We decided to set sail one week from the day the war ended, allowing me time to spend with my loved ones. I set out to walk around the palace each day, memorizing all the familiar places I played as a child with Hector and Paris, the rooms I sat in when I talked with Andromache during the earlier days of her marriage to Hector when she was new to Troy, and the gardens that I loved so much. More than anything, I spent time with my cousins Hector and Paris. I knew that they would be the ones to be the most devastated after I left. After all, I was more like a sister to them and the loved me dearly. Paris would take it worse than Hector would though and I knew this. He was closest to me in age and constantly my accomplice in our childhood games. On more than one occasion he had called me his favorite cousin and promised to protect me from any evil in the world. So, I spent the most time with him.

The night before I was set to leave, I was walking along the paths through the gardens with Paris. He had brought his son with him and was holding him close. The infant had fallen asleep early in our conversation and was sleeping like a lamb. I noticed how much like Paris his son looked. They had the same dark, curly hair and the same hands. Xavier had Helen's eyes and soft features. I smiled to think of what my children might look like someday, but pushed that thought away as we continued walking.

"Briseis, you know that no matter where you are, you can always talk to me."

"I know that, Paris. And I promise to write you letters from Phtia once we've arrived and had a chance to settle down." I knew I had to reassure him that I was not abandoning the family.

"It all seems so odd." He stared ahead to the lilies in front of us.

"What does?"

"You, being married and moving away. I knew it had to happen someday, but I guess I still was not prepared for it."

"Honestly, I did not expect it to happen. But, I've found someone who I love and he loves me back." We found a bench to sit on and sat down.

"Achilles does truly love you. I see it in the way he looks at you. It's the same look I give Helen when I see her-complete devotion and adoration. I know that he will take care of you and not allow any harm to come to you." For the first time in a long time, I see my cousin as an adult and not the little boy I remember so long ago.

I smiled at him. "I know he loves me and will take care of me. But, he has also promised that we will come back to Troy in the future to visit, perhaps once we have had children. So, when we say goodbye, it won't be forever."

He began to laugh softly, so not to wake Xavier in his arms. "Your children will most likely have your sharp tongue."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "You are impossible Paris. I hope and pray to the gods that Xavier gets Helen's good sense." I took the baby in his arms into my own.

"Xavier definitely likes you. Most people wake him when they hold him, but he stays asleep for you." He looked down at his son in my arms.

As I held Xavier close, a sense of longing began to twinge in my heart. I knew it was for my own child, but I shoved those thoughts back into my heart for the moment and focused on my cousin's child. Xavier fit perfectly in my arms and was content to sleep. Just for a moment, I felt some sense of completeness in holding a child, though he is not my own. After a while, Paris and I went back inside and he took Xavier back to Helen to put him down for the night. Before leaving, he hugged me and told me that he loved me and would miss me more than anything.

I walked down the hall, thinking about how much I would miss Troy. This place had been my home since I came here at five-years-old after my parents had died. Paris was nearly nine and Hector was eleven. They became my older brothers, teaching me where everything was in Troy and getting me in and out of trouble with Uncle Priam. I would miss my aunt and uncle as well. Over the last past fifteen years, they had become like parents to me. Aunt Hecuba talked me through my first monthlies, when I had been more scared than any other time in my life, and sat with me as I cried because I was so confused. Uncle Priam had always been a source of wisdom for me to go to, teaching me the ways of the world when I asked. If a few short days, I would leave my childhood home and move to a new place that was unfamiliar to me with new people I did not know, with the exception of Achilles. I knew he would teach me all the things I would need to know and anything I asked, but it still did not undaunt my fears about leaving.

I reached my room a while later and found Achilles laying out on the balcony on the couch that was out there. He had fallen asleep and looked so at peace with the world. I walked in and shut the door behind me, slowly and without making a sound. I came out to the balcony and crouched down next to his face, placing my small hand on the side of his face. His eyes opened and looked at me. He smiled, taking my hand and pulling me onto the couch with him. I layed on top of him, with my head on his bare chest. A kiss was planted on the top of my head as he ran his fingers through my hair. I lifted my head, placing my chin on his chest so I could see his face. We had not done anything like this in a while, so it was comforting to just lay there with him and have him run his fingers through my hair.

"I wondered when you would come back." His voice was soft and low.

"I was spending time with Paris and Xavier." I sighed. "I will miss them so, especially little Xavier. He's growing so fast and becoming more like his father everyday."

Achilles smiled at me and said nothing in reply.

"How was your day?"

"Rather uneventful." He paused. "Hector and I finalized the alliance between Phtia and Troy. Now everything is taken care of."

"We sail in the morning?" I asked while lightly tracing patterns on his chest with my fingers.

"Yes. Phtia is beautiful this time of year and my mother will have had our gardens tended at the palace. I know how you love the gardens here."

"I'm sure they will be beautiful." I smiled at him.

He pulled my slight frame forward into a loving kiss with ease. Tomorrow would be a new beginning for us, for our lives as husband and wife. We would be going home to a new place that I was not familiar with, but I knew that Achilles would make me feel more at home with every touch, every glance, and every soft kiss. In the back of my mind, I worried about if his mother would like me or not. He had reassured me that she would love me, but I was not sure because of my lineage and connections to Troy. Now that I had happiness, I prayed that it would not be taken from me because I was not sure that I could bare losing all that I had gained. All of these things were on my heart as I kissed Achilles and I hoped he would not notice my anxiety. He might fear that I did not wish to come with him, which was not true. I looked forward to my new life with him in Phtia and the hope of children in the near future. On our last night in Troy, we set out to make that hope a reality.

Later, as I lay in his arms on the bed, I could hear his steady breathing and I knew he was asleep. Though I was comfortable in his arms, I could not find the sleep that I was longing for and found myself staring at the things in the room. This room had been mine for as long as I could remember. My Uncle had us specially decorated for me when I first came to Troy after the death of my parents long ago. Everything a little princess could ever want was inside of this room when I arrived. I remembered thinking that I must have been in a dream because it could not possibly all be real, but it was. This room had been my constant shelter from the rest of the world for most of my life and now I was leaving that safety for a new kind of safety: Achilles. He had protected me when he could have just allowed me to be raped and branded. And when I did allow him to take my virtue, he did it was gentleness and kissed away the tears I cried. Since then, he has made me the happiest wife in the entire Aagean. Thinking about all that I had gained in the last year proved worthwhile as I slowly began to drift off into sleep, my body warm against my husband's.

Dawn came and with that, the knowledge that I had to say goodbye to my family. Achilles and I woke, bathed, and dressed-the entire time he strategically placed kisses on my neck, forehead, lips, and even my nose. These kisses helped me to relax and prepare to leave. Our things were already loaded onto the ship and had been since the previous night. We dressed and walked out of the room that had been mine since childhood for the last time, at least for a few years until we returned for a visit. Together, we walked down the halls and to the front door of the palace. A chariot was waiting to take us to the docks where we would board our ship to Phtia. Achilles helped me into it and climbed in behind me. He grabbed the reigns and clicked his tongue, urging the horses forward. I looked back one last time at my childhood home with love and adoration of all the times I had spent there with my family.

When we arrived to the docks, our ship was waiting in the harbor and my family waiting to say goodbye to me. Achilles brought our chariot to a stop and helped me down to the ground. We walked to the docks together as he took my hand softly with his own. The first family member I came to was my Aunt Hecuba. She was softly weeping and drew me into an embrace, Achilles letting go of my hand to allow me to hug her. When I looked into her eyes, she brushed some of my own tears from my face.

"We shall miss you dearly child." She kissed my cheek. "Write to us when you have arrived."

"I shall." I nodded, assuring her of my promise.

She let go of me and allowed me to go to my Uncle Priam. He too had tears in his eyes, but a soft smile on his face as he drew me close to him. This man had been the only father I had ever known for most of my life and I loved him as one. He had taken me in as a child and raised me as one of his own, guiding me with wisdom and loving me. For a man with many sons, a daughter was precious and adored. As I hugged him, I felt myself tearing up again for I knew that the next goodbyes would be the hardest. Uncle Priam let go of me and looked into my eyes.

"Go with the gods, my child."

I nodded. I then walked to Andromache and Helen, with their children in toe. Astyanax had grown stronger over the last year and was now able to stand on his own. He pulled on my dress and and I bent down to pick him up. I held him close to my body and kissed his cheek. He wrapped his arms around my neck and laid his head on my chest like he had always done as a baby. The tears I had held in for a moment now freely flowed down my face as I held my tiny cousin. I loved him with all of my heart and had from the moment Hector showed him to me on the day of his birth. With Astyanax in my arms, I pulled Helen and Andromache close to me, kissing their cheeks. They had been my sisters in the most important time in my life and would continue to be so. Both of them had tears of their own to shed with me as they held their infants, Chryseis and Xavier.

"Don't ever hesitate to write us." Andromache wiped her tears and looked at me.

"We will always be here for you and Achilles. You are our family." Helen pulled away to look at me as well.

"I love both of you." I smiled weakly. "Don't let Paris and Hector too far out of line while I'm gone."

My sisters smiled at me, reassuring me that they would do their job. I put little Astyanax down at his mother's feet and he kissed my cheek one last time. The next and last goodbyes would be the hardest because it was Paris and Hector, my dearest and favorite cousins. Hector was first. He pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my forehead. I began to shed a few tears.

"You will always be our cousin." Hector held me tight. "No matter where you are and how long you will be away from us. I love you."

I look up at him and kissed his cheek. "I love you too, Hector. We will come back to visit. I promise."

Last I came to Paris. He was standing right next to the gangplank with a solemn look on his face. This would be the most difficult of my goodbyes because I loved Paris so. We stared at one another for a moment before he took me into his tight embrace. It was the same warm, comforting embrace that I had always known from Paris. I buried my face in his shoulder as he held me close. New tears formed in the corners of my eyes and fell to my cheeks. When he let go of me, I saw the pain in his eyes as well. Gently, he placed something in my hands. I looked down and saw the most precious thing. After birth, all Trojan princes are given a medallion with something to represent them engraved into the gold. In my hands was Paris's, with the sun engraved into it. He had always been the sun in my life, bringing me to laughter and smiles when I needed it most. I looked back at him and he placed his hands on mine.

"You need this more than I." He smiled. "Now I'll always bring sunlight into your life, wherever you are."

"Thank you Paris." I managed to say, biting back tears again.

He pulled me close once again and whispered in my ear, "You have always been my favorite cousin and more like a baby sister to me. I love you."

"I love you too, brother."

When Paris let go of me, Achilles gently pulled my hand towards the boat, knowing that it was time to leave. We boarded and I looked one last time to my family-the ones who had loved and raised me from childhood. They all nodded in encouragement of my decision. I knew I would see them again because Achilles would keep his promise to me. The sails were raised and we began to sail away from Troy to our new lives in Phtia. I watched until the last glimmering sight of Troy was gone. Achilles remained at my side, silently holding me at my waist with all gentleness. His body against mine was comforting in a way.

When Troy was no longer in view, we retired below deck to our private quarters. I sat on the bed in silence, taking in everything that had happened. I held Paris's medallion in my hands before I drapped it around my neck. Achilles came and sat next to me, his face painted with concern. He took my hands.

"Briseis, are you alright?"

"I am. This is just all new to me." I sighed.

"I promise you that once we reach Phtia, I will make it as much a home to you as Troy was. I know it can never take Troy's place in your heart, but I hope that one day you can love it as well." He pulled my chin up with his hands to meet my eyes with his. Softly, he took my lips captive with his own.

"Phtia will be home because I have you." I broke our kiss and looked into his eyes, still as blue as I remember them the moment we met.

He kissed my forehead. "You should rest." He stood up.

"Will you lay beside me and just hold me?" I took his hands with my own.

He nodded slightly and I moved to the other side of the bed. Slowly I slipped under the blankets and he wrapped his arm around my waist. I felt comfortable. Achilles always had that affect on me, comfort and security. Never had I regretted my decision to marry the man I loved so dearly. Even if he was a warrior, he had his moments where he was simply my husband and nothing more. Today was definitely one of them. I drifted to sleep in his arms, content where I was. Though I would miss Troy, I knew that my new life would be exciting and it would soon become just as familiar to me as my old one. I was no longer a princess of Troy, but the princess of Phtia.

A/N: Another chapter for my wonderful readers. Thank you so much for all the reviews so far. Please keep reviewing!