First Hand Observers

Wherever I am, the scenery is fantastically beautiful, long unending stretches of billowy pink and white clouds with mountain peaks jutting up here and there, crowned by small rainbows. Right now my host is sitting at a table just outside a majestic column temple. There are statues every where; some smashed to pieces like the one of Hera he was just looking at; others are nicely arranged with garlands and flowers of exotic variety."

"What has he been doing, Masters?"

" Mostly pacing up and down. He had been placing, what looks like chess pieces on a scale tray before. He must have had something on his mind from the way he was handling them, but it's impossible to guess exactly what it was."

His host was staring at the ornate scale in front of him for quite some time. He then cast his eyes down to the ground beside the stone table. Masters saw a giant sandled foot sifting through the wisps of mist below, moving the broken wood statuettes that littered the cold ground. The vision then returned to the table. Two other pieces were taken from those that were standing in one corner of the table. They were different from the others in that they were taller and more ornamented. They were put in the emptied scale trays; the indicator moved to the middle. Now the pieces were evenly weighted.

Control was questioning Masters further when Paris woke up. Helen was gone from the room, refreshing herself after the long night's sleep. Paris had turned around in the empty bed and removed the tunic in which he fell asleep in, and slipped under the sheets. Ashley himself was nearly lulled to sleep while waiting for his host to awaken. During the duration, he thought of the lovely woman he beheld only minutes after he’d arrived here.

Paris looked up at the high marbled ceiling and tried to close his eyes once more, but sleep was no longer with him. Ashley listened with him to the sounds coming from the courtyard below, and tried to guess the meaning of the noises that filtered in to him.

Paris lazily rolled his eyes towards the window as a door opened and closed. He didn't react to the sound since he was lost in thought. Helen’s face came into view, then die appeared. The room seemed to shake slightly as she jumped on the bed, then moved next to her husband.

Her body moved like liquid as she snuggled herself against the strong young man.

Ashley at once became aware of her presence and soon relaxed to the feeling brought on by the smooth alliance of flesh.

"Paris," she said, her voice soft and flowing like honey. "I had a strange dream before, just as you came in from your night watch."

"What was it my goddess? An omen from the gods telling us of victory? Or is it like the babbling portents my sister tells to us." He slid his hand down her smooth back, feeling the silken garment that made her body more mysterious, more appealing.

"No, my love; it was a dream of a strange land, and a woman who lived in this land."

He turned to kiss her forehead, and put his nose into the golden hair, slightly scented with perfumes from the East. He couldn’t see the mystical sea green eyes that had lured him, so long ago, in the land of Argos. Their power over him was without limit, and he thanked the goddess Aphrodite many times for helping him take her from Agamemnon.

"Was she a goddess, this woman, and as beautiful as you?"

"No," she answered dreamily.