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...
Briseis sent away the maid who'd come to wake her. "Tell Princess Andromache I'm ill." She rolled over and put a pillow over her head. Before Hector left on his latest campaign against the Greeks, he ordered that the women of the royal family go to pray at the Temple of Bellona every morning before breaking their fasts. Andromache took it upon herself to see that her husband's order was carried out and sent one of her servants to drag them out of their beds. The first morning, Briseis nearly fainted on the cold, stone floor of the temple, which she blamed on her empty stomach, but the piece of bread she snuck the following day didn't stay down. Andromache's sharp eyes couldn't have missed that Briseis wasn't feeling well and she would excuse her.
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Whatever illness Briseis suffered from only troubled her from sunrise to noon. She felt perfectly fine the rest of the day. So after a midday meal of chickpea stew, Briseis went to find Andromache and apologize for missing prayers.
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Andromache was sewing shirts for the army with her ladies in her great chamber. She rose when Briseis walked in. "Cousin, we missed you this morning?" she said. "Are you feeling better?" Briseis bowed. "Yes. Much better." "This illness only seems to strike at daybreak." Andromache looked Briseis over. Her ladies giggled, making Briseis blush. She must be the butt of some joke that went over her head.
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"I'm sorry I couldn't go to the temple today." Briseis looked down at her leather slippers to avoid Andromache's scrutiny. "Hopefully, I will feel well enough tomorrow." This illness, whatever it was, had to end sometime.
