Unforeseen

"Is it true what they say?" Briseis asked taking a grape from the tray of fruit she and Achilles shared.



Achilles watched her with interest as she feasted herself. "What is that?" he asked in wonder.



She shifted to her stomach and nibbled on her grape, "That your mother is a goddess."



Achilles chuckled and took a strawberry from the platter and examined it. "She is a goddess to me, " he answered cryptically.



Briseis could tell by the way he spoke and the look in his eyes that he loved his mother very much. "What is she like?" she asked eagerly. She wanted to know the woman that raised the man before her. Granted he was a killer, but he had a heart of gold as far as she was concerned. "Who is the woman behind the man?" she narrowed her eyes at him.



He looked at her from hooded eyes and put the strawberry back on the platter. "Her name is Thetis…people say she is a goddess because her only son seems to be immortal, unkillable. What she really is…is a prophet."



"A prophet?" she asked interested.



He put a strand of hair behind his ear and leaned on his palm. "She sees things for what they could be, from a different perspective. Everyone has a destiny but there are many possible paths for one person, " he explained.



"And what does she say your destiny is?" she inquired mimicking his own posture.



He stared off into space for a moment, "That my glory walks hand and hand with my doom. That if I came to Troy…I would never see home or her ever again."



"And what if you stayed home?" she asked lightly.



He took a deep breath, "I would find a woman that would take my heart, have my children…be my glory. My children and their children would love me and remember me." He paused. "But after my children and their children were gone…I would be forgotten."



"Is being remembered really that important to you?" she asked softly.



"Yes, " he stated plainly.



"I find it hard to believe that anyone could forget you, " she whispered.



He met her eyes and they stared at one another. She wanted to hide under the blanket beneath her when he looked at her like that. Just by looking at her he could make her tingle in places only lovers should know about.



"What about you? What is your place in the royal family?" he inquired lightly.



She sat up into an Indian style position and took a strawberry from the platter. "I'm the Lady Briseis, niece to King Priam and cousin to Prince Hector and Prince Paris, " she stated formally. "My parents died when I was young and the King took me into his home where I was raised with Hector and Paris."

Hector is her cousin he thought. When he met her he knew she was royalty. He just didn't know in what capacity. More specifically, what the King and Hector were to her. "Hector…what is he like?" he asked curiously.



"He's a good man, " she started. "He loves his country, his wife and his family. He's more of a brother than a cousin. Since we were children he has been protective of me. Up until my eighteenth birthday I always had armed guards with me when I wasn't in the palace." She took a bite of her strawberry. "They probably think I was killed when you stormed the beach."



He looked away unable to bare the sad expression upon her face. He didn't want to let her go, but knew that if she were to be happy he would have to return her home. Troy was her home and she would not be happy elsewhere. Just as he would not be happy anywhere but Laryssa. He sat up and rested his elbows on his knees and a piece of fruit from the platter. "You're royalty," he stated obviously. "Why did you choose to be a virgin priestess?" he asked curiously.



The question caught her off guard. She looked ashamed for a moment then cleared her throat, "I wanted no part in the politics of being a member of the royal family." She took another bite of her strawberry. "Not that my uncle would force me…I didn't want to be part of an arranged marriage."

"You were born into privilege, " he noted calmly, not wanting to upset her. "That is what royalty does."

She shrugged nonchalantly, \idn\idn't want to be married to someone who wouldn't give me a second glance unless he wanted pleasure or children to succeed his bloodline." She examined the piece of fruit in her hand. "I want to have a marriage like Hector and Andromache…everything is so perfect for them. They have a good connection. A wonderful son and they love each other more than life itself." She finished the strawberry and sighed. "I wanted to escape that fate and in a sense who I was. I wanted to be seen for who I was not what I was to the man I would be with for the rest of my life."



He took a bite of his own fruit, "But you were still hiding…from yourself."



"What do you mean?" she asked fidgeting with her fingers.



"You tried to hide behind your God, " he stated. "You tried to be something you truly didn't want to be."



"And what do I want to be?" she asked for spite before she realized it.



He waved his hand in acknowledgment, "You became a priestess for the wrong reasons. Not that you don't love your God, but you were just trading one situation for another. Either way, you were still serving someone…and not yourself. Like all women you want to be worshiped and cared for…and give the same care in return. But you found yourself in a perplexing situation. In order to give such a gift you had to give it to someone you didn't want too."



He really isn't a dumb brute she thought helplessly. "It doesn't matter now anyway, " she sighed. She looked at the discarded robe across from her. "I can longer be a priestess to Apollo."



He shifted his eyes to the same robe then back to her. "Do you regret it?" he inquired, afraid of her answer.



She quickly looked at him and shook her head slowly, "No…"



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"There must be something we can do!" Paris insisted as he paced in front of his father and brother.



"Paris, my son please calm down, " Priam coaxed.



"We can't just sit here and do nothing!" Paris yelled.



"And what do you suggest we do Paris, " Hector said calmly from the window. He turned and faced his brother. "I want her back safe and sound just as badly as you but she is in a camp of fifty thousand men. It's not like we can sneak in and take her back. We don't even know where she is in the camp."

Paris approached his brother swiftly. "The Gods only know what they are doing to her as we speak Hector. Are you willing to leave her in their presence a moment longer?" he begged insistently. "Make a packed with them." He suggested hopefully.



"What? Briseis for Troy?" Hector spat defeated.



Paris looked away and closed his eyes.



"Besides, something isn't right, " Hector voiced aloud.



Priam raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"



Hector licked his lips and looked at his father. "If Briseis had been taken captive…then why didn't Agamemnon mention it?"



"Because he didn't want us to know, " Paris answered bluntly.



Hector shook his head, "No, if Agamemnon had her knowing she was a member of the royal family then he would rub it in our faces. He would have shown her to us."



Priam seemed in thought for a moment then looked to his son. "Are you suggesting that someone tak taken her secretly?" he suggested hopefully. "Who?"



Hector couldn't put his finger on it but he knew that Briseis and Achilles were connected somehow. Achilles had not fought in the last battle for reasons unknown, but it was obvious that he and Agamemnon were at odd ends. Achilles served no master other than his own ambitions. "I think Achilles may have her." He took a few steps closer to his father. "She was in the temple when Achilles and his Myrmidons stormed the beach. They must have taken her during the battle." He paused to gather his thoughts. "If she is with Achilles…we might have a chance at getting her back."



Priam looked at Hector questionably.



Hector held up his hands as if to say hold on. "Achilles is a lone wolf, other than his Myrmidons he has no allegiance with anyone. If I can speak with Achilles alone…I may be able to barter Briseis back, " Hector offered.



"He will want you dead Hector!" Paris blasted. "The man only fights for glory. To kill you will be the greatest glory of all!"



Hector shook his head, "Achilles will not kill me without a fair fight…I know his kind."



"But he will want to kill you regardless, " Paris insisted angrily.



Hector ignored his frantic brother and kneeled before his father. "Father, this is why I insist we do not attack. If we attack…we may never get Briseis back," he begged quietly.



Priam sighed with regret, "We do not even know if she is still alive. To delay attack now could mean our own demise as well." He took Hector's face into his hands and kissed him on the forehead. "I am just as heartbroken as you my son…but it is a risk I cannot take."



Hector clenched his jaw and quickly stood walking out of the thrown room.



"Forgive me Apollo…" Priam prayed quietly.



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Briseis stood alone in Achilles' tent bathing herself in the water basin. It felt good to clean the dirt and grime from her battered body. She examined herself as she ran the cloth over her cuts and bruises and wanted to cry. The sight of her body was disturbing to the eye. She bruised easily and it showed. No matter how hard she tried to erase the memory of the soldiers hands all over her she couldn't get the icky feeling gone. The only thought that gave her comfort was that none of the men were allowed to take her. Achilles had made sure of that. What she didn’t understand is why he had taken such an interest in her? What was it about her that made him feel vulnerable?



"Are you alright?" Achilles asked quietly from behind her at the opening of the tent.



She gasped and looked over her shoulder at him. "You scared me, " she chuckled timidly then turned away from his piercing gaze.



He smiled calmly and took a few steps closer to her. He could tell she was trying to clean her back and was having a hard time at it. "Would you like for me to get your back?" he asked a respectable distance from her.



She looked at him over her shoulder again and bit her lip. "If you don't mind, " she handed him the cloth and turned away. She reached back and pulled her hair over her right shoulder to give him better access and closed her eyes. She heard him dip the cloth into the basin and ring it out and tensed when he touched the cloth to her back.



"Tell me if I hurt you, " he told her then began to clean the dirt from her back. He tried to be gentle but it was obvious she hadn't been bathed in days. It was hard to tell between the dirt and bruises. He clenched his jaw to keep him temper from flaring. Agamemnon's soldiers had done a number on her and he wished he had killed all of them when he had the chance.



"Thank you, " she voiced quietly over her shoulder. "I am truly grateful for all that you have done."

He finished with her back and placed the cloth back into the basin and turned her to face him. She immediately met his eyes and began to drown in them. His hands framed her face and caressed her caringly. "You are truly an amazing woman Briseis, " he admitted quietly. "I wish we would have met under different circumstances."



Her heart sank at his confessing words and she molded her hands around his. "I know, " she nodded tiredly. It was now after dark and she was exhausted, which was strange. The only physical thing she had done all day was take a long walk down the beach. Achilles was curious about the land they had invaded and she gave him a tour so do speak.



"You look tired, " he noticed examining the features on her healing face. The gash above her eyebrow was healed and the cut on her lip was almost gone. "Come…lie down." He took her hand and led her to the makeshift bed.



She didn't want to sleep she wanted to crawl into his arms and relish in the feeling of comfort he always seemed to invoke in her. She crawled into the bed and settled into the furs and watched him as he stripped his armor off.



Dear Apollo he is beautiful…



He stripped fully nude and blew out all the light in the tent and joined her making himself comfortable facing her. "Are you feeling better?" he asked in the darkness.



She smiled contently, "Much better thank you."



They lay in silence for a long time petting and caressing one another. Content to just be with the other.



"Am I still your captive?" she whispered curiously as he caressed her back gently. She wanted to know what she was to him.



He waited a moment before he answered. "You are my guest, " he clarified.



But would you let me go if I wanted to go she wondered. "In Troy guests are allowed to leave when they wish, " she pressed softly.



"You can do what you wish?" he countered softly.



"Would you leave this war behind you?" she asked avoiding his answer to hers.



He considered the question for a moment. "Would you leave Troy?" he asked curiously.



Yes…as long as I am with you Achilles…yes…



They fell into another long silence and fell into a deep slumber.



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This was more of a missing scene chapter from the movie. What I thought happened during the day that Achilles and Briseis spent together. Please read and review!