Stelios never felt more alive than in the summer months. The heat roiling through every pore, setting his synapses alight and making him feel head to toe alive. It invigorated him, a conflagration burning all the brighter as the end of a campaign gave chance for a hunting trip to Aetaea. Its forests would be teeming with deer, their green bowers riotous with the song of birds at riot time. And still tense as battle inevitably made him, he craved the blessed ache of a day chasing after quarry and the taste of the first conquest on his tongue.
So it was therefore an impatient man dressed in hunting leathers with a bow slung over one shoulder and a spear crossed over the other who waited, astride his horse, thick arms folded across his chest. There was no anger in him, the smile that bordered on boyish creasing his lips betrayed anything of that sort. Not that he'd let the person inside the tent he loomed over now.
"Iris! Get your ass out here," he roared like a lion through the tranquil late morning air. Somewhere off in the distance a squawk of alarm rose and birds fluttered over the treeline, escaping the boisterous source of that noise. "We'll be done with Artemis' month by the the time you're ready and all the deer will have mated, had children, and fucked off to gods know where." He wasn't the type to hold back coarse sentiments but even less so around the young woman he'd helped train not so long ago, and knew she could get the best of most men. Not that he'd give her the satisfaction of admitting it.
There was, however, pride glinting in Stelios' grey eyes, knowing what he was inciting and wanting the formidable huntress at her best. Today was to be a contest, one he needed to blow off the steam of battle, and in a way to sanctify victory in battle with the sacrifice of the hunt. There were no pursuits to life he considered worthwhile without an element of challenge. Anything easily won was soon forgotten and never appreciated. And he knew Iris understood that, it was key to the certain kinship they'd developed; the rare sort (for Stel) that endured his moods and mercurial passions. Camaraderie would make today's pursuit more exhilarating and the rare company kept even more enjoyable.
Yes, this was Stelios' idea of fun and there weren't many others he'd share it with. Solitary by nature he usually squirmed and cast about for the nearest exit when cloistered with someone for long. Solitude, he had conditioned his iron-clad stubborn mind, suited him. Even with Mateos and Vasia he had a tendency to disappear on them, stalk off on his own (sometimes for days at a time). There was a limit to how much he could stand to have other people intrude upon the carefully-maintained schedule of his life. Today, fortunately, he would not hunt alone ... but he would piss her off by every means possible for old time's sake.
Loosing his spear from the leather loop at his back he pounded its pole end against the ground. "Time's wasting and the wine I brought will be turning to vinegar. Let's give the goddess of the hunt something to marvel at, eh?" In afterthought he patted a skein at his side. "And if your aim isn't true, young one" (though he was only 4 years older), "a few drinks to Dionysus' health will fill our bellies instead."
Iris couldn't help but smirk at Acantha's reaction from across the tent. Her nose scrunched and her blonde locks falling over her shoulder as she turned her head away with a sniff. Her lady in waiting eyed Iris, narrowing her blue eyes slightly. "I don't understand how you can stand him," Acantha whispered, sorting through Iris' mess of gathered weapons. The lady herself was carefully pulling back dark locks, fastening them so that her long curls would not become a nuisance during the hunt. Stelios would not allow for anything to slow them down. Nor was Iris inclined to allow anything to get in the way of their little competition.
The young Antonis lord was as brazen as they came, and Iris couldn't help herself. A woman of nineteen, she was still just as wild as she had been as a child. The short time at court had done little to settle her spirit; if constantly watching noble men walk quickly in the other direction was any consolation at all. All it took was one stubborn look or thinly veiled insult and most men her age were escaping with their tails between their legs and no further intention of trying to win her affections. It suited Iris, for sure, though her father had been less enthused that the young lady had no eye for romance or marriage.
"It is because you have a gentler disposition, Acantha," Iris commented offhandedly, earning a shawl thrown at her face. Iris chuckled warmly at her lady in waiting, "Careful now, I'll start to think you don't like me."
The blonde rolled her eyes, storming across the tent with Iris' bow and quiver in hand. She shoved the weapons into Iris' arms and then tossed her own curls haughtily over her shoulder. A woman by Iris' own heart. "You turn into such a pain in the ass when Lord Antonis is around," Acantha commented, earning a snicker from Iris just as Stelios' bellowing started. The lady in waiting, once again, made a face but could not get a word out before Iris was quipping back at her hunting companion.
"If you keep using that big mouth of yours, there won't be any deer to hunt," Iris called from inside the tent, shrugging on her peplos and then slinging her quiver against her back. With her hand gripping her bow, she slunk out from inside, lifting an eyebrow at the sight of his unseated spear.
The two hunting dogs that Iris had brought with them both scrambled to their feet, tails wagging as they tried to crowd their mistress. A snap of her fingers had both of the hounds sitting back in the dirt, sitting alert and waiting for their next order. Iris moved swiftly to the side of her mare, pulling herself up with ease. She settled comfortably in the saddle, giving Stelios a rather unimpressed look. Her green eyes were bright and playful, however, and she leaned against the neck of her mare, giving him eyes like a begging dog.
"You should be nice to me, Stelios," she pouted, "I'm all alone here and I'm doing you a favor by putting up with your shit moods. And your sub-par hunting skills. ...and penchant for scaring away all of our prey. What am I supposed to feed my household if your bellowing voice sends all the deer to Hades?"
There were at least two different Stelios inside the burly man who sat astride with the rarity of an impish grin on his face. This one was seldom seen, crushed beneath the avalanche of stern dignity he wore more easily than his own skin much of the time. Only family and the closest acquaintances were privy to the Stel who could be downright playful ... albeit still a stubborn pain in the posterior. Iris in a sense fit both of those classifications. She was as near as family, a fact he had to remind himself of as she exited the tent and he spied a woman now full grown. And she embodied the same headstrong courage and drive to succeed that fueled him, too. He felt no need for the usual distance and if he were a more introspective sort might have wondered, as he snapped his 'big mouth' like one of her hounds, comically, if he couldn't be this natural around anyone else.
But soul-searching wasn't on the agenda today. "All my hot bluster is necessary to thaw the blast of cold air coming from your tent. Frigid Acantha is inside, isn't she?" He increased the volume of his naturally booming bass voice to taunt the lady-in-waiting and flitted a wink towards the flaps just in case she happened to be glaring through them. "I'm getting more frostbit by the second."
"Doing me a favor?! You'd be chasing after rabbits if I weren't here. And losing. Sub-par hunting skills, eh?!" He reached out with feigned umbrage and swung through the air, deliberately too wide to connect with her rump in the saddle. "Tell you what, if I get the first kill I can name my prize. And if you take it, the same. Your household will eat their fill tonight, young one, with the fattest hind ever felled in these woods!"
It was a bold vow from a bold man ... one who had already goaded his horse and started hurtling towards the treeline, unfairly seeking a head start. The soft, loamy earth thundered beneath shod hooves, kicking up gouts of dirt behind his stallion as it raced towards the forest shade. A glance was spared over his shoulder, a slanted smile full of smug over-confidence for the woman who knew these environs infinitely better than he did. Stelios breathed in deep of an air scented with the wild notes of thicket and copse, a primeval perfume that set his awareness even more on edge and tightened the anxious tension in his chest. This was what he needed, set to let his cares fly on the fletching of his arrows, spending months worth of stress in a single day of genuine enjoyment. And he was happy to share it with Iris; happier still that she hadn't sent an arrow or two of her own whizzing by his head by now.
Iris could only smile like an idiot at the jab toward Acantha. Because Acantha had poked her head out of the tent at that moment, fixing Stelios with a venomous glare and an attitude that she did not care how "noble" he was. He was an ass in her eyes. Though... he also had a nice ass. Which she had made the mistake of mentioning to Iris once, only for Iris to end up on the floor of her room, laughing so hard she could hardly breathe. That had left her lady in waiting blushing furiously and excusing herself to attend to the laundry. Now, she was just cold and grumpy that a man so attractive had to be so loud and uncouth, things Acantha had learned men of breeding shouldn't be. As quickly as Acantha poked her head out, she lifted her nose, turned her head away, and ducked back into the tent.
Having turned her head to watch the silent exchange, Iris waited until she was gone to lean lazily against her horse, trying to keep her laughter quiet. Her gaze flicked to her friend, gauging the man's reaction with ease and sudden calm. But his continued bluster only irked her temper again and she was sitting up on her mare, glaring at him across the expanse between them.
"Excuse you, Stelios!" Iris snapped sharply, "I hunt these woods more than anyone. It is you who would be chasing rabbits if I weren't here to show you the best hunting grounds in the area." She then squinted at him, "Im absolutely going to make that first kill," the lady commented, tugging on the reins of her mare and turning her toward the inner section of forest. She started them off at a walk, not wanting to scare away whatever prey was about. The two hunting dogs scouted ahead, scampering quickly through brush and sniffing about.
Casting a challenging yet amused smile toward her sometimes overly ostentatious companion, Iris tilted her head, instructing him to follow and leaving Acantha back at the tent. With one hand on her bow and the other on the reins of her mount, Iris straightened up when they were far enough from the encampment to have a private conversation. "How was the campaign this time, Stelios?" her tone had grown softer, more considerate of him.
While shooting the shit with him was one of her most exciting past times, he was also her friend. And she enjoyed conversation with him whenever they had a chance. Some might say it was improper for her to ride with a man with no escort, no chaperone, but Iris was in Aetaea, not court. She took liberties with her own freedom simply because her father allowed it and trusted the Antonis lord.
Iris and Stelios in a perfect world might have suited each other perfectly. They were of a similar alchemy, both hot-blooded and bold of spirit, impulsive and quick to speak their minds. She spurred on the best aspects of his nature and he genuinely enjoyed her company which was more than could be said for nearly every creature that dwelled under Helios' bright sun. And it did help that she had such a fetching handmaid. As Acantha poked her head out he kissed the air tauntingly and laughed long and hard as the blonde ducked back inside, hoping it would needle her. That was was a woman who needed to be ridden, and hard. But first, a ride of a more equine sort through the familiar countryside of Aetaea.
"That's what you think!" he whooped back, but fell into an easy pace beside the huntress, not about to race ahead when it was far more enjoyable to savor the moment alongside her. "War is what it is ... bloody and short with a lot of waiting in between," he opined, shrugging off the darker thoughts that intruded when he considered recent combat and the faces he'd known and led and laughed with who were by now picked apart by carrion crows, eyes unseeing. If Iris looked closely she might have seen his knuckles whiten, grasp tightening against his reins but no other visible sign of the profound tension that was boiling away beneath the mountainous surface of the man. "I need a good hunt and a good cun ... never you mind," he moderated his thought with a sidelong glance.
Time to shift the conversation back on her. "What have you been up to lately? Harassing locals? Driving Acantha to the brink of homicidal rage? Breaking hearts across the province, no doubt. What about freedom, though? Do you have enough in all of ... this?" Stelios indicated her homeland with a nod of his tousled head. "I only ask," he glanced her way with a furrowed, considered brow. He knew wanderlust and need when he saw it in someone else, more easy to address than his own lack of any real connections or tethers to the world. And he knew from Vasia what the unique demands upon a noblewoman exacted. They had to deal with far more than his own sex; obligations that must grate for a woman of Iris' fierce independent spirit. "Because I never seem to have enough, not even on manoeuvers with the troops. Nothing ever really satisfies, Iris. Not for more than a few minutes."