Chapter 16

The next day dawned with another reprieve in fighting between the Trojans and the Greeks though as Aubrey settled at the campfire beside the Myrmidons, she could sense the underlying tensions as the glanced up at the rolls of sands that hid their enemy from view. She knew from the way that their hands would often flinch towards their weapons that they were all on edge just waiting for an attack but the ceasefire between sides still remained – despite the fact that the red head was no longer dead.

Twirling a curl of her wild hair around her finger, the Atlantian was oblivious to the looks that she was receiving. The young woman was too involved in her own thoughts to notice such things. In fact, she didn’t even seem to notice that her skin was once more turning a similar shade of red as her hair as the blistering sun bore down on the fair beauty.

Her mind was consumed with thoughts, the main one being the cause of all her misery. She had her suspicions but until she was back in Atlantis there would be no proof. If I ever get back she thought to herself before startling upright when a grape bounced off of her forehead.

“Welcome back, my Lady of the Fire.” Patroklus chirped as he took a seat opposite her with a huge smile upon his face. Yet despite this cheeriness, there were dark circles under his eyes and stubble was forming across his chin making the boy look more aged than he ever had before.

“Couldn’t sleep?” The ex-librarian questioned softly as she took in his appearance.

“No, my fiery temptress. I have a lot on my mind as of late.”

Nodding her head in response, the petite woman offered him a weary smile before turning her attention on to the flames flickering before her and again had the inane urge to put her hand into the flames and see if she could heal from the burns that would undoubtedly coat her singed skin.

“Are you still going to run off and find this Tibet?” Patroklus  questioned startling the woman out of her less than pleasant thoughts.

“It’s Tiberius and yes, I will go and find him. He needs to know the truth about a certain murderous Atlantian that is determined to kill me.” 

Patroklus frowned.

“Atlantian… you don’t mean Atlantis do you? But that disappeared beneath the sea several decades ago. Well as far as word goes.”

“I had heard about that but Patroklus, it is best you forget I mentioned it at all. It would not do for you to linger on such thoughts. Okay?”

She didn’t give him an opportunity to respond. Instead her thoughts lingered on his words. Perhaps that was another way to get back, if I can’t find Tiberius that is she thought with her index finger tapping against her chin. But all too soon she was shaking her head and cursing herself for the thought.

Her eyes lifted from their steady gaze upon the sands and followed the men that were moving to an area of blood soaked sands further down the beach that was no doubt full of blood from every warrior and teeth that had been knocked out during spars. Aubrey chose not to linger, she disliked fighting almost as much as she disliked pain and thus did not want to watch the men train with each other. It may not have been battle but the men were almost as brutal with each other as they would be if they had come across an enemy.

The young Atlantian decided to do what she had resolved the night before and took the opportunity to leave camp while the testosterone filled brutes were distracted. Even Achilles was noticeably absent that morning due to his compliance with the red head’s supposed prophesies. Upon returning to bed the night before, she had found herself wandering back down the beach when sounds had filtered out of the tent flaps, ones that even in her innocence she knew how to recognise, all that sighing and groaning did not come from anything innocent.

Darting a glance over her shoulder, Aubrey crept around the back of the tent to take herself out of people lines of vision. It wasn’t hard to get tiptoe her way across the burning sand towards the edge of camp. The jeering and clashes of steel kept everyone suitable occupied that they did not even notice her departure. Well, almost everyone.

Patroklus tried to keep the grin off of his face as he watched the red head try to leave the camp without detection. He supposed that it might have worked if she wasn’t so damn odd and distracting to the young man that she might have left without anyone batting an eyes. As it was, he had a duty to keep her safe, even if the damn chit was determined to get herself killed.

He waited until she had passed around the cliff that obscured the camp from view before he hurried his steps to close the distance between them. She was luckily going the same direction in which they had found her, but that didn’t mean her luck would last. Besides, it was almost as if the pale beauty had appeared out of thin air upon their first meeting and there was no guarantee that she would be able to find her way.

“Damn woman will probably get lost.” He rolled his eyes and rounded the corner only to come to a complete standstill.

A few feet away Aubrey was stood with a sword against her throat as a Trojan in full battle regalia shouted down at the woman. Patroklus was impressed that the petite didn’t crumble into tears, she merely lifted her chin stubbornly into the air portraying more confidence than he had ever seen the short woman possess. The guard, who by his stiff posture was obviously guarding something, took a step back in surprise. But what came next completely astounded both males.

With lightning fast moves, Aubrey batted away the sword from its position on her neck with the palms of her hands causing a strip of pain to slice through the skin. She ignored it though, the desperate need to dislodge the weapon before she could impale herself on one again overrode any initial pain. Then before her mind could even catch up with her actions, she wrapped her bloodied hands around the blade and wrenched it from the hand of the startled guard.

When she stopped, panting slightly in surprise, confusion was thick in the air as her and the guard realised that their positions had completely changed. She shouldn’t have though; Tiberius had drilled her over and over with situations similar to this so that it was probable that she could have disarmed the inexperienced warrior with her eyes closed.

“NEVER underestimate a woman.” Aubrey sneered through a vicious smile as he free hand came up to swipe away the bead of blood that was rolling down her neck. “Now, you open the door and let me pass. I have somewhere I need to be.”

The man spluttered for a few moments, but Aubrey stepped forwards and jabbed the blade, which looked ridiculously large in her tiny hands, into the poor man’s shoulder so that he gave a startled yelp. Patroklus kept himself partially hidden as he waited and sure enough, he was rewarded when the man took a step back and then heaved a rather ordinary boulder out of the way. For a moment the blonde was confused at what he was seeing but sure enough, in the previously occupied, there was now a brightly lit tunnel.

“Well, by Poseidon’s trident, a secret way into Troy. No wonder the Trojan’s kept sneaking up on us.”

Aubrey spun her head while keeping the blade trained upon the man. She however was not as happy to see the Greek as he seemed to be as he looked at the tunnel with a childlike glee.

With a sigh, the red head turned her attention back to the Trojan guard and deftly stepping close to his body, she used the hilt of the sword to smack the man over the head. For a moment the man merely wavered on his feet and then like his strings had been cut, he flopped to the floor like a string-less puppet.

“Not as innocent as you look are you fire goddess?” Patroklus spoke from a much closer distance than before and Aubrey closed her eyes briefly in annoyance.

“You really shouldn’t have followed me Pat.”

“What-?” before he could finish the question, Aubrey had her blade pressed against his throat.

“You’re going to have to come with me. I’m sorry but you can’t tell the others the way to the tunnel so you are going to have to follow me.” The betrayal on his young face was almost the Atlantian’s undoing but she knew that the war must not go this way. No doubt Agamemnon would take advantage of the tunnel and kill all of the Trojan’s while they slept, she thought bitterly.

Reaching up a hand, Aubrey stroked Patroklus cheek only for him to flinch away as he eyed her warily.

“I’m sorry Pat, I don’t want to hurt you but I won’t allow the Greeks into Troy. I am a person of peace not senseless, coldblooded violence.” She sighed at the obvious disbelief. Stepping so she was behind him, she nudged him so that he was forced to stumble forwards. “Pick up the man and drag him inside. Once we are in the tunnel you will seal it off. And then you will come with me. Don’t worry about your death, the Trojan’s won’t kill you – I won’t let them.”

She did not see the scathing look upon his face but the boy refused to move. His stubbornness was overriding the fear of the blade against his back.

“You won’t hurt me, and don’t you see that this could end the war. We could all go home with our heads held high and no more blood spilt on the battlefields. Your death prophesy won’t come true.” He glanced over his shoulder at the red head and gave her what could only be the most charming smile he possessed but it did absolutely nothing for her.

“But at what cost, children murdered in their beds. Women raped by bloodthirsty hoards of men who have spent the last ten years away from the calming influence of their wives and civilized society.” Aubrey jabbed the blade forward slightly so that Patroklus could feel the sharp tip through his shirt. “Agamemnon is not a good man. He would sooner kill a child than leave a Trojan left alive. He only seeks power and anyone who stands in his path will be cut down. If you know something about him that I don’t, tell me now Patroklus. I want this war over as much as the next person but I will not to it at the price of every Trojan child.”

The man opened and closed his mouth several times before snapping it shut. Although he was no longer at her, the petite red head nodded in silent victory before jabbing him lightly in the back once more.

“Come on, move. We don’t have all day.”

By the time the pair and the unconscious guard had disappeared into the tunnel and it was once again sealed from intruders, the Greeks had barely begun their sparring. As such, if Achilles lack of appearance was anything to go by, no one would notice their absence for quite a while yet.