Let The Games Begin.

To The Bitter End

At the same time, Marcellus and Ajax both whisper, "WHAT?!"

Casting them a curt glance, a silent signal to be quiet, I look back towards my mother. She's just as shocked as they both are, but when my gaze meets hers, she collects herself and squares her shoulders. 

     "You may choose your personal guard from the hoplites in this room," I say, sitting back onto the throne, crossing my legs at the knees. 

     "Hmph-" my mother says, glancing from me to Achilles, who is still standing behind me. Sweeping her eyes around the room, I watch her take silent inventory of all the people in the room. "There are currently fifteen hoplites in here. I shall take them all."

I nod, motioning for them gather on her side of the room. Quietly, they shuffle over to her, gathering in a small mass. "I said ALL of them-" she echos.

     "That is all-" I pause, my eyes widening. Trying to ignore the sudden knot in my stomach, I slowly turn and look up at Achilles, who is staring into the room beyond. A muscle feathers in his jaw before his gaze shifts down to me. I swallow and turn back in my seat, clenching the arm rests of the thrones with a white knuckle grip. "So bet it." I mutter through a clenched jaw. 

As Achilles steps forward, I raise my fingers from the throne enough to graze his arm as he passes by. Pausing for a split second, he decides to keep walking and comes to stand beside my mother.

I knew she would take every good thing from me. Glancing away, I avoid the concerned gazes coming from Ajax and Marcellus. 

     "Anything...else?" The senior magistrate questions. My mother says no, causing him to turn his attention to me. "Are you sure you are satisfied with this punishment, Princess Integra?"

Clenching my jaw, I drop my gaze into my lap and then up at the magistrate. "There is no more I wish to discuss. Take this wench out of my presence immediately." I command, collapsing back into the throne. Several moments later, the room is void of all hoplites and my mother. Leaving only the magistrates, Marcellus, Ajax and myself. Sighing out a ragged breath, I will myself not to burst into tears. Running my hands down the length of my thighs, I stand, swaying a little, and descend the dais, keeping my composure until I reach the hall entrance. Choking out a bitter sob, I dart into my room, shoving the door closed behind me. I'm sure the magistrates weren't done but I trust Ajax to handle any other business.

Barely making to the edge of my bed, I nearly collapse onto the floor. Gathering myself, I skirt the edge of the bed and plop onto the bench near the window. Not only have a I lost my mother, who is now a constant threat to my existence, I gained a kingdom I didn't want and have had the only person I thought I could have loved ripped away from me. Dissolving into a bitter, crying mess, I watch as my mother's' possessions are loaded onto pack-mules and lined up, the band of hoplites falling into place at the rear. 

At the front of the brigade appears a hoplite in brilliantly shining armor on a impossibly white horse. Achilles. My heart aches at the thought of his departure. Wiping the  tears from my face, I give a half-hearted wave when he glances up at my window. All I get in exchange is a curt nod. Anything more might have broken my heart in two. 

Folding my arms, I lay my head against them, gasping when the tiara slips out of my hair and tumbles to the ground below. Peering down at it in the dirt, I sigh and rest my head back against my arms. Curse it all. Whoever finds the tiara can keep it. I know it's wrong to allow myself to feel this way about Achilles, especially after what little time we've spent together, but I know what I feel is real. Some would say I'm crying out of sadness. I'm not. I'm not sad. I'm angry. Bitter. 

With a hearty shout, I'm pulled from my thoughts as the band of people begin to move to the left, around the side of the palace. I stay there, in the widow, until the last set of horses rounds the corner. For a long while, I simply watch the clouds roll by. Thinking back to when I fled to Alexios' townhouse, I wonder if I had only stopped for supplies and then kept moving if I would have been more successful in my evasion. I'm quite noticeable in a crowd, though. Someone would have turned me in.