Why him?/Achilles

chapter five

"What did we do? What did we do?"

King Priam keeps pacing back and forth, pulling on his hair and trying hard not to scream. No one dares approach him or talk to him. The King is in despair.

"We shouldn't have let her go. It's like we sent her straight to the wolves. My precious little girl.. what will they do to her?" He sits down for a minute and places his head in his hands.

"Father, we're going to get her back. We could attack the Greeks sometime when they don't expect it. We could send spies, we could-"

"No!" King Priam rudely interrupts Hector. "The two best fighters of Troy are defeated, Hector. You can barely walk and Amelia has been taken away from us. She's probably already dead!"

Suddenly he stops and turns to Paris, who's lying on the floor barely conscious as the doctors take care of his many injuries.

"You!" He points a shaky finger at him and approaches him threateningly. "What the hell were you even thinking, challenging Menelaus to a duel? A duel? Really, Paris? You're afraid of your freaking shadow and you thought you could win against an experienced warrior? Look what you've done now! My girl Amelia will be tortured and then killed because of you, Paris. I wish I had stopped her and let King Menelaus kill you instead.."

Everyone freezes at that, a heavy and deafening silence falling upon the whole palace. The whole city of Troy, actually. It's as if everyone sensed what King Priam just said.

Paris tries to hide the hurt and betrayal on his bloody face and gulps. "You're right, Father. I should've died out there. Amelia is-"

"Can we stop talking about her? " Hector suddenly screams, causing everyone to snap their heads to him. Andromache softly touches his shoulder but he hastily pushes her hand away.

"What's done is done! But I am not letting my little sister suffer in their hands. I am going to save her, whatever it takes. Even if I have to turn the whole world upside down. My Amelia will be saved."

And he runs.

"So, are we all here?"

Agamemnon's voice echoes throughout the big camp and I look around me in intimacy as every single Greek king is present inside here. I am surrounded by Troy's biggest enemies. And everyone is looking at me with their nasty, perverted eyes ready to devour me with just a nod from King Agamemnon.

I gulp and look down at my tied-up hands on my lap. The two soldiers who brought me here haven't left my side, continuously looking over me in case I try to escape.

"So," Agamemnon speaks up again from the front of the camp. "Since everyone is here, it's time for the surprise to come." He nods at the two soldiers whom forcefully grab my shoulders and push me down on the floor in front of the King's legs. They are going to embarrass me in front of everyone. Disrespect me. Harass me.

"As you can see, gentlemen, the middle child of king Priam and famous princess of Troy, Amelia, is here with us today. She sacrificed her life to save her little brother's earlier during the duel. How heroic and poetic of her, huh? She thinks playing it a dirty little brave girl will get her somewhere!" He angirly shouts his last sentence, strongly kicking my left side. I gasp and curl into a ball as he kicks me for the second time.

"To be honest you haven't been a good girl, princess Amelia, and you've caused a lot of trouble for Greece. That's why you should be severely punished." He turns back to his men. "What do you say, gentlemen? Should we go easy on her, or be harsh just like she deserves?"

"HARSH!" Everyone replies in unison and I feel a strong punch on the back of my head, causing me to start coughing blood.

"We may not have democracy, princess Amelia, but I'm afraid I'll have to follow the majority. So.. who's the harshest between us?"