It had been short of a year since Theodora had been first introduced to court, but that had hardly removed effects her first impressions had offered her. No, the palati was still as magical as it had been that very first day she'd come here. She hoped she would never look at it any differently, and that there would always be this sense of urgency about it. As if she had far too little time, and far too much to see and experience.
Perhaps for the very first time, the young sixteen year old found herself glad that her parents didn't have the time to pay any attention to her. Her father had gone off to discuss something with a business partner, and her mother seemed rather occupied indulging in the latest gossip. Theodora had trailed her mother for the last forty-five minutes or so, and found herself drawing further and further away from the group of women.
Whatever the gossip was, it seemed to keep her mother's attentions busy enough that she didn't seem to take notice when the young Leventi decided to venture further, and then further, and then a little further from the group. There was so much to see! Everything here seemed so much grander than back home. And though Theodora would never replace the beautiful fields of her home for anything in the world, that hardly meant she wasn't allowed to enjoy the sights the rest of the world (and in this case, the palati) had to offer?
Of course not. It was a golden opportunity, she told herself. There was no harm in it as long as she did not venture anywhere she was not allowed to.
Away from the crowd now, Theodora found an open window leading to the gardens below. It was a breathtaking sight: Flowers, trees and colors everywhere. The sun was still high in the sky, its beams showering the plants below. It almost made them appear is if they were gleaming. Resting her elbows against the windowsill, Theodora leaned in closer. It was easy to imagine oneself walking through the garden, dress flowing in the gentle breeze. Her hair would be braided down her back, flowers in different colors tied into the braid.
She had always wondered what being a princess would be like. Was it much different from being a noble? Would a princess live under the same restrictions? Be held the the same, or even higher standards by her parents? Was the royals above the law in some ways the rest of them weren't? Did being a princess make you feel more free, or less?
Resting her chin against the back of her hand, the young girl pursed her lips. Perhaps they were all, in some manner or fashion, just the same.
Leaning over the windowsill a little more, she looked down to the ground below. She wondered then if she'd be able to climb down from here, or if it would be far easier to find another way down. Was she even allowed down there? Did she even care?
The day had started early, with Stephanos and his elder brother Zacharias going down to the circus to race chariots. They’d met a few of their friends there and had spent the entire morning zipping around the track, thoroughly wearing out their teams of horses and successfully coating themselves in a fine layer of grit. Zacharias had won, as he always did, without fail, but at this point, Stephanos had learned to accept the defeat of it because no one in the kingdom could beat his brother in a chariot. He was far from alone in that failure and it didn’t bother him in the least. Anymore.
Returning with his brother to the palati, Stephanos went to his rooms and bathed quickly. It was time for the courtiers to start arriving and he loved the society. His aim was to secure some sort of entertainment for the evening. Likely his cousin Emilios would be around sooner or later but he’d find someone to pass the time with until then.
Walking down the airy, marble corridors, he adjusted his white chiton and shifted the blue himation on his shoulder as he went. He was about to pass a long passage that led out to the gardens, and head on to the throne room, but he happened to look and saw a young woman leaning delicately on the sill of the window, staring out. Pausing, he watched her for another few seconds before a group of older women blocked his view.
From what he could tell at this distance, from her dark hair and the pout of her lips, she looked like one of the Leventi girls. An easy smile crossed his lips and he moved down the hall toward her. Careful to keep his footsteps quiet, he managed to get fairly close. There was just enough room on the window sill for his elbow and he dropped right next to her, coming shoulder to shoulder and directing his gaze down to the garden as well.
“Theodora,” he greeted, though kept his eyes on the flowers down below. His tone was relaxed and his posture casual, and when he finally looked over at her, he gave her the same laid back smile he’d worn since he saw her. “Enjoying the view?”
The sudden movement along with the sudden pressure against her skin was enough to make Theodora's body jump before it immediately tensed in response to her leaping heart. Turning her head, Theodora's eyebrows had already furrowed and her lips parted, ready to tell the rude interrupter to get lost.
But that was as far as she got, because next to her stood not just some random urchin, but rather a prince. Prince Stephanos. The second-born son to King Zenon.
Close. He was very, very close.
She wasn't sure which shocked her the most, that he'd somehow appeared right next to her as if out of thin air ― or that he referred to her so casually, as if the two was long standing friends. It was a second or two after he'd spoken, that Theodora realized he'd asked her a question.
"It's okay." She commented, briefly wondering whether she should have greeted him ― maybe even curtsied or bowed her head. Ah, well. She supposed it didn't matter now, and if the young prince had an issue with it, he could raise it himself. Turning her gaze back towards the garden, she rested her chin against the palm of her hand. "This view, however, is spectacular."
She could feel the cold chill run down the length of her back as she realized her mistake. She had not only spoken forwardly, but she'd also been rude. Towards the prince.
"I apologize, your highness." She quickly blurted, sheepish. "I must've left my manners back among the fields of Macendia." Perhaps some time at court truly would do her some good. Teach her when to keep her mouth shut and not to speak the first thing that popped into her mind, regardless of how uncomfortable or out of place she felt. He hardly deserved her rudeness, and it was incredibly uncalled for.
“Oooo,” he laughed, crinkling his face at the insult that, he felt, was intended. It was his experience that woman usually made barbed comments like that when they were uncomfortable and clearly she didn’t want him this close. Pulling away a bit, he leaned back on the windowsill instead and crossed his arms over his chest, watching her as she commented that the view of the flowers was spectacular. Which was fair. They were.
“They should be,” he leaned the side of his head on the window’s side and looked down with her. “The gardeners dedicate our gardens to Demeter. I think she would be upset if she found her gardens lacking.” All at once, she turned to him, as though realizing she’d quite literally just insulted the ever living steam out of him. He slid his gaze in her direction, a half smile following as he did so.
When she mentioned that her manners were back in Macendia, he grinned. “That’s unfortunate. You need them now. Come on,” he began to walk then, motioning for her to follow. “I think the closer we get you to those flowers, the more manners you’ll find. It’ll be just like your home. Then you’ll have no excuses.”
He did not look back to make sure that she was following him because it never entered his head that she wouldn’t. He was a prince, and he’d given a direct command. Though, of course, it hadn’t been phrased maliciously. More in a conversational way, as though they were already long time friends and were picking back up right where they left off.
He took a narrow corridor that led to a short flight of stairs and then they found themselves out in blazing sunshine. Flat limestone wound a gleaming white path through the grass, edged on each side by flowers. Where the paths branched off, they led into either sacred fruit tree groves or to fountains or to huge, flowering bushes. Placing his hands behind his back, he tilted his head, watching her.
Theodora supposed there was some relief to be found in the fact that the prince seemed to take her lack of manners with a smile. He even created some space between them, which was welcome from the brunette. "You're probably right." She agreed with a nod, looking over the beautiful view below. "They've done a really good job with it."
It was true, too. While there was few places Theodora would rather be than among the fields of home, she couldn't help but to praise the work of whoever tended the garden. They clearly had a gift, and the royal family was very lucky to have such a beautiful view in their masses.
Immediately, Theodora looked at the young man as he told her to follow him. For a moment, she simply stared at him with her brows furrowed, confusion laced over her expression like a veil. Still, she didn't dare to do anything than what she was told to. She had been rude, after all.
Pushing herself off the window sill, Theodora followed the young prince. Lacing her fingers together in front of her, she couldn't help but to feel a little nervous.
A feeling which only increased as she followed him in silence.
It was only when she stepped out into the light that the feeling of nervousness was replaced by something much stronger: Amazement. Brown eyes took in the view before her: It was even more beautiful from here. Everything seemed perfectly positioned and cared for with tender hands and a lot of love. It wasn't anything like the wildness of the fields at home, and yet it brought about it the same peace she only found when running through the tall grass.
A smile spread across her lips. Hesitant at first, but quickly growing more radiant. There was so many colors, so many hues of the same shades. Flowers she did not know the name of, and a path so perfectly white it almost hurt to look at.
With amazement in her voice and her gaze rapidly looking around, eyes flicking from one thing to the next, Theodora let out a breathy laugh. "I think Demeter is very pleased." Was all she managed to respond.
Finally able to pull her gaze away, she turned her head to look at the young prince. "Can I?" she asked, gesturing towards the path.
He’d thought she was beautiful before, within the confines of the palati but out here, under open sky with the sun gleaming golden in her dark hair, she was transcendent. Her older sister, Selene was that way too. Rumors swirled about the court that both young women were blessed by Aphrodite in beauty and he couldn't deny, now that he was this close to her, that he thought the same. She had an open nature about her that practically shouted from the rooftops that she had not been in court long - that would have given her away, if nothing else. But Vasiliadon was small and he knew the names of every courtier that flocked to his father’s palati. Before he’d approached her, he’d known who she was and that this was all blindingly new to her.
The easy smile on his face brightened when she looked pleased with the garden. It grew even more when she asked if she could walk the paths. Opening his arm, he gestured in the way he’d pointed with a, “Please.” He let her go first along the path of huge, flat white stones, following at her side but a little out of step. His strides were purposefully slow because they had nowhere to be and nothing to do but wander. Besides, he lived here. None of this was new and though he looked on the beauty around him with appreciation, he did not see it the way someone like her did; with the hint of wonder and the need to see more.
Together they moved up the path. The flowers gave way to huge, flowering bushes that ringed a fountain dedicated to Aphrodite. The goddesses nude likeness stood center while two lovers were intertwined at her feet. The statue was graphic but not any worse than any other statue of the goddess that Theodora might have seen. There was a small space behind the fountain that his grandfather had commissioned for the ‘worshiping’ of the goddess. He didn’t mention that to his new friend or what that would entail.
After the fountain was a grove of sacred fruit trees that offered shade and even a little bit of privacy from the palati. He walked under their boughs, looking up in search of a low hanging apple and finding one. Glancing back at her, he pointed. “Want one?” Even as he asked, he plucked another and held it out. If she didn’t want it, he’d eat both. All while they walked, he'd watched her, looking to see what she admired about the garden and what she didn't.
A grin spread across the brunette's features when it was made clear that she was allowed to walk further. She didn't hesitate, partly out of curiosity and partly because she didn't want the offer to be taken off the table.
Stepping forward, Theodora's brown eyes flickered left and right as she took in the garden as it unfolded before her. The gentle pats of her feet hitting the stone below was completely lost in all the other senses that hit her: the smell of the colorful flowers, the grass and the trees, the sight of it all, and the sound of insects humming and birds chirping.
For a moment, she wondered what it would feel like to walk barefoot through the grass here. Would it feel similar to that of the fields back home?
Aphrodite was not new to the young brunette ― no, Theodora was rather familiar with the goddess. It was a beautiful piece, the goddess hovering over what seemed to be two young lovers. But then, being cut in stone had always seemed to make people seem immortal. Age hardly seemed a factor.
How easy life would have been if that had been true, she mused.
It was only when Stephanos moved ahead of her and towards the tree that her attention drew back towards him. She followed, but hovered a few steps away, studying him as his attention locked upon the apple tree. "Thanks." She answered, accepting the apple with something of a smile.
Studying it for a moment, she twisted and turned it around in her hand. "Did you know that the apple is considered sacred to Aphrodite?" She asked, not looking up from the fruit in her hand. "To throw an apple at someone is to declare one's love, and to catch it is to show one's acceptance of that love." It was a silly gesture, if nothing else. She didn't think anyone throwing an apple at her would ever make her think they loved her. Rather the opposite, but then, who was she to question the ways of the gods?
He bit into his apple as he watched her catch the one he’d tossed at her. She caught it in a pretty, delicate way and he was struck again by how lovely she was. There was chatter around court that this new Leventi daughter was as pretty as her elder sister, who was already rumored to be blessed by Aphrodite with beauty. Perhaps, he mused, that Theodora was possibly endowed with that gift as well.
Even here, under the dappled shadows of the trees, surrounded by the sweet scent of apples, he thought she might be lovelier than when kissed by the golden glow of the sun. It was hard to tell which was better. If one was better than the other. Watching her look down at her hands, he bit into his apple again and moved toward her as she mused aloud that the apple was a sign of love.
“I knew that,” he smiled lazily and shrugged one shoulder, admitting that he also hadn’t actually remembered it until she’d said something. “I wish I could claim that I tossed the apple at you as a sign of undying devotion…” he looked her over, biting into his apple slowly, chewing, and then swallowing before saying, “But I don’t play that game. I am, however, interested to hear more about what you know of Aphrodite.”
Though the goddess of love was his patron goddess, and the one he prayed most to, he wasn’t a devoted slave to the concept of eternal love. This walk and this meeting had very little to do with anything even remotely resembling songs and poems, and he trusted she knew the difference.
Somewhere far off on the other side of the gardens, someone laughed. The sound was quiet and indicated the other couple thought they were very much alone. Stephanos smiled and waved her forward to follow him. “Come on. There’s more to see.”
Quirking a perfectly arched eyebrow at him, Theodora snorted. "I don't." She commented. "If you so readily, so soon wished to declare your undying devotion, I might've thought there was something wrong with you." The words were offered alongside a smile. No, Theodora didn't think it was possible to fall in love so quickly, without anything to back it up. The two had barely spent more than a few minutes together, and that was hardly enough. Charming appearances aside.
Still, Aphrodite wasn't exactly an unfamiliar topic to the young woman. She knew many stories and knew many facts. "What would you like to know then?" She asked him. "That she's the goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, passion and procreation? Though, I think that's already familiar to you." She smiled a little at that before shrugging. "That she was married to Hephaestus, but was frequently unfaithful to him and had many lovers?" That her symbols was that of a dolphin, roses, scallop shells, doves?
Turning her attention towards the laughter coming from somewhere else in the garden, Theodora's head tilted. It seemed the two wasn't the only ones struck with wanderlust, though, it seemed their nature of being here was wholly different than that of the couple on the other side of the gardens.
A curious thing, though she could hardly blame them for seeking any kind of moment alone. Whoever they were.
Her attention returned to the prince as his hands moved and she offered him a nod, quickly following him. "Of course."
Still, even as the two walked, Theodora's eyes frequently looked around their surroundings. Once again, she felt herself struck with awe at how beautiful it all was. It embodied everything Aphrodite stood for, and the goddess would likely be very pleased with having her statue set in such a gorgeous place. "Do a lot of people come here?"