As they sat there in the grass, two brothers more than two princes - or even two grown men - Vangelis allowed his brother to cry silently and without shame. He reached out at one point to place a hand on the back of Zanon's lowered head in an effort to offer comfort but he drew it back just as slowly and thoughtfully, unsure whether such a gesture would seem either patronising or as just a draw of attention to the man's moment of emotional weakness. Instead, he returned his fingers to the piece of grass he had been playing with and simply waited out his brother's need for release before he then spoke again regarding uniting the breech in their family unit.
As the two of them stood, Zanon commented on the lover they had each seen with Evras that evening - the catalyst for the entire night's violence and anger. He watched as his brother's shoulder's set and his jaw tightened, clear signs of the Kotas prideful rage coming back into play.
Vangelis wasn't going to tell his brother not to be so; not to be proud in a way that had defined their family for generations. But he would mediate where he could and then leave it to the husband and wife to make further repairs to their relationship.
"Evras has never struck me as a foolish or stupid woman, brother." He commented, as the two of them dusted off their clothes and began to head back towards the front door of the manor. "To kiss a man not her husband on the doorstep of his family home seems an ill-advised moment of lunacy for one as sure-minded as she. I would assume that the events of this evening were either not of her making, and that the stranger simply kissed her or that it was a desperate plan to attract your attention and while deplorable in its execution was at least delivered from a place of desire to have you notice her. Either way, I do not believe either circumstance to be insurmountable, but you should at least listen to her own words of explanation before you allow the Kotas anger to overwhelm you like it did before." He nudged his brother with a jab to the shoulder - a half joke and half warning that Vangelis would not tolerate any more screaming within the House.
By this time, they had crossed the courtyard avoiding the corpse Vangelis still had to deal with and headed inside the house.
The manor was eerily quiet now that all the excitement had passed and people had returned to their rooms. The sword that had previously belonged in Zanon's sheath still lay abandoned on the tiles of the great foyer and drips of inky crimson lay spattered on the floor where his brother had not fully cleaned the metal before it had been thrown.
Vangelis would see to that also.
With a light shove towards the stairs, Vangelis draw his brother's attention away from the weapon and the anger and resentment such a visual would remind him of from a few hours before, and stood behind his left shoulder as the two of them marched to Vangelis' chambers. He didn't lead his brother - for this was something that the man needed to do for himself. But he stood by his side and at his hand - as a good brother should.
When they reached the doors of his bed chambers, Vangelis motioned with his arm, to move his forearm over his own face - and instruction to Zanon.
"Clean your face, you hardly look like my brother anymore."
With a combination of speckled blood from his kill, the dirt of the outdoors and the streaks that his own tears had marked - not to mention the solid bruising that had begun to flourish over Zanon's jaw and the split lip - both of which had been delivered by Vangelis himself - it was hard to see the man's features under all the grime.
Allowing the man time to clean himself up as best as a shirt sleeve would allow, Vangelis reached for the handle of his own door and then turned to look at his brother before opening it.
"When this is over, Zanon, I'll owe you another strike on behalf of my nephew. You have a relationship to fix there also..." His gaze was hard and had shifted from loving brother to unyielding Head of House.
He went to open the door, only to find something blocking it.
"Evras, it's Vangelis, open the door." He called through the crack he had managed to open and kept his voice calm and as un-intimidating as he could manage under the circumstances.
When the door was opened and he found his sister looking at him, Vangelis scooted her outside with a grimace that clearly read "why am I not surprised?" and then stepped back to allow Zanon into his own rooms.
"Focus on fixing this first brother and then I will permit you to see your son. Until then I will be spending the night with him and not returning until noon tomorrow."
And with that, he took hold of his sister's shoulders, turned her like a doll to be facing the right direction and then patted her on the bum to walk forwards and away, as he would have done when they were children.
"You, princess, have some explaining to do..." He said as they walked down and away from the crown prince's wing. "I told you to wait in your own rooms."
Despite Athanasia trying her best, there was nothing that would make Evras feel better at this point other then her siblings - she craved Nethis's words, knew that her eldest sister would find some way to make it right. Even Mihail's words of jest would make her laugh. Yet she was in the Kotas mansion, and while Asia was sweet, she was still her brother's sister, and Evras was cautious as to how much she was willing to break down in front of the girl without losing her senses entirely.
But Asia's presence did provide some measure of comfort. It was nice to know that a sister she once had before Zanon's treatment of her had ruined even that relationship, was at least understanding of her position now, and for taht she was grateful. If her friendship with Athanasia was the only thing that was repaired out of the night, Evras would be happy.
The silence that had permeated the room was one that Evras needed, just some time to mull over her thoughts and actions, winding a hand around the younger girl's and giving it a light squeeze and a grateful smile - her way of thanking Asia just for being around. But for now the Thanasi woman needed to think, think on what exactly had brought them to this place. She was no fool. Evras knew she was not entirely free of blame. But that did not mean she would easily dispel the blame from the otehr of their two-sided relationship.
When the knock was sharply rapped on the door, her head shot up from where they had been bent over her knees, fear diffusing through her blue-green eyes when she heard the firm, familiar tone of Vangelis. Her body froze in place, until the door eventually opened. Evras could almost feel the blood freeze in her veins as the door swung open to reveal the very bruised, grimed faces of her husband and brother-in-law.
Instinctively, Evras's eyes flickered to Zanon's first, a reaction that came so naturally to her it was as if it was hard wired in her. She hated how, even in the situation they were in, she still found a part of her fussing over the cracked lip, the way the bruises formed.
Gritting her teeth, she looked pointedly away from him, her hands balling into fists by her side again as she turned away from how Vangelis stepped back to allow him in, pretending to not here the elder prince's words, avoiding Zanon's gaze entirely, her feet rooted to the ground. She felt more then heard the departure of Athanasia and Vangelis, but even then Evras steadfastly refused to look at the other, knowing full well an open door behind him and a whole manor of people would come running again if he started yelling - and this time, Evras wanted no part of one of his fits. She's had quite enough of them, really.
At his brother’s instruction, Zanon wiped his face and grimaced at how the motion made the blossoming bruises twinge and his cut lip pull. He was a mess, there was no denying that, in a tunic still spattered with blood from his earlier kill. If wasn’t at all how he wanted to face his wife, not now or ever, but Vangelis had a point. He couldn’t keep hiding from this. There were two relationships he had to repair.
Even after most of the grime had been wiped clean he knew he wasn’t the finest sight to behold. He took care to avoid fights or any sort of damage to himself so even after eleven years of marriage this was new to them. He kept his gaze on her as the door swung open, letting his brother handle their sister’s presence with no comment, clenching and unclenching his fists as he waited. Only once they were alone and silence had fallen did he finally speak, not moving from his place.
”I have been a fool.”
There, the words were out now. Who knew what difference it would make but at least now it couldn’t be held against him. In spite of all of the emotion he tried to keep his voice steady, a low tone as if to soothe an animal. Though he wasn’t sure which of them was the wild creature that needed the most calm.
”And I have treated you poorly. And for that, you have my apologies. And the promise that it will not happen again.”
This was difficult. So much more difficult than anything else he had ever done. He had years of mistakes to atone for and if she never forgave him then he deserved it. But Vangelis was right. He had to try.
Without waiting for a response, Zanon moved forward and caught hold of his wife, tipping her face up to his own and kissing her deeply as if this would erase the years of strife between them and make her forget the other man.
Well color her surprised. While Evras had been determined to show no outward expression no matter what he said, she couldn't help but swing her eyes to his with a shocked look showing in her expressive gaze. Her lips hung slightly open, another showcase of how his words had bowled her over. In the past three years, while Evras had hoped her prideful, egoistical husband would come to his senses and return to her, never had she guessed he would apologize to her as such.
Gaping as he continued speaking, a part of Evras's heart softened - susceptible as she was whenever she saw Zanon struggling. He had always been her achilles' heel, her one weak point that she would go soft for, against all the teachings of Nethis who had always told her that she could solve all her problems herself. There was no doubt in Evras's mind that the little interlude with Vangelis that he's had was somewhat the catalyst behind his words. While she was somewhat sore that it required a third party to knock some sense into her husband, she was... at least mildly mollified.
And then he kissed her.
Her lips had still been ajar when he moved forward and caught her, and before she knew she, she found herself in his embrace, his lips on hers.
It would never compare to anyone else's of course. Just half an hour or so ago, she had been kissed on the lips by the young Valaoritis brother, yet it couldn't even come close to what she felt when Zanon pressed his lips on hers - like a stoked fire slowly brought back to life, heat rising in her body. The feeling that the final piece of a puzzle slid in to complete her whenever she and Zanon were connected. Briefly, she allowed herself to sink in his kiss, a kind so different from the ones they had shared in his chambers during Selene's visit.
And then logic came ringing loud and clear, and in the next second, Evras had pushed him away roughly, wrenching herself out of his grasp and taking steps away from him until an adequete distance was placed between them. She shook her head the whole time, biting the lip that he had just thoroughly kissed. "No. No no no." she murmured repetitively, a wave of emotions crashing and bubbling in her eyes. She wanted to, oh how she wanted to. But she couldn't. Evras was no fool. And she held herself to higher regards then. One apology was enough to erase three years of strife from her? Not happening.
"No, Zanon." she repeated in a harder, tighter tone. She shivered when she saw him, she couldn't help it. She had seen him kill - drive a sword through someone with no thought to the other's life. He had dragged her in, caused her pain... and for that, Evras's forgiveness did not come easily. The dark-haired maiden bit her lip to stop it from wobbling, taking a deep breathe to stop the shiver of her voice from tears she worked hard to hold back, before speaking again. "You promise me at the altar to Zeus to love and trust, to never hurt me." the insinuation was clear, as she winced at her own words, her scalp still stinging from the way he had dragged and grabbed her.
"If you didn't honor your promises then, why should I trust your promise now? I can't keep trying to talk to a wall with no ears. You didn't listen... have not been listening to me for years now. So..." she paused, and then her voice dipped to a heartaching whisper, in a way that was more vulnerable then angry, as a single tear finally escaped her efforts of holding them back. "So why should I listen to you now?"
For a brief shining moment, Zanon was convinced it was all over. The strife the anger the hatred, everything wiped away in that kiss. And then she shoved him. The second prince stepped back and it was his turn to stare at his spouse with mouth ajar as she berated him for the past three years worth of offenses. It wasn’t that he didn’t deserve them, but he hadn’t been expecting to be pushed away when he made his apology. Anger flared up again mingled with hurt.
For all of the transgressions he had built over the past three years, ever since the visit of Lady Selene, he had been without another bedfellow. He had been trying to see the error of his ways. He had missed his wife. All of the anger he had felt before had been slowly trickling away until this night. He deserved a majority of the blame, the ridicule, but he would not stand here and allow her to be held blameless. For keeping his son from him and making him a Thanasi pawn, treating him as if he was a baby still when he would be expected to fight with the rest of the men in four years time. For kissing another man for all to see in front of the palace.
”Because I’m trying. For once.”
The prince spoke through a clenched jaw, trying to keep his temper under control as his elder brother had ordered.
”And because this is not only my fault. You stopped trying as much as I did. You hid Dion and fled to your family home knowing how much I distrust them. And now, you have to trust me. Because no matter what either of us say I watched you with another man. How do I know for sure that was the only time? If I am willing to believe you and set aside our past and try again. Why shouldn’t you.”
When Evras gripped Athanasia's hand and gave it a light squeeze, Asia felt that her sister by marriage would be just fine in time. The thought made her smile knowing that at least they were able to fix that relationship, planning that even if Zanon gave her up, Asia would still keep in contact with her. Her fool of a big brother better not give Evras up though, not if he planned to have any peace for the rest of his life.
As Asia made her silent vow there was a knock at the door that had both the women jump a little in surprise at the sudden sound that filled the quiet room. A slipt second thought had Athanasia debate on throwing herself at the door to keep everyone out and away from Evras at this time, but the sound of Vangelis' calm voice changed her mind as quickly as it came. So when he opened the door finally, shoving the chair out of the way with the door, she lifted her chin in defiance as she met her oldest brother's gaze. Athanasia wasn't going to let any of her brothers be stupid, and right now, she thought Zanon was the biggest fool of them all.
As her thoughts went to the moments before, seeing the terror on Evras and Dion's faces as Zanon seemed to lose his mind, if Vangelis didn't shove her out the room she was about to give the second oldest Kotas a piece of her mind. The only thing that kept her mouth shut at that moment when Vang let her go was his words to Zanon, feeling better that she wasn't the only one who wanted Zanon to fix his relationship. In a move that was almost to fast for her to focus on in her annoyed state of mind, Vangelis had Asia turned away and patted her on her bottom to move forward as she exclaimed with a loud, "Hey! But he-!" Asia did not want to leave them alone, what if Zanon lost his temper again?
As they walked down the hall, Athanasia tried giving her brother her sweetest smile, even as her anger clearly shown in her eyes. "Anyone could clearly see how upset Evras was, and since Dion is with mother, I went with Evras." Her hands were balled into tight little fists as she thought about how her friend and sister looked when she entered the room, enraging her even more. "Someone needed to help clean off the blood and get the sticks and leaves out of her hair gently." This last part, Asia growled out, wanting to hit Zanon for being so cruel. As they headed towards her rooms, Asia paused and turned towards Vangelis, her annoyance was clear on her face as she looked up at him. "Tell me, did you instruct anyone to check on her and make sure she was ok, and that the blood was not her own?"
The clenched jaw, tight tone, all of them made Evras flinch - and she's never actually flinched away from Zanon before. She had never once showed fear in his eyes until today, but she was not so blinded that she did not see the point in his words. He made sense - and in that moment Evras could see the sense. Evras had tried at first. She had cajoled and teased, even asked Nethis on ways of seduction to entice her husband to return to her. But weeks of failing, coupled with the heated whispers of her origin and what she had done to her husband getting louder, all of which had beaten down Evras's self-confidence, until the woman had eventually retreated to herself, and bringing with her the only person who she trusted outside of her family.
Her son.
She swallowed hard, her emotions warring with logic. The amount of hurt he had caused her piled high, threathening to blind her...but Evras knew better, firsthand, how it felt like to be not trusted entirely.
"I tried, Zanon." she replied, fists balling again by her side as she tried to keep her bubbling emotions in check. "You simply rejected me in favor of everyone else who catches your eye out there." All the parading of his infidelity, all of which were thrown in Evras's face, causing her to get ridiculed by nobles and commoners alike, that she couldn't even gain enough respect from her own husband for him to keep his mistresses a secret from the public to save her the shame.
"If you'd like an apology, then I am sorry that had happened - I wanted no part of it. I could've stopped him, but he...." she trailed off, her eyes averting itself from him as Evras considered her words. Should she mention names? He had already gutted one slave back in his drunken rage. Biting her lip, the woman pondered on her words,and continued. "I should not have even allowed him to continue, and for that I apologize. Yet even if I insist that it was a one time thing that has not happened anywhere else, would you believe me, husband? Am I suppose to apologize for this one matter, and forgive you for three years worth of kisses with others, then?"
"I did. All of those things I admit to. But there has been no one else for me for two months. I know it isn't an appropriate amount of time, I could wait another three years if you wished."
He tried to keep the bitterness out of his tone as he spoke to her, not at all liking where this was going. The way Vangelis had made this out to be was entirely different than how it was happening and he didn't know what else he could do at this moment. He was still drunk, though sobering quickly, his jaw and lip were both swollen from his brother's fists, and his tunic was still covered in blood. He was humbling himself in a way he never had before. For a Kotas and a man, everything about this moment was painfully difficult.
Forgiveness could not in this instance be a one way street. They had both done things to hurt the other, and while he might have been coming down from his turn of misdeeds it appeared hers were only beginning. Zanon clenched his fists once more as she spoke of the kiss and the man he had witnessed. At the very least, he had hidden his actual affairs from his wife. Though rumors spread, he had never actually kissed or touched anyone in such a way in front of her. Not like what she had done. Blatantly allowing such a thing before the entire palace, showing off her infidelity. Even if it was the first and only time, her disregard was far more clear to the world than his own. Rumors could be rumors, but eyesight, with so many witnesses, could not.
"If you wish to preserve anything we had together, yes. We are to forgive each other all things past." The emphasis was there on the word 'all'.
Evras' declaration though stunned him. She was not willing to try. Well, then there was no reason for him to do so. If she would make such a statement, if she truly had no interest in trying, she could leave and return to the Thanasi house, without Dion. He could live his own life, take Ione as his partner until he grew tired of her, and move to the next. If that was truly what Evras wanted, to be a disgraced princess without hope of divorce, that was what she would be.
"Get out. Take nothing but what you arrived with."
His words were spat out in rage, his face already turned purple and yellow from the bruising was a furious red and he blinked to prevent any further tears from rising. He had done what he was supposed to do. If she would try no further, neither would he. Turning rapidly on his heel, Zanon slammed through the doors and out into the hall with every intention of barricading himself in his chambers with a few maids and a good deal of wine.
His admission of being with no one else for two months surprised her - that itself, was not something she had thought to be true, even if Evras had seen him more often around the Kotas residences ever since Vangelis had returned home injured. The woman was not blind enough to not notice the bitterness that came out of him, but she herself harbored enough anger in her to not want to react just yet. To find space in her hear to forgive Zanon after the years of pented up frustration and hurt would take some time. All things? She didn't know if she could.
But the word try was a very strong word afterall.
Before she could even get a word in edgewise, he had already given up, and that in itself drove another knife through to her heart. Was she worth that little, that he would give up that easily? She said she was try if he was going to trust her... does that mean he didn't trust her then?
The words spit out in rage was like the flinging of daggers at her, and Evras backed up a step in shock as he turned and slammed the door on his way out. The loud sound reverberated through the hallway, as if it were a physical slap to her face as her lips fell apart in a shock gape again at her husband's actions. What could she do if his automatic reaction each time was to just run away from her? She can't continuously be the only one chasing after him.
But she also knew that if she didn't chase, they would never solve matters.
I've been staying too long with these prideful males. Her mind grumbled, as she ran towards the door he had slammed, stopping right at the doorway in time to see Zanon's back in the dim, lit hallway. "Zanon!" she called out, a voice loud enough to, hopefully, still his steps, before she continued. When he did stop, Evras took a deep breathe, tamping down the need to just knock her idiot husband over the head - they can do that later, when he's more willing to listen. Obviously he was not at this point.
"You told me to take nothing but what I arrived with." she paused, her voice shaking, her hand holding the front of her chiton. "Then can I have my heart back? Cause I sure as Hades did not arrive with it here. You stole it a long time ago." she paused, her whole body trembling. "But if... if you can try. Really try. Then... perhaps I can too."
As soon as he had stormed from the room he had searched for something to hit, gaze landing on the stone wall across from him. It hurt, the impact of fist in stone, but right now he needed the pain to keep him from crying and to keep him from crumpling there in the hallway like he had outside with his brother. Time seemed to stop until he heard her voice calling his name. He didn't turn at first, certain it was just some sort of hallucination until she spoke again.
Turning slowly from the wall he had fallen against to face her, knuckles scraped and bruised from the beating he had been dishing out to the unsuspecting wall. For a moment he just stared at her, trying to move past the whiplash his emotions had been through. For her to come rushing after him, demanding her heart back after all this time, Zanon couldn't decide how to react. A laugh, a snarl, a scream. They all tried to emerge from him at once in what ended as a cry of frustration.
"Make up your mind. I had thought mine decided."
His voice was thick with emotion as he crossed his arms, trying to hide the scrapes and developing purplish swelling on his knuckles from her. He was enough of a mess before, she didn't need to see this too.
"I told you I would. You were the one who said you couldn't try anymore. Trust is something we both need to earn back."
With his arms crossed he waited, fighting the urge to drop everything and envelope her in his arms once again, kiss her as he had tried to earlier. But she had shown she didn't want that. And no amount of sweetness now had him prepared to be rejected by her once more.
The cry startled her, made her eyes widen in a mix of surprise and confusion, the words thick in emotions that Evras could not identify. Her brows furrowed, trying to identify that of her husband's feelings through the dim lighting of the hallway, but at best Evras could only see his actions, shuttered as Zanon tended to be when it came to his feelings. Zeus knew that Evras had not been privy to what he had felt over the past three years.
But she'll work with his words.
"I said I couldn't try if you didn't trust, Zanon." she replied, a wry tone in her voice. If he could see, he would've seen her rolling her eyes, some of the old sarcasm she used to use on Zanon when he was being silly with her coming back. Taking a few more steps towards him, she heaved another deep breathe, and then spoke again. "I'm not going to lie - it won't be easy. You have not trusted me in years, you cannot deny that." her eyes levelled on him, almost daring him to say no, before she continued. "But... I will. Try, that is." she added with a shaky tone in her breathe towards the end.
Drawing nearer to him, by then they were but a few steps apart, and she could now see him much clearer, all the bruises, the split lip, and Evras finally gave in to the innate need she had within her to watch over him, to wash away his pain. With a shivering hand, she reached out and gingerly brushed her thumb over the blossoming bruise, her actions achingly slow as she spoke in a tone that spoke of the years of hurt and ache she had for him. "Why do you do this to yourself, husband mine?" she murmured, bottom lip shivering. Her thumb trailed to his lips, caressing it, as if her touch could wipe away his injuries. "If I could turn back time... was there anything I could've done to prevent all of this?"
If he didn’t trust. What else was he supposed to do but trust, even in the face of her apparent infidelity, he had no choice. Zanon stayed where he was, watching her warily as she approached and quite honestly expecting some sort of blow. His body was braced for it and he knew he deserved it, deep down though his stubbornness insisted that he could not be entirely in the wrong. It couldn’t be all his fault. He couldn’t let it be all his fault. Nor could he deny that he hadn’t trusted her in years.
His eyes closed as she touched the bruise Vangelis’ fist had left, wincing even at the slight pressure. He was lucky the elder brother hadn’t broken his jaw or knocked out any of his teeth. The stone prince was strong, he could have killed him if he wanted. Slowly he allowed himself to unravel, the tension sliding out of his body at a snails pace as he opened his eyes to meet her own.
Her touch on his face was foreign after so many years, yet it had a haunting familiarity. Shaking his head as best he could with the pain, Zanon unfolded his arms and hesitantly reached out to her. With scraped knuckles he touched her cheek softly, letting it slide back until he reached the knot that his hands had tangled in her hair earlier.
”I’m sorry. I broke my promise.”
Zanon tipped his head slightly to one side, looking down at his wife as if with a clear gaze for the first time in three years. They both could have done so many things differently to repair their hearts, but that was long past now.
”No point asking that now. It’s past.”
He paused for a moment before leaning down to press a soft kiss to her forehead, afraid to try for her lips again after the forceful rejection he’d dealt with earlier. Even that pained his sore and busted lip, and he gingerly tried to just wrap his arms around her instead, longing to become familiar with the sensation of her body against his again.
As he reached out to her, Evras had flinched. Her sore scalp, the bruises on her shoulder, they were all too soon for her to forget what he had done just a half an hour ago belowstairs in the foyer of their home. But in light of their recent agreement to forgive, she pushed to not react further, and took a deep breathe before offering a watery smile as he brushed his fingers back into her hair, reaching the knots of her black locks.
His apology served to further mollify the woman, whose heart had always been soft to her husband, gave in further. She let her blue-green eyes meet his, and a knot of anxiety loosened at her husband's clear gaze. Making a mental note to tell him to stay away from alcohol as much as he could, it was as if Evras could remember just why she had fell in love for the handsome, almost twelve years ago.
Evras closed her eyes when he leaned down, savoring the feel of his lips on her forehead. She had let her hand slip down, and her palm was now splayed on his chest. Allowing him to wrap his arms around her, she steped in closer, into the space that had once been easily hers, but which she had forgotten from not being there in years. It was odd, this feeling of something being foreign yet familiar, and Evras looked up at him.
"I'm sorry too." she murmured, tilting her head to look up at him. For causing him pain? For making him mistrust her? For standing by and doing nothing as he mistrusted her? Like he said, no point in dredging up the past. "For any hurt I may have caused you." Standing on her tip toes, Evras pressed a quick, chaste kiss on his lips, careful to not hurt his split lip, before words tumbled out in a choked sob past her lips. "I love you, Zanon."
In all of his life he had never experienced a feeling like holding her in his arms. From the many women he'd had before her, and those since their marriage, none of them had filled his arms quite like she did. Closing his eyes, Zanon buried his face in her hair for a long moment, breathing her in as he had so many times before. Everything about her felt right, comforting. Perfect. Her hand on his chest felt hot as if it were burning away every pain and bringing him back to the place where he had felt the most at peace, with her by his side.
Leaning back as she spoke, he attempted a smile without cracking the wound on his lip, tightening his grip as she leaned up to press a soft kiss there. How could he have ever thought anything ill of her, when everything felt right when he was with her? What sort of madness had he allowed himself to fall into when it was clear that everything perfect was her. Without regard to his wound, he took advantage of their closeness to deepen that kiss, parting his lips and gently catching her lower lip with his as he had when they teased each other in their youth. It wasn't much, but it was something. A promise of sorts that the man he had been once was not entirely gone.
As they parted, he brushed strands of hair away from her face, his hand sliding down the length of her arm until their fingers twined. They had wasted too much time, as Vangelis had said. He would never regain those three years he had lost, and for all of his anger and regret, nothing could change that except them going forward.
"Come, to our room. We ought to clean up, and then to bed." Hesitating a moment, he looked to her with a slight frown before catching her other hand as well. "Not, to the same bed. Or, in any manner but sleep. Whichever is your preference."
One kiss did not an apology make, and neither did it wipe away years of hurt and anger. But what it did, was give one hope and a wish for the future that perhaps, for now, they were both on the same path and could work something out that could bring them back to how they used to be.
Evras couldn't say she was surprised when Zanon tilted her head back and deepened their kiss, and she willingly went with him. It was familiar, a whiff of nostalgia that made her heart swell again with longing. She had missed her husband's gentle treatment of her. The woman nipped at his lips when he caught her own, a hint of the teasing wife she had once been showing itself as well.
Lowering herself down again, a small smile curled Evras's lips upwards when he brushed her hair away, and her fingers instinctively curled around his, a trail of warmth behind where he slid his hand down her arm. Her heart raced, a flush slightly tinging her pale cheeks. The girl nodded, letting him catch her hand and following as he led them to their room - well his room, really. She had not shared it since the Taengean visitor had left.
Her gaze fell to their joined hands, and then an amused gaze flickered up to her husband, a wry brow raised. "You seem to be asking me to just sleep next to you very often, husband of mine." A lilt in her tone hinted at the light tease Evras included in her words. "If that's what you prefer, well... alright. Whatever you want then." Her blue-green eyes sparked with the unspoken laughter, as she tugged at him along the hallway. Evras paused just enough to hail a passing slave to prepare a warm bath to be sent to their chambers, before continuing on their way up.
Upon reaching, she was quick to release Zanon's hands and dart to the mirrors, intent on working out the kinks and knots in her hair. Her dark locks had always been thick and luxurious, a point of pride for Evras, and she disliked the birds nest it now resembled. Wincing as it tugged at her scalp, she turned as the door opened again and a couple of servants came in with a steaming wooden bath, which they set at the other end of the room. Filled with water and scented oils, the perfume was quick to diffuse through the room. "Get in, husband. I'll wash off the grime for you. Your clothes are ruined so we can toss that." she murmured in her usual gentle tone, turning to allow Zanon to enter the bath as she finished up the loosening of her locks.
The walk back to his rooms, their rooms, was strange. He hadn’t gone through these halls hand in hand with his wife for years. Even though they ran into relatively few people, those that they did pass all gave shocked looks that made him scowl in their direction until they scurried away. The only one he spared was the maid tasked with bringing a bath to them which his aching bones and muscles needed desperately.
They hadn’t shared a bed since the departure of the Leventi girl, certainly hadn’t done more than that since before he could remember. While his offer had been intended to relieve any pressure she might feel, and allow himself time to heal so that the embarrassing moment that had occurred the last time they’d tried for any sort of intimacy didn’t occur again, he could see how it might have been taken the wrong way and shook his head even as he undressed.
Tossing the bloody tunic aside, he eased into the bath with a happy sigh, submerging entirely for a moment and scrubbing at his face and hair. The oils and water were soothing and as he surfaced he already felt an entirely new man. Zanon watched her fight with her hair, guilt springing up once again in his chest as he saw the mess he’d made.
”Come. I can help with that.”
He waited until she approached, allowing her to take her time before he shifted in the tub. As the water soaked into his bones he took her raven hair in his hands, sorting through the tangles at the end first with his fingers and the brush before moving slowly up. She had taught him well in their youth when he had been obsessed with the softness and beauty of her locks, spending ages running his hands or a comb through it even after it had reached its softest point. After a long moment of silence,Zanon shifted forward and swept aside her hair, pressing a kiss to the curve of her neck and resting his forehead against her shoulder, taking a breath.
The eldest Kotas brother, entirely ignored Athanasia's protests as he encouraged her down the halls of their manor and away from his own wing so as to give Zanon and his wife some privacy. He had no idea whether their discussions would go well, whether they would end in catastrophe or whether they would be, once again, returned to the stony silence of the in-between that they had been depressively mooching through for the last few years. But, at this point, it was up to them to decide the results of the night.
Vangelis had told Zanon their father's story - providing evidence that Zanon was not the only man to be distracted on the battlefield by the ones he loves; that there was no such curse to spell that had created the near-tragedy. He had made his own opinions on the Thanasi sisters and their rumoured roles as witches very clear and tried to knock sense into the mythos that had taken control of Zanon's mind for so long.
He understood. He knew how such a notion had entered Zanon's mind. And one only had to spend an hour in a Court that held one of the Thanasi's to understand how such a concept could become embossed and imprinted into fact.
He had said all he could to correct the lies, rumours and gossip that had tainted Zanon's feelings towards his wife but, if his brother chose not to listen - if he continued to allow rumour to over-throw his own heart - then there was nothing Vangelis was about (or inclined) to do further. This was not his marriage. It was Zanon's. And he needed to be the one to fix it.
Upon reaching Athanasia's rooms, Vangelis heard her compassion and kindness in her insistence of looking after Evras and nodded as they came to a stop. His words, however, were that of the Head of House - not of Evras' brother-in-law.
"I knew the blood was not hears, Asia, as I saw the events outside from my room. Otherwise, of course, I would have sent someone to check on her..." He paused as his eyes grew harder in the dimly lit corridor. "But Evras is a Kotas now. And to be a Kotas means to be strong and defiant in the face of adversity... We are not coddled and we do not bleed for others. We stand for strength... If Evras cannot handle this situation, she does not deserve to be one of us."
He then turned his assessment to his sister - not unkindly, but in a tone that instructed in fact over emotion. "While it is kindness that sent you to Evras, Asia, please remember that we Kotas are 'Blood Above All' and that your following of her to my rooms could be taken by Zanon as a betrayal by his sister. They were at odds and you chose a side that was not of your blood." His eyes narrowed. "While interruption was needed this night in order to protect Dion, this is their marriage and it is there's to fix. You should be careful in when and how you show your compassion, so as not to be seen as meddling."
Placing a hand on her head and ruffling her hair a little in affection; perhaps in the hopes of making his words less harsh, he then released her in order to point inside the open door of her rooms.
"Now... to bed." He told her. "I see you up and around again tonight and the marital state of our brother will be the least of your concerns..."
And with her dismissed, Vangelis headed away into the darkness of the manor, not bothering to light torches or instruct a passing slave for a candle. Instead, he knew the halls and corners like he knew his own skin and he made his way quickly down through several servants’ steps and out into the main foyer through a hidden door beneath the grand staircase.
Heading out to one side and finding his way quickly to the kitchens, Vangelis selected a cloth and a large bucket which he filled with scolding hot water from the cauldron kept above the fire pit.
As he carried the weighty barrel back up to the foyer, Vangelis had already dismissed the notion of summoning a servant for such work. The Courts talked and it wasn't just the courtier's tongue that did the wagging.
While his servants would already have heard the rumbling noises and raised voices from the foyer, they did not need additional evidence to their stories.
The foyer, at least, was quick and easy to clean. Vangelis simply picked up the blade from the floor - the one that Zanon had used to run through a slave that Vangelis knew to be innocent, and then wiped it off with the wetted cloth. Securing the blade under his belt, Vangelis then crouched to wipe away the black spattering pattern on the floor, where droplets of blood had been flung from the metal and dried hard to the marble tile.
As he wiped, the black turned damp and smeared crimson, but he had it all off quickly enough and the few drops that had been washed away hadn't even been enough to taint the water of the bucket pink.
Now, for the tricky bit... Vangelis thought as he moved back to standing, his thigh painful but ignored and took the bucket back up, allowing it to swing in line with his knee.
Outside, the courtyard was dark and dismal. It was now the deep of the morning and the sun would be rising in perhaps only three hours or so. There was no wind that night - no breeze to tug at the plants, leaves and grass and no swift changes in air flow that might have sent the yells and cries of the Kotas mansion down to the citizens below. This was good news as their matters should more or less remain private. The entire front courtyard appeared almost spooky with how still everything was in the tepid air, however, and Vangelis frowned into the inky darkness.
Settling aside the bucket and his cloth, Vangelis stepped forward to assess the damage of the dead body now lounging on the cobblestones.
The man was dead, there was no doubting it, for he had watched his brother run the man straight through. The slaves had slumped against the blade, lifeless, before he had even hit the ground.
The way he had crumpled in a single spot, however, at least stemmed the flow of his lifeblood.
There was a large puddle beneath the body, a long, flecked line of black against the floor, streaking out to the right - where Zanon had removed his blade and then pointed and swung the thing in gestures, but beyond that, there was little to even make the man's passing, besides his body itself and the black smudge across his front where Zanon had mostly cleaned off his blade.
Sighing, Vangelis was careful to inspect and check that the body was no longer leaking, before he threw its arm over his shoulder and lifted the dead weight as he rose to his feet. His leg protested and his shoulder screamed before he readjusted the cargo and then he quickly headed around the back of the Kotas manor and out across the grounds.
Towards the back of their fields lay forestry that ran the length and hugged the side of the mountains. It was within a glen of that forest that Vangelis finally set the corpse to the side and breathed a steadying moment before he turned around and walked the fifteen minutes back to the Kotas manor.
The body, he would deal with later. For now, the front of their house needed to look less like the site of an execution...
Within ten minutes, Vangelis had scrubbed away the worst of the blood and then thrown the bucket of water over the cobbles, turning the bubbling, frothing red to a pale cleaned away pink.
This would be perfectly acceptable as the Kotas manor's entry courtyard had numerous stains of the same kind that washed away with the rain and were then replaced again when the next hunting kill was brought into their home. Blood, after all was not a sign of violence, but a sign of life. A spot that had clearly witnessed the execution of a man? That was far less subtle.
Leaving the pretty pink smear over the ground and heading back towards the forest, Vangelis was careful to pick up a shovel on his way from the stables.
Now, for the real work.
The glen he had chosen for the funeral grounds of the Valaoritis slave had been carefully picked. With trees on all sides it was hidden from public view, but the space was large enough that he would be able to burn the body without setting alight to the entirety of the Kotas property.
Taking up the shovel, Vangelis began to create the second contingency that would help with that; a hole.
It took him near an hour - an embarrassing length of time if he were in his fittest state, but alas he had had to stop on numerous occasions to give his aching muscles a rest - but by the time he set assign the shovel, there was a hole in the centre of the clean, six foot long and five foot deep. That would be enough to hold back the sparking embers. He had also lined the bottom of the hole with the dried branches of the trees around the glen, intent on making sure the fire burned hot and fast.
Setting the body into place, on top of the kindling, his feet braced either side of the hole as he lowered the man down, Vangelis then removed a few obols from the pouch he always had attached to his belt, reached over to drop the man's eyelids, and then placed the coins appropriately.
Stepping back and going in search of more firewood, it was another half hour before Vangelis was able to kneel at the edge of the hole start a flame beneath the victim of his brother's rage.
Standing up and taking a step back, Vangelis waited the duration of the burning for two reasons. One, was to be assured that no evidence was left before he buried the remains within the hole he had created and two was to show at least a modicum of respect to the burning man.
He had lived as an innocent and died as a traitor. The least Vangelis could offer him was safe passage across the Styx and a mortal gaze to witness his final moments as part of the mortal realm...
By the time the slave had gone from this world and Vangelis had buried all evidence and was returning to the mansion - bucket, cloth and shovel in hand - he was dirty, sweaty and smelt like burnt wood and flesh. He was also tired as hell, in a lot of pain and thoroughly pissed off at the whole situation.
Not that he would ever show any of that on his face.
Dumping the equipment he had stolen from various places in the manor up against the stable building, Vangelis stopped for a moment to pet at Phobos. The horse seemed happy to stay far away from him, as he lent over the stable doorway, the sun's first rays warming his back.
"You're going to have to be used to this smell, Phobos." Vangelis said... The creature who get a lot of it on the battlefield. Death and flame were often synonymous with those taken by Hades.
As if the sound of Vangelis' low, gravel of a voice saying his name caught his attention, the creature finally turned towards his new owner and allowed himself to be petted across the nose and down the neck.
Vangelis waited for a while, tending to the horse and watching the sun rise, permitting his equilibrium to fall back into place.
Today was a new day.
With a final scratch to Phobos' nose, Vangelis left the stables and headed back inside his family home, intent on seeing his nephew. For he knew his mother would have obeyed his instructions and the two of them would have seen no-one else for the night.
Athanasia could feel the irritation of tonight's events seemingly coming off of her older brother in waves behind her as they marched towards her rooms. Was what she did really wrong? So when she asked about if he had thought to send anyone to look after her, his words surprised her even as they made her start to glare at him in a look that was not unlike that of her older brother's right at that moment.
Blood before all. Yes, if Evras couldn't watch over herself, she would not be deserving of being a Kotas and Asia had seen how she was in the room. Closed off, strong, not giving in to the pain. She was being as strong as a Kotas. "Blood before all. I have stood beside Zanon in all his ramblings of something being not quite right. I have stood by him and have been cold towards Evras these past years, showing him nothing but support. Dion was hurt beyond any reason tonight, but I know Mother can take care of him and make sure he is ok. You fought him, made him bleed. If I stayed, I would have thrown more than just my bow at him because of that look on Dion's face. So instead, I went and checked on Evras, because as you said, she is a Kotas as well."
How could any of this been seen as a betrayal, all she did was make sure her family was ok. With his words, Asia was embarrassed, irritated, and now angry beyond measure. If anyone were to look at her right then, they would see it as she lifted her chin that tiniest bit, her Kotas anger shining through even as Vangelis ruffled her hair. So when he told her to go to bed, adding in a threat if she leaves her room again, Asia didn't say a word as she turned away and shut the door with a very solid sounding thump behind her.
Was she going to bed as she was told? Nope. She wasn't technically disobeying since she wasn't going anywhere outside her room. So after picking up a random sword she had stored away in her room for those days she snuck out and practiced swordplay with the soldiers in disguise, the repetitive thumping sounds could be heard in the silent corridors as she worked out her anger against a thick chunk of wood that she had brought in here for practicing her swing. With Vangelis telling her that she could be seen as betraying her brother, something she didn't even think about, cut her deep. What was she to do? Did she really betray Zanon?
With each swing of her little sword, Athanasia could feel the burn in her arms build, matching her anger inside her. As bits of wood flew through the air, exhaustion started to claim her, stealing her anger away at everything her brother said to her just then. Robbing her of the deeply set in angry from earlier with her other brother as she remembered the terror on Dion's face, of the pain on Evras face, till all that was left was the humiliation of the thought that she betrayed her blood.
Building up a good sweat, Asia swung her sword till she could not even lift her arms anymore, falling on her bottom and just staying on the floor. Did she really betray her family? It was with this thought that Asia decided that she would make a trip to Ares' temple, thinking that if she asked him what she should do, maybe he would answer. In her defiance, Asia still did not go to bed as she was ordered too, instead, she took out a book that she actually liked and sat up reading instead.
She had looked at Zanon with a surprised gaze when he offered to help - in truth, Evras had gotten so used to hardwiring her brain in not accepting help from anyone else since Zanon had began to push her away, the nod of her head to allow him to help seemed almost forced, as if one was learning a foreign language.
But she did it anyway, staring as if her husband had grown a second head, before gingerly picking up her hair brush.
Pushing the rumpled and askewed chiton off her shoulders, and standing straight to let the silken material fall off her body, for the first time in awhile, Evras actually flushed when she stood naked whilst walking to the bath tub Zanon was now in. The other time she had stripped in front of her husband in recent months had been fuelled by more anger and dignity then appropriate embarassment, but now that they were actually beginning to mend matters, she... well, considering she had yet to bed anyone in years, it just felt entirely new all over again.
Stepping into the water with one feet and then the other, she handed her brush to her husband and presented her back to him, a small smile appearing on her face as he began combing the tangles and knots out of her locks. The steam from the hot bath and the heat began loosening all the tense muscles which had coiled from the adrenaline of the evening. Evras slowly used her palms to cup the water, pouring it over her shoulders. The calm silence between them had been rare, but it was funny how even in silence, Evras found the peace and mutual understanding they now had do its work in making her battered heart heal less, and enjoyed the solitude with only the slight sounds of water interjecting the night's peace.
She was halfway through washing her face when she suddenly felt a pair of warm lips pressed tenderly on her neck. The heat and feeling of it brought shivers down her spine. The way his forehead was against her shoulder brought Zanon infinitely closer to her, and despite the heat of teh water, Evras could almost feel her husband's whole length behind her back.
The woman instinctively turned to where his head was, and pressed a kiss into his scalp, leaning backwards so her back was now pressed against his chest. Reaching behind, she pulled at his hand gently, bringing them to wrap around her waist. Her lips slipped lower to kiss the lobe of his ear, before Evras leaned back, a small smile on her lips, something she had not worn in front of Zanon for a long time - at least, not a genuine one. "How are you?" she murmured. It may be an odd question, but in truth Evras has not known how her husband fared other then hearsay from other people in a long time. Ironic, since they were supposed to be married, but that's what estrangement in marriage did to people.
As his wife disrobed Zanon allowed his eyes to trace over her figure, taking in the sight of her that he hadn't properly appreciated in far too long. He had been so incredibly lucky and yet somehow a veil had been drawn over his eyes. It would never happen again, he couldn't allow it. The shock on her face alone when he asked to help stung, but he tried to smile and allow it to roll off his back. It was his fault after all.
With each stroke of the brush through the tangles and knots it felt as if he was working away at all of the issues he had caused, they had caused throughout the last three years and before. The knot that his hands had brought on was the worst by far and he leaned closer to work the otherwise silky strands free of the wound up mess he had created. Only when it was finally free did he allow himself to set aside the brush, pressing his lips to her neck and sliding his arms slowly around her waist as she bid.
The kiss she pressed to his temple was almost a blessing and he took it as her permission to move close when she leaned back against his chest. They hadn't been in such an intimate position in so long he had forgotten how right it felt. How perfectly they fit, and how incredible their bodies were together. He shivered as she kissed his earlobe, nuzzling further into her collarbone and crossing his arms beneath her breasts. How could he have ever given this up.
"I'm...here."
Evras had caught him off guard with her question, but then again it was entirely valid. For the last few years they had done little together, lost sight of one another and their marriage entirely. Zanon rested his chin on her shoulder, gazing out before them and slowly running his fingers along her stomach absently. What could he say, how could he even begin to repair things.
"Not well. It...has been difficult without you. I didn't even begin to realize until I saw him with you."