Alexis of Troy (Book I)

ια′ - Enteka

Just like that, the bread turned to ash in my mouth. "Two days? I was out for two days?" I was not expecting that. Sure, maybe a few hours, but two days? I must have been exhausted.

Paris shrugged. "My father said that that sometimes happens when the body is under a lot of stress. You needed that time to heal your humors."

"Humors?" I squished a piece of bread absently. "Oh, right... that."

I remembered learning about them before. There were four in total. All used to indicate illness and a balance in humans. The medical idea that actually started the study into human health. The only ones I could recall off the top of my head were yellow bile and black bile. What modern medicine and science said were anxiety, stress, and exhaustion, in ancient Greece they were considered an imbalance of the humors in some way. They didn't have names for sicknesses, and even though they'd been completely wrong about how things worked, this had been a revolutionary moment for humans in the medical field.

"I think they're all in balance now," I replied carefully, "just a little tired, that's all. And hungry. Where's Chiron?"

"There is plenty of food to go around. Chiron is waiting on the mountain. He is eager for you to meet him."

"I'll go to him once I'm done," I said, staring at my plate. "You know, thank you... for coming for me... you shouldn't have done that." I peeked up at him. "You are a lot different from the person I was led to believe you were, Paris."

Which, of course, was the wrong thing to say. Paris stiffened and looked at me with a trace of suspicion. "And what were you led to believe? The gods? Have they been saying things about me?"

"I-it doesn't matter," I mumbled hastily. "I should go find Chiron."

I set the plate down and scrambled to my feet. Paris grabbed my arm, forcing me around to face him.

"Alexis, are you working for the gods?"

I gaped at him and tried to pull my arm away. "Why on earth would I ever—?"

"You were with Athena," he remarked. "You are protected by the dryads, Chiron, Apollo. And you seem to know things about me. Things you are keeping secret. Tell me what you know."

I finally wrenched my arm free and glared at him. I felt bad for lying, but telling him the truth about everything just felt wrong.

"Paris, I'm definitely not working for the gods. If anything, they're screwing with me too." Royally. "I don't know what happened that night, but what I can tell you is that there are some things about me you wouldn't understand."

Which, of course, was another wrong thing to say. You know the saying, keep your mouth shut? Yeah, I should have followed that one.

"So, enlighten me." Paris crossed his arms. The warmth had dimmed in his eyes, a frosty chill settling over the dying embers. "You suddenly appear, speaking in a weird accent with strange words. You seem to know me, or some version of me, and you bring trouble with you." He tilted his head. "Do you think I'm a fool?"

"No, of course not."

I squeezed my eyes shut as if it would make this conversation disappear. I could just tell him. How easy that would be. But this was too much for even him to understand. A time traveller from the future? Please. If Back to the Future taught me anything, it was that I couldn't say anything. If I did, I'd mess up the whole timeline... even if that timeline was technically a story written by an ancient Greek. I was playing a game that Zeus had cooked up, and I didn't really know all the rules. But I'd found my first clue.

"Look, Paris, it's not that I think you're a fool," I said slowly. "There are just some things that I can't tell you. And I know this is going to sound utterly ridiculous considering this whole conversation. You can trust me. I'm not here to do anything. All I want is to get back to my home and to do that. I need your help."

Paris stared at me for a long, unwavering moment until I couldn't help but shift uncomfortably. The distrust was worse than anything. He knew I was hiding more than I was sharing, but I hoped whatever I gave him would be enough. I still needed to be careful.

"I should go see what Chiron wants," I continued, wrapping my arms around my torso.

A deep, gravelly voice sliced through our conversation, so suddenly, I jumped out of my skin.

"Paris. I need you to help with the sheep."

The shepherd prince glanced behind him and then back at me. The chill was melting, dripping into the warming fire in his eyes. It should have been reassuring, but it wasn't. "I hope that you can tell me everything in due time, Alexis. I'll help you if you help me in return." He glanced over his shoulder again before leaning in closer and dropping his voice to a whisper. "Help me get to Ilios. I want to see the world."

"Of course," I whispered. "That hasn't changed. I'll help you."

With a small smile, Paris ducked out of the room. I wrapped my arms around my waist, staring after him. Then I drew in a long, deep breath and plunged out of the room after him.