War has raged outside the walls of Troy for the past seven years. Safe inside the royal palace, Briseis, a spirited young Trojan princess, sits back as her famous cousins, Hector and Paris, fight against the Greeks, who encroach upon Troy's borders...
After Agamemnon's men dragged Briseis away, Patroclus went to fetch Achilles. By the time they returned, it was too late. The girl was stashed away somewhere her friends couldn't find her. They went back to Achilles' tent thwarted and empty-handed. Achilles shoved Patroclus. "What kind of a knight are you?" How could Patroclus just stand there and let them arrest Briseis on trumped up charges? A knight should defend a lady with his life. Patroclus steadied himself against the dining table. "This is of no-use," he said. He put a hand on Achilles' shoulder. "Getting angry will only waste time." "Waste time?" Achilles pushed Patroclus' hand away. "If you hadn't wasted time, Briseis wouldn't be facing the ducking stool." Poor, brave, foolhardy girl. Her mettle had shamed them all. Achilles sat down at the dining table and cradled his head in his hands. Briseis' supporters jeered at Agamemnon from the safety of a crowd but none of them had the courage to try to free her. What good was being everyone's darling when no one would fight for you? Patroclus pulled up a stool to join him. He filled two goblets from a wine jug and handed one to Achilles. "You know," he said. "You're at fault here too. Briseis wouldn't have crossed Agamemnon if you hadn't convinced her to spread that tall tale about the crows. Her well-being didn't matter. The only important thing was making Agamemnon look foolish." "If anyone else said that, I would have throttled them." Achilles took a sip of wine. What was worse? Patroclus having the gall to say this, or it being true. "If I was there, I would've run the men through before they had a chance to take her." But would that have made any difference? "Very well, what are we going to do now?" Achilles raised his hands in surrender. What could they do? They pondered this question as they finished off the pitcher of wine. An accusation of witchcraft was as good as a death sentence. If they tried to make a case for Briseis' innocence, then it would just be their word against Agamemnon's. Better to go about it in a more underhanded way. Patroclus suggested they bribe Thersites to find out where Briseis was being hidden. "A purse of gold and double rations for a month should be enough," he said. Achilles nodded. Like a rat or a cockroach, Thersites to get into anything. "Have Sauteur saddled and ready before dawn," Achilles said. Sauteur, a black gelding, was the swiftest of his horses. "And bring him to the pomegranate orchard."
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Achilles rubbed his throbbing calf. He kicked off his boots and put up his feet on a cushioned stool. Might as well make himself comfortable as he waited for Patroclus to execute their plan. "First, we incapacitate the guards," Patroclus had said when they formulated the plan over cups of wine. Achilles raised an eyebrow. "And how do you suppose we do that?" "It's simple." Patroclus grinned. "We follow Cressida's example." So, to defect suspicion, Achilles sulked in his tent like a petulant child whose favorite toy had been taken away. To pass the time until something...anything...happened, he picked up his lute and plucked at the strings to see where it would take him.
