"Thank you, Oron. Are you happy here?" she asked.
His face lit with a wide grin. "Yes, my queen. This is the best home I've ever had. I hope I've pleased you and your husband."
She glanced toward the palace, but there was no sign as yet of Alexandros. "You have. Are you lonely, have you considered taking a wife?"
"A wife?" His voice broke on the word, and a deep blush brightened his dark tan. "What woman would have me?"
"You're a handsome young man with an agreeable nature, have none of the pretty girls here told you so?"
Clearly deeply embarrassed, he shook his head. "Few come to the stable."
"Then I'll have to find a way to bring you into the palace so they can meet you." She turned her mount toward the path and left him to wonder what the future might have in store.
Rather than being deeply disappointed, she began her ride relieved Alexandros hadn't met her at the stable. Perhaps despite the foolish way she'd welcomed his kisses, she'd convinced him his attentions could lead nowhere. When she rode over the rise in the path and found him waiting for her beneath a wild pear tree, she was surprised, but couldn't hide her smile. Even if she hadn't wanted to see him, now that he was here, the day was doubly bright.
"Good morning," he called to her, and urged his mount onto the trail beside hers. "I'll pretend last night didn't happen if that's your wish."
He exuded the joy that escaped her, and it was all she could do not to reach out and touch him. "My whole life is pretense, so I'll not deny we exchanged a few kisses."
"It was more than a few," he chided.
He had the most beguiling grin, and she wondered if Aethra might have guessed the truth, and his presence was meant as a temptation. "Let's race." She tapped her heels against her mount's flanks and left him in a burst of musical laughter.
Paris had never heard her laugh, and he raced after her. He'd asked for one of Menelaus's finest horses, but her bay flew down the trail, and while he gained on her, he couldn't overtake her. When she stopped and spun her horse in a tight circle to face him, he was so dazzled by her smile he could have landed in the dirt and not felt a twinge. He leaped from his horse, reached up to catch her waist and pulled her down beside him.
"You have the most beautiful smile," he vowed between kisses. "This is the first time I've seen joy light your eyes."
She gripped his strong biceps. Happier in that moment than she could recall ever being, she reached up to kiss him. In an instant, he created the same magic they'd shared last night, but again, it seemed more fantasy than real. "Aphrodite must be toying with us."
"No, she means for us to be together." He wrapped her in his arms and lifted her off her feet. "This is the way our whole lives should be. Come with me to Troy and stay with me forever. The city is huge, and your world here is so small. You belong in wondrous Troy."
"A guest does not steal his host's wife," she cautioned. "Please consider the dreadful repercussions."
He laughed. "Menelaus can't battle Troy, it's far too powerful. The Troad, the kingdom it commands, is vast compared with little Sparta. Your husband's warriors would be outnumbered a hundred times over, and my brother Hektor has never been defeated in deadly combat. Come with me. It's where you belong. You'll be the brightest and loveliest of Troy's treasures."
She stepped out of his arms and moved away. "You're asking me to make the choice as though others wouldn't be hurt if I abandoned them."
"Bring whomever you'd miss. My royal ship is large." He pressed close behind her and looped his arms around her shoulders. "It's what the gods desire, Helen. We mustn't refuse their generous gift of love."
Resting against him, she closed her eyes and fought not to imagine the worst, but simply to feel his strength and affection. Tired clear to the marrow, she longed to go somewhere fabulous and new, to Troy where he'd promised love would never end. She looped her hands over his.
"I need time to think."
He turned her slowly to face him. "No, you need only this." He kissed her until she leaned into him, all luscious woman and sweet surrender. Still, it wasn't nearly enough. He drew in a ragged breath. "Let's ride to the sea to view my ship. Then maybe everything I promise will become more real to you."
She held his arms to remain steady on her feet. He was offering her time to think even if he didn't realize it. "Fine, I'll go with you, but we mustn't be away from the palace for too long, or I'll be missed."
He helped her mount her horse and nearly leaped upon his mount's back. "I've come with fine sailors who can chart a course for wherever you'd care to go. Egypt is filled with wonders. Would y
ou like to go there?"
"Travelers have spoken of Egypt," she replied. "I hadn't thought I'd ever see it."
"You will if you want to." He reached for her hand as they rode along the trail. He could smell the scent of the sea in the distance, and wished he could convince her to leave with him now.
* * *
By nightfall, Helen still had not given Alexandros her answer one-way or the other. The love he offered was almost too much to accept. Almost. She paced her room as she weighed the cost of leaving against the lingering sorrow of remaining with Menelaus, where everyday she became a more hollow shell. When she heard a faint knock at her door, she didn't hesitate to open it.