Achilles' POV

The soldier I had taken from Prince Hector was fighting back against the Myrmidons and winning; now this was a sight. The soldier moved fast and every move he made was planned and carefully made. The soldier's fighting was almost… graceful. This soldier was an excellent fighter, a little better than my own Myrmidons, actually.

But enough sport, the soldier was going to slaughter my Myrmidons if I did not intervene. I saw my opportunity and caught him. I dug my sword into his throat, just enough to show him who was in charge. I pulled his armoured arm roughly and got Eudorus to bring me some rope and then tied the soldier's arms behind his back. "That was some stunt you pulled. Do you know who I am? Do you know that these are the fiercest warriors in all of Greece?" The soldier did not answer me and that was the last straw.

I turned the soldier around to face me, but then I saw them. I looked the soldier in the eyes and what I saw looking back shocked me: golden eyes. I could not have been!

"Take your helmet off," I commanded, but the soldier shook his head. I had to find out who was in the helmet, so I carefully lifted the helmet off the soldier's head.

I gasped, and so did the Myrmidons, when they saw a young woman instead of a man, but I was only looking at her eyes, her golden eyes. Were her eyes were the sign?

"So, he is a she," I whispered to myself, but then I came to my senses; we had to get to camp. "I do not want you attracting attention when you walk into our camp."

I motioned to Eudorus and, without a word he passed me his cloak. I spoke to the girl and started dressing her up in the cloak. "When we go back to our camp, you have to keep quiet, keep your head down at all times and do not try to escape. I am telling you these things because you will be the only woman on the whole beach and if any man sees you are a woman…well, I hope you understand what I am trying to tell you."

I looked back at the Myrmidons and stared them down. "All of you are sworn to secrecy about this girl. If any of you say anything to anyone or even touches this girl, I shall personally cut off your head." I turned back to the girl and pulled the hood of the cloak over her head. "Walk behind me, but not too close, can you do that?" I saw her eyes flash with annoyance and she nodded.

"Myrmidons back to camp!" I shouted, and we walked back through the temple and down the stairs to the beach. I looked over my shoulder to see that the girl was walking behind me like I told her to, and the Myrmidons flanked out around her, but nothing that would look suspicious.

As we walked along the beach, many soldiers congratulated me and the Myrmidons on an excellent victory. We finally made it back to camp and I was glad that my hut had been set-up—at least a hundred yards away from all the others. I grabbed the girl and pushed her into my hut.

"Sit down, girl," I said, waving to a pile of furs.

I saw looking a bit hesitant, but then she sat down facing away from me. I took off my armour and got a wet cloth and began wiping myself down. I took off my kilt, so now I was completely naked. I turned to look at the young Trojan girl and checked to see if she could resist looking at me…which she did.

"Why do you not turn to look at me? Most girls would do so, but you're different," I said and tied a fresh kilt around my hips. "There; I'm covered now."

I crouched down next to her and I pulled the hood of her cloak back. I was once again astounded by her golden eyes, but why was she not talking?

"Are you mute, or do you just refuse talk to me?" I finally asked.

She turned her head away from me and cringed. "I am mute."

Finally she spoke! She would have had a nice voice if she did not put so much anger into it. "What is your name, girl?"

"I will not tell you my name," she said in a whisper, still looking away from me.

"Fine, I will not tell you mine either," I said, sounding childish.

"I already know who you are; you are Achilles, son of Peleus and Thetis, and you are rumoured to be immortal. Many people believe that you are the best warrior in the entire world."

"Well, well, you do know who I am. But it is not fair that you know who I am, and yet, I do not know who you are," I replied, impressed with what she knew about me.

"Life is not fair, so get used to its disappointments," she said, turning her head away from me.

How dare she insult me! I grabbed her chin and made her face me. Her eyes looked wild.

"You know what? I could have killed you by now, but I did not, do you know why?" I paused and pulled her face closer to mine. "I did not kill you because I felt sorry for you. All I want is for you to answer some of my questions." I let go of her face and I could see her being infuriated.

She took in a deep breath and spoke. "You are an enemy of Troy; I will not comply with any of your wishes. You should not feel sorry for me, soldier."

"Do not think you have to live up to any rules of Troy's army," I told her, sitting across from her.

"That was not a rule of Troy's army; it was my own rule," she said, giving me more cheek.

I sighed. "Listen to me, I am not going to hurt you, but right now you are tempting me to do so. Just at least give me your name?"

"I do not trust you, but fine, my name is Arlina."

"Such a pretty name. Why are you dressed as a soldier, Arlina?" I said, gently.

She looked up at me. "My father would not let fight in the war, so I took matters into my own hands, which at this moment are being burned by rope. Will you untie me…please? There are too many men out there to fight anyway," she said, and I noticed she he rolled her eyes on 'please'.

I nodded and said: "At least you are intelligent enough to know when not to fight."

Then I began untying the rope from her wrists. After I undid the last knot I saw what damage they had done to her skin. The skin that had been affected by the rope was rubbed raw and parts were bleeding.

She held brought her wrists up to her face for inspection. "That did a lot of damage. Do you have anymore questions?"

I got up and retrieved a fresh wash-cloth and water in a basin and sat back next to Arlina. "Give me your hands," I said, but she only looked at me with a suspicious glare. "I am not going to hurt you, I swear to you. If I do, you must never talk to me again. "

She timidly placed her delicate hands in my own. I turned her hand over and gently stroked her palm. Her skin was so soft and warm; behind that gruff personality was a girl.

"This is going to sting," I said, and tenderly dabbed the washcloth on her burning skin. "And, yes, I have some more questions I would like to ask you. Why did your father not let you fight? You are an excellent swordswoman, I must say."

She winced in pain before she spoke. "My father said he would not be able to live with himself if I died."

I let out a small chuckle. "Ah, you are too good a warrior to die, he should not have been worried. My next question is: how old are you? You look a little young, maybe seventeen?"

She clenched her teeth when I began dabbing on a spot that was bleeding. "I am eighteen years old, if you must know."

I looked up into her eyes. "Why was Prince Hector so willing to sacrifice himself for you?"

Arlina frowned at my question. "That I cannot tell you."

"Why?"

"I just cannot! Please, stop asking me," she said with urgency, and quickly snatched back her hands.

"A tender subject, it seems?" I said and placed the washcloth back in the basin, wondering what she could not tell me.