Chapter Six...Off To War (continued)
The gates swung open and Priam stood at the top of the palace stairs, smiling and shaking his head. His son had
foiled him again, with his plans for celebration. There was far too much to celebrate to allow a modest prince to
deny Priam of his celebration though. He'd get his son the next time, even if he had to send a spy to warn him of
his impending return.
Much in the way he had organized a parade when Hector had returned with his betrothed. He never had a doubt
his son would accomplish his goal, and the couple had been greeted with fanfare as soon as they stepped through
the gates. He saw Andromache race towards the palace stairs and nodded at her with a smile. "I told you he would
return. My son has yet to be defeated." He said proudly, knowing Hector was twice the soldier he had been. Yes,
Troy would be in good hands when he crossed into the Underworld whenever he was called to take that journey.
The riders rode through the gates, which shut behind them. Hector could see his father and he saluted the king
with a wry smile, it was almost a game, to see how many state occasions and parades he could avoid.
"Your helmet, my prince." Glaucus said, gesturing to the helmet which had a large deep dent in it. Had Hector not
been wearing it, he would not be on horseback right now. He'd be on a canvas behind a horse, most likely missing
a good part of his head.
"Right." Hector said, forgetting about it and what it showed. Good thing Glaucus was paying attention, even if he
was amused by the whole thing. He took off his helmet and handed it to a member of the armor guard as he got off
his horse at the foot of the palace stairs. He looked up them as he climbed them and saw his father, of course, and
then saw his wife and took the stairs two at a time, sometimes three, almost forgetting to greet his father.
"Father." He said, remembering at the last moment and having to adjust his course. Priam proudly embraced his
son.
"All is well?" Priam asked.
"The hills are clear." Hector said.
"Good." Priam said. "And there is someone more anxious for your return than your mother." He said near Hector's
ear as he embraced his son. Hector grinned and once released by his father, went straight over to Andromache.
Her heart wouldn't beat steady in her chest and she couldn't hear a word that was being said around her. All she
was aware of was her husband's dark eyes on her and the pull so strong to him that it made her very bones feel
weak. She stayed still while he exchanged greetings with his father by simple merit that her feet wouldn't move and
then he was in front of her and her lips smiled somewhere impossible between laughter and tears. With a quiet
sound, she was in his arms, winding her own around him fiercely, pressing close. Feeling the bite of his armor and
the solid strength of him. Silently thanking any god that would listen for his return.
"I missed you." she breathed against him.
Priam smiled indulgently as he took report from the other soldiers, not wanting to call his son on the fact that he
had skipped that step. He remembered what it was like, to leave a wife for the first time. Of course, Priam had to do
that many times, having more than one wife, but the first time was always the worst.
Hector ignored everything else that was going on around them as he held his wife, sighing contently at feeling her
in his arms once more. "missed you." He replied, burying his face in that hair that he loved so much, then pulled
away a bit to kiss her. "Come on, if nothing else, I have to change." He said with a smile. The breastplate and
everything else always became heavier the longer he wore it, and he had been wearing it longer than he would
have liked this time. That and it was a symbol of what his 'day job' was.
Everything was right again. She was right again. Something inside her loosened and breathed for the first time
since the bell had sounded all those dark nights ago. She could have stood in his arms forever. Just - just being
held. Where she belonged.
She smiled up at him when he spoke, reaching up to run fingers across his cheek. He looked tired. And alive.
"Yes." her hands slipped down to join with his. Turning to the side door she'd learned was the fastest way out of
the room, she shot him a smile across her shoulder. "I think we can managed a bit of the 'if nothing else' too."
"You've learned some short cuts I see," Hector said with a chuckle as they got to their apartments, where he
slipped off his greaves and his breastplate, hanging them where he had always hung them, then pulled his wife to
him and held her close. "I told you I'd return." He reminded her gently. "The days and weeks couldn't pass quickly
enough."
She wound her arms around his shoulders, snuggling close against him. So hungry for the simple feel of his arms
around her, his body against hers. She was growing to love Troy and her new family. But everything that mattered
was wrapped in the form of the man holding her now.
"I missed you." she whispered, raising her face to his, cupping the side of his face, eyes full of tenderness. "I
thought I would go mad waiting for you."
Hector smiled and kissed her, then looked at her as if he could just drown in her eyes. Which he felt he could. "So
what have I missed?" He asked, always wanting to know what was going on in his country, the fact he completely
forgot to stick around and tell his father, his king, what had happened not even a whisper of a thought in his mind.
"First sit." she instructed with a smile. She'd seen the salves and bowl of water when they'd come in. Suspected
the queen and been grateful for it. She backed up with him until the backs of his legs bumped up against the bed.
"I want to look at you."
So long without him she needed to touch, to reassure herself he was solid and whole. And she hadn't forgotten the
bruises and gashes he'd suffered the last time he'd been in battle either. It gave her the double reassurance that
he was here. He was alive. And he was hers once again.
"Its not so bad this time, just bruises." He said with a chuckle, knowing where her mind was going. Compared to
when he went to Sparta, he was barely hurt. Any scrapes and bruises he did have, most were defensive, from
avoiding swords and axes, skidding along the ground, that sort of thing.
But he dutifully took his shirt off and sat on the bed, leaning back on his hands which he put behind him. "Told
you, nothing nearly as colorful as last time. Maybe I should try harder? Give you something to stare at."
It was easy to joke about it now. While he was here and safe in their rooms. And here and now was all she was
going to let herself think about today. Here. And him. Since there was an apparently lack of blood and the bruises
were nowhere near as impressive as the ones she remembered from last time, she joined him instead of fetching
the medicines. Standing in front of him, she leaned over, resting her hands on either side of him.
"I like what I'm staring at now." she murmured, teasing as she lingeringly kissed one of his cheeks. "The gossips
say I married a very handsome man." his other cheek got the same lingering touch. "But don't tell him" her lips
brushed his. Barely there and then just out of reach. Smiling as she teased. "He likes to think I married him for his
sense of humor."
"Actually he thinks you married him because he wouldn't leave you alone until you did, then he just sorta grew on
you." He teased and kissed the tip of her nose. He relaxed fully now that she was relaxed. Of course her seeing his
'injuries' really weren't even worth worrying about probably helped her considerably. Thank the gods for helmets
and shields, that was for sure.
"then again, sometimes the gossips are right." He said, brushing his lips against hers and sitting back with a smile.
"After all, they were convinced a certain crown prince would never marry and if he did it certainly wouldn't be a girl
native to Troy."
"mm." she nodded, forehead brushing against his. "I suppose it pays to listen to gossip then." She was aware of
how lucky she was. He could have been married ten times over before she came. And he could have noticed her
no more than any other man did. Eetion's tall amazon daughter. Instead he'd loved her for both that and for the
hidden pieces of her that only he had ever bothered search to find. If he hadn't...if he hadn't she would be married
to an oil merchant and only half alive.
"I'm so glad you're persistent." she managed, smiling as she shifted to join him on the bed, running hands gently
through his thick waving hair. Having missed the feel of its texture against her palms. "Even if I did make it too easy
for you."
He looked at her unbelievingly at that one. "Too easy?" He asked with a chuckle. "I almost drowned in the Aegean,
then almost fell to my death at that villa in Sparta, you nearly threw a clay pot at me....where...again...did the too
easy part come in?" He asked. "Never mind sneaking around Sparta finding out where you were in the first place,
then you turned me down the first time...."
Her eyes dancing she tipped her head to look at him.
"I should have hit you with the clay pot." she decided. "Knocked you out cold and made a run for it while you were
distracted. Gone to Ithaca. Painted my face with ash and pretended to be a spit turner or something" she
embroidered the idea with apparent relish. Eyes laughing at him she rested her hands against his bare chest as
she appeared to be giving it thought.
He laughed at her and tangled his long fingers in her soft hair. "Then I would have had to go there and find you
again. This time wearing my helmet! And I never much liked Ithaca.." He said. "but I'd recognize you even with a
face of ash, just by the eyes." He said and kissed her eyelids. "face it, you're stuck with me."
She made a pleased humming sound and wound her arms around his shoulder, leaving her eyes closed. Her skin
always felt as if it glowed under his touch. Despite the teasing she was his, heart, body, mind, and soul. And he
knew it.
"I think I like being stuck with you." she answered with a soft spreading smile. "Can I keep you for the rest of time
just to be sure though?"
"Absolutely not." Hector said, shaking his head. "You’re going to have to keep me around longer than that. I’ve
already proven persistence pays off in big ways, so you’re just going to have to deal with that." He pulled her
closer and ran one of his hands up and down her arm, reveling in the feeling of her skin underneath.
"Longer than forever?" she murmured, eyes half lidding. Skin warming under his touch. She loved the feel of him,
the smell of him, the solid weight of him. Her hands slid down to move across his bare chest. Loving the way his
muscles flowed, the feel of his sun darkened skin, the ridges of scars that only proved he was still alive. Lips
brushing his temple, feeling the soft brush of his curling hair against her, she smiled quietly.
"Promise me?" she asked. "Promise me you mean longer than forever?"
"I promise you more than that." He said. "Anything you want." If she woke up one day and demanded the sun
wasn't to rise, he’d take it right up with Apollo himself, without fear of the sun god, to accomplish that. "You just
have to say it."
He made her heart ache in her chest. No woman should be as loved as she was. Gods were challenged over a
love like this. But oh...she sighed as she slipped her hands up his chest to curl them in his thick hair. Brought her
lips to meet his in a kiss that slide long and slow and deep. This..she thought, mind slipping away into what it
meant to be loved by Hector of Troy...this is what I want...past forever...
"You," she breathed it against his mouth. "I just want you..."
He kissed her back deeply. Gods he had missed her. Made this time, with no one bothering either of them all the
more precious, especially as he had just returned home. This was why he didn't envy the gods with their
immortality and fickle love affairs. It paid off to be mortal, and right now it certainly paid off to be Hector!
He would have walked through fire for her, he loved her so completely. Luckily he didn't have to, leaving him to
enjoy her embrace as it was right now.
She drew him down with her onto the bed, feeling its soft cushion against her back and Hector, just Hector, above
her. He filled her mind and her heart. Made the world right around them. Sometimes, she tried to remember how
she had lived without him before. And she couldn't any more. She kissed him back, hands trailing over his
shoulder blades, fingers tangling in the dark waves of his hair. Loving him.
And believing him when he promised forever. In this life or the next. Her soul didn't draw breath but for him.
He continued to kiss her back, one hand on the bed beside her to hold the majority of his weight off her slim body
as the other one moved away from her long hair, traveling the length of it, feeling its softness between his fingers
before running them up her side again.
When the kiss broke long enough for each to breath, he looked at her. "have I told you today," he said before
lowering his head to kiss on her long neck. "how much I absolutely adore you?"
She sighed out under him, stretching against him like a cat. Arching her neck to ask him, give him, more. More of
her. All of her. Something inside her always slept until his touch. Something that coiled warmth and heat and set
her glowing like the sun under his hands. She shook her head slightly, a contented hum in her throat.
"No." she breathed, eyes closing. Smiling. He could have said it only a moment ago and she still would have said
'no'. She never tired of hearing his voice and his love. "Tell me again?" she asked, fingers running across his back
and shoulders. Hungry for the feel of him.
Hector went on to tell her, and show her, just how much he did in fact love and adore this woman. And to bring her
to new heights each time made it all the better for him as they laid together, tangled up in the sheets and each
other after.