Achilles

13 Years Before

    The clash of swords and blinding flash of sunlight as it caught the edges of the metal bounced around the training yard. Hurried footwork as the Myrmidons trained below fascinated the boy who'd snuck away from his teacher. As he observed his father's palace from his high hiding place, brooding, irritated, sick of the centaur and his teaching, Achilles thought about the reason for his being exiled to the smoking mountain.

    It was a punishment at his mother's insistence. Unjust and entirely not deserved but when his mother shrieked with all her breath upon his return, his father had caved to her wails and Achilles was sent up the fiery mountain.

    Three years ago at the age of ten Achilles had grown bored. He'd been drilled time and time again in the art of swordplay without any real challenge. Peleus, Achilles' father, was always telling stories of his time with Jason and the Argonaughts. The grand adventures turned the boy's head and filled it with visions of glory. Glory, Achilles longed to be attached to his name to outshine his father and his achievements. This lead Achilles to steal a horse, armor, and sent him trailing behind the Myrmidons as they went to war with a neighboring kingdom. His absence wasn't noted immediately, an eclipse happened that day and drew attention away from his empty chambers. Most assumed the godling boy was off somewhere with the other boys of court, as was often his custom.

    It wasn't uncommon for boys in training to accompany the soldiers on campaign as horse groomers, armor polishers, or just general attendants, the addition of another around camp wouldn't draw attention. Still, Achilles was extremely cautious. He managed to keep his head down, literally. In order to keep his glowing yellow eyes hidden he couldn't look at anyone directly. There was only one godling in the kingdom of Phthia, Achilles son of the king and his ocean goddess wife. Anyone who saw his eyes would know him as Achilles.

    Night was the hardest, but since he wasn't sworn to anyone in particular no one came looking for him after the sun went down. But in order to hide his eyes Achilles had to camp away from the others, often without lighting a fire to go unnoticed. He'd only been in one battle before getting caught. Not enough to satisfy the itch he felt for real combat. It wasn't even a big battle, he'd gotten a single scratch on his forearm from an arrow. Achilles' helmet had come off during the battle, it had always been an ill fit as it wasn't made for him, and one of the commanders spotted him before Achilles had gotten it back on. He was dragged back to his parents in shame.

    A large shadow encompassed the boy's form and Achilles had just enough time to roll out of the way, before a giant horse hoof came down where his head had been. Tiny rocks skittered down the slope, no one in the training yard even looked up. They were down too far to notice. "You're supposed to be practicing the harp, Achilles."

    Achilles rolled his eyes. "I don't care about the harp. I'm already better at it than the court minstrels anyway."

    "Better than the court minstrels will not suffice for your mother's gathering. This is to be your first presentation to the gods. Zeus will be in attendance-"

    Achilles cut him off. "What do I care for Zeus or the other immortals? What have they ever done for me?" The smoking mountain rumbled. The ground moved beneath their feet. Down below, the soldiers and villagers cried in alarm as they lost their feet and dropped what they were holding. Achilles and Chiron were the only two near the mountain who remained sure footed as the quake shook the capitol.

    "The gods mark your words, boy."

    Achilles snorted at the warning in his teacher's tone. A superstitious person, such as Chiron, would insist Achilles offended the gods with his words and they showed their displeasure by making the mountain tremble. Achilles however, looked at the rumble as a natural consequence of living near the smoking mountain. If the gods are offended every time it shakes they're offended easily and terribly often, Achilles thought, what kind of god is that?

    "Jason often spoke like you, remember where it got him."

    "I am not Jason," Achilles spoke through gritted teeth. "I'll refrain from weeping under a rotting boat."

    Chiron shook his head in dismay. "You must conquer your uncouth and undisciplined nature. It will not serve you well in the future."

    "What future will I have if I never leave this mountain?"

    Chiron sighed. "Your destiny-"

    "My Lords!"

    Prince and centaur turned at the interruption. A boy was running up the mountain trail. As was the norm, a damp strip of cloth to help flitter the harmful gas was wrapped around his mouth. It was one of the many messageners from Peleus' court. Achilles had no need of such protection, Chiron and his mother didn't either as they had divine blood.

    Achilles rolled his eyes and slumped against a rock. His father didn't often summon him. When he did it was for a progress report or a dinner at his mother's ocean grotto. Neither particularly interested him. His mother's ocean dwelling place would interest him, but he'd never seen it. He could only sit on shore with her not follow into the depths. Whatever powers he may have inherited from his godly lineage hadn't manifested yet, not ones he was interested in anyway. And he was running out of time for them to show up which added to his ire.

    "What is it page?" Chiron asked the boy.

    "King Peleus summons you both immediately. Make haste, he's calling a meeting of his war generals."

    Achilles sat up quickly as if a bolt of lightning hit him. A war meeting? "Come along Chiron!" Achilles ran past his mentor and the page. A war meeting? Finally something was happening! This could be his chance!

    The clop of horse hooves soon caught the boy's ears. Chiron took hold of the boy's tunic and threw him onto his back. Chiron didn't often let people ride him, he saw it as aligning himself with the common beasts of burden of man, but this was a special circumstance. And as Achilles was a godling, carrying him wasn't the same as bearing a mere mortal in the centaur's eyes. The page huffed and puffed behind them and was soon left alone in the dust.

    Achilles might have felt sorry for the lad, but what lay ahead soon drove the thoughts of the page from his mind. Ever faster they zoomed toward the palace and destiny.

    🦁🐬

    Two hours later everyone had been gathered for the meeting. Achilles used the time to bathe and dress before taking his seat at the right hand of his father. Even his mother was in attendance, looking grim. The three generals sat below them along with one stranger and Chiron. The centaur had lived in Phthia so long he'd been advising the royal family since they'd claimed the territory many centuries ago. As such the palace of Phthia, in fact just about every building in the capitol, had been built to accommodate Chiron with ease.

    Servants put refreshments on the table before taking their leave. Peleus had a strict policy about only essential people being in attendance during meetings, even noncritical ones. Which made the presence of the stranger even more puzzling. Achilles studied the man in depth, trying to remember if he'd ever seen him before. Oddly enough the man bore a strong resemblance to himself and his father, only the stranger was dark while Peleus and Achilles both sported golden hair. The stranger was older than Achilles by at least fifteen years.

    An illegitimate brother? Possible. Peleus was old enough to have a son of that man's age, though just barely. If that was the case though, a presentation of a bastard son wouldn't call for a meeting such as this. Finally the last servant exited the room and the doors were sealed.

    Peleus opened the meeting immediately. "My aid has been called for by King Tyndareus of Sparta. His goddaughter Helen has been kidnapped by King Theseus of Athens. Our aid has also been asked from King Theseus to defend him from the wrath of Sparta."

    Silence. Thetis, Achilles mother, looked at her son and then her husband but said nothing.

    Chiron was the first to speak. "Geographically speaking, Athens is closer to us. It may be unwise to offend its king given our proximity. Athens is also a major trade partner not just for us, but many other kingdoms. Though a disruption of the export of Athens' goods wouldn't cause any famines to our land in likelihood, it may lead to grumblings among the populace. Sparta has an army said to rival ours in skill and number. No matter what choice we make there will be repercussions."

    "Theseus is a great abductor of women. What's one more? Even a rumored daughter of Zeus? I think we should stay out of it," one general said. Achilles thought his name was Vassilis. He was the newest appointed general and had been elevated to that position just after Achilles was sent to train with Chiron.

    Jason, not the Jason of Argonaught fame, but an older general who shared the name, and had served since the time of Peleus' father's reign, shook his head. "Athens may be a major trade partner but her king has committed an act of great dishonor. When kings are allowed to commit these acts without interference it only leads to more evil. The girl Helen isn't even of marrying age, it's unlikely she's being held in the city proper. Theseus can't risk her presentation at court. It may be easier to get the girl back without a full invasion of the city."

    "Jason is right," Chiron said. "Theseus wouldn't have the girl in the city. It would be too easy for anyone who sympathized with Tyndareus to take her back. He's likely holding her in a secret location. Athens' defenses aren't as fortified as they could be. He may think keeping the girl out of the city will spare it from a sacking."

    "That's idiotic thinking," Achilles said. "Tyndareus will sack the city whether Helen's there or not. This insult is too great." Achilles had spoken out of turn. Being a boy of thirteen he was still two years away from manhood, and not permitted to speak in these gatherings, though he could attend them. Even though he was a prince of the realm that didn't make him an exception to these rules.

    Normally his father would slap him for the offense, it'd happened before. This time Peleus leaned forward and stared at the map below him. "My son is right. Athens will be sacked for this."

    "We should do nothing," Vassili repeated. "It's not our affair. We have no oaths of loyalty to Ahtens or Sparta." 

    The stranger spoke next. "Are you afraid, Vassili?"

    Vassili turned red. "I am not but I have no wish to see unnecessary bloodshed, unlike some."

    The stranger's eyes narrowed. Before the stranger could speak, the last general did. "We have no oaths of loyalty to Athens but we do have a score to settle with its king, one your father shouldn't have left unanswered." General Atlas stared directly into the eyes of the king.

    Achilles raised an eyebrow. He knew of no insult King Theseus had hurled at them.
   
    Atlas' words had gotten to his father, though. Peleus gripped the table so hard his knuckles turned white. "Astra is twenty years long dead, avenging her will do no good."

    Atlas sprang up. "The time has come. You and your father promised me satisfaction!"

    Peleus stood and the rest of the room, besides Thetis, did as well. "She may have been your bride to be but she was my sister. I loved her too," the king said bluntly.

    "But not enough tot avenge her death?" Atlas challenged. "She would have wanted vengeance. Our army is stronger now and we have the means."

    "I have an aunt? Why have I never heard of her?" Achilles heard the slap before he felt it. His father's hand left a sting but Achilles didn't let the tears forming in his eyes fall.

    "Tell him," Thetis said. "It's time he started down the path the gods have set," Thetis' voice was fragile but it never broke. No one rose to speak, not even Chiron. "Fine, if the men won't speak, I will. Achilles."

    The boy prince rose from his seat to go to his mother. The bright yellow of his eyes reflected in the shimmering silver silk of her dress. He knelt before her until he felt her soft touch on his shoulder. The stinging on his cheek abated as he felt her power flowing through him. "Sit before me."

    Achilles obeyed his goddess mother. Her bright green hair flowed around her shoulders as if she were still underwater. The unnatural green of her eyes burned with a cold fury. Her touch was as cold as the sea from which she'd come, but it was a touch Achilles found comforting, not repulsive.

    One would be very off put just by the look of his mother. All the gods were by nature shape changers. Thetis was one more than most. She told him it was because the sea was in her blood and the nature of the sea was changeable, even on the clearest days. Her facial features and figure were stunning, no one would deny that. It was the other aspects of her form that weren't human which set many on edge. Thetis could chose any form she wanted, and what she chose was that of a woman with webbed hands, gills protruding from her neck, skin the color of the deepest blue of the sea, and her green hair which floated above her shoulders always.

    When Achilles and his mother were alone she often looked like a woman, an extraordinary beautiful woman, but a woman. Among others she chose this form to remind the humans she was forced to walk among that she wasn't one of them. "Your Aunt Astra was my cousin on my mother's side. Her father was your father's father."

    "Why have I never heard of her?"

    Thetis let out a long breath. "She met a horrible fate, dear one, at the hand of Theseus before he was king. Vassili spoke the truth. Theseus has always been an abductor of women, he visited here as a young man and took a fancy to Astra. Astra unfortunately never inherited any powers from her godly lineage, if she had she'd still be here, she had only good health, was inhumanly beautiful and had the eyes of a godling. Theseus took her in the dead of night against her will. She fought but it wasn't enough. In the struggle he killed her. I found her corpse on the beach and asked Artemis to show me the girl's demise."

    "How could you let this insult stand?" Achilles rose and pointed a finger at his father. "Aunt Astra deserves justice!"

    "Her own father and the gods didn't raise a finger for this woman," Vassili said. "Why should we avenge her now when nobody did then?"

    Atlas pulled his dagger and rushed Vassili. Chiron stepped between them. The centaur grabbed Atlas' wrist, breaking it if the crack was anything to go by, and forced him to drop the knife. "You will not pull a dagger in the presence of your king," the centaur hissed.

    Atlas didn't cry out but cradled his wrist. "If you will not avenge her you are no better than the cruel man your father was."

    Vassili had his hand on his sword but seeing the centaur's reaction he didn't draw it.

    Peleus exhaled. "We stand with Sparta, ready the men. As soon as the army is gathered we march on Athens."

      With the king's order the men bowed. Chiron nodded and left the room to rally the men, the generals followed but the stranger stayed.

      "Come here, Patroclus," the king ordered the stranger.

       Patroclus did as asked. "My King."

       "Achilles this is your cousin, Patroclus. He's gotten into some trouble and is seeking our hospitality. Show him to the guest chambers."

       Thetis launched herself from the palace window and into the sea.