Disclaimer: Once again, I own nothing except my own view of the way I'm writing this story and characters, I have used some quotes from the movie, Troy.
Hector watched as his brother faced Menelaus, in his heart he hoped that Paris would defeat him but his mind told him that as strong as Paris was Menelaus was stronger and he was more experienced in combat. He had told his brother to tire the man that would have leveled the playing field. Every brotherly instinct he had told him to rescue Paris, to stop Menelaus and keep his brother safe but Paris was not a child any longer and the time had come for him to take responsibility for his actions. Hector liked Helen, but like his wife a part of him wished she had not come to Troy or waited until after one of Menelaus's many other enemies killed him he doubted it would have taken very long. He watched a Paris began to get weaker and fall to the ground, "Get up" he whispered, then he had to stop himself from drawing his own sword as Menelaus knocked Paris's sword from his hand, the end of the fight had come and he knew that Menelaus would not hesitate to kill his unarmed brother. Suddenly Paris was moving towards him, crawling, the Prince in Hector wanted to yell at his brother to crawl back and fight, but the big brother in him moved forward with a look of determination on his face as his brother gripped his ankles, He remembered his brother's words, "Do you love me brother? Would you defend me against any enemy?" Hector knew that he would, until his death he would defend his little brother. He did not move as Menelaus came towards them but he was ready, he was ready to kill the King of Sparta.
"Is this what you left me for?" Menelaus shouted to Helen, she felt the tears in her eyes, Paris was a good man and he was strong and sensitive, no matter what the King of Sparta said she was proud of him and of the life they would have. King Priam was beside her, urging Paris to get up and fight him.
"The fight is over." Hector said sternly.
Menelaus yelled, "The fight is not over! Stand aside Prince Hector or I shall kill him at your feet!"
"He is my brother!" Hector shouted, he waited until the right moment and pulled his own sword and plunged it into Menelaus.
Nearby Agamemnon shouted that it was time to battle, Hector grabbed Paris and pulled him to his feet as the Greek army began closing in.
Paris was ashamed, he grabbed his father's sword and hurried back to his brother who was waiting with his horse, "Come! Into the gates!" The two princes hurried to the gates to get Paris safely inside while their army closed in around them for protection.
"Archers!" Hector yelled, he didn't think of his family, he couldn't afford to, all he could think about was stopping the Greek army with as little lives lost as possible.
As the battle raged, Paris watched from the wall with his family, Helen was holding him and cleaning his cuts. He wished that he was as strong and brave as his brother. He saw Hector take on the large Greek, his brother truly was a magnificent warrior. He saw the relief in Andromache's eyes when Hector defeated him, he wondered if she was disappointed in him, they had not spoken much since his return from Sparta, once they had been great friends.
The battle ended in the Greeks retreating back to their camp near the sea, Hector hoped they would leave now with Menelaus dead, but he knew that Agamemnon cared nothing about Paris having taken Helen, all he wanted was Troy.
His army took relief in going back into the safety of the walls, they had won this battle. Andromache was waiting for him on the stairs, "My love! I saw you fighting that man! What were you thinking? He was so much bigger than you!"
"Yes, but I defeated him, and the Greeks have retreated back to their camps right now all is alright."
"Was Achilles out there today?" She had never seen the man so she did not know what he looked like.
Hector held her in his arms a while longer, "No my love, he was not out there today."
"I had hoped he was that big guy you killed." She was terrified of this war, many times Hector went into battle and she was afraid, but this time here on their homeland chills went up her spine as she thought of his fighting, especially fighting someone like this man Achilles. His cousin Briseis had been missing since the Greeks had destroyed the temple of Apollo and she knew that everyone was filled with grief at the thought of what she must have suffered in the hands of the Greeks.
She held his hand as they went to meet with his father, his father told him how proud he was of the way he had fought back the Greek army. As Andromache went to take care of Asyntax, Hector looked around for Paris he saw him sitting on a bench outside, "Please excuse me father."
"Paris?" Hector sat beside him, he knew that Paris must have felt ashamed by what had happened out there, all his life he had been taught to take pride in strength and ignore the fears.
Paris could not look at his brother, "I am sorry." He whispered, he wondered how his brother could even stand to sit near him.
"Paris, just challenging a man like that is very courageous. Brother, you have never been an expert with a sword or in hand to hand combat but you are a master as an archer." Hector said with a smile.
"Archery is more a woman's skill, you even said so." Hector sighed, his brother was reminding him of the days of their childhood.
"Paris, after all this time we have known each other you still take my kidding so seriously. What would if have done without our archers today? Sure we might have still pushed them back, but Agamemnon was foolish, he brought his troops right into the range of our archers."
That night at the Greek camp, Briseis was terrified, Agamemnon had just handed her off to a bunch of ruffians, she closed her eyes as they began their torture. Then Achilles was there, and she was lifted into his arms.
He placed her on the bed in his tent, ever since laying eyes on her he could not get her out of his mind. He had been furious when Agamemnon had taken her from him.
"You were brave to fight them. You have courage." Achilles told her, he smiled when she snapped back at him, "To fight back when I'm attacked? A dog has that kind of courage."
He knew that she was frightened of him and for some reason the knowledge of that bothered him, "You do not have to be afraid of me, you are the only Trojan that can say that."
He fell asleep next to her and when he awoke he felt the blade against his throat, "Do it." He told her with his eyes still closed. "Nothing is easier. Do it."
"Aren't you afraid?" She asked him softly.
"Everyone dies, whether today or fifty years from now. What does it matter?"
"You'll kill more men if I don't kill you."
"Many." He knew that she would not do it no matter how much she wanted to, with the blade against his throat he kissed her, and he was thrilled when she parted her lips for him to deepen the kiss.
In Troy after he was stitched up Paris decided to speak to Andromache, he felt that she was upset with him because of his bringing Helen to Troy and then for today, because once again he had ran to his brother for help.
He found her in the gardens singing softly to her young son, "Andromache?" When she looked at him he saw the tears in her eyes.
"Yes Paris? Does Hector want to see me?" Andromache loved her husband's brother, after the death of her own brothers she had willingly adopted Paris as a little brother.
"No…he did not send me to get you, may I sit?" She nodded and slid over to let him have more room. "Sister…are you angry with me?"
Hector had been coming to find his wife himself when he heard Paris's question and decided it was better to listen and wait, his wife and brother needed this talk.
"Paris…do you know who's fighting in this war for the Greeks?" She asked him, she was not angry with him but she needed for him to understand why she was so fearful of this war.
He shook his head, "Achilles, you remember what he did to my family? He killed them, my father, and my brothers, everyone that I loved back in Thebes. Aside from Hector he said to be the greatest of all warriors, and as wonderful a fighter your brother is how do I know Achilles is not better than he is? You…you are a wonderful young man and you have certainly grown into a man in the years that I have been married to your brother, and I do love you very much like you were my own brother, but if Hector dies in this war what will become of me, of mine and Hectors child, of Troy? You are a strong, loving, wonderful man but you are not ready to rule a kingdom and manage an army, all the while taking care of a new wife. And I…I can't imagine life without my husband because I love him and truly there is nothing I would not do to protect him, nothing Paris. It is true that I was not fond of your bringing Helen here, mainly because of this war and what it means, but I have been the two of you and I know that you truly love one another. So while I cannot condone stealing another man's wife, I have grown to like her and to admire her courage."
Paris did not know what to say, he had never known that his brother's wife lived with that kind of fear, "I…I wish I could say I was sorry, but that would not be the truth, I mean…I am sorry about your family but I cannot be sorry that I brought Helen here…although I wish I had thought of someway that Helen and I could have been together without this war."
"Hector is right, Agamemnon would have come sooner or later I only wish it had been later, but don't worry…we shall get through this as a family.
up next! Patroclus dies by Hector's sword, yet Hector does not fight Achilles
A/N I hope that people are reading and enjoying my story!