Disclaimer: It's not mine, although I wish I could claim Paris. The characters belong to Homer and the movie rights belong to Wolfgang Peterson and Warner Bros.
Ch. 11: Troy at Last!
Over the next few days, the Trojan ship made good time over the calm Aegean. Helen immensely enjoyed this peaceful, carefree time since she had Paris all to herself, and was glad to see him getting along well with Larissa. Before she knew it, they'd landed on the beach of Troy.
"Here we are, love," said Paris, smiling as he gazed at his beloved country. "Home sweet home." The radiant sunlight streamed down on the hills and green fields, along with the famous walls and at the summit of the fair city, illuminated the royal palace.
"Oh, Paris…it's beautiful!" she breathed, the view rendering her almost speechless. "I can't believe I'm finally here where I'll be safe, anonymous in your home."
"Believe it, my dear," said Paris, lovingly kissing her cheek as the Trojan soldiers disembarked.
Still amazed at the beauty the city held, she let him escort her off the ship while Larissa scampered on ahead. Paris led her to a magnificent gold-encrusted chariot and motioned for her to climb aboard.
"Can I come too?" Larissa pouted, looking so comical that Paris and Helen had to laugh.
"Of course," Paris answered her, grinning. "Hop in, young one." Larissa climbed in after Helen, and Paris joined them. But the chariot was so spacious that they weren't cramped. The prince took the reigns and they were off, driving down the road that eventually led to the palace. The guards followed suit, riding on horses that were brought down to the beach for them. As soon as they entered through the massive the city gates, Helen noticed the townspeople staring curiously at them as the procession went by their homes. She knew they were wondering who the mystery woman and child were with their prince.
Paris however, didn't notice or just ignored the crowd and pointed out familiar landmarks and buildings to Helen. She appreciated his trying to distract her, but it was hard to ignore the frowning looks and whispers between the Trojan women. She knew that they were disappointed that their prince had found another girl and she began to wonder how many times this scene had played out before.
"Are you alright?" Paris asked her, concerned that she was so quiet. "What's wrong, my love?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she answered him stiffly, not wanting to bother him with her silly uncertainties.
"I'm just a little nervous about meeting your family," she admitted, which was true but not the real reason for her distress.
"I know they'll love you," Paris promised, but she didn't loosen up. Noticing her frown when she looked out at the crowd, he tried to convince her that their love was true.
"All those girls are just jealous of you, sweetheart," he said, squeezing her hand gently.
"And they'll be even more envious when I announce my intentions of marrying you and spending the rest of my life with only you by my side." Helen smiled gratefully at him, and he reassuringly slipped his arm around her waist. Paris opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped when Larissa turned to him questioningly.
"When you get married, will you promise to be nice to Callista and not hit her like my father hit my mother?" The way she asked as if she'd known nothing else growing up broke Helen's heart – she vowed that the girl would know the love of a family.
After Paris promised the little girl that he would never dream of hurting Helen in anyway, Larissa looked satisfied and faced the crowd once more. Helen and Paris worriedly made eye contact, each hoping that the abuse that the girl had seen at home wouldn't affect her in the future. But they couldn't dwell on that for long, as the chariot was approaching the palace. Slowing the horses, Paris pulled the chariot to a stop directly in front of the palace steps. Helen accepted his hand gratefully and they began the long climb up the stone steps, with Larissa lagging behind for once; meeting new people made her uncharacteristically shy.
At last the stairs ended and they reached the top floor of the palace. Three people stepped forward out of a crowd of Trojan nobles to greet them – one Helen recognized as Hector. The other two were an elderly man (Helen assumed this was King Priam, Paris' father) and a young girl who shared the dark wavy hair and deep brown eyes of Paris and Hector.
"Welcome back, my son!" Helen knew she'd guessed correctly as the elderly king embraced his youngest son. She eyed Hector nervously who thankfully showed no signs of recognition.
"And who might this lovely young lady be?" Helen curtsied when being addressed by Paris' father.
"This, father, is my fiancée, Callista of Sparta…soon to be of Troy," her lover informed them, beaming back at her.
"She took care of Odysseus' son in the Spartan palace, which is where we met." A collective gasp went up among the crowd, which didn't surprise her. Paris had mentioned that they'd find it hard to believe that he found someone to settle down with.
"It is good to meet you, my lord," Helen murmured, looking at the floor as a servant would do. She looked up to see Hector giving her a nod of approval, and felt a tad more relaxed now that he was keeping their secret.
"I never thought I'd live to see the day that you'd marry, Paris!" exclaimed the king. "I'm so proud of you." Paris grinned in a natural way, pleased that his father approved of his settling down.
"When is the wedding?" asked the girl. "If I know Paris at all, it will be soon."
"Briseis! Dear cousin, it's so good to see you again," said Paris, picking her up and twirling her around. After he set her down, he answered her question.
"We wish to be wedded as soon as possible," he told the Trojan court, who looked thrilled with this new development even though as far as they knew Helen wasn't of royal blood. "But Callista and I are very tired from our journey, and would like to retire…"
"Might I have a word with Callista?" Hector's deep, commanding voice penetrated the hubbub. He gave her a kind, reassuring smile. "It will only take a moment." After nodding reassuringly at Paris that this was fine with her, Helen responded,
"Alright." She granted him his wish, walking with the Crown Prince away from the crowd, down the hall to a deserted room. Hector offered her a seat, and she took it gratefully.
"First off, I want to thank you not for taking Paris up on his offer to come to Troy when we first left," Hector said. "He told me that you were adamant against starting a war, and I'll be forever grateful to you for that – for that's exactly what would have happened.
"It was hard," Helen admitted. "I wanted to sail for Troy so badly, but I saw how hard you worked for peace that I didn't want to jeopardize that." Hector nodded understandingly.
"Secondly, Helen…it is alright if I call you that when we're not in public?" She smiled at him and assured him that it was. "I want to thank you for helping my brother grow up. I always knew if he ever did decide to settle down, the woman that he'd marry would have to be extra special."
"Thanks," Helen said quietly, blushing a bit.
"Welcome to our family, Helen." A grinning Hector gave her a brotherly hug, which she returned happily.
"I almost have forgotten what a family feels like," she admitted, stepping away from him. "After being with Menelaus for so long…"
"Say no more on the subject," interjected Hector, wrinkling his nose at her old husband's name. "You're a part of Troy's family now and you're soon to become a princess." Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Hector went to answer it.
"I thought we might find you here," chuckled a female voice.
"Daddy!" Helen heard a little boy cry, sounding much like Telemachus had. A woman and her son entered the room, both greeting Hector affectionately.
"Callista, may I present my wife Andromache and my son Astyanax," Hector proudly showed off his family. Helen shook Andromache's hand but was soon pulled into another hug.
"It's good to meet you, Andromache," said Helen, pleased at the warm reception.
"Nice to meet you too, Helen," greeted Andromache sweetly, her eyes twinkling with mischief as Helen froze when she said her real name.
"How did you know…?" Helen trailed off. Hector rolled his eyes.
"She's very intuitive…when I returned from Sparta, I told her my suspicions when Paris was spending a lot of time with the Spartan Queen. Then, when Paris told me he was going to settle down with someone he met overseas, I told her and she guessed you right off."
"I'm so glad you've come to live here with us," Andromache voiced, bouncing Astyanax on her hip. "It will be wonderful to have a new friend." Helen smiled at her as the little boy squirmed and begged to be let down.
"I hope you don't mind my son," said Hector, as Astyanax attached himself to Helen's legs. She laughed.
"Of course not! He's very trusting, isn't he?"
"Oh, he's not like this with everyone he meets; usually he hides behind me," Andromache told her knowingly. "He likes you." Helen grinned, picking up Astyanax who let her hold him.
"He reminds me of Telemachus."
"Penelope and Odysseus' son?" Andromache asked, and Helen nodded in confirmation. "Yes, they're about the same age, although Astyanax is a bit older."
"Hector!" called a new female voice. "I was wondering where you went…" A young dark-haired girl brushed past him into the room. Helen recognized her as the woman Paris greeted as his cousin.
"Hi, Helen!" she greeted her enthusiastically, trying to catch her breath. "Hector, your father wants to speak with you in the throne room." Hector sighed, and bid Helen good afternoon. Astyanax wriggled in Helen's arms and she let him down. Hector's wife and son followed him out of the room, leaving Helen alone with Briseis.
"How many people in your family know my true identity?" asked Helen jokingly as Briseis grinned.
"Just Hector, Andromache, and I – although Uncle Priam will probably figure it out soon enough. Paris and Hector tried to keep it a secret from him, not wanting him to worry, but he's still sharper than they think." They smiled at each other, a smile that was the promise of a new friendship…Helen had had precious few friends in Sparta so this was a little unsettling, yet a welcome feeling all the same.
"I wanted to thank you for helping Paris figure out a way to explain to Hector about me…whatever you did seemed to have worked because he isn't completely repulsed by the sight of me." Briseis frowned at her.
"No one would ever be repulsed by you, Helen! I just told Paris to tell his brother the truth…and that you'd both devised a plan to leave without suspicion, thus keeping Troy's peace agreement intact.
"Thank you," Helen said quietly. "The last thing I wanted to do was put Paris' home country in danger."
"I'm so glad you're here," Briseis admitted. "Andromache is a good friend but she's always busy with her son. Maybe we could spend some time together when Paris is fulfilling his duties as prince…something he never seemed to take an interest in until he met you." She nodded knowingly at Helen, who blushed.
"Honestly, I didn't do anything," Helen protested. "He was the one that made the decision to grow up, but I suppose I could take some credit." She grinned at Briseis who just laughed.
"It must've been terribly romantic to have Paris offer to take you away from your old life," Briseis sighed dreamily. "I've heard tales about how horrible your husband was." Helen made a face.
"Yes, well, all of that's behind me now. I couldn't ask for a better man than Paris. Really!" she emphasized that last part when she noticed Briseis' look of disbelief.
"I'm just kidding you, Helen," she chuckled and Helen visibly relaxed. "I just can't imagine my cousin like that…it's too weird. But I never want to have the misfortune of being married off to a husband that I don't love – that's why I joined the temple of Apollo. Being a priestess allows me to remain a virgin at this age, but it's not a lifelong commitment. That way when I do find someone I can simply resign to be with him," she explained her choice of occupation.
"But enough about me…I want to hear all about how you escaped!" Briseis took a seat next to the former Spartan Queen as Helen explained her fake suicide, finding Larissa, rescuing Paris from the stormy seas, and eventually sailing away for Troy.
"…The only thing that worries me is when my cousin Penelope's son Telemachus cried when we left. Menelaus glanced at me knowingly at that moment and I was afraid that he recognized me," Helen admitted. "His servant tipped him off that I was still alive so I know he was looking for me. I told Paris, but he didn't think anything of it. Do you think I'm just overreacting?" Briseis looked thoughtful.
"I'm not sure. But since you're here now, I wouldn't be too concerned. Unless your old husband is the type that would want you back no matter the cost…do you think he'd bother to make the journey to Troy to get you back?"
"Yes," Helen said fearfully. "He would do that. You don't think that he…" she trailed off uncertainly. "What if he comes here and finds me! What will I do? I just can't go back to living with him again after meeting Paris – I won't!"
"Calm down, Helen," Briseis soothed the distraught woman. "If he shows up, you find the best hiding place that you can and leave everything else to me." Helen raised her eyebrows for it looked like Paris' cousin was concocting a plan as they spoke.
"Trust me," Briseis grinned. "I can handle this…and he probably won't even show up," she reassured her.
"Alright," said Helen, albeit doubtfully.
"Come on…I'm sure Paris is waiting for you." Briseis took her arm, gently guiding her out of the room.
Helen followed Briseis until they reached the throne room, where indeed Paris was, standing just outside the entrance. Cheerfully, Briseis waved goodbye and vanished behind the throne room doors.
"There you are, love," exclaimed Paris, pulling her into an embrace, and nuzzling her cheeks with his nose. "Shall I show you to our room, milady?" he asked seductively, his voice dropping a few octaves. Helen giggled.
"As much as I'd love to take you up on that offer, can we wait until tonight?" She hid a smile when Paris' face fell.
"What, have you never had a woman say no to you before?"
"Actually, this is quite unusual," he teased, smoothing her now brown locks away from her face.
"I only want to get started on our search for Larissa's family – we did promise her that we'd start as soon as we landed," Helen reminded him.
"Oh, that's right," he said, wincing. "I forgot." Helen patted his arm.
"That's what you have me for," she said, grinning.
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A little while later, Paris and Helen had gathered Larissa and headed for the marketplace. They decided that it would be the best place to start asking around to see if anyone had any information on the Vardalos family. After inquiring about Larissa's family to many a vendor and finding nothing, Helen was beginning to get discouraged. But Paris wanted to try one last fisherman before they called off their search for the day. It was lucky he did because the man happened to be a personal friend of the Vardaloses, and he gave them directions to their home. Along the way to see her mother's family for the first time, Larissa started to feel nervous.
"But what if they don't like me?" she worried as Helen and Paris led the little girl down a narrow road, deeper into one of the poorer neighborhoods in Troy.
"I'm sure they'll love you," said Paris, smiling. "You're a good girl…at least from what I've seen of you." Teasing, he frowned at her, and she giggled all nervousness forgotten. Helen gave her fiancée a grateful smile overtop of Larissa's head; his ability to lighten any situation was one of the many reasons why she'd fallen in love with him.
"We're here," Helen announced, stopping them in front of a fairly well kept but small house.
"I hope someone is home," said Larissa. She looked up at Helen, who squeezed her hand in reassurance. "Are you going to leave me here tonight?"
"Only if you want to stay," said Helen. In truth, she hadn't thought about saying goodbye to the little girl this soon. Over the past few weeks, she'd grown accustomed to her lively presence and would miss her very much. But this was Larissa's family; she should have the chance to live with them if she wished, Helen scolded herself.
Without warning, the front door to the house burst open, revealing a middle aged woman who bore a vague resemblance to Larissa.
"Good afternoon, madam," said Paris smiling.
"May I help you?" the woman asked, her eyes widening when she realized who he was. "Prince Paris – I didn't recognize you at first!" Paris shook her hand and introduced Helen as his fiancée. The woman had a nice smile; Helen liked her already.
"What brings you to my humble home?"
"Are you of the Vardalos family?" Paris asked, not wanting to waste any time.
"Yes, that was my maiden name," the woman asked slowly. "Why?"
"We know that a woman was taken from your family and sold as a slave about ten years ago…is that correct?" The woman nodded and asked eagerly.
"She was my younger sister…have you found her?" Paris sighed.
"I'm afraid not…a disease consumed her in Sparta before I was ever aware of the situation."
"I never really thought I'd see her again; I mourned for her long ago," said the woman, evenly. "Is this all you have to tell me?" She crossed her arms, and Paris nodded to Helen, who took over.
"You see, madam, your sister had a daughter a few years after she was kidnapped." The woman began to stare at Larissa curiously, who shrank back towards Helen. "She wanted to meet you and her only living relatives. This is Larissa, your sister's daugter." Shyly, the little girl tentatively stepped forward.
"Hello," she said, chewing on her lower lip. "It's nice to meet you," she mumbled, remembering to curtsy.
"By the gods," the woman breathed. "You look just like your mother!" She opened her arms and Larissa ran to her.
"My beautiful niece," she murmured, her eyes glistening with happy tears as she slowly rocked Larissa. "You are always welcome here."
"What should I call you?" Larissa asked, as the woman released her.
"I'm your Aunt Nepenthe," she said. "That's what your other cousins call me."
"I have cousins?" said Larissa, incredulously. The woman laughed.
"Yes, and lots of them! They live a block away; you can meet them later. Come on in the house and I will introduce you to my sons and daughters." Paris, and Helen followed Larissa and Nepenthe into her home, watching their joyful family reunion.
"Is it okay if I go and play with my cousins outside?" Larissa asked Helen.
"Absolutely," grinned Helen. "Have fun!" she called after the little girl took off after her cousins, three boys and two girls. Nepenthe stayed inside to chat with Paris and Helen.
"Thank you so much for taking her in, and bringing her to me," she whispered. "It's like having a piece of my sister back."
"You're welcome," Helen said quietly. "I told her that she can live with her family if she chooses. Of course I'll be sad to see her go – she's a wonderful child." Nepenthe pursed her lips, her eyes clouded with indecision.
"As much as I'd love to have her live with us, my husband and I are barely making ends meet as it is…with five children and all." She looked at Helen sadly. "I just don't see that working out."
"I would gladly give you some funds to take care of her expenses," Paris offered, but Nepenthe politely declined.
"My husband wouldn't accept it, and besides, I want the best life for her since she'd had such a hard beginning. Would it be out of the question to suggest that she live in the palace?"
"You mean, you'd want us to adopt her?" Helen asked, shocked.
"I understand if you don't want to; a child is a big responsibility," Nepenthe said glumly. "I just thought you might want to since you both seem awfully fond of her."
"We'd love to," Paris said firmly. Helen just stared at her fiancée, stunned.
"Are you sure, Paris?" she asked, cautiously. "I thought you wanted us to have some time to ourselves when we first got married."
"Oh, you would," Nepenthe assured them. "I know I can convince my husband to agree to have Larissa visit on the weekends."
"What do you say, love?" said Paris, beaming at a very flabbergasted Helen.
"I say yes!" Helen cried, jumping into her prince's arms. "I never really wanted to let her go. Oh Paris! I can't believe she's really ours!"
"I know how much this means to you, love," said Paris, holding her tight. "She'll grow up a minor princess of Troy, and have a full education," he assured Larissa's aunt.
"Thank you so much," said Nepenthe, hugging them both. "I know you'll be wonderful adoptive parents." She called Larissa inside and told her the good news. The little girl had never looked happier.
"Now you'll really be my new mother!" she exclaimed to Helen, who laughed, ruffling the little girl's hair. "And I get to have a father for the first time!" Paris grinned, swinging her around in a circle.
"Well, seeing that it is a Sunday, I'd love it if Larissa would stay the night with us," Nepenthe insisted. "But you have to ask your new parents first if it's alright with them."
"Can I? Pleeeease!" begged Larissa, and of course they relented.
"We'll pick you up tomorrow morning," Paris promised, after thanking Nepenthe for her hospitality.
"Try to go to bed at a reasonable hour, and mind your manners, Larissa," Helen called after her.
By the time Paris and Helen left their neighborhood, the sun was halfway below the horizon. They reached the palace just as it grew dark. After eating a large meal with Paris' family celebrating his return, Helen retired with Paris to their room.
"I'll take you up on that offer now," said Helen, raising her eyebrow at her fiancée. Paris smirked at her, following Helen into the washroom.
"As you wish, love." Over the next hour or so, the couple was so busy that they didn't hear the Trojans announcing the arrival of an embassy from Sparta which included Agamemnon, king of all Greece, and his brother Menelaus.
End Ch. 11
Uh oh…Menelaus has come for Helen! Review please…I'm almost done!