Not of this Time

Chapter 21

Diana's POV

It was already dark outside when all the sudden an overwhelming feeling of fear hit me. Standing from my bed I walked to the balcony and looked over the city. It wasn't late, though I had denied the request to join the royal family at dinner claiming I was not well which was true. Since I had apparently returned from the land of the dead I had grown tired an nauseous. Something I was not use to at all. Smells I use to love would now make me sick the instant I smelled them. As I watched the people in the city I could see mothers and their children returning to their homes to put their children to sleep. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Closing my eyes and sighing I began to believe it was just my imagination again.

"Are you well?" I hear Paris call out to me.

"Just having a bit of trouble with my stomach, it should pass once I get a good night's sleep." I say and I'm not sure who I am trying to convince more, myself of Paris.

"You plan to sleep on the balcony?" Paris questions as he walked up to me and barely touches my arm. "If you need rest then please go to bed, I will tell Hector to allow no one to disturb you."

Just as Paris finishes his words we hear the doors to my room open again. Somehow Paris was always very good at making sure he came in silently. Hector on the other hand wasn't as good as his little brother. Walking up to us I close my eyes again as another wave of nausea hits me. Paris begins to explain to Hector why I wasn't at dinner. Hector takes my hand and begins to lead me to the bed, proving that I don't really have another choice.

"You need to rest, we don't want the gods taking you from us again." Hector states as I lay down on the bed. "If you are not better by morning I will call for the healer."

Nodding in agreement I try to relax my body yet it still seems to be on edge about something. Hector stands from sitting beside me on the bed and walks bac over to Paris and I can hear them whispering but can't make out what they are saying. Only a few words are what I am able to make out. They don't sound good either.

"Poison...baby...Achilles..."

Hector and Paris were in my room for a long time thinking that I was asleep by now. After what seemed to be hours they both left the room. My eyes automatically opened. Those three words scared the heck out of me. Had someone really poisoned me and now I was going to die? Before I had time to think about anything else though I could hear guards calling out to one another. Jumping up from my bed and avoiding my sick feeling, I run back to the balcony and the sight before me scares the heck out of me. There on the other side of the gates of Troy stands the famous wooden horse. The one Achilles and many other Greek warriors hid inside in order to gain entry into Troy by disguising themselves in the horse. My heart froze. It was happening, right before my very eyes. Turning on my heel I quickly ran from my room in order to try and find Hector or Paris to tell them not to let that horse inside the city though I feared I would be too late.

Achilles POV

Sitting inside this godforsaken horse has nearly drove the men, including myself, to madness. We want nothing more than Trojan blood across our swords. Agamemnon didn't just want Helen back, he wanted to take Troy and make an example of them. Something his brother and our armies were more than willing to do. Looking back to Patroclus I could see him sleeping with Meg in his arms just as the horse arrived at the gates of the city.

The sight made me think back to Diana and the times we were once together like that. Never again would that happen for she was no longer in this world but a place I could no longer reach her. Maybe one day I will join her in the land where the living do not dwell but until then I would kill any Trojan that dared to come near me, all but the one I swore to her I would not kill. Hector I would leave for Patroclus. Stopping at the gates it wasn't hard to tell the men were restless. Though they still needed to keep silent so that our gift maybe taken inside of the city.

We all could hear the guards yelling to one another but we knew that unless given permission by one of the royal family that the gates to the city would not be opened.

"We're here?" Meg asks as she rubbed her eyes clearly just waking up.

"Yes but keep silent, they cannot know we are in here, if they know it's a trap then we are as good as dead." I warn her in a whisper.

Meg put her hand over her mouth and nodded as Patroclus kneeled beside me. Meg knew that she would be left in the horse as we went to kill. Patroclus and her had already had that discussion the whole way here. Argument after argument. Looking forward through one of the cracks in the horse I managed to see up to the walls of the gate and could see what looked to be Hector, the King and Paris looking down at our little gift with confusion. Rolling my eyes I wished they would just go on and let us in so I could finish my task and be done. However I didn't expect to see another royal, one dressed in a long white dress with a veil covering the back of her head all the way down to the small of her back running to them and pleading with them.

"Who is the new princess?" I heard one of the men ask Agamemnon.

Looking to Agamemnon because I wanted to know the answer myself we were all surprised to hear that not only did he have no idea who she was, but no on in this godforsaken horse had ever seen her let alone heard of her. Back to looking out the crack I tried to squint my eyes to get a better look at her but it seemed as though she kept her face hidden. Hector held her close and it looked like he was trying to re assure her as he began to lead her away from the group. Paris followed shortly after and then the King giving no word to the guard, at least not yet.

"Whoever she is, she may have just cost us our victory. When we get inside the man to bring me her head will win as much gold as they can carry." Agamemnon swore quietly.

The men all seemed to smile at the same time, they now had a target and once they got inside I felt sorry for the woman they were going to hunt down but she wasn't my problem. Paris and Hector were and I would make sure that at least Paris died by my hand.

Finally after hours of waiting the gates finally opened and slowly we were pulled inside of the city. The men stayed still as we all were in the center of the horse just waiting for our moment to strike. The Trojans wouldn't know what hit them and they wouldn't be able to fight back thanks to our element of surprise. We didn't know how many men it took to pull our gift inside but once it finally stopped it looked like the guards tried to check the horse and failed to find us. Sealing not only their death but the death of the royal family of troy as well.