Loading...

Wrath

"I will not fight for them", he says, accentuating every syllable. "This is their punishment for dishonouring me. They will have to suffer, so they will know the mistake they have made."

"When will they have been punished enough? When they are all dead?" I have to fight the urge to step away from. He is not much taller than me, not even broader, but his godly aura reminds me of his strength.

"They took my honour away from me and I am simply taking it back", he says through gritted teeth. I am afraid that he will be the first to attack if I do not leave him right now. I am reminded of when we were boys, laughing together and dreaming of when we would be warriors. I would never have been scared of him then. I still do not step back.

"What honour will be left for you after this battle, after our men will have died? Troy will still stand and Helena will still be inside. There will be no stories to tell, no one alive to even tell stories, no honour, no glory!" I did not notice that I started yelling, until I hear the crowd that has gathered behind us. When I look back, they scatter. "And those that do survive, the ones that make it back home, do you think they will praise you? No, they will hate you, they will curse your name for letting their fellow men get slaughtered like pigs! They will hate you!" I pause to take a breath, to stop my hands from shaking with rage, when I see he has taken a step away from me. "And for what?" I continue, more calmly now. "A girl? Honour? Are all these lives really worth less than your honour?"

He is looking at the ground, avoiding my eyes. "I will not fight", he says quietly. "No matter what." His stubbornness had always been a problem, but what used to be an annoying trait of a sweet boy, will now be the death of him. And of a lot of other people too.

"Then at least let your men go. Let me go." A plan occurs to me while I am speaking, the words coming out before I can think them over. "I will go. With your armour. I will go with your armour, so everyone will think I am you. Our men can fight again, the Trojans will flee for just your appearance, and you will not have to do anything. You can save lives by doing nothing. Just let me go."

"No", he answers immediately, not even taking a moment to think about it. "It does not matter whether it is you or me, if they thinks it is me, it will have the same effect. They will think I relented."

"And they will praise you for it! You can tell Agamemnon the truth, if you want, so he will not think you gave up your feud. We can tell all the men the truth tomorrow, even, if that makes you feel better. Right now, it is not about Agamemnon, or about honour, but about lives. Human lives!" I can see his defences cracking. He is about to give in, but I am not done with him yet. There is a rage inside me that has been building ever since this strike of his has begun, or maybe even longer than that, and right now it cannot be contained anymore. "For once, just for once in your life, can you care about anyone other than yourself? Or will you die holding on to grudges no one else cares about?"

"Fine", he snarls. "Fine, you can go." I broke him. He turns around, his hands shaking with what is probably rage, but I hope it is fear. "Call the men. You will leave as soon as possible."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He insisted on helping me put the armour on, even though he clearly does not want to be close to me right now. I let him without complaining, even when he squeezes my arm or pulls the buckles too tight. I can not afford to anger him right now. He does not say a word the whole time, and neither do I.

When everything has been fastened as it should, he picks up the helmet, the most important part of my disguise. Most men would not be able to pick me out of a crowd without looking closely, but Achilles is always recognizable by his beautiful blond hair. If even a hair of my own dark locks would be visible under that helmet, my cover would be shattered and the Trojans would know that whoever it is they are fighting, it is not Achilles. They will fight with more courage when they are not afraid of his godly strength, and, unlike him, I can not take on the entire Trojan army on my own.