Troy Page #18

leave, brother. I promise you

that.

As the sky grows dark, the dead burn on the beach and

inside the walls of Troy.

105 INT. PARIS'S BEDCHAMBER -NIGHT 105

Paris flinches as Helen, using needle and thread, stitches

his leg wound. His face is bruised, his eyes red.

PARIS:

You think I'm a coward.

Helen, concentrating on her stitching, says nothing.

Paris flinches as the needle pierces his skin.

PARIS:

I am a coward.

(beat)

I knew he would kill me. I knew

it. You were watching, and my

father, my brother, all of Troy -

it didn't matter. The shame didn't

matter.

(beat)

I gave up my pride, my honor. Just

to live.

HELEN:

You challenged a great warrior.

That took courage.

PARIS:

I betrayed you.

Helen inspects her work. The black stitches are a little

ragged, but they seem secure.

HELEN:

Menelaus was brave. He lived for

fighting. And I hated him from the

day I married him until the day he

died.

(CONTINUED)

97.

105 CONTINUED:
105

Helen leans forward until her lips are inches from Paris.

HELEN:

I don't want a hero, my love. I

want a man to grow old with.

She kisses him and there is great tenderness in her kiss.

A knock on the door. Helen looks up. Another knock.

HELEN:

Come in.

Hector enters the room. He examines Paris's leg.

HECTOR:

(to Helen)

Well stitched.

(to Paris)

You have a talented woman.

(beat)

I thank the gods you're alive,

little brother.

PARIS:

I wanted to make you proud of me.

He grips Paris' shoulder.

HECTOR:

You will.

106 EXT. BEACH ENCAMPMENT - NIGHT 106

Thousands of campfires constellate the beach. Tens of

thousands of exhausted soldiers stare into the flames.

107 INT. AGAMEMNON'S TENT - NIGHT 107

Nestor sits at a table, poring over the map of Troy.

Odysseus lies in a hammock strung between two of the tent

poles, eating olives and spitting out the pits.

Agamemnon paces the rugs that floor the tent. His usual

air of supreme confidence is gone, replaced by agitation.

AGAMEMNON:

They're laughing at me in Troy.

Old Priam and the others, drunk on

victory. They think I'll quit

these shores, sail home at first

light.

(CONTINUED)

98.

107 CONTINUED:
107

ODYSSEUS:

Maybe we should.

Agamemnon spins and glares at Odysseus.

AGAMEMNON:

Flee like a whipped dog?

ODYSSEUS:

The men believe we came here for

Menelaus's wife. He won't be

needing his wife anymore.

AGAMEMNON:

(furious)

My brother's blood still wets the

grass and you insult him?

ODYSSEUS:

It's no insult to say a dead man is

dead.

NESTOR:

If we leave now we lose all

credibility. If the Trojans can

beat us so easily, how long before

the Hittites invade?

ODYSSEUS:

You're right. But if we stay, we

stay for the right reasons.

(to Agamemnon)

We stay to protect Greece, not your

pride. Your private battle with

Achilles is destroying us.

AGAMEMNON:

Achilles is one man. What good

could he -

ODYSSEUS:

Hector is one man. Look what he

did to us today.

AGAMEMNON:

Hector fights for his country.

Achilles fights only for himself.

ODYSSEUS:

I don't care about the man's

patriotism. I care about his

ability to win battles.

(CONTINUED)

99.

107 CONTINUED:
(2) 107

NESTOR:

(to Agamemnon)

He's right. The men's morale is

weak.

ODYSSEUS:

Weak? They're ready to swim home.

AGAMEMNON:

Even if I wanted to make peace with

Achilles, the man won't listen.

He's just as likely to spear me as

speak with me.

ODYSSEUS:

I'll talk to him in the morning.

Agamemnon thinks about it for a moment and nods.

NESTOR:

He'll want the girl back.

AGAMEMNON:

He can take the damned girl. I

haven't touched her.

ODYSSEUS:

Where is she?

AGAMEMNON:

I gave her to the men. They needed

some amusement after today.

Odysseus and Nestor exchange worried looks.

108 EXT. GREEK CAMPFIRE - NIGHT 108

A band of battle-weary, drunken SOLDIERS stand by a

campfire. They're exhausted, caked with dirt and their

comrades' blood.

They shove Briseis back and forth between them. Each man

she bounces into tears off a strip of her robes, which are

now filthy rags barely covering her body.

Her face seems to have shut down. She has a bruise below

one eye and her hair is wet with wine. The soldiers stare

at her with a mix of hostility and lust.

APHAEREUS:

You Trojan whore.

(CONTINUED)

100.

108 CONTINUED:
108

ECHEPOLUS:

We should kill her now, keep her

from breeding any more Trojan

bastards.

APHAEREUS:

No, she's Agamemnon's property.

(tearing off a

sleeve)

What's this? A virgin's robe?

HAEMON:

You won't be needing that much

longer.

Haemon squats by the fire, holding an iron in the flames.

He pulls out a branding iron in the shape of Agamemnon's

seal:
a white-hot ALPHA. He carries it toward Briseis.

HAEMON:

Hold her down.

Briseis sees the hot iron and begins to struggle,

screaming and kicking at the men. Four of the soldiers

pin her down.

HAEMON:

Why are you kicking, girl? Better

to be a Spartan slave than a Trojan

priestess.

Briseis claws Haemon in the face. He growls and punches

her.

HAEMON:

Come on, come on, hold her down.

The soldiers hold her in the sand. Haemon steadies the

hot brand and searches for the best place to mark her.

When the brand is inches from her arm someone grabs the

iron, pulls it out of Haemon's hands and then slams it

down on the man's head. Haemon collapses.

Achilles stands alone, unarmed save for the branding iron.

By firelight he looks ferocious. Echepolus stumbles

backward.

ECHEPOLUS:

Achilles.

Aphaereus spits in the sand. He draws his sword.

(CONTINUED)

101.

108 CONTINUED:
(2) 108

APHAREUS:

There's one of him and ten of us.

Achilles swings the iron, almost too fast for the eye to

follow. Aphaereus's face collapses. He falls to the

beach.

Nine.

ACHILLES:

The other soldiers run. Achilles lifts Briseis to her

feet. More gently than we would have believed possible,

Achilles brushes the sand from her face and hair.

Can you walk?

ACHILLES:

Briseis nods. Achilles, arm around her shoulder, leads

her away from the campfire.

109 EXT. ACHILLES' TENT - NIGHT 109

Eudorus and Patroclus are waiting when Achilles and

Briseis get to the tent.

ACHILLES:

Get me food and water.

robe.

And a new

Eudorus bows. Patroclus watches Achilles and Briseis

enter the tent.

110 INT. ACHILLES' TENT - LATER 110

Achilles sits near Briseis, watching her. She's clean

now, dressed in a new robe -- a man's robe, far too big

for her. Platters of fruit and roasted meats sit near

her, along with pitchers of wine and water. Briseis

doesn't touch any of it.

ACHILLES:

You should eat.

Briseis says nothing.

ACHILLES:

Did they hurt you?

BRISEIS:

What do you think?

(CONTINUED)

102.

110 CONTINUED:
110

ACHILLES:

I saw you fight them. You have

courage.

BRISEIS:

To fight back when people attack

me? A dog has that kind of

courage.

ACHILLES:

I like dogs more than people.

Briseis stares into Achilles' eyes. He's not used to

people meeting his gaze. He stares back at the girl,

intrigued.

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