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"I cannot bear this," she sobbed. "You possess a fiery courage, my husband, but if you are killed, your son and I will suffer terribly. The Greeks will make slaves of us and force us to do the most menial degrading labor. Your son was born to be Troy's king, not a slave to some hateful Greek warlord."
"Beloved," he murmured softly. "Send such awful thoughts from your mind. I'm alive and Troy hasn't fallen." He dried her tears on his fingertips and picked up his son to hug him close. "Zeus, I pray you let my son live to be known as a better man than his father, and may he forever be a joy to his mother and all of Troy."
He held them both, crushed them against his chest until he had to let them go. He picked up his shield and spear and turned to smile as he walked away through grateful Trojans who held out their hands to him and prayed he'd live to see his dear ones another day.
Chapter 25
The Trojans fought with great vigor, but the Greeks slowly gained ground. Apollo began to despair, and he confronted Athena by the great holy oak. "You are without mercy for my men of Troy, but both sides have lost too many lives. Let's end the fighting for today. I'll have Hektor challenge a Greek warrior to a duel, and the others on the battlefield will withdraw to watch."
Athena licked her lips slowly as she savored the idea. "I would enjoy seeing man-to-man combat among mortals. It can be particularly fierce and bloody."
"Yes, it can be," Apollo agreed. "I'll have Helenus move Hektor to make the challenge." He was delighted to have convinced Athena to bring the war to a halt, but he kept his smile from widening into a predatory grin.
Hektor doubted his troops could hold off the Greeks until nightfall, and when Helenus proposed he offer a challenge, he seized upon it as their best hope. He waited for a break in the fighting and then shouted at the Greeks, "I'll fight your chosen champion. Send someone to face me in single combat. If your man kills me, he may have my armor, but he must give my body to my people to carry home. If I slay him, I will take his war gear and hang it from Troy's walls as a trophy, but I will leave his body for you Greeks for his proper burial rites."
Agamemnon knew as well as the men whispering around him that only Achilles could best such a valiant warrior. Achilles had sworn he'd be needed one day, and surely that day had arrived. Menelaus waited for a man to take up the challenge, but only an uncomfortable silence surrounded him for no one wanted to face the killer of so many of their men. He called to his brother. "If no other man has the courage to face him, I'll fight him myself!"
"Are you mad?" Agamemnon scolded. "Your wound hasn't had time to heal."
"Then who will fight Hektor?" Menelaus replied. "Our honor is at stake!"
Lord Nestor was long past his days as a warrior, but he added his authoritative voice. "Is there not a man among us brave enough to take up Hektor's challenge?"
Spurred by that insulting taunt, several men stepped forward, Ajax and Odysseus among them. At Nestor's urging they each scratched their mark on a stone and dropped it into Agamemnon's helmet. Nestor shook it, and the one with Ajax's mark leaped out.
"Ajax!" the warriors all cried and Ajax shook his spear. "I can overpower Hektor, he's so small compared to me. He does not dazzle me." He raised his massive bronze shield and stepped forward to confront the Trojan prince. "Did you expect an easy victory, Trojan?" he shouted. "You've won the right to throw the first spear and begin the fight."
Hektor looked up at him. "Your great size does not mean you're a great warrior!" He hurled his spear and it slammed into but it failed to penetrate the thick layers of Ajax's shield. Ajax responded with a mighty throw that ripped through Hektor's great bull hide shield, but it also failed to harm him. Each man grabbed for his second spear and they continued to circle in a slow wary dance of death. Hektor gathered all his strength, but his spear again hit Ajax's shield, and swerved into the dirt with a bent tip.
On Ajax's next throw, his spear blade cut Hektor's neck, but undaunted, the Trojan fought on with blood dripping onto his breastplate. Hektor grabbed up a huge jagged rock and hurled it overhand. It struck Ajax's shield with a piercing metallic ring, and the Greek giant laughed. He quickly found his own boulder and threw it so hard it buckled Hektor's shield and knocked him flying into the dirt. Not willing to give in, Hektor quickly sprang to his feet and drew his sword ready to fight until the long shadows cast by the setting sun made it impossible to continue.
The match finally ended in a draw, and Ajax gave Hektor his purple war-belt. "It has been a good fight, Trojan. You're a worthy opponent," he blared out.
"It has been," Hektor agreed. "You deserve your fierce reputation." He handed Ajax his silver studded sword. More weary than he wished anyone to know, he made his way to the palace, but wisely had a healer treat the wound on his neck before he entered the royal chamber he shared with Andromache.
Her expression filled with terror as she saw his bandage, and she ran to him. He raised his hand. "It's a mere scratch, you needn't weep over me yet."
She threw herself into his arms and hugged him with all her strength. "I prayed to Zeus the whole day for your safety, and clearly he has heard my prayers."
Hektor drew her down beside him on their bed, but it was sleep he needed most that night rather than her tear-laced passion.
* * *
Paris heard about the duel from servants who had watched, and he returned to the room he shared with Helen elated with the news. "I wish I could have been there to see it, but from what I heard, Ajax gave Hektor only a slight wound. The Greeks have no man strong enough to beat my hero brother."
"Do I dare whisper Achilles' name?" she asked.
"For whatever reason, he's withdrawn with his men, so he poses no problem to us now."
She had a difficult time imaging Hektor getting the best of Ajax, but didn't want to hear any details of the battle. Paris strutted about their chamber, boasting about Hektor's prowess with a spear, and she saw him for what he really was: an excitable child. Menelaus would have killed him had Aphrodite not whisked him from the battleground, and yet he appeared to have forgotten how close he had come to leaving her a widow.
He was such a fine looking young man, so fit and full of vigor, but he lacked the depth of a rain puddle. She had allied herself with him so willingly, but surely Aphrodite had pushed her toward him, just as the goddess had softened his heart toward her.
Paris abruptly halted his pacing to face her. "I'll never give you up, but if I offer Menelaus a wealth of treasures, he may agree to end the war now and sail for home."
Helen drew in a deep breath and released it in a poignant sigh. "He was willing to fight you to the death. Do you really believe he'll accept gold in my place?"
"I'm uncertain what he might do, but it's worth a try, isn't it?"
