. I did not know I meant. You should get to sleep. You look as though you need it." He had stood and left the King to his business and left back to his own tent, still numb. Patroclus was outside the dwelling when he arrived.

"It's amazing, Briseis is back Achilles. Agamemnon's servants came and returned her while you were around the camp."

"How is she?"

He looked confused. "I haven't checked. It sounds like she's sleeping though." He stiffened. Briseis never slept an entire night and she never would fall asleep this early. He rushed into the tent and called for his cousin.

"Get a physician." She was lying on his bed, breathing heavily and coughing uncontrollably. A white linen was pressed to her lips stained with a blood that was no doubt her own.

Pramadas was sitting on his bed. Eyes closed and silent. The chambers were dark; the torches had not been lit today in his apartments. Melanon crossed the threshold quietly. "Why are you here?" His younger brother asked viciously. "If I wanted to speak with you I would."

"I know, I am here to give you something." He held out his hand and approached slowly.

"Leave it on the table; I'll look at it later, I wish to be alone." He nodded as his brother's blue eyes opened; he had aged ten years in the time since Briseis had gone. His hair had become thin and his once striking, azure eyes that had always been challenging his brother had become no more than eyes. The youngest of his brothers had begun to beg Melanon to visit Pramadas, in hopes it would wake him from his trance.

"I know you do; I also know what day it is." An irritated sigh escaped his sibling. "The forth day after the third summer moon? You know what day it is too." Silence. "Today you and Briseis would be celebrating the date of your birth. Usually the crowds would be dancing in the streets and minstrels would be writing songs about the beauty of the day. Have you seen what the crowds are doing today." his brother's seeming lack of interest annoyed him. "Most every man, woman and child in Troy is wearing dark colour today. Do not think anyone has forgotten her."

"Then why aren't they showing it? Why is everything back to normal?" He snapped. "Nothing is being done, Hector is doing nothing."

"He cannot do anything. What would you do were you him? Little is as simple as you think when the fate of people rest on your shoulders. You were always too busy gallivanting around with Briseis and her friends, feasting all night and sleeping all day while I was-" He stopped himself, he mustn't get angry. He was supposed to be in control. "Pramadas we all want her to come back. You cannot stay hidden away in your chambers every day and night thinking about her. She wants you to be happy, believe me that's what she wants."

He met Melanon's eyes for the first time in days. "You said you brought me something." He said quietly.

"I did didn't I?" He reached into a leather pouch, retrieving a weighty object and tossing it to his brother. She left it for me, I don't need. You do." Pramadas inspected the silver bracelet and his eyes grew wide with realization.

"I cannot take this. This is yours; she wanted you to have it."

"And I want you to have it." He shrugged. "You need something to remember her by, I have plenty of things." He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, his brother did the same. They froze, staring at each other for a moment and laughed. "And if she were here she would have too. We're so predictable."

"To us, maybe, but to the rest of the world..." He laughed for the first time in days. "Remember when that Theban party came here and one of them called her a whore and she beat him to the ground. Or when she first met Hector and he was so frightened of her."

"That doesn't even come close to when she met Paris." They both rocked back and forth in laughter. "At least protecting one prince of Troy from her was better than protecting her from one prince of Troy. He was so obsessed with her. It was hysterical."

"Remember when she was doing that impression of that Lady and father came in and he yelled at her and then when he left she kept doing it." They both laughed at their memories and fell silent. "We had some good times when she was around."

"We did." He nodded slowly. Pramadas stared at his brother for a moment and stood up, walked over to a drawer, opened it and pulled out a piece of paper. He handed it to his older sibling and stood beside him while Melanon read it. It was a note from Briseis, written just before he left for the palace. It held an eerie quality to be looking over her note to his brother while her own life was in a state of chaos. "What is this?"

"She wrote it to me to say goodbye." He looked into Pramadas' blue eyes. "We have never been apart for this long, you know? We were always there for each other and now...she's gone. I just feel so, helpless you know? Like I can do nothing." He knew the feeling only too well. "I always thought I was going to leave first, in a war, fighting for my country. I feel guilty, like I had done something to make her leave. It's not fair that she had so much to live for and she's been taken away from all of it."

"She took herself away Pramadas; you had nothing to do with this. It was her decision and while it was a strange choice maybe...maybe she was looking for something else, something none of us could give her here in Troy."

He shook his head sadly. "I don't know what it is but I can tell something is wrong. I don't what it is though and that..." He sighed angrily. "That frightens me that something is wrong with her and I can do nothing. She could die and we would never know, would we? Not until the Greeks left and what if they never leave? What if they defeat us and everything we've done...everything Briseis' had done is for nothing?"

"It wasn't for nothing, brother. She changed people's lives and that made a difference. She was an idol to hundreds of thousands of people. Their lives were made better by her, would that all be for nothing? No. I should leave you; you said you wished to be alone." Pramadas nodded quietly and returned to sitting. "Good luck tomorrow and be careful." his brother raised a curious eyebrow. "I will no be fighting, Hector gave me leave. 'You haven't slept in weeks you need to rest' In his words exactly." The fear was evident into his sibling's face.

"What if something happens?"

"Make sure it doesn't, that's all the advice I can think of. Remember what father taught you, you're a good warrior. You can fight without me. I don't know about the others but I know you can." He smiled and exited. The next day his brother skills would be put to the test.

"How are you?" Achilles asked quietly. She had regained consciousness hours ago but she was still in a weakened state. "The physician should know what is wrong with you soon, until then rest." He grinned bravely and she smiled back weakly.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Agamemnon didn't help but I'll get over it. I always do." Her voice was bordering vigor and pitiable anguish. The name of the King made his blood boil. "I'm glad to be back here. I was so frightened that I'd never see you again."

He quieted her lightly and stroked her raven hair. "Don't worry you're safe. You will never see that disgusting pig of a man again." He spat out the words like venom. She was overcome by another bout of coughing and she closed her eyes tightly. "Are you alright? Do you need the physician back again?"

"No, no I'm fine. I don't want any more physicians or doctors." She said weakly with a grimace of pain.

He glanced at her quizzically. "What do you mean any more physicians? This has happened before?"

She nodded slowly. "When I was very young I would have spells of pain like this 1and none of the doctors could find out what was wrong with me and then one day they stopped. The dizziness and the fainting, it all ended for no reason and I had to see more doctors about what was wrong and what was preventing the attacks but again the wonders of medicine couldn't figure it out. No one could, after a while no one cared to. It wasn't anything to anyone, I even forgot about it."

"A lot of things have happened in the understanding of the body since you were young perhaps they could treat you now." She shook her head.

"I've gotten over this once I can do it again. It will go away soon, and I'll be well again." Her voice held no trace of a waver, her confidence was almost naivety. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." She repeated. "This will be a passing illness." She said with a vicious self-assurance. Briseis' voice may never have faltered but her words seemed to be reassuring her more than him. A silence passed in the tent, the only sound the harsh of her breathing. "Achilles," The mention of his name surprised him.

"What is it?" he said softly.

She stared into his soul with her own blue eyes. "Would you love me?" The question had been asked many times by many women but never like that. Never with such urgency and anguish. When he did not answer she broke his gaze and repeated. "Achilles would you love me?"

"Love you how?" he asked, stalling the inevitable admittance.

"Truly love me. Like with roses and weddings and sunsets. That kind of love." Her voice had gained back some of its edge in those moments. He remained silent and she nodded, her eyes now closed. "Tell me when you've made up your mind." She turned away form him after that addition to her speech. He rose and left the tent with a single backward glance. She looked thin, haggard and tired, too much unlike the Briseis she had left the tent as. It was eerie, the transformation.

The physician, it would seem, had been hovering outside the tent waiting for him to come out. Patroclus and the myrmidons were sitting around a dying fire in silence. "Lord Achilles." The doctor addressed him with a bow. "I have some alarming information concerning the Lady Briseis. I did not wish to tell you inside your tent as it may have distressed her but you should know."

"What is it?" He asked, eyes flashing.

"Are you sure you want to know?" The warlord nodded and the physician continued reluctantly. "From the tests that have been taken on her I must say that she is not in good health. Her body is failing her. The Lady Briseis is dying."

A/N: Weird huh? Don't tell me you didn't expect it honestly there were so many signs, oh well. Tell me if you liked it or didn't. Again very sorry about my lack of updating. A million apologies to all and to all a good night.