Chapter two

Chapter two ~ In the time of Achilles

Phthia bay, Greece 1190BC

"In friendship, as in love, we are often happier in our ignorance than in our knowledge" ~ William Shakespeare 

Nearly a week had passed since the day that Aedia had met Patroclus and Achilles, she had been fortunate enough not to have laid eyes on the latter since insulting him. She was currently overseeing her father's slave girl, Adonia, fishing in the bay of Pthia.

Aedia's father had bought Adonia and brought her back four years prior, treating her more as a friend and personal servant than a slave, but the same could not be said for her family or friends who were also sold that day.

As the waves gently moved the rowing boat from side to side, lapping against the stern of the boat, Aedia peered over her shoulder to the busy town behind her, wishing she was there rather than here; spending all of her time in a boat feeling sea sick than being on dry land, able to roam where she pleased. 

Once the fish were caught they were to take them into town and sell them, all in the hopes of earning some more money, tiding them over until the harvest was ready. A few moments passed in silence until Adonia pulled in another small net of fish, all squirming in the net, their mouths opening and closing, as they tried desperately to take a breath.

"There aren't that many around here. Do you think we should go further out?" Aedia spoke up finally, as Adonia's dark eyes moved to her momentarily before she placed the fish in a bucket of seawater to keep them as fresh as possible until they were able to get them to town.

"No. Helios has forbidden us to venture any further than this" Sighing, Aedia began to play with her gown to occupy her mind while Adonia replaced the fishing net back into the water.

"Do we not have enough for today? This should fetch us enough money until the harvest is ready"

"No" Adonia shook her head firmly, once again setting back to work. A few hours later, and with several buckets full of freshly caught fish to hand, Adonia began to row back to the harbour, a scowl on her face that she often seemed to wear. 

But then again, she had much to be angry about, not only was a lot of the tasks set her back-breakingly hard, but she also often thought about her family and friends, who she seemed certain she would never see again. Aedia walked side by side with Adonia into town, the buckets of fish and seawater dripping onto her feet and the dry earth, having to push her way through the large crowds gathered in order to get to their stall where her father, Helios, awaited them, sat tapping his foot in the shade, away from the heat of the late afternoon. Upon their arrival and Aedia all but throwing the heavy buckets she carried onto the table, his eyes shot up, as he greeted them not with a smile but a disapproving glare.

"Where have you been?! It passed midday three hours ago, you were supposed to meet me here. Half the customers we could have gathered have now bought elsewhere and gone home!"

"There will be others. And besides, they all must have dinner" Aedia protested, while Adonia scuttled away to deal with the fish and place them on ice, strategically managing to get out of Helios's line of fire. He left in a huff, his arms crossed over his chest and a cold glare on his ageing features.

"I'm sorry, Aedia. I should have listened to you about leaving. Now we won't sell as many fish" From beside her, Adonia began to tear up, having to furiously wipe them away before anyone saw. A few passers-by began to stare, to which Aedia sat her down on a nearby stool, crouching in front of her.

"It's fine, honestly! I am used to my father's ways, there is no need for you to be crying. We will sell the fish, and even if we don't sell quite as many as he hoped then perhaps he can try catching the fish next time" Having earned a watery, grateful smile from Adonia, Aedia positioned herself at the stall, as Adonia began the announcement of fresh fish.

Having sold a lot of their fish, Aedia left the stall to wipe her hands down on a cloth. Only then did she notice the familiar faces of Patroclus and Achilles strolling towards her stall, unaware that she was there, smiling and laughing among themselves, boyish grins on their tanned faces.

It all happened extremely quickly after that, from the moment Patroclus spotted her, to when he and his cousin arrived at her stall, not three feet from her. If she hadn't been looking anywhere but either of them, she would have noticed that since his arrival Patroclus's bright blue eyes had not left her once.

"Aedia, isn't it?" Lifting her gaze, she dared to meet his eyes. Smiling softly, she nodded, yes. There was a brief moment of silence when Adonia was giving Achilles the fish he had bought, where the pair simply looked at one another, each unbeknownst to the other, taking in their appearances, figuring each other out. They would have been lying if they said that their thoughts had not drifted to each other at least once in the past week. From their cave, the fates,  three sister deities, incarnations of destiny and life, smirked, their unseeing white eyes peeking out from beneath their black hooded cloaks. 

"You don't talk much do you?" From across the stall, Patroclus smiled at her as she let out a melodious laugh.

"Oh I talk. Just not to strangers" She smiled challengingly at him as Achilles handed the money to Adonia, his steady gaze flicking from Aedia to his cousin before his muscular arm was wrapped around Patroclus's shoulders - almost protectively as an older brother would do.

"Thank you for the fish, we look forward to having them for dinner. As for us, we need to leave" As though he was coming out of a trance, Patroclus threw a glance over at his cousin in confusion, a frown appearing on his forehead. 

"Already? We only just got here-"

"Patroclus, we are leaving. Now" Achilles stare was commanding, his voice deep and authoritative as he began to leave, only stopping when he realised that Patroclus wasn't following him. Turning his back on his annoyed cousin, Patroclus clenched his jaw, taking a breath in before looking back to Aedia.

"Will I see you again?" Not able to prevent the look of delight that lit up her face, she nodded yes, her cheeks reddening furiously as he grinned, sparing one last gaze to look back at her as he left, before being hidden from view by the bustling crowd.

"He likes you" Adonia teased from beside her, cocking an eyebrow and smirking over at her, lifting her dress slightly as she brought a new bucket of fish and placed each one onto the ice, ready to sell. 

"If he is anything like his cousin, it will pass" Aedia muttered, speaking to both Adonia and herself at the same time.

"And what if it does not?" 

Author's Note

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please feel free to let me know what you thought about the chapter in the comments, I will be sure to return the favour!

Reviews

[Karen Redburn]

This has the makings of a really good romance. I love the way the tension is building slowly between Aedia and Patroclus through normal everyday meetings. Nothing forced just a natural flow. Enjoying this immensely so far, will be back to read more very soon. Cheers!

[AliceBarnes]

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! You make my day with your lovely comments. I am so glad that you are enjoying my story so far and thank you ever so much for taking the time out of your day to read my book, I really appreciate it.

[silverydaze9458]

I'm so excited for more! This is even better than the first chapter. Very descriptive; I might even go as far as to say it seems to be nearing a professional level. I'd believe it if someone said this was straight out of a book :) wonderful job!

[AliceBarnes]

Thank you so much! I try to be descriptive as I enjoy writing it and it seems to help my readers to paint a picture of the scene. AW! That is so sweet, thank you for such lovely comments. I will be sure to return the favor and review your works!

[Coyote Poetry]

You gave enough in the chapter. You made each scene in the chapter come alive in vision because of the amazing use of description. I like the story line and the characters. I wanted to know and read more. I liked the open ending. Thank you Alice for sharing the amazing chapter.
Coyote

[AliceBarnes]

Thank you so much for leaving such kind reviews, and with such lovely comments in them! You made my day with your reviews, so thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read and review my book!

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome Alice.

[KCthelastboyscout]

This is a well written description of the beginning of a courtship.even centuries later human behavior hasnt changed when it comes to infatuation.a few words.exchanging glances.hearts skip a beat

[AliceBarnes]

This really is such a lovely comment. Thank you so much! I have been researching into courting and the stages of relationships because I wanted to make this as accurate and lifelike as possible, so it is so nice to hear that my efforts are paying off. Thanks so much for taking the time to read and review.

[SweetNutmeg]

A few moments passed in silence until Adonia pulled in another small net of salmon and trout, squirming in the net unable to get themselves free, mouths opening and closing as they tried desperately to take a breath.
BRAVO! This was exactly the kind of detail I had been hungering for. Excellent work. Where did you learn about the fish?


Now this:
Aedia couldn't help but take pity on an elderly man passing by with a large walking stick,
I'm not sure why this is in here, unless the man becomes an important character later.

[AliceBarnes]

Thank you so much for reviewing, really, thank you. I bought a small book on ancient greece, since I thought it would be really good for this story, and since flicking through it, it has helped me to improve and flesh out the story more. I am so glad that the improvements were what you were after, I wasn't quite sure if there was enough, but since you picked up on it, I have been adding more detail, just because it really does make for a more interesting read. The old man will become a constant feature in the story and when going back and editing, I thought this would be a great place to subtly introduce him, you will see why in chapter four. Thanks again for reviewing, I am so sorry if I rabbited onto you, I really do appreciate you taking the time to read and review my story

[SweetNutmeg]

Well well, the plot thickens. As I said, this will all be a surprise to me as I am completely ignorant of Ancient Greek anything.

The only thing I can offer as far as a critique is that I wouldn't mind more descriptions of the places. I can't really picture the marketplace, or the fish display. As you pointed out, there can be too much detail, but you haven't reached that yet, some more could be added without gagging the reader with too much detail.

[AliceBarnes]

ah, thank you! I was wondering if there was enough description or not. I will go through and edit the marketplace and fish scenes as to add more to them. Thanks again

[S.Diane.L.]

I have to say... I'm in love with this already. I've always adored Ancient Greece and the lore/history that it provides, its fascinates me.

That said, I will admit that some of the sentences don't flow quite smoothly, sometimes it feels "off". But, all-in-all, I liked this. Looking forward to another chapter! (I'm putting this one on my shelf)

Happy writing!

[AliceBarnes]

Thank you so much! That has made my day. I know some of the sentences seem a bit weird to me too, I am going to go over it and just edit it a little bit so it flows more smoothly. Thank you for adding this book to your shelf and I hope you enjoy the chapters to come

[AliceBarnes]

Hi again. I have gone through and spent a few hours editing this chapter, adding more detail as a review said below, and also trying to do what you mentioned with the sentences not really flowing properly. I saw what you meant and I have hopefully solved this problem, although, because I am not that good of a writer, there may still be some sentences that don't really flow, but I promise I have taken what you said on board and I am trying to improve my writing. Thank you so much for leaving the review and helping me on my journey to becoming a better writer, I really appreciate it.