Chapter Two...Sneaking Off
Hector stood in the receiving line, next to his mother and father, King and Queen of Troy. His father’s other wives
were slightly behind, as were his other siblings, save Cassandra who had been pulled away for oracle duties.
Which she probably didn't mind. Poor Cassandra was highly respected and honored as long as she was sitting in
the Oracle chair. When she wasn't, she was a source of ridicule, which angered Hector to no end.
But as crown prince, he couldn't get out of this duty. And were it not for the beautiful daughter of Thebes, he might
have made up some assignment outside of Troy the Apollonians needed to attend to. But, on the other hand, his
men needed some time off, and he saw them out of the corner of his eye, gathered around as highest honor
guards. He was chatting pleasantly with Athanasios, who was peppering him with questions and comments on the
arts of war, not one of Hector's favorite subjects, but one he was knowledgeable in.
He spotted the sisters entering, and almost smiled to himself as Athanasios' voice faded into the distance of his
mind. Andromache might have some idea to avoid him (for some unknown reason, he'd done nothing but treat her
with highest respect) but she couldn't very well avoid the receiving line of the Trojan royal family, which included
greeting the crown prince. Which would be him. So far, the gods were smiling on him.
Andromache knew the men here weren't interested in she and her sister. But she nodded, smiled, touched hands,
murmured sincere words about the city's beauty. The women were interested in her and she enjoyed the feminine
moments, comments about the fabric or the color of a dress and the compliments on jewelry or hair arrangements.
Half of them watching to see if she was a rival and the other half hoping she would be a good gossip and tell them
about the lands she'd traveled already. And then they were in front of the royal family and her father was proudly
introducing them as 'beautiful and wise' daughters. Of which half applied to half. And Andromache found herself
standing in front of Hector. This close, his height was surprising. Because she had to tilt her face to look up at him
and, short of her towering father, she couldn't remember the last time she'd had to do that for anyone before. He
was the only thing familiar in a room of strangers. And he had been kind and shown her the sea. Her smile touched
the edges of her lips and filled her eyes.
"Sometimes, I can almost hear the waves from my room" she touched his hand softly. She was sure he hadn't
chosen the rooms. But he had brought them there and so she could say: "Thank you."
She was right, he hadn't chosen the rooms. That had been pre arranged by his mother when word had come they
would be having guests of the official sorts. But how he wished he could take credit for it! "I'm glad you like it.
You're welcome." He said with a smile that lit up his dark eyes, a smile rarely seen in these occasions he didn't
quite enjoy, and certainly not around the vacuous girls his mother would bring around him. He leaned forward,
rolling his hand around hers to hold it briefly and touched his lips to her cheek, an official Trojan greeting she
couldn't possibly be offended by. After all, his father had done the same thing. Though, perhaps, his was less
formal than Priam's. "But you insisted on running off before I could introduce you to more of the city."
He smelled good. She thought it automatically as his lips touched her skin and her eyes lidded. Not - perfumed or
oiled. But clean and male and somehow a bit like the wind and a bit like the sun soaked rocks. An honest clean.
"I'm sorry I missed your city." she murmured. The crowd moved around them but while she was in the circle of his
attention no one crowded her or thought to ask her about the latest fashions in Thebes. "We were barely able to
finish changing as it was though." Which was true and she didn't place the blame where it belonged. On Eleni who
had needed to change her dress three times before going back to the first one she'd tried on. He'd forgotten he
was still holding her hand apparently but his was large enough and long fingered enough to fit hers, which was
unusual in itself and, unlike some others it was neither damp nor squeezing too hard. Pulling away would be rude
and draw attention to it in the first place so she let her own pale hand rest in his calloused one a while longer.
"One of the girls told me I should have asked to see Mount Ida instead though. She said it's not hidden by forests
the way ours are back home." She shook her head slightly. "I've never lived where the horizon went on forever the
way yours seems to here."
"You're not leaving tonight." He pointed out. "There's still time to see as much of Troy as possibly." He could have
gone on to point out the defensive and offensive strengths in how the city was set up, and where it was located, but
it wasn't necessary. Or anything he wanted to bring up anyway. And the normally calm, cool, unflappable Hector
was having a bit of difficulty keeping track of everything anyway right now. Everyone else in the room faded away
for the moment and he was caught up in her attention, now that he had finally gotten it for a few moments. His eyes
scanned her face, gods she was beautiful. "I would be honored to show you Mount Ida. It really is a spectacular
draw." He recognized the look she gave the room when she first walked in, had seen it on enough of his female
relatives, so when she decided to slip out, he'd follow.
The smile was there, at the edges of her lips and in her eyes. He was so proud of his city. The way a true prince
should be. Having seen what she had, she couldn't blame him for an inch of that pride. And she did want to see
more of it. More of this huge city with its stacked walls and hanging gardens and more of the great wide countryside
that seemed to go on forever. But she hadn't forgotten the wall and the look in his eyes that had unsettled her. As
unclear as to why it had, she was sure it was not something she should risk again.
"Surely a prince of Troy has better things to do with his time." she chided softly, laughter buried in the depths of her
dark eyes. Thinking - he sounded as she would have if she was thinking playing truant back home and looking for a
good excuse.
"Andromache." her father's voice and she turned toward it, surprised when her shoulder brushed Hector's chest.
She hadn't thought she was standing that close. Her father beckoned.
"This is Pithis. A merchant who trades dyes through Sparta. I was just telling him how you were looking forward to
the trip."
Andromache pressed her lips briefly together. So the marriage bidding was starting already? She felt a moment
when her chest tightened with panic. Thinking - she wasn't ready. Not yet. But she pulled a silent breath in through
her lips as they parted and set her jaw. Reminding herself that this was the point behind her being allowed to come
along. If her father started sounding men here sooner than there, the result was still the same. She gave Hector the
very good imitation of a smile as her chin dipped slightly.
"It was a kind offer though. I do thank you." she told him. And then she slipped her hand out of his and walked
calmly over to pretend interest in merchant trade tales and which dyes came from where.
Hector watched her walk away, she always seemed to be walking away from him. He barely managed to refrain from
shaking his head as he went to attend to greeting other guests and then help preside over the dinner. All in the day
of a king in training.
The dinner passed calmly enough, and Andromache had little to fear from his Apollonians. Highly disciplined, they
didn't drink to excess. One never knew when the bells would tone, calling them away to war after all. He watched
her wait until the people around her were distracted, and slip out the door. At which point he followed her discreetly.
He knew the city far better than she did, obviously, and had military training to allow him to quietly tail her until she
was somewhat out of the crowd, at which point he came out of the shadows and "appeared" beside her, a nice trick
if one could pull it off.
"So, still want to see Mount Ida?" He asked her with smiling eyes.
"Medusa's tears!" Andromache jerked away, eyes wide. The last time someone had snuck up on her that way she'd
automatically slammed an elbow into them and her youngest brother had gotten a knot the size of a bird's egg on
his chest out of the exchange. Her hand was over her heart now and she resisted the urge to hit the prince of Troy
for startling her that way. His eyes were laughing, stated that, yes, he knew exactly what he'd done.