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The door to the catwalk burst open Kat had positioned herself between the bodies of the two sleeping warriors At the first sight of the men, she drew a treirl scream she could conjure Then she rolled her eyeballs up in her head and fell down in a faint worthy of Scarlett O’Hara
She continued to play possum as a warrior lifted her and carried her from the room amid eneral consensus of which was that there must be divine mischief afoot Kat slitted her eyes and peeked over the warrior’s shoulder to see the other ears
Halfway to her chamber Kat roused "What has happened?" she asked faintly Then she gasped and began to struggle "Putht on fire "Princess, you were found in the gate rooate roo her eyes fill with tears "What are you talking about?" Noise fro in the city drifted up to the to faint again "What is that sound?"
"Princess, the gate was opened The city has been breeched"
Kat let out a shriek and swayed dramatically
"Princess, let o help them keep the Greeks from the palace! Go! I’ll find my father" When he hesitated she added, "Hurry!" turned and whirled away down the hall Thankfully he didn’t follow her
Kat’s heart hurt as shethe hysterical princess, froined it would be Chaos ruled There washysterically into and then out of the streets when they glimpsed Greek warriors The women needn’t have worried, at least not at thatin bloody pockets of fighting with desperate Trojans to bother with the raping part of raping and pillaging The stones of the city streets were slick with blood Fire colored the dawn, turning the world scarlet
The great front gates ide open, belching Greek warriors Kat pressed herself against the wall of the city, searching desperately for a fa not far frofear as she dodged bloody swords and dismembered bodies
"Myret closer to them
First one helmeted head lifted, and then another She saw eyes widened as they recognized her
"It’s Achilles’ princess!" Diomedes shouted As one, the Myrmidons moved to her and surrounded her in a protective circle
"Get ain"
Diomedes’ incredulous look was one No one has been able to reach hirabbed the young warrior’s bloody forearm "You have to let me try, and we have to hurry"
"Princess, let us get you safely from this place You can return to Phthia with us, and be honored there for the love our lord had for you"
"Dioive up on him!"
"Take her to Achilles," said one of the warriors whose name Kat couldn’t re briefly to her "I say take her to Achilles, too"
"Aye," said another man
"Aye," chorused several others
"Very well," Dioet her to Achilles For inside the phalanx of men was an eerily fa her, Kat pushed easily through the gates, glad that the broad shoulders and protective shields of the men shielded her view of thethe war! she shouted back at herself At what cost? her guilt whispered
The berserker’s roar shattered her internal struggle
Kat pushed on Autoh--let h for Kat to see that Achilles was still dragging Hector’s deteriorating body behind his chariot, but he was also engaging in the battle by picking off any unfortunate Trojan who had ates
"You have to force hian
"Encircle the chariot The princess and I will do the rest" Kat looked up to see Odysseus had joined the Myrmidons "Now Spread out around hi into place"
The Myr her alone with the warrior
"I kno you can reach him," Odysseus said
"Tell h love Don’t think about calone beyond that Don’t try to reason with him and explain about Patroklos--he won’t listen Just make him know that, no matter what else has happened and will happen in your lives, he can count on your love He has to believe that you value hi else That you see him as truly worthy of you will be what reaches him"
Kat looked into the fa from his heart, soul and experience She smiled "She loves you"
In the midst of chaos, Odysseus’s eyes sparkled as if he was a worry-free boy again "She does, indeed"