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"You have to take et you killed, or worse You’ve gotten close to Achilles The berserker could easily target you If that happens killing you would be the best possible outco Achilles back would be the best possible outcome Now take me to hiestured up past the dunes that eventually gave way to a field of wheat, a grove of lovely olive trees, and various temples that used to be quite busy, and then, beyond the tereat city, Kat thought she recognized Hera’s temple where she and Jacky had first been zapped into this world

"I’ll lead you as close as I can, but you’ll need to stay clear of the battlefield It is no place for a wo to lie to you I have no intention of staying clear of the battlefield I’ where Achilles is, and that’s all there is to it"

"You aren’t Athena’s oracle, are you?"

Odysseus pulled her attention fro on her skirts as she practically jogged to keep up with his long stride "No," she said "I’m not Athena’s oracle"

"Are you immortal?"

"I wish Which means hell no I’m just a woman"

"Not even one of Athena’s priestesses?"

So in his voice made her look up at him, and she saw a terrible depth of sadness in his eyes and remembered how he had looked at Athena Then she also remeoddess had lied to him What had Athena done to him? He loves her, Kat realized "Well, not exactly I work for three goddesses I guess you could say I’m closest to Venus" She didn’t mean to sound oh-so-divine, but it was da on here, and it can definitely be confusing"

"The goddess didn’t take ht she…" He looked away, clearly too hurt to continue

Kat felt terrible for him She didn’t know nized heartache and betrayal She also recognized a decent man when she saw one, and she definitely liked Odysseus

"Venus is the goddess who cooked up the whole thing with Patroklos to i to do with it She probably didn’t even know about it"

"I hope that is true I hope she hasn’t been using ly, and Kat could see what it was costing him to show such vulnerability She’d seen it many times before in her office, and alhen a man had found himself truly, deeply in love Kat hoped Athena deserved him

Kat decided to tell him as ether and I can tell you that there is a bond between you, one she doesn’t appear to take lightly"

Odysseus stared at her for a long while "It is a difficult thing to love a goddess I have a wife, you know She’s been waiting aldom"

"And do you love her?"

"Athena asked me that question recently My ansas the same then as it is now I honor Penelope as my wife and respect her as the mother of my son But ive away since I was a youth"

"What happened then?" Kat asked the question, but she was pretty sure she already knew his answer

"I ed my life and my love to her service"

"You didn’t realize the seriousness of your choice then?" Kat asked

"Oh, I realized it--I eed to Athena since the first retted ht favorite a used as a pawn--I was her pawn, and that was enough Until now Today, for the first tioddess"

He sounded utterly destroyed, and even in the midst of the turmoil with Achilles and Jacky and Patroklos, Kat wanted to help him "You and Athena have beco a little self- so is unwise, I have fallen gladly, joyously, into her arms Remember this, Princess, or whoever you really are, when ods there is a price to pay, and it’s usually the mortal who pays it Achilles is the product of such love, and I have watched hisas I have known him"

"I’ll re is that Achilles has been a victim, too"

"He isn’t Achilles anymore You’ll soon see"

There didn’t see up with Odysseus as she wondered just what the hell she thought she was going to do when she finally found Achilles In the middle of battle Totally berserked out She could hear Jacky’s voice calling her a damn fool

And then she realized that it wasn’t Jacky’s voice that was crowding into her mind, but the voices of led up the side of an olive-lined ridge, Odysseus taking her elbow to help her, and Kat stumbled to a shocked halt

"Oh, holy shit!" she blurted

The walls of Troy stretched before her, thick and tall and inificent They were htyellow She could see some of the city built up inside the walls, the center-piece of which was a graceful, pillared palace that stretched all along the inside of the city walls to the left of the huge front gates Beautiful arched s led to ivy-hung and flowered balconies that afforded excellent views of what should be the placid and prosperous cos of merchants, farmers and the people of Troy Now the empty balconies looked out onto chaos

"Soat the ht and died in front of the city walls Hoill I ever find him? But before she could voice the question, a terrible roar sounded from the center of the battlefield, so powerful that it had no trouble carrying over the two armies "Achilles," she said softly

"Not Achilles," Odysseus said "You’re not dealing with thewith the monster"

"The man is still inside the monster," she said stubbornly

"Perhaps, but I saw no evidence of that when he gave hiently on her shoulder Kat looked up at hi hie Achilles said that the dreao hoive hiine what it would do to hiain destroyed the woman he loved"

Kat’s throat burned with unshed tears She remembered all too well the story Achilles had told her about the berserker raping and killing his young fiancée, who had also been Odysseus’s cousin

"I know you’resense," she said "And I know itridiculously stubborn, but here’s the truth, Odysseus I’m not from your time I’m not even from your world I’m a different kind of woenerations of independent thinkers and educated irlfriends, all within me I believe inabout That gives th that Venus and Hera and Athena kneould be needed here I can change what’s happening All I have to do is trust myself and believe that Achilles will trust me, too"

Odysseus had listened to her carefully, studying her intently while she spoke "You ht, Princess," he finally said

"Katrina, that’s my real name My friends call me Kat"