My Paper Heart Will Bleed

To say that finding the Greeks on the beach of Troy didn’t terrify me would be a lie. My heart was beating so fast that it was painful as I saw a group of men coming towards the temple. Running was the only reasonable thing to do, turning around quickly, I began to run through the temple searching for my friend.
“Astra,” I heard Sophia yell out as I ran past the statue of Ares and towards her.

“Quick, we need to hurry,” I exclaimed as I took her hand in mine and began to run faster, hearing voices of the men, we quickly hid ourselves behind the long curtains, trying not to shake as the fear began to overcome us. I heard laughter as the men approached our hiding place, making me shake and feel sick. Sophia took hold of my hand as I prayed to Artemis for protection against whatever these men had planned for us.

The curtain was pulled back and with a sharp reflex, I threw my arms out, pushing the man out of the way and pulling Sophia in the direction of the exit. I could hear the grunting from the man as he ran for us, reaching for us as I pushed Sophia through the doorway.

“Run,” I screamed as I was caught around the waist and pulled back into a hard chest. I struggled against my captors arms. “Let me go,” I yelled as I heard his chuckles as I was held against his chest.

“What would be the fun in that?” he asked, his voice was deep, I swallowed hard as fear began to shake my body causing him to laugh louder as I heard other men coming our way.

“Please,” I begged as I saw the other men step through the door, the last through caught my eye and captivated me as I struggled to free myself.

“Eudorus, who do we have here?” one man asked, he stepped forward, his hair was blonde and hung in his face as he approached me. I sunk back against Eudorus.

“I found her here, with another woman,” he answered as he tightened his grip on me.

“What’s you name?” the last man asked as he stepped in front of the men and looked at me closely.

“Astra,” I whispered as I looked at him, she smiled, a genuine smile as he took my hand in his own.

“I’m Jace, and you can let her go now,” he stated as the arms of Eudorus fell from my waist, so quickly that I lost balance and began to fall forward, only to land in Jace’s arms. He held me tightly as I tried to stand only to be shocked when I heard a loud scream from outside the temple.

“Sophia,” I yelled as I ran from the temple to see her on her knees in front of a man, his sword was in his hand as he pointed it at her. “No,” I whimpered as I ran forward, pushing the blade away from Sophia as I pulled her backwards with me. “Stay away from us.” I demanded as I saw his legs move slightly. The other men around us began to laugh quietly as the man gritted his teeth and took a large step towards us.

“Quiet,” he yelled at the men who immediately stopped laughing.

“Agamemnon,” a voice called, catching the mans attention, allowing us to step further back. “They are women, defenceless woman,” the voice carried on.

“Stay out of this Achilles,” Agamemnon shouted at the blonde man who had now stepped forward. Agamemnon quickly turned back to us, his eyes held fury as he took a few quick strides and was soon in front of us. His hands shot out, catching me by the hair and pulling me forward.

“Coward” I exclaimed as the pressure on my hair increased. “King Agamemnon, some king, you are nothing but a coward.”