Phobia ☤ Alexios

four: a vow of vengeance

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RUMORS SPREAD AROUND the city in the days following the incident of a traitor or a Spartan –killing Athenian soldiers. Zephyr finds a bloodstained chlamys hidden amongst a dense patch of flowers to the side of the villa and discovers the shaft of the broken spear has a bloody feminine handprint. He brings both items before Irene, watches the color drain from her face. "Care to explain?" She stays quiet, eyes downcast –the sight of blood still makes her feel sick. "Irene, you cannot do this."

Irene recalls the woman's face, beaten and frightened –of both the men and her. "They were going to rape her!" She blurts out. The gods weren't going to send someone to intervene, so she would do so on their behalf.

"You're lucky they didn't rape you or worse!" Zephyr rebukes, regretting the words as soon as they leave his lips. His sister's face grows florid, her expression turns harsh. She doesn't say anything even if her eyes do. "Why were you even outside the city at night?" He asks.

The princess bites down on her tongue. She has felt like a trapped songbird for years. Kept hidden from the outside world. She longs to see new sights on distant horizons, to have adventures like the great heroes of legends. "I want to travel!"

Zephyr pinches the bridge of his nose –he should have known this day would come. "No," he tells her, "you must stay here. There are people in this world who want to find you, Irene." The Order of Ancients. He has told her about the Order many times, mostly to frighten her but she is a woman now and no longer easily frightened by stories of men in masks. 

"But they won't!" She counters. Irene has learned to hide her tracks well, knows how to hold her own with sword and spear. 

Zephyr shakes his head. "You can't know that!" He castigates. She may be a fighter, but Irene is not a warrior and she does not have experience in war. The Order does and they are ruthless. "Hydarnes wanted you to be kept safe." It's an unscrupulous decision to bring up the old general, but it often works.

Irene's harsh exterior falters at the mention of the man who raised her, but she won't let his memory be used against her any longer. She sits straight –resolute. "Then you can come with me," she tells him.

"You're not going to stop are you?" Her brother asks with a heavy sigh. Irene crosses her arms, tilts her head to the side with a raised brow. "Fine," he concedes, arms crossed. "We can sojourn in Euboea. Alkibiades has business there too." Irene rolls her eyes at the mention of Perikles' ward. Alkibiades and Zephyr are close, but she'll take the small victory. "Hopefully by the time we return, the people will have forgotten about the men you've killed."

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JOURNEYING TO EUBOEA does not take long. The galley ship, Lonchi, docks in Chalkis and will set sail back to Athens in five days. More than enough time for Alkibiades to carry out his business and for Irene to explore the southern coast. The princess purchases two strong horses –then promises to return them to the merchant before leaving.

Amarynthos is a quiet seaside chora within a hard day's ride of the island's principle polis. Irene and Zephyr are greeted warmly by the people and their time in the quiet chora passes too quickly.

"I admit," her brother begins, offering a reserved smile to hide his defeat, "this was nice, though we should be getting back to the chora." The hour has grown late, and the sun starts a slow march toward the mainland and sea. He cannot recall a time when Irene was ever this happy. "I'll fetch Arion," he tells her, wishing to give her extra time to take in the views from the Temple of Artemis as they would be leaving in the morning to return to Chalkis.