Silas laughed softly, nudging his mare into a fast trot to catch up with Yiannis. After much badgering he had convinced Yiannis to take Silas for a ride off the Kotas property. Their mother had condoned it, with a few words of warning to 'take it easy' so, of course, the two boys had raced each other most of the way back. Silas had regretted that they couldn't have brought Asia, but she hadn't learnt to canter yet. It was kinda nice having Yiannis to himself for once too! He was a little worried that Yiannis leaving soon to the military. To leave Silas and Asia at home without any of their other siblings or father. Silas was determined to spend almost every waking moment that he could with Yiannis to make up for the time they were certain to lose. Even if the older prince didn't appreciate this clinging, Silas hadn't realised this.
Silas slowed his horse down, now next to Yiannis and gave him a beaming smile. He ran a hand through the mare's mane, and gave her a gentle pat. It was time to return to the manor and as they reached the gates, he nodded to the guards who gave them both respectful nods upon entry. Silas was a little disappointed that their ride hadn't lasted longer but their mum had suggested that they shouldn't stay out too long without guards with them. The youngest prince squinted at the figures standing outside the stables, not recognising the tall figure next to who he presumed to be Asia. His smile turned into a nervous frown and he glanced at his brother, "Do you know who that is?"
He wanted to gallop over and demand to know what was going on but he knew that wasn't what princes were supposed to do. Silas knew that even at the tender age of six, his sister was likely to get in a lot of trouble. Yet,there wasn't much a stranger could do while there were so many people around anyway. Maybe he was a new servant or a noblemen coming to speak to Zanon or his mother? As they got closer, Silas' eyes grew wider and his heart seemed to beat in his ears. Was that who he thought he was? Vangelis had grown much taller in the few years that he had been gone for but he was certainly a Kotas. He resisted the urge to fling himself off the mare and race towards his eldest brother but managed to resist but nudging his mare into a trot.
"Vangelis! Brother!" He called out, the excitement making him feel giddy. He wasn't supposed to return for a few more days! Their mother had been planning something in preparation of his return, so she might not be as delighted as the siblings for his early return. This thought was only fleeting as he stopped the horse to launch himself off of her back. He halted for a moment, her reigns still in his hand as he thought over the decision to embrace Vangelis. He may have changed more than just in looks, he might not appreciate the bear hug that Silas wanted to give him. It took only a few more moments before he dropped the reigns to give his eldest brother the hug anyway. It had been far too long, but there was no doubt that Silas remembered Vangelis, despite being Asia's age when he had left.
The news that his mother, the Queen of Colchis and a Taengean at heart who firmly believed in the celebration of small things, let alone that of the return of the crown prince, was... in his sister's words... "planning something", did not surprise Vangelis in any way, shape or form. It did, however, bring a small smile to his lips. At least his mother was well and in her natural form.
About to open his mouth in order to reply to his little sister's request of showing him how she could now trot aboard the back of a horse, Vangelis was distracted by the appearance of two horses coming through the main gates and headed towards the stables. While the last four years had been formative ones for Vangelis; turning him from a boy of fourteen into a man of eighteen, and had therefore enacted great changes upon his height, physique and appearance, the same could not be said for his brothers. Not much his junior and soon to enter into their own pubescent transformation, Vangelis had no doubts that they would be tall and strapping Kotas men in their own time. But, for now, it wasn't difficult to recognise them for the brothers he had known and still knew them to be. Despite the reverse being true and his own stubble, breadth of shoulder and impressive height masking the gangly teenager they would have in their own minds as the image of their eldest brother.
Placing a hand on the head of the eager, young Athanasia, Vangelis was sure to adjust his tone as soothing and sweet, despite the husky rasp it had developed over the last few years.
"Perhaps tomorrow, Asia." He told the young girl, hoping not to witness dejection in her wide and wild gaze. "I would very much enjoy seeing your ride..." He glanced up again pointedly, as the two horses drew closer. "Yet, I think other matters are about to take precedence."
Casting a glance at the young girl beside Asia, Vangelis instructed the girl to inform the steward of the two princes' return to the Kotas manor (for if his mother hadn't changed that much in four years, Vangelis knew she would want to know of their safe return) and then stood back up to his full height as the first of the two steeds approached.
Silas had grown almost as much as Vangelis had. From six to ten, he seemed to have almost doubled his height, but his height was all that had been added. Long limbed and a little awkward in the same way Vangelis had been at his age, he appeared to have been vertically stretched - awaiting puberty to fill in the rest width ways. The top of the kid's head came up to mid-chest on Vangelis as he dived forwards, wrapping his arms around the eldest brother's middle in an embrace of affection and welcome.
Not normally one for hugging, Vangelis stiffened initially at the contact but then softened, offering a strong arm around the back of Silas' shoulders, and pulling him into a one-armed bear-hug. Resting his head on the top of the younger boy's head he felt a moment of kinship and familiarity when the locks of dark hair felt exactly the same as they had when he had last been home and ruffled the boy's tresses in a goodbye that had been awfully teary on the part of his brother.
Looking up and over Silas's head, Vangelis made eye contact with another of his brothers who he might have mistaken for Zanon if it wasn't for that jawline. Yiannis had always had the most stubborn grit to his teeth and face that made him look perpetually bad tempered - a carbon copy of Vangelis's features from the nose down. It was something they had both inherited from their father.
Having not been given any direct questions, Vangelis had no verbal answers for his brother and could only respond to him in physical kind as Silas continued to hold on, clearly overcome with emotion that he didn't want viewed by others present.
The youngest brother had always been the most sensitive and Vangelis gave him his honour by not breaking the embrace until he was ready.
"You guys have grown." Vangelis told them, ignoring his own metamorphosis. He glanced towards the House eager, as any young man home from war was, to see his mother. Not to mention Zanon who was surely hiding somewhere.
At fifteen years of age, Prince Zanon of Kotas was far too important to be playing about with his younger siblings. As the oldest of the men left at home with his brother and father out at war, it was his task to be the man of the household until one or both of them returned and it was a duty he took very seriously. Most of the time. The kitchen maid had met him around the corner of the stables where they were now sequestered, exchanging kisses and smiles out of sight of those who would scold him. He had the very beginnings of a beard coming in, a stubble that was far from even across his cheeks but still required shaving which made him exceptionally proud and even more of a man in the second prince’s eyes.
The sounds of a commotion in the courtyard on the other side of the building hardly pulled his attention as his hands wandered under the chiton of his companion. Aenea had been teasing and flirting with him for weeks now and the girl though a bit older than him was shapely and seemed very much eager to show him the ropes. Zan had no intention of leaving his corner at all until Silas’ voice rang out and called a familiar name that he hadn’t heard in a long time. In the back of his mind he remembered that his mother had told him that Vangelis would be returning from the battlefields in due time, but he couldn’t recall when that date was. Apparently, it was now.
Pulling back, he gave a sheepish smile and stole one final kiss before giving his excuses and taking a moment to compose himself before striding around to the courtyard where the rest of his siblings stood. When Vangelis had last left, Zan had been far shorter at eleven than the fourteen year old brother who had departed, and while he was disappointed to see that the eldest Kotas had grown even more since his departure, he was thrilled to see that the difference was not so extreme. Vang looked like a man now, but the second prince liked to think that he himself was there as well.
“Brother welcome back. Have you seen mother yet? She will skin us all if we keep you from her.”
They were rare times in which Vangelis' mouth spread into open joy; a full-fledged smile of bright teeth that heightened his cheekbones and wrinkled his eyes. When Zanon appeared, suddenly making the courtyard now full of all of his siblings, Vangelis' features offered one such time, smiling at his eldest brother's approach. With the arm that wasn't currently wrapped around Silas' shoulders, Vangelis pulled Zanon in close also with the sighed word "Brother" in his lips. When he allowed the man a moment of freedom to breathe, Zanon mentioned upon their mother and Vangelis' felt that smile stay strong.
"Not as yet." Vangelis commented with humour. "I was apprehended and warned off by this one." He reached out to ruffle his hand through Asia's wayward mahogany locks, grinning at the notion that the six-year-old tried to defend her home from the grown form of her eldest sibling.
"But you're right." He moved on, moving his arm from Zanon's shoulders to clamp a hand on his shoulder. "I survived the Northern Lands. To be felled by mother's wrath now would be tragic."
Letting his brothers go and picking up the leather sack that contained all his worldly possessions from the last four years, Vangelis slung the piece over his shoulder and indicated for Asia to head forwards first.
"Why don't you lead the way, princess?" He told her, nudging the girl's bottom with the toe of his boot. "You saw mother last. We'll follow your lead."
Asia was eager to show her eldest brother all that she had learned so far, having heard all the stories from her other brothers about how accomplished he was, Asia wanted to show off. What a feat it would be if her eldest brother said that she was much like their mother? That she was accomplished as well, much more than would be expected of most 6-year-olds. Looking up at the mountain of a man that now stood in the place of her brother, a man that was more demigod in her mind than human, having no actual memories from when she was two and he was around. He was a myth and story, someone Yiannis and Silas told her about in much more embellished manners than her parents would say.
So when his large hand placed upon her head, saying "perhaps tomorrow," Asia couldn't help but feel a little dejected. Looking down at her feet for a moment as she nods her agreement of showing off later as she hides the look of disappointment from everyone just before turning towards the sound of hooves hitting the ground and coming closer. Seeing who was approaching, Athanasia couldn't stop the angry look that she shot at her brothers as they ran upon their horses, guessing that they are the reason for taking precedence. So with a quick movement, she stepped back and out of the way, not a moment too soon as Silas flew through the air and hugged Vangelis.
The sight made Athanasia's eyes go wide in surprise, not even having dared try to give Vang a hug, not even feeling that bold even as she yelled at him before. She had no idea on how to act around him, a stranger who was also a legend, much like their father but she knew their father. For a moment, she felt jealousy and envy at war at the sight before her, the youngest of all of them and watching from the outside as all her brothers surrounded each other with smiles and hugs. Well, where in Ares' name was her hug?!
So lost in her thoughts as she studied all of them, Asia almost missed Vangelis' comment about her. The thought about being able to 'apprehend' a grown-up had Athanasia smiling a little smug like. "I thought you were going to hurt Euphemia, and I didn't know it was you." She was still smiling till Vangelis ruffled her hair, making her voice her protest even as she smiled at the sight of all of them so happy. "Hey.. mother did my hair, she is going to be mad if mess it up!" She knew her mother wouldn't be mad, but Asia would be because she wanted to make her mother proud. So there she was, a tiny little wisp of a girl with naturally wild hair, fighting to flatten her hair to her head as if it would help (which it didn't but that wasn't anything new).
It wasn't long till it was time to find mother again, picturing her in the main hall where she last saw her, Athanasia was just about to tell them before Vangelis gave her a job to do. An adult actually asked her to lead the way somewhere? Pride had filled her little heart, lifting her chin as she stepped forward and started up towards the house. Just as she moved in front of their little group, the sensation that something nudged her forward with a gentle tap to her bottom had Athanasia jump forward, looking over her shoulder to scrunch her nose in a show of displeasure at that. For that moment, she would look much like their mother when she was angry, but Asia just skipped ahead faster as she disappeared into their home. Seeing a servant girl, she called out, "Is my mother still in the front hall? A quick bow from the servant, she got the answer she needed, 'Yes, your highness.' Athanasia was moving quickly now, knowing her brothers weren't far behind her with their long-legged strides, almost skipping to a halt right next to the woman they were looking for and the smile was clearly heard in her voice. "Mother? I found you something in the courtyard!"
Vangelis noted the slight depression in the girl's frame as he denied her the chance to show off her skills that day and delayed it until the next.
"Tomorrow." He commented, as their brothers descended upon them. "I never break a promise."
And let that be the first lesson from and about him that Athanasia would always remember, he thought. Vangelis was a lot of things, but firm and committed ran top of that list. There was no way he ever went against his word, his orders, his creed, his instruction... whatever you wanted to call it. It had been drilled into Vangelis from a young age that a prince's word was his bond and it was a prince's duty and responsibility to ensure that that bond was followed and met. He had not ever yet failed in such a responsibility.
When he encouraged the young girl ahead of him, he huffed an amused exhale from his nose at her look of annoyance flashed over her shoulder, her nose wrinkled like Silas and her eyes flashing like their mother's. Nodding her forwards, he watched her frame speeding along the corridor. Their mother would have a hard time training the rambunctiousness from Asia's stomping and assertive stride and Vangelis had a moment where he thought it a shame that she had been born a girl. Had she been yet another Kotas prince, her manner of walking and striding the corridors would have been seen as a natural asset; a commanding way of making her way around with an atmosphere for dominance and authority. As a woman, however, such an instinct and pace would have to be trained out of her, changed into an elegant way of moving that would be expected of her as a princess.
Slapping a hand onto Zanon's shoulder as the pack of siblings headed inside together, Vangelis moved down the corridors, he and Zanon side by side, Silas and Yiannis behind them in a second row and their youngest sibling - the little girl of the Kotas unit - leading the way, her hair flying out behind her.
Vangelis smiled at Asia's introduction of her "find", as the four of them headed inside the front hall and Vangelis stepped forwards towards the woman who had given him life, watching her expressions as she turned to assess her daughter and then looked up to see, to her surprise, all four of her sons, together once more.
Yanni of Kotas stood in the midst of the banquet room of the manor, imperious in her height as she directed the servants in their duties. A baron and his wife were coming to dine with them this evening and she wanted to put on a grand event that would remind the occasionally troublesome nobles who held the power in this kingdom. Without her husband present it was her duty to ensure things stayed in the correct order.
Her horde of children made themselves known before Athanasia led the way into the banquet hall, and she turned with a smile that widened at the sight of her eldest son, no longer a boy but a man come back from war. Opening her arms and striding toward them, she kissed Asia on the head, gave a reproachful look to Zanon, his activities had not gone unreported but she would have a chat with him about that later. Silas and Yiannis both got gentle touches of their own before she embraced her eldest.
"Welcome home, Vangelis. Is your father returning with you?"
Zanon winced as he caught his mother's eye, clearing his throat and hiding behind the younger boys as his mother turned her focus on Vangelis. Hopefully with the eldest prince back her attention would be pulled from him and back to the other boy. The question regarding his father had him turning to check Vangelis' reaction. He hadn't gotten any sort of letters about their father returning, but the fact that his mother's voice was so hopeful and there had been no sign of him made his heart feel strange.
"If we've all had our time, Vangelis when you've recovered from the journey home you'll have to teach me everything you've learned. I don't want to fall behind in battle tactics."
Vangelis let out a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding until his mother wrapped her arms around him and welcomed him home. He loved his siblings, he honoured his father but his mother... it was she whom he worshipped. She was everything he might one day hope to be as a person; strong of will, kind in spirit and sharp in mind. And she held her place of power within a house predominantly full of men was if it were as simple to her as breathing. The Kotas men might have been the power of the Colchian royal family, but Yanni was the strength.
"It is good to be home, mother." Vangelis offered, embracing her back with a little more pressure than was probably in keeping with decorum, but having not seen the woman who had given him life in four years, the touch was abundantly necessary.
When she pulled away and asked after his father, Vangelis knew the truth of the matter was their father to be injured and recovering in the North, unable to travel. He had been told and forced to promise vehemently, however, that he would not tell his siblings and maternal parent any of such knowledge. It would only worry those he cared for and cause the king himself to worry over their reactions - or so King Tython had told him. And at eighteen, Vangelis was a man who obeyed his father to the letter.
"No, the King is still abroad." He told her, but leaned in to place a kiss to her forehead, surprised now how he had to lean down to offer it, rather than up. As he drew away, he smiled, in what he hoped was a comforting expression. "But he shall be home very soon." He insisted, in order to calm her fears.
He looked around at his siblings as they stood together with him and his mother before. On impulse he leaned forward to hug the woman again.
"Now that I know the feeling of returning home, I can say with great honesty that nothing would keep him away longer than absolutely necessary." He told them, a warmth in his heart.