In the morning, we boarded the ship to sail to Troy. Leo ran about the deck all day, content to find his own entertainment and discovering all that there was on the ship. I laughed at my oldest son while holding my youngest in my arms. Leo was so excited to be on his father's ship and to feel the spray of the ocean in his golden hair. He was more and more like Achilles with every passing day. Both of my sons were growing strong and healthy, which truly made me happy. I thanked the gods that they were in good health. While Leo ran all over the deck, Achilles chased him about, making him giggle and run the other direction. I smiled at the father/son display of affection as Achilles caught him and pulled him in close. They truly were just alike in every way. It made me think of Hector and his son when they played together. Now I understood the feeling Andromache had while watching her husband and son play. It brought me a sense of completeness to see them together. I felt accomplished that Achilles and I had brought another human life into the world. Now we had two sons; two lives that were in our complete care and trusted that we would always provide for them. They were our sons and you could see it. Leo had his father's eyes and hair while Jason had my hair and eyes. Each were total opposites, but at the same time so alike as brothers.
As we set out to open sea and the night fell, we brought the boys down to the cabins below deck to set up their things and get them ready to go to sleep for the night. Jason went down easily, but Leo was just too excited to be on a ship for the first time in his life that he jumped on his bed. Achilles caught him in mid-jump and proceeded to calm him down enough to sleep. The events of the day had just worn him out. After my sons were asleep, I snuck out of the cabin and onto the deck to watch the moon in the distance. The night air was calm and the ship was gently rocking. This was the first time in years I had been on a ship and it felt wonderful to feel the waves lapping against the side. I closed my eyes to soak in the sea air and felt someone wrap their arms around my waist. Without opening my eyes, I laid my head back on Achilles's shoulder and sighed contentedly.
"How did you know it was me?"
"I know your smell and touch." I smiled.
"Our sons are long into sleep now."
"They love it here, on this ship. I have never seen Leo so active, running up and down the deck. All the crew seemed amused by his rantings."
"He grows more and more each day."
"Soon enough, he will be wanting you to teach him everything about swords and fighting." I turned to face my husband and he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead.
"Yes, but he shall receive his wisdom from you. You are the wisest person I have ever known."
"I get that from my Uncle Priam. I would spend hours with him in the library of the palace, soaking in every bit of information he would tell me about the gods, life, and Troy."
"He's a good man. I am grateful he saw fit to allow me to take you for my wife."
"And you have made me the happiest wife in all the world." I paused for a moment. "I could love no one else as much as I love you."
Achilles put his finger under my chin and lifted my eyes to his. They were the same comforting blue I have always loved. "All of my life, I wondered if I would ever find a woman who could love a man like me. I am stubborn, proud, and a warrior at heart. Though I have known many women in my life, none of them compare to you. You are the only woman I have ever loved or will ever love as long as I live."
I pressed against him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He leaned down and kissed my lips tenderly. Without warning, he swooped me into his arms and carried me below deck into our quarters. In his arms, I felt safe and happy. Nothing else mattered, as long as he was by my side and we had our children nearby. My life had been turned upside down five years previous when I was deposited in Achilles's tent. I was barely reached my eighteenth year and had planned on spending the rest of my life devoted to Apollo as a priestess. There was no intention of marrying or having a family of my own. Then I found myself in the tent of the greatest Greek warrior ever known, intended to be a prize for him to conquer. Now I was married to him and had two beautiful sons that I adored completely. I had only just reached my twenty-third year.
Our journey was not hard as we reached Troy within six days time. I could hardly wait to get down the gang-plank to see my family for the first time in a few years. I had missed them so much and did not realize it until I saw them all there waiting for us to arrive. Achilles had Leo in his arms and I had Jason in my own as the ship docked and we got off. I immediately went to my cousins, Hector and Paris, who greeted me with eager hugs and kisses on my cheeks. I greeted my family enthusiastically and happily. It was as if I had never left because I felt so a part of them. Helen and Andromache stood by with their own children, all of whom were toddling around on the ground and running up to Achilles and I, curious of the children we held in our arms. Achilles put Leo on the ground to meet his cousins for the first time and immediately, the boys took to each other. Leo, Astyanax, and Xavier took off running down to the beach. We watched in amusement as our sons played and ran about as if they had known each other for a lifetime. I continued to hold Jason in my arms as we walked off the dock towards the boys. Chryseis stayed at Andromache's feet, hidden behind her skirts out of her shyness.
We all began to journey back to the palace in the center of Troy. All of the children followed us and got onto the chariots with their respective parents. The ride was not long and we were inside the walls of the city and soon the palace. Mine and Achilles's things were taken to our room as well as our sons' things. Once we were settled, Achilles went with the men to talk logistics and military things. I went with Helen and Andromache to the nursery with our children. The elder children played about on the floor with toys. I held Jason in my arms and began to nurse him as he was hungry. I learned that both Andromache and Helen had welcomed a new daughter each within the last year. Helen's daughter was just a few weeks old and her name was Lily. Lily looked more like her mother, but with Paris's eyes. Andromache's second daughter was a few months old, about the same age as Jason, named Ariadne.
"When will you and Achilles have a daughter?" Helen asked.
"I don't know. We're happy right now with our sons, but maybe in the future." I looked down at Jason, who was still contentedly nursing.
"Deep down, you know that you want to have a daughter. I didn't until Xavier was a little older and played more with Paris." Helen looked at her children. "I wanted a daughter so that I would have someone to share my advice and things with."
"I'm not sure if Achilles is ready to have a daughter. He's already got his hands full with our two boys." I laughed off their comments, hoping they wouldn't press the issue any further. To my relief, they didn't.
"So, how is Phtia? What is it like there?" Andromache asked, changing the course of our conversation.
"It's absolutely beautiful. In the spring, the flowers are all in bloom in the gardens just below our room. The ocean is right outside my window, so I hear it every morning when I wake up." I smiled, gushing about my home.
"Is it anything like Troy?" Helen added.
"Nothing like it. It's smaller, but just as grand. There are more places to have privacy and raise a family quietly." I paused. "When I was with child the very first time, there was a place I would go just outside of the garden and sit. Achilles knew where I was and he would always come sit with me, putting his hand on my belly to feel our son kick and move about. He would even talk to him."
"Children have a way of making even the strongest of men more gentle." Helen observed.
"Achilles was always gentle with me, even before we were married and had our children. But, he keeps his tender moments private between us."
"I have noticed a great change in him since we last saw you," Andromache said. "He is so attentive to your sons and you."
I smiled and nodded. "He is very loving. The moment Leo was born, there could be no prouder father in all of Greece. For weeks after, he would come sit in the nursery with me just to watch the baby. Each time Leo accomplished something new, Achilles beamed with pride in our son."
"We are glad that you are happy. I would have never thought that all of this would happen, not when the war started and drug on for what seemed like an eternity." Helen cradled her daughter close to her heart.
Jason was fast asleep in my arms, so I held him close to keep him warm. "When Jason was born, I took one look at him and knew he would be the son after my heart as Leo is for Achilles. He is quiet in comparison to how Leo was as an infant."
"Each child is different. When one is born, you hope that each of your next children will be like that first one, but they all turn out different and special in their own way," Andromache softly crooned as she held Ariadne in her lap.
I nodded in agreement. We continued to talk for a few hours until it was time for dinner. Everyone gathered in the great hall in celebration of Achilles and I arriving safely with our family back to Troy. All the children were put down for the night before dinner so that the adults could sit and talk together. I sat next to Achilles. He seemed so at ease with my family, like they had been there all along in his own life. My hand drifted under the table until I found his and held it. He brought it up and kissed my hand softly. I smiled and looked at him. His blue eyes were soft and welcoming, unlike their usual piercing color. His eyes were only like this when he was truly at peace with the moment. I remember the first time I saw them that way. I was five months gone with child before Leo was born, laying in bed trying to go to sleep. Achilles wrapped his arms around me when Leo moved for the first time. It stunned us both, but we spent the next few hours feeling our child move within me. His eyes were the exact same soothing shade as they were now.
Without warning, he leaned over and whispered into my ear, "I love you."
I smiled and mouthed the same words back to him. I still loved hearing him say that, even after five years of marriage. Each time was special and precious to me because he was the man I loved with all of my heart. Though he was not as publically affectionate with me as he was in private, it made me feel honored that he would reserve such passion for our time together alone, away from everyone. It was that passion that had given us two children that we both dearly loved and adored. Throughout the rest of dinner, I wondered what his thoughts were. For though I knew my husband quite well, there were times that I just could not tell what he was thinking. It tugged at my mind until we were alone in our own room after everyone had retired for the evening. He momentarily disappeared out of the room, leaving me to my thoughts. I sat on the bed, thinking about how many times before I had slept in this very bed when I lived here with my family. It seemed like so long ago, when it had only been five years. I thought of how many times Andromache had come to my room before she married Hector, seeking comfort for her nerves. Many nights we would lie awake, talking about how things would be once she was married. Now we both were and had found happiness in our husbands.
It wasn't long before Achilles returned. Immediately, his lips found mine and I knew exactly what he had been thinking all through dinner. However, my first concern was not my own needs and desires, but for my children. I broke our kiss momentarily.
"The babies..." I whispered before he gently interrupted.
"Are sound asleep. Lyla is watching after them." He reassured me.
His lips found their way to mine again, reclaiming them in a passionate kiss. He laid me gently back onto the bed, without breaking our kiss. His hand wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I felt the countours of his body against mine through my dress. We took things slow, just enjoying one another without hurry. He took time to kiss every inch of my skin that was visible, which sent a rush of sensation throughout my entire body. We had not spent a night like this in a long time, yet he remembered all my favorite spots for him to kiss, including the one right behind my ear. This brought back memories of our first few nights after we were married. He learned very quickly that I loved to be kissed and held close. And I learned that despite his hard outer warrior shell, he truly was a caring, gentle lover. I remembered our first few nights, treasuring each moment because we did not know if they would be our last night together because of the war we were in the middle of. Now, that seemed like so far back in my memory and yet here we were, in the very same room we had spent our first married nights together. I had never loved someone so completely and totally as I did Achilles.
It wasn't long before my dress disappeared completely from my body. His skin against my own was comforting. He continued to kiss each part of my body, stopping particularly at my stomach, which once held our two greatest treasures. When he found his way back to my lips again, his body pressed against mine. We fit together like two halves of a whole. He claimed my body as his own as we began to make love. Our breathing intensified as we came close to release, perfectly in sync with one another. I felt my back arch as I came close until I totally released. As we came down and our breathing slowed, he kissed my forehead and then my lips, gently and softly. I could ask for no more a perfect moment than this with my husband. He laid on one side of me and I turned to face him, bringing my body close to his.
"I love you," he said. "More than anything or anyone else in this world, I love you and our sons."
"And I love you."
"I still remember the first time I ever laid eyes on you."
"That was not a pleasant meeting, I remember." I added.
"No, before the first time we spoke, I remember seeing you in the Temple of Apollo."
I was perplexed. "You had already left when the other soldiers found me."
"You were hiding behind the statue of Apollo in the corner of the room. I saw you and decided that I would not harm you."
"Why?" My curiousity was peaked.
"Because I thought you were beautiful."
I smiled. "And what did you think when you first spoke to me?"
"That you were far more intelligent than any woman I had ever met before." He interlaced his fingers with mine.
"You are the most wonderful husband in the world. My life has never been as happy as it has been for the last few years that I have been with you."
He leaned over and kissed my lips. "What have I ever done to deserve you?"
"Saved me." I looked deeply into his ocean blue eyes, knowing that what I said was true in every sense of the word.
I leaned forward and kissed him again, this time pulling him back on top of me. "Make love to me again," I whispered in his ear.
He complied willingly and more than once.
I turned over and pressed my back to his chest, bringing his arm around to rest on my stomach. I was comfortable in his arms. Both of us were exhausted. All I felt was complete bliss and total completeness. He kissed the back of my neck and I sighed happily. As I drifted to sleep, I could hear him humming a soft tune I had not heard before, but somewhat recognized. I tried to remind myself to ask him about it later, but my body eventually succumbed to the exhaustion and I fell asleep there in his arms.
A/N: Sorry this took forever and a day to post...life got pretty hectic in my neck of the woods. I'll try to update a little faster this next time! Hopefully a longer chapter will make up for my absence. :) Reviews are appreciated and loved!