A/N: I've decided that shorter chapters works better, at least until I finish my exams, which are coming up next week. Earlier I tried to upload this chapter but it kept telling me there's been an error, thankfully it's all better now. Thanks very much to all those who reviewed, please, if you have any comments or questions I would gladly hear them. Thank you.

Helen didn't need to be a genius to see the tension between Briseis and Andromache. Mysteriously the latter came back alone with a fierce expression on her face. Helen did not dare ask what the two had a such heated conversation about. Just as she was getting worried when at twilight Briseis sauntered back on her own. Her face was impassive, and theshe had a hushed conversation in Andromache's tent with the woman. Then all today they exchanged knowing looks whenever their eyes met, and their attitude with each other was friendly but somewhat stiff. Helen was greatly puzzled.

Nonetheless, she had enough to worry about. They were only a couple of days' journey from their destination, according to Andromache. And the weather was indeed getting harsher. It was one thing to establish a settlement in the warmth of spring, but it was quite another to makesuch attempts against the weather. Helen wondered briefly if they were going to survive the winter. Her sickness did not leave her either, and it troubled her. It was not extremely serious, just bursts of discomfort now and then. It certainly wasn't life-threatening. But it was a nuisance sometimes. She would get exhausted by noon and be forced to rest. Andromache took in everything and always allowed her time to catch up her breath. For that she was grateful, but she feared she was slowing everyone down. The slower they progress, they later they were going to get there, and the later they could began building their city. But there wasn't much that she could do.

Andromache was surprised to see the change in Briseis. Perhaps the girl had a sensible streak in her after all. She now regretted some of the things she had said. Those rude words were out of her mouth before she had any time to think about them. They were hurtful. And she apologized, after Briseis came back. They mended their friendship, just barely. And Andromache sensed that there was still something that she was not telling her. She remembered their conversation when she had gotten back.

Earlier

"I've thought about what you said, Andromache," Briseis began.

"No, it was my fault, I should not have been so forceful," she said hurriedly with a rueful smile, and got a sad onein return.

"Still, I find that there are somethings in your words that were no doubt, right. And I haven't been living, in these past weeks," she paused tentatively. Andromache nodded in encouragement.

"But, cousin, there are somethings that you don't know. And I feel that no good would come of it should I tell you. So let us forget about this," she took a deep breath, "You were right, he is gone."

Andromache saw a sadness in her eyes then, and felt very sorry for the girl. As she was about to say a few words of comfort, a fit of violent coughs could be heard outside. Andromache excused herself and went to check on Helen.

Helen, too, was beginning to concern her, she could not make head nor tail of her friend's illness.

It rained all day, in the evening the temperature dipped, and small shards of ice pummeled down at the earth. Such wretched weather. But at least he knew for sure that he was making progress, at a price.Achilles huddled closer to the huge rocks. He was taking shelter in a short cave that was really just an overhanging rock, supported byhundreds of good sized boulders. It must have been created by a land slide.

There were more footprints, what with the wet weather these last few days, the imprints were deeply set in the mud. It was pretty clear that someone had used this place as a shelter. It probably wasn't all that long ago either, from the looks of it.

Watching the hailstorm outside, Achilles didn't know what to think. He felt in his hand the familiar circle of stones and shells as his mind riveled back to earlier that day.

He was hunting then. Paris' arrows had proved themselves amazingly sharp and useful, and without them he would have had a hell of a time feeding himself. As said, he was chasing a hare in the rain, his spirits dampened by the cursed weather. The creature bounded just ahead of him.He maintained a light jog, raised his weapon and took aim. The hare seemed to have sensed the danger behind it, or perhaps it heard the quiet twang of the arrow as it left the bow. It jumped. But Achilles' arrow pierced it cleanly through the neck and conveniently nailed it to a tree. He smiled in satisfaction and walked over to collect his prey.

That was when he saw it.

It lay silently near the dead hare, emitting a quiet shine, even in the raindrops. There could be no mistaking it. It was the necklace. His heart chilled.

That was hours ago. Now, as he was hiding out from the storm outside, he felt cold, and it wasn't just from the howling wind either.

Why had she left it there? Something told him that she had left it there on purpose, and not just simply lost. But why though? Did she so desperately wished to forget him, that such a small token of his existance disturbed her? What did it mean?

There, sitting against the hard earth, he could not fathom her intentions.

She was pleased with her performance today. She said I was affecting everyone around me, well, I sure showed her, Briseis thought. She had done her best to be cheery and bright. Many looked amused at the transformation of their princess, but nonetheless they were glad for the extra pair of hands. She had worked. She gathered firewood and food. She helped skin the animals that the hunters brought back. She watched and kindled the fires, taking extra care that they stayed alit in the rain. She helped set up the tents for the night's stay. She did everything in her power to help her people, but she couldn't help herself.

Beneath all those fake smiles and kind words, she was still a mess. Now as she sat in her tent, listening to the roaring storm outside, she felt somewhat unsettled. Out of sheer habit she reached around the neck, having forgotten that it was no longer there. A stab of pain ignited inside her. It was not fair. She was trying, she really was. Now that she truly had time to think about it, she began to regret the decision that she had made in abandoning the necklace. It was, after all, his gift to her. It was common curtesy, to say the least, that one did not litter their gifts everywhere. She almost felt guilty now. He gave it to her as a symbol of peace, of friendship, of his love, and what did she do? She threw it away!

Restless, Briseis peered out of her tent. It was quite lateinto thenight, and she was fairly certain that no one in the camp was still awake. There was something she had to do.

She crept out of the tent, stepping into the rain.