I wake suddenly in the night, clinging to the images of peace and happiness of my dreams. Then- just as suddenly- I remember that it wasn't a dream. After the nightmare of nearly ten long years of war, the city is finally free of the Achaeans.
A warm glow from the doorway illuminates empty pallets that are usually crowded with the other servants who share my sleeping quarters. They must still be out enjoying the celebrations. I consider joining them, but there's no taking the day off from tending the wounded, so I roll over and try to go back to sleep.
The more I try to make myself fall asleep, the more active my mind becomes. My thoughts wander to everything I can do now that the war is over. The first chance I'm given a break from the sick room I'll go to the Sea, or maybe the countryside where I lived as a little girl.
Bittersweet memories drift in and out of my thoughts, making my heart ache with loneliness for my mother and father and brother whom the war took from me.
Feeling lonely and restless, I get up to peek outside and realize something is wrong. What my sleep-muffled ears heard as celebrations immediately morph into screams.
Running outside, I'm overwhelmed by the stench of fire and death, of the guttural cries of men being slaughtered punctured by the high-pitched screams of women and children. I scan the bodies strewn in unnatural positions, instinctively looking for someone I can help.
Just as I crouch beside a young man clutching a bloody hand to his gut, a soldier grips my arm and drags me away. I scream and fight against him, but his hold is unrelenting and my own voice is lost in the chaos. I trip over a body and fall to the ground, but the soldier hauls me back to my feet and continues dragging me through the smoke-filled streets.
I stumble along in shock, trying to come to grips with how this can be happening. It's only as we pass the offering to Poseidon, with ropes hanging from a door beneath the great horse's belly, that I realize how we were deceived.
Soon a crowd of soldiers and survivors press in against me, but the Achaean never losses his grip as we all swarm toward the Skaian gate. A line of soldiers wait outside the city to strike down the fleeing survivors, but my captor leads me past them to what I'm certain must be a worse fate.
Where this morning I had an unobstructed view of the sea for the first time since I could remember, the familiar wall of warships have returned. We pass soldiers corralling other captive women into groups, and I'm forced to the ground in a huddle beside the southern border of the Plain, beside the tree line.
As the soldier dumps out and rifles through a sack of trinkets and jewels, I glance around at my companions. A girl opposite me is bound at her wrists and ankles, head bowed and sobbing. The rest stare in a wide-eyed panic, as much in shock as I am. Their acceptance of their fate angers me, suddenly dispelling the fog of confusion and terror which held me paralyzed.
Thrumming with desperation, I decide to take my chances at an escape. The soldier is still greedily sorting-through his bounty, his back to me. I take a deep breath, then bolt to my feet and sprint toward the trees. I hear shouts behind me just as I duck beneath the branches. I crash through the undergrowth, dodging trees and bushes, never sparing a moment to glance behind me.
The slashing of metal against leaves of the soldier in pursuit drives me deeper into the nearly pitch black woods. The earth scrapes against my bare feet until they're throbbing in pain, and my chest feels as though I swallowed a burning coal, but the terror of being caught urges me still faster. Gradually, the stamping and cursing fade then stop all together as I gain distance from my pursuer.
I allow myself to slow and listen, and sense a new threat. I can hear men's voices, but they're coming from ahead of me, deeper within the wood. Petrified and uncertain which direction to run, I slink to the nearest tree and crouch in hiding. The voices grow closer and I try to quiet my ragged breathing but my pounding heart is almost deafening.
The voices fade as the group passes, when suddenly prickles of fear shiver up my neck and I get the feeling that I'm being watched.
I turn slowly, away from the direction of the voices- there! I distinguish a man's silhouette, motionless, between the trees. I gasp and spring to my feet and watch for his reaction, hoping this stranger is my countryman, escaping like me.
He steps toward me and I take a step back, but he stops and raises his hands, motioning me to be still.
For a moment, neither of us move. Only the sounds of my trembling breaths break the stillness.
He takes another cautious step forward and a moonbeam shines on his face, making his eyes glow in the darkness.
Every muscle in my body is poised to run, but his intense gaze holds me transfixed. I stare, panting with fear, as he approaches me.
Suddenly, my head snaps to the right at the sound of the group approaching. Freed from his trance, I spin round and take off at a sprint.
A hand clutches my arm and I let-out a scream, then another clamps over my mouth. I struggle wildly in his grip, my scream stifled by his palm.
"Shh - don't be afraid."
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