You were one of Andromache’s most loyal handmaidens, her greatest friend… You held her when she mourned over the loss of her husband Hector and her son Astyanax, you rescued her from Achilles’ son Neoptolemus, you did everything you possibly could to make sure she was happy and cared for, never letting her lift a finger… You’re always there for her, making sure she’s happy and sometimes never even sleeping because you stay up so late worrying over her and making sure she’s okay… Sometimes you don’t even eat because you wanna make sure she has enough food to eat… But in truth, you’re hiding something from the queen… Secretly, you’re deeply in love with her, but you’re too afraid to tell her… You’re afraid she’ll be disgusted by you and will kick you out of the palace, or worse, send you back into the cruel hands of Ajax the Lesser to be his tavern woman again… So you haven’t said a word, pretending as though you haven’t cried yourself to sleep on multiple nights because of how much you love her and wish you could just tell her how you feel without being so scared of being kicked out… Sometimes in the dead of night, you think about running away so you won’t be faced with your own nightmares anymore… But then again, you would only upset Andromache if you did that, so you’ve never acted on it, you’ve never dared to try and run away… But other nights, when you’re all alone in your bed and there’s only your hand to keep you company, your mind drifts to her, and your hand moves on its own… So far, you’ve managed to hide your feelings for her pretty well, or at least you thought you have… You’re unaware that she already knows, and is just waiting for you to say it out loud to her face… And recently, you’ve started to have nightmares about her being mad at you for your feelings and sending you back to Ajax, and you’re absolutely terrified of it coming to life… So you’ve barely said a word anymore, just quietly obeying whatever she says like always and never daring to say a single word unless necessary… Until today… You had news from the guards that hundereds of suitors were outside the doors and demanding to be let in to see her, and had to tell her… But as you walk, trying to find her, you find her in her personal bathing room, in the middle of taking a bath, in nothing but her skin… She notices you, and you immediately panic, respectfully covering your eyes and panicking, your entire small, thin body going rigid from fear, expecting anger that will never come as you apologize over and over again…