Achilles' POV

Arlina and I sat in the hut for what seemed hours, until Eudorus came through the door bearing food.

"My lord," he said, and began setting the food down in front of me and Arlina, and smiled. "My lady."

I nodded to him. "Thank you, Eudorus."

Eudorus merely nodded back to me and Arlina then left.

"He is a good man, your friend Eudorus; I feel he is a man of good nature," Arlina said from the furs she was sitting on.

"Yes, that is why he is second in command of the Myrmidons," I said, and looked at her and sighed; I had to ask her now. "Arlina, are you promised to someone?"

"What? Why do you want to know?" She snapped at me.

I smirked. "Do you want to eat?" I asked, picking up a plate of food and holding it in front of her.

She looked at the food, then at me, and took the food. "No, I am not. Stop asking questions; I do not want you to become too attached to me. When Troy has fended off Greece, I will return to my family and I will never see you again, do you understand?"

I laughed, she was very witty, but I also heard sadness in her voice. "Yes, I understand, Princess, but we have until then," I said to her, eating a piece of meat, she only stared down at her plate and kept quiet.

"Are you afraid of me?" I asked her, after about a few minutes of silence.

She looked up at me with her eyebrows raised. "Why would I be afraid of you? I will admit, though, that I am afraid of what you can do to my family. If it was not for them, I would have killed you by now—"

"You are so sure of that?" I interrupted, smiling.

"Could you not interrupt me and let me finish? I was about to say: 'I would have killed you by now, but if I challenged you, and you won, then you would kill my family'. I am sure I can kill you, but I do not want to take the chance that I cannot," she finished telling me in a huff.

I nodded. "You are smarter than I thought."

She laughed and smiled. "Well, even though I am not sure I can beat you in battle, I at least know I can beat you in intelligence."

"You shall have to meet King Odysseus, then; he is the most intelligent man I have ever met," I smirked, taking a sip of wine.

"Fine, I will meet him," she said, and ferociously bit into the meat and tore it off like a lion. She was wilder than I thought, too.

"And I will arrange that meeting," I said, and copied her previous bite and she smiled at me. "So, what does a princess do all day? I have always wondered how royalty lives."

"You really would like to know?" she smirked, but then shrugged. "Alright. I usually accompany Hector or Paris, sometimes both, to wherever they are needed on official business. Other than that, I spar with Hector, or some other officer who I have coerced into fighting with me, I visit relatives, I swim and do whatever else I need to in order to keep myself from feeling boredom."

"What a life," I said, giving a chuckle.

"Well, what do you do all day, Great Warrior?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Fight, eat, drink, spar with Patroclus, visit my mother, travel—"

"You have not mentioned any women," Arlina interrupted.

"It is easy to forget other women when I am in your presence," I said, smiling, and she blushed in response.

We both ate quietly for a few more minutes and then Arlina sighed and spoke. "You know, this war will be in vain. The Trojans will win and Greece will be slaughtered."

"So sure? Greece has many soldiers—good ones at that, but what has Troy got to offer?" I asked her, guzzling down my last few sips of wine.

"Are you ill? Troy has everything: strong walls, strong men and the best archers in the world! Greece may outnumber us, but, unlike at the command of a foolish king, my father thinks about his men and uses strategy. You cannot beat us! The only way you can win is if you—" she suddenly stopped herself.

I stood up and then sat down beside her. "What were you about to say?" I asked, placing an arm around her.

She looked into my eyes. "No, I cannot say it; it is too horrible to even think about."

I cocked my head. "You can tell me anything that is on your mind. Tell me, what were you about to say?"

Arlina looked at me with determination. "Do not do battle against my father."

I understood what she meant. "I could never do that to you."

She laughed without humour. "Why? Why would you sacrifice your glory for me?"

I looked away from her and opened my mouth to answer, but I did not know myself, but I knew one thing. "Because I care for you."

"You hardly know me, so how could you care for me?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"I feel it," I replied, and when she looked away from me, I raised her chin. "Every time I look into those gorgeous eyes of yours."

"My eyes are not—" she began to say, I pressed my lips to hers and gently kissed her before she could put herself down.

She broke from the kiss, her hands against my chest. I leaned in to kiss her again, and, for every inch that I leaned in to her, she lowered herself down on the furs. I moved her hands so that they were clasped behind my neck and I lowered myself onto her until I felt her breasts against my chest.

"Your eyes are beautiful, just like every other inch of you," I whispered, and kissed her again.

They were only small kisses—and I did not even open my mouth—but they were the best kisses I ever had. It was clear she never kissed a man before and I loved the feeling of being the first man to kiss those soft, warm lips.

"Achilles," she said, softly. "Do not do this to me."

"What?" I asked, giving a small kiss to the corner of her mouth. "Do not love you? It is too late for that, Arlina."

"We have only met today!" she cried, trying to sit up, but I stopped her from doing so.

"My mother is an oracle," I said, quickly, and Arlina became still as she listened to me. "My home is in Larissa. I have fought in over ninety battles since I was sixteen, and the sides I have fought for have been the victors. I have killed countless men and bedded countless women. I have a cousin, Patroclus, whom I am close to and protective of. I enjoy the words of philosophers, and I have my doubts about the gods. I am so weary of battles and wars that are fought without honour that I sometimes think about stopping fighting altogether. I want to find a woman who understands battle, who is intelligent and who will produce strong and intelligent children."

Arlina stared at me for a few moments in silence. "Why have you told me all of this?"

"So that you can know me as myself, not as this soldier. Everything I have told you is true," I said, touching her cheek. "I have told you this so that you cannot say we have only met today, for I have told you everything of my life that would have taken years for you to know."

"I cannot love you," she said, and pushed me off of her with all her strength. She stood up and headed for the door. "Join me, Achilles. I have the urge to swim."

I got up and accompanied her out of the tent. "You are going to swim now? In front of my men?" I asked, the water lapping at my feet.

"I will be wearing my clothes and your men cannot see me in this darkness," Arlina smirked and began walking into the water, and I decided to join her. I took off my leather skirt, leaving me naked, and ran into the water after her.

The water was not warm, but not cold either. I dove under and let myself become fully immersed in the water. Arlina was treading water, her beauty in the moonlight rivalling that of any sea-goddess or nymph.

She swam over to me and I held her waist as we treaded the water. "Achilles, I wanted to tell you that, if this war was not happening and you came to Troy as a normal man, I could have affection for you without any hesitations. You have been kind to me, you have not harmed me in any way and you have confided in me. To do that you must love me, but we do not have the luxury of being on the same sides of this war."

If only I could make her see what she meant to me, to see how deep it would cut me for me to lose her already.

Arli's POV

My need to swim was brought on by a need to get away from the hut to think properly, and, also, the thought that maybe I could at least drown Achilles.

But, as Achilles spoke of the love he felt for me, I felt myself falling under his spell. My heart was trying to get me to reciprocate his love, but my mind could only return to the fact that this man was keeping me captive. There was a deep animal attraction I felt to him, maybe because he was the Great Achilles and he was the first person to kiss me.

I held onto his shoulders while he looked up at me. "Then I will make a deal with your fathers."

I was immediately suspicious. "What kind of deal?"

"I will stop fighting in this war…in exchange for your hand in marriage," he said, but I could not respond, I was too shocked, so he kept on talking. "I will ask your fathers if I can marry you. I know Hector will not say 'yes' easily, so I will tell him I will stop fighting for the Greeks, just to be with you."

I blinked. "What about your glory?"

"I told you before: I care for you. As soon as I saw you, I realised glory could not be achieved in this war with no honour. But there is a need for you, Arlina," Achilles told me gently and leaned forward to kiss me…

But I pushed him back. "So you think that is the way to win me? By asking my fathers? What about how I feel?"

"How do you feel then?" he asked, both interest and annoyance in his voice.

I tsked. "I feel as if you do not know me enough to want to marry me. I feel insulted that you did not ask me if I wanted to marry you."

"But I do know you, Arlina," he said, pulling me closer to him. "I know that you are the most intelligent woman I have ever met. I know that you stay true to who you are; that you are loyal; fierce and graceful in battle; kind; challenging; determined; and that you are beautiful. That is what I know of you and I believe that is more than enough to know for any man."

I was stunned into silence. He meant every word he said and now I was stuck between loyalty to my country and…him. I decided to reply the only way I knew how.

"You may ask my fathers for my hand, but I have yet to accept this," I said, and I knew I was letting him take a step towards my trust. "Achilles, 'Arlina' is not my preferred name. To friends and family, I am simply 'Arli'. You may call me this as well if you wish."

"Yes…Arli. Do you want to go back to shore now?" he asked me and I nodded.

I walked behind him as we made our way back to the sand, and, as I did, I started enjoying my view. His skin was taut, showing the sinews in each and every muscle, and, as I stared, I felt tingles all over my body.

He turned back to look at me and awakened me from my daydreaming. "When we see your fathers tonight, I will ask for your hand."

"That is if they do not take your life first," I muttered, still unsure of whether to accept his proposal.

Achilles chuckled and helped me out of the deep sand. "We should go over to the fire, it's getting cold."

"Yes, that's Troy: hot days and cold nights," I said as I brushed sand off my legs.

Achilles stood up and we walked back over to the fire the Myrmidons had going. Achilles ushered me to a log that a young, blonde man was sitting on and Achilles sat beside me. All of the men were talking and looking at me, but they knew I was Achilles' woman.

And I was, I realised.

Achilles truly loved me and wanted me so terribly that he was willing to stop fighting; the one thing he was renowned and sought after for.

For me.

Achilles looked into the fire with concentration, so I turned to the young man, who was drinking wine, and outstretched my hand. "My name is Arlina."

He turned and shook my hand. "I know who you are; you're the woman who took on the Myrmidons. I'm Patroclus, Achilles' cousin."

"Oh, I see some resemblance," I said. "How old are you?"

"I'm nineteen, and you?"

"Eighteen," I told him, smiling.

"Why were you fighting today? I mean, you're a woman," he said, waving his hands at my body.

"Just because I am a woman does not mean I do not know how to fight. I was taught the art of war by the very best," I said, straightening my back with pride.

Someone called the young man's name and he excused himself from our conversation, while I turned to Achilles.

"I would like to see my fathers now," I said, and became teary eyed. "You promised, Achilles. Or do you go back on your word already?"

"Arli, I would never deny you the chance to see your family. If not seeing them gets you into this state, then we will leave immediately. I do have one condition though," he said and paused to sigh. "They can't keep you there; they can't take you from me, do you understand? You have to come back with me. You belong to me; you are my property."

I nodded and wiped away my last few tears. "Yes, I understand…I belong to you; I am your property."

He looked at me and smiled. "And I belong to you; I am your property."