She was still getting used to the idea of not being a whore.

It was a funny transition, to go from a whore who paid her debts on her back to a slave who was dedicated to one household, allowed a bit of freedom without the cost of her body. She was certain that she would find herself bought and sold to another brothel, but the injury to her arm had given many of the normal buyers pause. The healing time made her useless to men, and the man who found her had made sure that she ended up with a good family.

Those days spent on the boat were quiet, spent revealing much of her past. He sympathized with her. But a sale was the best he could offer her. If she was not purchased, Olena would have nothing. And would have wound up in a whore house anyway. At least this way, she was her own person, for the first time in her life. She didn't mind not having a say all the time. At least her body was her own. And the family who owned her wasn't so bad. In fact, they'd given her a small purse of her own as a loan, which allowed her to purchase a few small things she would need before they were to head to her new residence.

Lazaros seemed nice enough, and it didn’t seem like there was any sexual pull so far. She was glad for it, was glad to have a chance to be something other than woman who used opium to numb the pain. Here, in Colchis, perhaps she wouldn’t need to numb anything. Her sister was dead, yes, but now she had a future. She could save, and the Vlahakis family didn’t seem to want anything more from her than what she had cost them. That and any debts she might accumulate in the process.

Perhaps she could get back into needlepoint, make money with her fine handiwork. Her dresses, carefully embroidered with the most delicate of needlework, used to bring quite a bit of money. Maybe she would be able to show off her work, doing it on the side to stash some extra money. Build up customers to save enough to set out on her own. And maybe, just maybe, she could be free and make a life for herself. The idea warmed her to the core.

A place that was hers. Now, that was something she wanted to feel.

As she wandered through the market, dressed in a brand new green chiton, Olena was willing to embrace the idea that one day she would be free. Perhaps this time, no longer owned by a brothel, it seemed far more real that it would happen. Because even if her owner died, he had sons would could potentially make sure she was able to be free. Wandering through the stalls, she was content. Her leg, still weak from the injury, would make is difficult to run. Her arm was still wrapped from the break, a sling of muslin helping to secure it to her body to ease the pain. So caught up in her own thoughts, she barely felt the initial rumble to prepare for the sudden shaking of the earth below.

She lost her footing, tossed into the table as the chaos broke out around them. Someone assisted her to her feet, but they were gone before she could make contact and thank them. People were pointing towards the raging fire. She blinked, trying to piece together what had happened. But she was too new to Colchis to really know anything about the damages of the storm or the mine collapse. So it seemed like the Gods has brought this raging fire out of nowhere. Olena wasn’t even sure which way to go, or of how to help the situation. She started looking for one of the Vlahakis men, a bit panicked about what to do now.

The memories of her burning village came violently back to the forefront of her mind. The screams, the panic-- it all felt too much like what she had gone through over a decade ago. Olena tried to take deep breaths to calm herself, tried to stop and be calm. But it was as if she was 14 again, pulled from her home to watch the house burn with her family still inside.

At some point, she sunk back to the ground, her hands coming up to her ears soften the sounds of the screaming. She was praying, softly, in the language of her homeland, trying to gather her thoughts, to separate the past from the future. And she was failing miserably.

She had been in her small yard in the equally small hut she called home whenever she was back in Midas and off duty from serving as the crown-prince's head bodyguard. While Nike took duty seriously, there was no way in Tartarus she would have been allowed to work all the time, and today was one of the rare days she was at home, where she had just finished depositing the latest few drachmae's she had received as her salary, after she had finalized what she needed to bring for the trip to Taengea in just a few days. In a pair of riding pants, plain white tunic and her vest over her binded chest, the woman had just been about to unbind her chest for the evening, when the deep-seated tremor made her stumble, losing her balance.

The woman frowned, immediately running towards the small window she had in her one-bedroom hut - only to be greeted by the sounds of people screaming. Some people ran towards the mines, other's ran away from it. For a moment, the commander wondered why were they running, panicked look in their eyes. The military woman sure as Hades knew there was no attacks or enemies to be watched out for lately. Her eyes drifted further up.

And then Nike saw why people were running away.

The flames started like flowers, growing and flickering, causing an ember like glow that threw shadows in the darkening sky, almost ethereal in its ambience. And then it grew, like a monster being fed its favorite meal - dry timber from summer and oxygen as fuel. Like a disease, it spread faster then Nike's eyes could catch, and panic set in the city of Midas. The commander's jaw dropped watching the sparks cause the flames to run faster,further up the mountainside and, to her horror, down to where her own home was situated.

Wasting no time, the woman jumped to action, grabbing her claymore and her longsword, she strapped both to her back, her quick stride quickly bringing her through her doorway to the mania-stricken streets of the lower sections of the Colchian capital city. There, her military-trained mind was quick to take in the situation - panic, which obviously meant many ran like headless chickens uncertain of what to do in such a situation. Some brought buckets of water, eager to help, yet with the speed of which the flames grew, the buckets could only do so much, as the flames ate up buildings faster then one could condone it.

The forests could burn - so long as no one was in them, they were a necessary casualty if they wanted to ensure their capital city was not razed to the ground. Making decisions quickly, Nike ran to the nearest group of men who were busy passing buckets of water from a nearby well to douse the fire, and grabbed the latest bucket before the liquid was splashed out. "Do not try dousing the flames - it is too big to be simply taken out before more help come. There." she pointed a few buildings away from where the flames crackled. "Take your rakes, spears, anything sharp and strong, and pull the buildings down best as you can."

The commonfolk stared at Nike like she was mad, and the commander made an irritated noise. "It's either we stop the fire's spread, or we'll have no city to wake up to, tomorrow morning. If we create a break, the fire can't go further. Now go!"

As if spurred by her authoritative and demanding voice, they quickly nodded and ran, but as she turned to assess the situation further, her heart sank. She could stop the fire from spreading oe part, but how far can she go. Her one voice cannot carry very far. Her hands gripped by her sides, knuckles turning white as she watched young and old alike being helped to the waters by the able-bodied ones. Lurching forward to grab at a kid as the young girl stumbled and fell, Nike propped what appeared to be a seven or eight year old brunette girl who had tear-streaks down her soot-stained face. "Go for the temples, and tell anyone you see to do the same. They will be safe there." she looked up, yelling at the men who were assisting other's way "Children, the injured and women first. Bring them to safety!"

Whether because it was safe due to divine protection or because of the material in which the temples were made from, Nike did not specify, merely allowing the young one to scurry away, as she dived head first to further attempt to cull the fire, running right into the thick of things as she did so. While she may be alone, and perhaps she can't do much... but by God she will try. Because while she may have been Taengean by birth, Nike had grew in Colchis, and perhaps it was because of her association to the royal family, the Red Knigts, or because the commander had come to truly appreciate and respect the way of Colchian life, their values and their moral, the way they lived and their day to day life.

Whatever it was, Nike of Acaris would do her best at keeping the city safe, or die trying.

The early afternoon hours had been spent with his son after Dion had been released by his tutors. He was repairing a relationship that had been damaged by his own actions over the past few years. Nothing would ever truly be enough to make amends for the lost time, the lost memories that had escaped him in his own selfishness. To his credit, the boy was taking things incredibly well and by the end of their lesson Zanon was satisfied with his son's progress, ruffling his curls as the two of them headed to the bath house to clean up before dinner with the family.

As he undressed to bathe, the earth shook and he was thrown off balance, landing on his side against a column and holding onto it to try to stay on his feet. Dion's cry of surprise drew his attention and as he stabilized himself once more he moved quickly to find his son, helping him off the floor and moving to the open window. He was looking for something, a sign that this had just been a tremor caused by the rage of Poseidon instead of what he knew it was. The smoke rose into view first, and Zanon closed his eyes and took a breath. The mines.

"Dion, stay here. Go find your grandmother and Asia, keep them here no matter what. There will be time for them to help later."

Vangelis' call echoed through the halls and as Dion rushed off to dress and find his grandmother and aunt. He reached for his tunic when it hit him and he paled. One of the servants had stopped him on their way to the baths to inform him that the princess had taken a detour to the temple. Evras was in the city, where the flames would catch fastest and cause the most damage. There was no time, tunic still in hand, Zanon sprinted out of the palace and toward the city, ignoring all looks and calls after him. He was behaving recklessly, foolish perhaps but he had just gotten her back and he could not lose her now.

The horses in the courtyard were convenient, he blessed his eldest brother for his quick thinking and their staff for the preparation. Launching himself onto the nearest mount he spurred the horse forward and down into the city. Chaos reigned in the streets as people hurried to and fro, some trying to put out flames as they sprung up on roofs and others going to seek shelter and assistance from injuries in the temples. Dismounting outside the temple of Hera, he rushed in still clutching his tunic and ignoring the looks and comments surrounding his otherwise naked self, searching the crowd for a familiar raven head and finding two instead of one.

"Evras, thank the gods, come back to the house and wait with Dion. Mihail, take my horse and your sister to the Kotas residence, stay there if you wish, it's furthest from the flames."

“What about one of these?” The young man said turning his companion’s attention to a stack of fabrics. The woman looked them over, biting her lip in contemplation, causing a slight blush to crawl up Timaeus’s cheeks causing him to turn away from the lovely Zelenia of Eubocris to hide them. (Though the nearly-healed bruises on the left side of his face also did a good job of doing this as well.) It was a lovely day, perfect for the pair of acquaintances quickly turning friends to spend the day out and about, each ignoring the responsibilities they unknowingly hid from the other.

He had been foolish enough to not learn where she lived the last time he had seen her. That certainly would have made it easier for him to find a way to see her again, but it didn’t matter now. Leni was not exactly like other girls and judging by the note back in his study, hidden under reports he should have been addressing instead, she had no qualms about being the first to reach out. It was different, it was delightful. Timaeus enjoyed the excitement of not knowing that morning that he would be spending the afternoon with her. It truly made his day less monotonous and frustrating to say the very least.

Once she had sent word to meet her in the city, it had been Timaeus’s idea to wander the crowded noontime market. That wasn’t so much of a surprise figuring since he did technically owe her a new dress after he had accidentally ruined her other one with their little… ahem...boating incident. That day she had left the Valaoritis manor with one of Roxana’s lesser used ones to save face, but Timaeus still believed that it was only fair that Timaeus find something that was more similar to what had been destroyed.

So, that’s what they were in search for and Timaeus was more than happy to let Leni lead the way. He was no stylist and, after all, this was about her. He was perfectly fine with the two of them wandering about aimlessly until Leni found something that she liked. She probably knew from his omission that he was a baron, not a successful merchant, that money would be no question. It was the least he could do, after all. Whenever they stopped at a stall, he noticed how her eyes kept drifting to the bolts of lighter fabrics, more pastel in nature. Particularly he noticed how whenever there was one of a lavender color, her gaze would linger longer and he thought she would say more as well. He wasn’t too entirely sure though. She still could talk at length’s end and he found it just as delightful as he did on that day on the beach.

The day seemed perfect. Almost too perfect if you asked Timaeus.

Perhaps that’s why it came to a sudden, screeching halt as the mines below the city gave way, throwing the world above into chaos.

The rumbling earth wasn’t as strong as it had been further up the hillside, but it was still enough to bring the large crowd to a grinding halt. Although, a hushed silence fell over the people, save for a few cries of fear, the noise surrounding Tim was deafening. The ground’s movement and the rattling wares echoed deeply in his ears, muffling his own thoughts as his arms reached out for Leni to grasp onto lest the shaking brought down the girl. She took them in an instant and clung to the young baron. Her nails dug into his skin as her grip tightened and despite everything that was happening, Timaeus’ face contorted into a wince, half-convinced that when she would finally let go, his forearm would be covered in little pinpricks of blood.

Being mountain-born and raised, Timaeus’ stance held firm during the few agonizingly long moments where the rumbles continued. He let his mind go fuzzy as he let his body instinctively adjust his center of gravity move with everything else. Let the earth shake, Timaeus still stood tall and just as firm as the rocky walls he had called home for so long.

Then just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Yet, Timaeus didn’t realize this at first as his legs continued to feel the ghosts of the earth’s movement and his ears rang. It finally caused him to stumble forward just a bit, but he recaptured his footing before he fell forward onto the girl still clutching onto him. Or at least to the girl who was clutching onto him. That sudden movement from him broke her grip on him, sending his nerves into overload as the cool air came into contact where his skin had burned under her soft, warm touch. His heart and breath quickened, bringing a slight redness to his face, but he barely noticed. His mind was far too concerned with other things as he glanced the equally startled woman up and down, checking for any sign that she was injured. Tim’s gaze lingered just for a moment too long, especially considering he too had just been through… whatever that had been. But he already knew that he was fine so all of his attention was on his companion.

“Leni,” He said slowly as his hearing slowly returned to its normal state, letting the nickname hang in the air for just a moment, “Are you hurt?”

Perhaps if he hadn’t been so focused on the girl in front of him, perhaps he might have noticed the new danger that now threatened them, roaring over the mountainside.

A slight twinge of smoke hit his nostrils as a dozen screams erupted around them. Noticing that all the other market-goers seemed to be transfixed on whatever was behind him, Timaeus turned around to come face to face with a nightmare. The forests surrounding Midas were shrouded in a stomach-churning covering of dark smoke. It obscured the trees underneath, but in the split seconds where the smoke would be twisted by the wind, Tim could see that the hillside was a bright glowing orange. His mouth dropped in shock as he took in the sight. He was too stunned to do anything, but stare, dumbfounded, as a clear sense of panic gripped his chest. The City was on fire.

His home was burning right before his eyes.

At that moment, the serene stillness of the marketplace broke as people began to blindly run from the wildfire that was soon to turn into an inferno. They scattered every which way, but most of them ran in the general direction of the harbor, to the safety that the ocean provided. For a split second, he wanted to run with them, but the rational part of his mind kept his feet firmly in place. His years of military training told him what exactly would happen if there was a mob of people in a panic, blindly seeking personal security with no order. If the fire didn’t kill them all, there would certainly be a fair amount of loss at the beaches. Crushed. Trampled. Drowned. Timaeus knew that this day would see all these horrors before the flames had run their course.

He didn’t want to risk that happening to them.

Naturally taking charge, he reached out for Leni and pulled himself close to her in order to shield her from the increasingly large and chaotic crowd. “We’ve got to get out of here!” He shouted, his own voice barely audible over the din as he maneuvered them towards the edge of the crowd. As he did this, his eyes searched frantically for any other option for safety. His mind flickered to the cove where they had first met those few short weeks ago, but that was too close to the temples for his liking. That would be the other main option for people taking shelter, but Timaeus doubted that the three main gods there would take pity on the people of Midas. Love, War, and Death. None of them exactly screamed protector of innocents if you asked Timaeus.

His gaze wandered up the hillside to a cluster of smaller temples, barely visible from their position in the market. He found himself drawn to the one he could confidently say that he barely visited, if ever. Hera’s Temple. She was the goddess of marriage, women, and childbirth. Tim may only have experience with one of those categories, (and before you ask, no it isn’t the last one) but if any of the gods would be offering divine protection that day from the disaster unfolding before them, it would be her. Leni would be safe there and right now, to Tim, that was all that mattered.

Reaching out for her hand, he yelled once again so she could hear him, “Hera’s Temple! We need to go.” Once he received affirmation from the pretty redhead, Timaeus’s turned on his heels and took off, practically dragging the woman who was now clinging to his arm for dear life. It wasn’t his fault that he was going so fast, this was a high-stress situation and he was a pretty fit guy. No doubt Leni could feel how his arm was tense under her touch as Timaeus weaved between the crowd, trying to get them from the market to the temple as quickly as possible. But he was moving too fast. He could feel Leni stumble every so often, wasting precious seconds that the baron didn’t know if they had. That fire was moving quickly.

Tim could have done the logical thing, that being slow down so his companion could keep his pace, but this was a high stakes situation. Logical was not on his mind right now.

But something else was.

Once they reached a thinner part of the crowd, Timaeus came to a sudden halt. He momentarily shook Leni off of his arm as he turned to face her. They needed to move faster and there was only one way Timaeus could think of doing that in his current, panicked-but-refusing-to-let-it-show, state of mind. His mind kept drifting back to that day in the cove, clutching to the strangely calming memory of having her tucked up in his arms as he carried her to shore. He had been her “savior” that day even though there had never been any real danger to begin with. That wasn’t the case this time, but what he had done once, he could easily do it again.

“Trust me on this.” He said plainly before reaching out and scooping her up into his arms again. One arm found it’s familiar place around her back, the other looped under her knees. She wouldn’t even have time to protest before he already had her clutched close to his chest, not too unlike that day at the cove. The only exception? His grip was tighter if that was even possible. The shoulders she rested against were rigid with tension. He hadn’t been that way on the beach.

“Just like before eh?” He said with a forced grin, trying to bring some sort of reassurance to her before continuing, “Hold tight okay?” Then with just as little warning as before, he was off again, running towards the stony building that would offer them shelter if the flames came to close.

Although he wasn’t moving at the breakneck speed he was beforehand, Leni’s extra weight slowed him down just a bit, Timaeus still moved faster that Leni would’ve. Also, with the girl that his protective nature was now focusing on safe in his arms and there was absolutely no chance that he would be separated from her in the jostling crowd, Timaeus was able to focus more on getting them safely to the temple.

The flames were still far away from the city when they finally reached the temple, which was beginning to fill with other people like them taking shelter from the disaster outside. Once inside, Timaeus carefully put Leni down as he gasped for air, struggling to catch his breath from the strain of carrying someone and running. Luckily, everyone seemed to be too busy in their own worries to notice him. Well except for Leni, Tim was kind of one of her major concerns right now.

“I’m… fine… just give me… a minute…”He said in between the hungry lungfuls, waving Leni’s probable worries away. It was true, his breathing soon began to level out and for the first time, he glanced around the room, seeing who else was there and who he saw made his heart drop to his stomach.

Not too far away, Tim could see the familiar figures of Prince Zanon, Princess Evras, and Mihail of Thanasi, her little brother. A new sense of panic gripped his chest as he turned around to face Leni again, keeping his back to them, as he failed to hide the shock from his eyes. He did not expect them to be there. This was not good for him, not good at all. The last time he had seen Zanon had been that terrible night where he nearly lost his brother and the baron was not ready to face him again. Plus, to make matters worse, Leni didn’t know he was a vassal to the royal family and he wanted it to stay that way. After all, who knew what kind of connotations the name Valaoritis would stir up in her mind thanks to her Eubocris identity. If any of them spotted him and even worse, approached him, the charade would be over and she would know the truth.

He was not ready to face the truth.

So, he kept his back turned to them; praying to whatever god would listen that the family would be too swept up in the chaos to notice him. Instead, he put all of his focus onto Leni, now taking his turn to fret over her, “We’ll be safe here. You’re not hurt, right?

“So much for our day at the market, eh?” He finished with a light chuckle, only somewhat forced. It was a shame that their day was ruined, but just like that first day they met, this wouldn’t be something they’d soon forget.

The sounds of the bustling marketplace made Maximus feel at ease. His commander always told him that the smiles on citizens faces made being a soldier worth it since they are tasked with protecting the innocent. A sense of pride came over Maximus, the young man finally understood why. The smiling faces of men, women, and children doing various tasks along the market square. Food and items from the lands afar were sold from market stands. Maximus sighed, he was glad that he was able to bask in its beauty as unorganized and unusual he found it to be. Living a life of order and discipline made the civilian life a little alien to Maximus.

The soldier headed towards a stand which sold trinkets from foreign lands. He was on leave after his tour against the Barbarians. That tour was something he would like to forget. It was there that Maximus experienced his first battle. He remembered marching through the forest with his unit. They were all fresh-faced and eager to prove themselves. That is until a Barbarian tribe sprung an ambush nearly wiping out all Maximus’ unit. Maximus remembered fighting off the tribesman who seemed to be coming in waves and the next he was on the ground, covered in blood staring at the face at the glassy-eyed infantrymen whom he trained with at training camp.

That was over a year ago and Maximus still had trouble getting over it. Ares must be cruel to him to plague Maximus with such nightmares. “Stay true to yourself,” his father would tell Maximus. “Ares wants to see if you would break before him. Many men have but I did not raise a weak son to succumb to despair after experiencing his first battle.”

Maximus shook those thoughts away, quickly paid the merchant and instantly ran off with the trinket. It was a bronze coin of non-distinct design. Maximus wondered if this belonged to his ancestors. He didn’t tell his parents as they would severely punish them if they found out but Maximus spent some of his pay on items from the lands afar. He was curious to know about his heritage and who he was before arriving at Colchis. Maximus is proud to be a citizen but in the end, he always felt out of place here. His parents being vague about their homelands didn’t help matters.

Maximus thoughts were cut off by a small rumble that hit the marketplace, followed by a massive shaking nearly throwing him off balance. The soldier could see people pointing at the flames that erupted suddenly at the buildings. What was going on? What was happening? Maximus was then nearly trampled by the panicking people trying to stay away from the fire. A part of him felt the urge to run. Maximus resisted: A soldier from Colchis does not run.

Maximus reminded himself of his duty.

The young man began helping people who were stuck between debris and helped the other citizens and putting out the fires. He was about to get more water until he saw a red-headed woman on the streets praying. She looked in bad shape, her arm was in a sling and she was almost run over by the crowd. Giving the bucket to a boy and ordering him to get some water. Maximus rushed by the woman’s side and picked her up in a bridal carry.

“Are you alright ma’am?” Maximus said carrying the despondent woman to a safe location. “Do not give in to fear, you’re safe with me.” Maximus squeezed through the men and women as more flames erupted between them.

Maximus’ mind was racing as he ran through the burning city with the woman he was helping. The young man managed to pick up a few things from the panicked people as to why there was a fire that was destroying Midas. One of the mines which Colchis relies on for trade has exploded with the fire spreading to the city. The common areas had it the worst and already there was chaos and panic. All Maximus needed to do was remain calm and help those in need.

Which is not helped by the woman who he was carrying attacking him.

“What?!” Maximus said in shock as he struggled against her. The red haired woman sounded like she had a rough past and definitely did not one anyone touching her. “I’m sorry!” Maximus said flustered putting the woman down.

The next thing the woman told Maximus didn’t make sense to him. Maybe he was wrong to carry her though the young man thought she was hurt but it seemed that she wanted Maximus to abandon her? “Better things?” Maximus repeated the fires of still spreading throughout the city with some structures collapsing.

“I have a duty,” Maximus said. “Its to protect the innocent,” more flames were starting to form around him as panic came over Maximus but he maintained his discipline. “What the man did to you was dishonest and dishonorable,” he said calmly. “I may not reassure you with words but perhaps my actions can put you at ease.”

The young man held out his hand as more buildings were consumed by the flames. “The people are being escorted to the temples.” He said. “Let me help you. It is my personal duty to make sure that you’re safe please.......”