Status: Updated on random occasions
I Walked With Giants
Bells
I stood there in the shadows waiting, waiting for the excessive formalities to wavier and enable me to take in the reality of the situation. Paris had arrived in the accompany of woman who was obviously foreign to our shores. A woman who reeked of royalty and privilege. There were many explanations which would render the worried feeling in my stomach unnecessary. But if I knew my younger brother, nothing was ever worry free with him. The woman, whose blonde hair shone in the Trojan sunlight, had a sincere smile on her face but there was something underneath that smile, something in her eyes betrayed a feeling of fear and uncertainty
My father greeted her with no hesitation. His greeting to this stranger held much more affection in it than any my father had shown me in a very long time. After a few more minutes of greetings, everyone dissolved into the shadows of the palace away from the eyes of the crowd. My worries melted away, only temporarily, when Hector appeared in front of me. I had almost forgotten how much taller he was than me. I returned his hug with much enthusiasm.
It was I who broke our happy reunion. "Who is she?" I regretted it the moment I said it. All traces of joy, along with the smile, left his face.
"Her name is Helen. She's Menelaus's wife." The last sentence was enough but I didn't have time to inquire more because Andromache had made her presence known and her young son commanded the rest of the Hector's attention.
The next week went by slowly with no word from Sparta or any of Greece. Hector was sure Menelaus would come for Helen with the help of his brother Agamemnon. And if that was true than the city of Troy would have to defend itself against all of Greece. But King Priam was determined to have life continue on unchanged. The only visible difference was the presence of patrolmen on the distant beach and more watchmen were placed on the high wall.
And the continuation of life meant another marriage proposal denied by me. That made three in the past year. I knew I should just accepted one and fall into the role of wife hood as countless other woman have. The men weren't the problem either. They were all highly respectable and kind people. But marriage was not something I wanted, but neither was becoming an Apollonian priestess which was the only acceptable excuse a woman had to be unmarried.
But the petty worries of marriage were pushed from my mind when I head the bells. The sound echoed throughout the city. It was easy to tell from the frantic ringing that a large and immediate danger was approaching. From my window I could see a few, about twenty, white specks crossing the horizon. Each white speck represented a Greek ship, each carrying fifty or so men. I knew that in a few minutes many more small specks would join those in front. The bells continued their fanatic ringing.
When I was younger, I use to pose as a soldier and follow Hector and his men around. It didn't last long because Hector was much smarter than me but he also knew that I would continue to impersonate a soldier no matter what happened. He felt that the only way to protect me was let join him. My only restriction was that I had to follow every order Hector gave, which I gladly accepted. I never saw any combat, due to Hector's restriction, but Hector made certain that I knew how to defend myself. And even through almost every soldier knew about my involvement, my father was ignorant, or at least he acted like it.
I wasn't sure what caused me to take part in these dangerous actions. In every day life, I was clumsy, to say the least. It wasn't uncommon for me to run into doors, knock over vases and trip up the stairs. My hyperactivity and irritability only made things worse. This life of luxury I lived did not make things better either. All the free, down time made me anxious and twitchy. In order to fill my time, I volunteered in the sick bay, but there were only so many sick and injured people to help.
Fighting, and volunteering, allowed me to focus my renegade energy and abilities. While I could hold my own with a sword, archery was my forte. The simplistic task of drawing an arrow and pulling back the bow and releasing seemed to counteract my unbalances. But taking aim at a straw dummy or hitting each other with a wood sword was nothing like hitting an actual person with an actual weapon, as Hector constantly told me. Never had I killed someone or even been in real combat with another person. But none of this came to mind as I rushed out of my room and headed towards the armory.
My father greeted her with no hesitation. His greeting to this stranger held much more affection in it than any my father had shown me in a very long time. After a few more minutes of greetings, everyone dissolved into the shadows of the palace away from the eyes of the crowd. My worries melted away, only temporarily, when Hector appeared in front of me. I had almost forgotten how much taller he was than me. I returned his hug with much enthusiasm.
It was I who broke our happy reunion. "Who is she?" I regretted it the moment I said it. All traces of joy, along with the smile, left his face.
"Her name is Helen. She's Menelaus's wife." The last sentence was enough but I didn't have time to inquire more because Andromache had made her presence known and her young son commanded the rest of the Hector's attention.
The next week went by slowly with no word from Sparta or any of Greece. Hector was sure Menelaus would come for Helen with the help of his brother Agamemnon. And if that was true than the city of Troy would have to defend itself against all of Greece. But King Priam was determined to have life continue on unchanged. The only visible difference was the presence of patrolmen on the distant beach and more watchmen were placed on the high wall.
And the continuation of life meant another marriage proposal denied by me. That made three in the past year. I knew I should just accepted one and fall into the role of wife hood as countless other woman have. The men weren't the problem either. They were all highly respectable and kind people. But marriage was not something I wanted, but neither was becoming an Apollonian priestess which was the only acceptable excuse a woman had to be unmarried.
But the petty worries of marriage were pushed from my mind when I head the bells. The sound echoed throughout the city. It was easy to tell from the frantic ringing that a large and immediate danger was approaching. From my window I could see a few, about twenty, white specks crossing the horizon. Each white speck represented a Greek ship, each carrying fifty or so men. I knew that in a few minutes many more small specks would join those in front. The bells continued their fanatic ringing.
When I was younger, I use to pose as a soldier and follow Hector and his men around. It didn't last long because Hector was much smarter than me but he also knew that I would continue to impersonate a soldier no matter what happened. He felt that the only way to protect me was let join him. My only restriction was that I had to follow every order Hector gave, which I gladly accepted. I never saw any combat, due to Hector's restriction, but Hector made certain that I knew how to defend myself. And even through almost every soldier knew about my involvement, my father was ignorant, or at least he acted like it.
I wasn't sure what caused me to take part in these dangerous actions. In every day life, I was clumsy, to say the least. It wasn't uncommon for me to run into doors, knock over vases and trip up the stairs. My hyperactivity and irritability only made things worse. This life of luxury I lived did not make things better either. All the free, down time made me anxious and twitchy. In order to fill my time, I volunteered in the sick bay, but there were only so many sick and injured people to help.
Fighting, and volunteering, allowed me to focus my renegade energy and abilities. While I could hold my own with a sword, archery was my forte. The simplistic task of drawing an arrow and pulling back the bow and releasing seemed to counteract my unbalances. But taking aim at a straw dummy or hitting each other with a wood sword was nothing like hitting an actual person with an actual weapon, as Hector constantly told me. Never had I killed someone or even been in real combat with another person. But none of this came to mind as I rushed out of my room and headed towards the armory.