The only two people left alive ~ Chapter eight

Achilles confronts Aedia about her relationship with Patroclus. And Aedia and Patroclus spend some more time together at the beach.

Chapter Eight ~ In the time of Achilles

Helios's house, Greece, mid-August 1190BC

"They forgot everything the moment they were together again" ~ Emily Bronte

A few miles from town among the hills of Phthia sat a whitewashed house with bright red terracotta roof tiles. Beside it lay a large old oak tree, from which a wooden swing was attached, upon which Aedia was sat reading, shielding herself from the heat of the late morning sun beneath the leaves, a leg brought up to her chest as she allowed the other to dangle off the side of the swing, leaning against the thick rope for support. Her teal green Peplos gown moved gently with the breeze as she turned the page of the leather encased book, absentmindedly wrapping a wavy strand of hair around her finger, that had fallen free from the loose bun she had made to keep her hair out of her eyes. 

Only a few days ago Aedia's father had found out about her refusal to Dymas. Angry was a very mild word for how he had reacted. As master of the house, he had ordered that there were to be no visitors, Aedia made up in her mind that this was so that he could wallow in self-pity on his own. Helios had not spoken to Aedia for two days, choosing to take his dinner in his room rather than talk to her. Normally, this type of silent treatment from her father would have made her upset, but now it was just her, just her and her book and nature. For now. 

The great Greek warrior Achilles stalked up the hill towards her house, determination on his face and a trail of dust behind him as he made his way up the steep and rocky hill. Upon hearing footsteps, Aedia looked up from her book, slamming it shut at the sight of Achilles and placing it on the swing as she stood to greet him. A frown appeared on her forehead as she began to wonder why he had come. Was Patroclus hurt? It would not surprise her with his love of Chariot racing and hunting. Or was it as simple as an invitation to dinner? 

From the entrance to the house, Adonia flung herself out into the late summer heat, holding her simple cotton orange gown in one hand; to ensure she did not trip and a dusting cloth in the other. Her tight curled hair frizzy and messily tied back into a low ponytail. The sudden movement caught the eyes of the slaves who were busy tending to the flowers and plants of Helios's prized garden, as soon as their eyes landed on Achilles they were quick to vacate the area. 

"What is between you and Patroclus?!" As Achilles grew closer Aedia saw the anger bubbling within the depths of his eyes, as she came to realize that he was not here to bring her bad news, nor an invitation to dinner. Thankfully, Adonia reached Aedia just as Achilles did.

"Sir, my master has-" 

"It's alright, Adonia. Please, leave us" Adonia's dark eyes moved between Aedia and Achilles as she stubbornly remained where she was for a few moments longer, before finally turning and heading back into the house. Once Adonia was safely out of hearing distance, Aedia turned her attention back to the softly panting Achilles. 

"What is between you and my cousin?" He asked once more, choosing to ignore the strand of blond hair that had fallen in front of his eye, and the small beads of sweat that had built up on his forehead from the heat and climbing the hill.

 

"Is he hurt?" 

"No" 

"Then I have nothing more to say to you" Turning back to the swing, she reopened her book. Sitting back down onto the swing and starting to read once more. 

"I asked you a question" Achilles deep voice broke through the soft sound of the sea colliding with the cliffs in the distance, and the little songbirds that sang their sweet tunes among the trees of the woods. 

"And I chose not to answer it" 

"It's rude not to answer someone when they ask you a question" Slamming her book shut, Aedia placed it onto the swing beside her, annoyance beginning to rise up within her. 

"It is also rude to turn up to someone's house uninvited and then proceed to demand answers to questions that you shouldn't be asking in the first place!"

"It's a simple question-" 

"And one that I will not answer" Aedia replied defiantly, crossing her arms across her chest, sending a soft warning glare to Achilles, almost daring him to continue. Achilles let out a sigh, pausing momentarily as he seemed to be figuring her out, looking at her with disbelief.  Without uttering another word he turned and quickly left back down the hill. 

Not long after he had left, Aedia made her way unaccompanied down to one of the many beaches that lined the city of Phthia. This beach was not as beautiful as the little rocky cove she loved so much, but its waters were just as beautifully clear. Removing her sandals, Aedia lifted her teal green gown from the floor so that it did not catch in the sand, before walking onto the beach, her feet coming into contact with the scorching hot sand, warmed almost a little too much by the sun. 

Quickly, she hopped to a large rock that stretched from the golden sands of the beach to the clear water of the sea. Taking a seat as the wind softly blew through the strands of hair that had come loose from her bun, Aedia rested her sandals and hands in her lap, taking in the sight of the ocean on such a fine summers day. Further out to sea sat a few small fishing boats, some of them looked as though they were nicely kept, while a lot of the others looked to have their once fine paints chipping away. 

Aedia's gaze then moved from the fishermen whistling away in their boats to the land just across the water.

Due to all of the heat from the summer the ground was exceptionally dry, much of the grass that had been so green from the spring rains was now brittle and dying, but then again, that was life - only the strongest survived. 

Placing her sandals on the rock beside her, Aedia dipped her feet into the water, watching with a serene calmness as the waves washed over her toes and feet, rushing up to her ankles and lapping against the rock before going back out to sea again. 

"Aedia?" The familiar voice of Patroclus sounded from behind her. Twisting to face him, she smiled brightly up at him, beckoning with a wave of her hand for him to sit beside her. He did so without hesitation, opting to also remove his much larger sandals and place them beside hers. Turning her attention back out to sea, Aedia remained acutely aware that Patroclus's eyes were still resting on her. 

"I come here when I need to think" She paused, glancing briefly at Patroclus. "I came here when my mother died" Just the thought of her mother made tears well up in her eyes. So many years had passed since her mother's death and yet she found herself still being tearful at the thought of her. Aedia did not remember much of her mother. How could she? She was so young when she died, but from the little she did remember she had a lovely singing voice and had extremely soft long hair that fell down to her waist, such a silly thing to remember but it was little memories that had tested time that she held close. 

"I'm so sorry" Patroclus spoke up from beside her, taking her hand that had been resting on the rock beside him and giving it a slight squeeze. Aedia's eyes fell to their conjoined hands and she couldn't help but think how united they looked, how perfectly natural it felt to be holding his hand. She loved that such a simple thing could make her feel so much. Lifting her eyes to look at his face, she smiled softly over at him, trying to lighten the mood when an idea sprang to mind. 

"Not as sorry as I am" Dipping a hand into the seawater, she splashed the water up at him. Grinning with delight at the shocked and later amused expression that crossed his face. His mouth slightly agape, he shook his head, fighting back a grin. 

"You will wish you hadn't done that" Using the grip he had on her hand, he attempted to bring her closer to him. Sensing that whatever he had in mind was not going to be good, Aedia let out a squeal, wrenching her hand from his and taking off into the shallows of the ocean. She made for a small natural open-ended sea alcove, the ends of her gown now soaked and floating in the small waves as they attempted to push her back to the beach. 

The sand of the seabed beneath her feet gave way, slowing her down as she let out a laugh, glancing back over her shoulder to try to find where Patroclus was. To her surprise, he was not behind her as she had expected to see. Biting her lip, she quietly attempted to catch him off guard and backed further into what little darkness the alcove provided. Holding a hand up to the cold, damp stone, Aedia waited for Patroclus to appear. No matter which end of the alcove he appeared she would be able to react. 

Slowly, she crept forward, keeping her ears open for any extra splashes of water that would give her a signal as to where Patroclus was. Unfortunately for her, she mistook the sound of him moving through the water for the sound of the waves splashing against the rock of the alcove, and so was unable to muffle the scream that she emitted when he lifted her from behind. His hands firmly gripping her waist as he spun her in a circle, before gently placing her onto a small ledge in the alcove. 

"I do hope you plan on repaying me after that" She let out a giggle, wrapping her hands around his neck and smiling teasingly down at him. Gently twiddling a strand of his shoulder-length hair between her fingers.

"Only if I find your choice of payment to be agreeable" At that he snickered, his eyes lingering on her lips, the beautiful blueness of them being brought out more than usual by his tan, the sea and the deep blue of his low cut tunic. 

"Oh, I am sure you will" With that, he leaned in for a kiss, getting to be inches apart when he suddenly ducked down, gathering a large amount of seawater into his hands, before splashing it up at Aedia. Gasping, Aedia looked down to her gown, once perfectly cleaned and dry by Adonia, now it was covered with large splashes of water. Jumping down from the ledge, Aedia was quick to run after Patroclus as he made his escape. Bending down to the waves, she hastily flicked a large amount of water at his back. 

From there began a mini-war between the two of them, neither wishing to let the other win. Now soaked through and panting hard, Aedia and Patroclus simply stared at one another. And then, they were making for one another, not being able to wade through the waves fast enough to get to one another. Aedia's arms went to wrap around Patroclus's neck as his went instinctively to her waist, bringing her closer to him as his light blue eyes flicked between her eyes and lips. Lifting a hand to brush back a strand of his hair, she smiled gently up at him as they inched closer to one another before their lips met in a resounding moment of love and joy at being so close to one another. As the world fell away and for just a few moments it was just Aedia and Patroclus, the only two people left alive. 

Author's Note

What do you think of how things are progressing? I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I am so sorry it was not uploaded on Wednesday (as is my usual update day) I was just so busy I didn't find the time to. I hope the wait was worth it though and that you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you so much for reading and any feedback you have to give would be much appreciated - I know I still have a lot to learn.

Reviews

[Final-Karma]

This was a great chapter and addition to the story. Like I said when I first read chapter 1, this isn't my usual read. Yet here I am still following it. I am excited to see what happens next. You're writing flowed very well. As someone already said, sentence structure could use a slight tweak but I would have to disagree about it being hard to read.

I actually like how descriptive you are. It helps me paint a picture of the characters, and environment. Even their emotions come to life. Plus, being the Greek lover that I am, everything is pretty accurate. I can see both Aedia and Patroclus being from Thessaly. I could really learn from you on that aspect of portraying such emotions through writing.

Now on the story itself. I love it, but I feel like it might end in a tragedy style. That doesn't make it bad, I actually like that. I just wanted to give you some feedback on where you were. I am looking forward to reading the chapters to come!

[AliceBarnes]

Thank for taking the time to read and review my story, I really do appreciate you taking the time to do that. It's very kind of you. I am going to work on my sentence structures, as I know they do need a bit of work. I am very glad you like my descriptions, I do try hard to set the scene so that readers can hopefully see what I am. Thank you so much on your comments about their emotions - when I am writing, I sometimes feel like its really dull and that no one will want to read it, so it is encouraging when I receive comments on how their emotions come to life. It is going to end in tragedy, since the story of Patroclus is a tragic one, however, I am going to play very much on the Ancient Greek belief of life after death and the Underworld. Thanks again for such a glowing review, and I am very glad you are enjoying reading this so far!

[Coyote Poetry]

A outstanding chapter. You create a interesting situation. This chapter stood out. Make life and death important. Thank you Alice for sharing the chapter. I enjoyed this one.
Coyote

[AmateurWriter01]

Im still really enjoying this. I am loving the playful interaction between them its fun to read. I can't wait to see what else you have for me to read. Again your writing skill is great. I don't mind the over descriptiveness but that's just me. I know some people can get turned away by that. I wish I had your skill at describing things.

[AliceBarnes]

Thank you very much for reading and reviewing. Honestly, I am like a review addict. I find it hard to find a balance between over describing and describing too little, and because as a reader myself when I read books I do tend to like to be able to imagine where I am and what is going on, I do really try to play on that. However, I know that some people don't like that. Aw, that is so sweet, but honestly, I wouldn't stress it. You will find that with time you will grow and mature as a writer. I am learning all the time, and I still have a lot to learn until I become the kind of writer that I aspire to be. I have been writing since I was 12-13 and its taken me quite a while to get to the stage I am now. Although, you will start to see yourself get even better, I believe that you are a very good writer now, but as you progress and learn more you will find that you can see the difference in your old writing compared to your newer stories. That is just so satisfying for me, when I read old writing of mine I can see the difference, and it is really encouraging. So just keep writing and you will become even better, after all, you can only get better - you're never going to get worse.

[JustNonsenseAndSugar]

Lot of description but I found it to be slightly difficult to read. Maybe try to change your sentence structure now and then. Other than that, very well done. Lots of emotion.

[AliceBarnes]

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I really appreciate you taking the time to do that. I will try and take your advice, since I know I still have a lot to learn and I really do appreciate advice as that helps me to become a better writer. May I ask what made my writing difficult to read? So I can change that and note it down for future reference as something to avoid. Thanks again for reading and reviewing, it's very kind of you.

[JustNonsenseAndSugar]

I found that I glazed out because the sentence structure was very similar. I would try to vary your structure (make short sentences, use FANBOYS such as for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so, and try to limit your comma uses)

[AliceBarnes]

Ok, thank you so much. I will use your comment to help me when I write my next chapter. I know I do go a bit over the top with commas, it's become a bit of a habit. Thanks so much for you advice and review!

[JustNonsenseAndSugar]

No problem, Darling. I use commas too much too ;)