Chapter Fourteen...The Top of The World
He was grateful for that. He had brothers, whose wives would demand to watch challenges and the sort. To have the
first bragging rights, for some reason. And it filled his heart that she wasn't that type. Of course, those wives had
married their husbands because of their battle prowess and reputation, not in spite of.
And perhaps it was the way of man to see if reputation was in fact truth, or exaggerated in the telling. Could Hector
turn away an entire army yearning for his blood simply by pulling his sword and glaring across the battle field? Of
course not. Nor could he slay them all single handedly. But there was truth behind them all. And given her feelings
about the roughness and brutal nature ingrained in all soldiers, he would continue to keep her sheltered from that
from him for as long as he could.
It didn't matter if one was from a 'rougher' place like Thebe or a more 'refined' place like Troy, that side was in all
warriors. And he'd be a liar if he denied he too had it. He was just better than most at separating it.
"I will." He said, kissing her softly. "If Podes doesn't find you first!"
She smiled against him, stroking a hand gently through his hair. Loving him. She would, no doubt, if he fought her
brother in any challenge, hear about it from a dozen or more people before he could break away from the others to
find her and tell her what had truly happened. Her sisters alone would elbow each other aside to be the first to tell
her. Poor Podes wouldn't stand a chance against that kind of competition.
And, though it shouldn't, the fact that he'd trained in battle as brutally as her own family, eased her worry.
"Poor Podes." she laughed quietly, looking up at her husband. "If he only had musical talent, he'd beg to be your
own private bard." Teasing she asked: "Can you imagine him in Troy?"
"Maybe he can be Paris' bard. He wants a bard, you know." Hector teased about his own younger brother. Though
the only thing really anyone had to sing about Paris was his...well...way with the women and the way he went through
women. But privately he thought perhaps Troy would be a bit much for the young man. Many times it was a bit much
for grown men.
"But no challenges tonight. At least not from anyone but you." He said with a chuckle. All he had to do was avoid
Athanasios, for he couldn't very well say 'not till the morning.'
"No challenges then." she agreed with a warm smile, brushing her lips lightly against his before she reached over
and pulled aside a hanging wall tapestry to reveal the wooden door concealed behind it. Troy was a maze because
of its size and age. Thebe was designed to be confusing. Andromache slid the latch on the door and pulled it open.
"I can't show you the mountains by moonlight because we're already buried in them." she stated, striking flint to the
lamp that hung near the entrance for that purpose. "But I can show you what the top of the world looks like." She
took his hand again, looking back at him over her shoulder, cast in golden light and shadows from the lantern. Eyes
dark and deep.
"Would you like to see?" she offered the gift like one of the Fates offering a long hidden secret.
"I showed you my world, show me yours." He said, holding her hand as she led him into the dark passage, with only
the lantern shining any light against the walls. Troy had its own share of secret passages and tunnels, but for the
most part they were long ago used and remembered only by those who chose to remember them, like Hector.
Thebe was a labyrinth for tactical reasons, that Hector could recognize, though he agreed with Athanasios that it
would be all over the minute an army got into the walls. The same as Troy. All the secret passages in the world
couldn't save it then.
That all flashed through his trained mind in half a second, then he smiled. "Never seen the top of the world." He'd
fought in mountains, but one could rarely stop and enjoy the view when someone was trying to kill you.
"Its worth seeing by moonlight." Andromache told him, voice soft in the passage. This was one of the oldest tunnels
in Thebe. Her father had shown it to her because he'd been pleased with how well she'd taken to all the others. Even
most of the royal family didn't know about this passage.
The walls of it were smooth and white with age and their footsteps, muffled by rock, stirred small swirls of dust that
settled as soon as they'd passed. Here and there, forgotten doors, most hidden behind secret coverings, whispered
their secrets as they were passed. From time to time specially designed slits let fresh air in to keep the passage
fresh without letting a hint of light or sound out. And then they reached the winding stairs that disappeared upward
into the mountain. Looking back at her husband, Andromache smiled:
"I hope you didn't eat too much for a bit of a climb." she teased.
"Me? Eat too much?" He chuckled back. For the day he retired, he knew he'd quickly turn to fat he ate so much on a
normal day. "Nah, just storing up energy." He looked up the staircase as far as he could see. "And looks like that was
a good idea. When you said you'd help me burn off all that food, this wasn't what I thought you meant!" He teased.
These passages, hidden in the mountains, reminded him of the underground ones in Troy, ones she didn't even
know about. Ones that led out of the city into private places, secure places. Places he hoped he'd never have to
show her, even as the cautious side of him kept those passages workable and the places clean and ready.
She turned her head over her shoulder to look up at him, eyes dancing as she laughed.
"Satyr." she accused happily. Delighted. "There are hot springs I could take you to instead. But we really would have
to bring Podes along to guard the entrance than since everyone knows about those." Easily including nosy sisters
that weren't above eaves dropping and would have already noticed her departure with her husband. Curiosity
outweighed courtesy without a fight in this place.
One of the reasons she was taking him somewhere no one knew about. So he could have a place of peace and
quiet to relax for a bit.
Giving his hand a light tug she started up the stairs again, holding the lantern high so that it cast its golden light both
on the stairs and on the walls that soon began to shift with carvings of the history of Thebe.
Hector made her pause on the stairs at different points. Not because he was out of breath or needed a break, but
because some of the carvings had caught his interest and he wanted better light to look at them.
"Interesting." He would murmur at different points as his long fingers traced different scenarios. "Troy has these,
except everyone knows about them and the priests keep them up." He shrugged at that for a moment then motioned
for her to continue up the staircase.
"I'd like to see them when we go home" Andromache mentioned. And than, because he was interested, she started
explaining the carvings they were passing. Since they were going up the stairs the history was going backward and
without thinking about it she fell into a comfortable storytelling mood. She used to enjoy that. Telling stories to her
younger siblings or heroes and history and winning and losing and lives long gone and long remembered. Usually
the further back in history you went the more fantastic the stories became. But these had been carved as they had
happened and, blunt and bloody and unapologetic, and sometimes humorous, there they were. Carved to remember
what the ruler of the time had found important of note in his life.
The gods were very little referenced in most cases.