In all honestly, Timaeus had no expectations that his plan would ever work. It was a foolish course of action taken in the stress of the moment while he had a bear of a teen hot on heels. Hiding behind Euterpe was the best thing he could think of at the moment and as soon as Timaeus crashed into the snow again as he had already done so many times that day; the best that he could hope for was that his trick worked well enough that he would be tagged by Euterpe rather than Prince Yiannis. At least if the pretty girl was the one to pelt a snowball at him, it wouldn’t hurt nearly as much as it might have if it was the Kotas boy launching the snowball at him.

However, even this was probably too much to ask for given how terrible his plan was at its core. His decision to hide behind Euterpe relied on two simple principles that Timaeus thought might offer him a modicum of safety. His first hope had been that Euterpe could serve as some form of meat shield if Yiannis managed to get off a snowball or two before the boy skidded to a stop. This seemed likely too as Timaeus had felt one of the snowballs hit his elbow, almost knocking him off course. Though it seemed to be that this had failed as he sat panting in the snow, trying to catch his breath as the cold air chilled his lungs, there was no sign that Euterpe had been hit by a stray snowball intended for another.

Drat. Timaeus had been rather looking forward to having some sort of revenge for what had happened earlier with the Crown Prince.

With this failure, Timaeus had to turn to the other reason why he had ducked behind Euterpe. This was, of course, that the prince would not hurt the girl. That was fairly straightforward as all the princes were supposed to be rather uppity like that and not see anyone who wore a peplos instead of a tunic as some fair little flower. (Timaeus knew that this was a rule that he was supposed to follow as well, but there was no point in enforcing it when the girls were hitting him too.) Little Tim had his hopes that Prince Yiannis would give up his hunt if Euterpe stood between the Kotas boy and his quarry.

Timaeus wasn’t sure if it was a good sign that the prince was now asking Euterpe if she had seen him scurrying about somewhere nearby. Had the boy been younger, he might have giggled at the deceit, thinking that the inquisitions would have meant that he had escaped the worst of the Prince’s frozen fury. However, Tim was nearly a grown man in the eyes of the law. He was far past the years of naivety to believe that he had not been seen ducking behind Euterpe. Plus, his entire plan had centered around having Yiannis see him hide behind the future priestess. So, as the two playfully conversed, thinking that they had tricked the mischievous boy, Timaeus knew that it was time to scramble to his feet and run again. Otherwise he was gonna be it again.

Timaeus had just managed to get up on his feet, his legs as wobbly as a newborn colt’s when the copper-colored locks of Euterpe suddenly whirred around and the Baron’s son found himself face to face with a devious grin. He only saw that evil glint in Euterpe’s eyes for a brief moment. After all, he didn’t have a chance to gaze into her eyes like the butterflies in his stomach wanted him to do -- not when she reached out and latched onto his arm with a vice-like grip that Tim had no hopes of shaking off. Not that he didn’t try, but Euterpe had both surprise and strength on the boy as she used his own momentum against him to hide herself behind the boy -- all the while screaming for Yiannis to tag the boy.

“Hey! Let me go!” He screamed as he tried to shake the girl off of him, to no avail. Turning his head slightly, he could see the prince hovering nearby, readying his snowball -- clearly eager for revenge for the earlier snowball. Timaeus might have been a child and Yiannis was just a bit older than him, but you would have thought that the elder boy was capable of murder with how frightened Timaeus was at the prospect of being held in place as a stronger boy attacked him with frozen water. “Wait! Yiannis! This isn’t fair! This isn’t fair!” His screams might as well been falling on deaf ears as Timaeus had already wronged both of the other children present. Although the snowball war may have been all fun and games at the end of the day, the conflict was a serious business that must be treated accordingly. Every snowball must be repaid in turn and now that Timaeus was caught, it was time to pay that debt. He braced himself for impact, but also mentally prepared himself for what was going to happen after this terrible blow passed and it would finally be time for him to get revenge. He needed to prepare himself for when Euterpe let him go. After all, this had been merely child’s play up until now. But now?

Now, this means war.

Anthanasia laughed as her huge snowball knocked her cousin off her feet. She was already learning how to use a bow, and while it would be many years before she was an excellent archer, her aim was already better than most children her age. She felt a bit guilty that Imeeya had fallen face down in the snow, but she didn’t seem to be harmed. Before the princess could offer her a hand, she stood up on her own, wiping snow from her clothes and hair.

“Hey! No fair! I didn’t even get a head start.”

The six-year-old grinned. “War isn’t fair.”

“I bet you can’t get me if I actually run.” Imeeya took off and Athanasia was close behind her. Instead of running away from where the grown-ups were gathered, she ran toward them instead. That’s clever, she thought, I won’t be able to throw a snowball unless I’m certain it won’t hit the royals. Never mind that the princess was one of them; she was the and her parents would scold her if any of their guests was hit by an unidentified snowy object.

Stopping for a moment to form another snowball that she could lob at Imeeya after she ran past the adults, she looked up just as her cousin was about to slam into Vangelis. She managed to dodge past him only to run into somebody lying on the ground. It was a boy and when Imeeya stood up, she started talking to him. The little princess rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated huff. First she had been playing with the red-headed girl, but she had stopped to talk to a boy, and now Imeeya had done the same. She hated boys because they were always spoiling her fun, Now her cousin would probably start playing with him and forget all about her.

But the boy stalked away. Good. She and Imeeya could continue their fight. As she crept up behind her cousin, ready to sling the snowball, she heard somebody call Essa’s name. It was yet another boy and he was in the company of her formidable Aunt Tythra. Was Essa lost? Athanasia had never liked Essa much. She was too little to do fun things and when the princess visited Immeya, they had to let Essa play with them. Still she didn’t want anything bad to happen to her small cousin.

The snowball fell from her hand and she darted up to Imeeya. “I think Essa wandered away. If you you were supposed to be watching her, we’d better find her before your mother does.”

Imeeya chased after the boy. “Hey! Don’t run off! That’s rude!” She chased after him, determined to let him know just how rude he had been, but the cold and damp that had seeped through her clothes made her limbs feel almost leaden and she couldn’t keep up with the boy as he ran off. It wasn’t fair. At least Asia wasn’t going to run off on her.

She spun to return to her cousin and best friend only to see a young girl with dark hair approach her with an eager smile asking to play with them. Imeeya looked at her consideringly for a moment. She did not recognize the girl, and her mother had always told her to choose her friends carefully. It was only a moment’s pause, she looked eager to be included, and besides, you could always use more people in a snowball fight. Imeeya smiled broadly, before tapping the girl on the shoulder. “I guess that makes you ‘it’ then.” She then took off before she could get tagged again, this time being more careful not to make sure not to trip over something in her path.

It was only a moment before Asia darted up to her, telling her of Essa’s disappearance. Imeeya’s face fell and she came to a dead halt in her playing. Essa. She had left Essa behind when she went to play. She was supposed to take him to her uncle to watch, but...no she hadn’t gotten all the way there. Where on earth could Essa be? And if her mother knew that she had lost Essa, then she’d be in so much trouble. Imeeya looked around frantically. “Have you seen her anywhere? I was supposed to take her to Uncle Derass, but…” well she had gotten distracted by the snowball fight.

“Essa!” Imeeya called, now frantic that she couldn’t find her sister. It almost didn’t matter that her mother might overhear her and thus know she’d lost her sister. Essa was missing, that’s all she cared about. “Essa where are you? You’d better not be hiding from me!” All thought of being cold and wet was gone from her mind as Imeeya ran around, this time it wasn’t a game but a search, looking under the tables, behind the shrubbery. She was frantic.

Then the feast was announced, and people began to flood towards the doors back to the feast inside. If everyone went inside without Essa, then her mother for sure would know that she’d lost her sister, but maybe Essa would just follow everyone in, so being out here looking wouldn’t help either. It was time to come clean, if not with her mother, then with her uncle. She ran up to the man, certainly looking soaked, bedraggled and frantic, not even noticing that she was interrupting a conversation with some noble or another.

“Uncle Derass!” she exclaimed as she ran over to him. “I’ve looked everywhere and I don’t know where Essa is. I was supposed to bring her to you but now I can’t find her anywhere and mom’s going to be so angry with me and now we have to go in to dinner and I don’t know what to doooo.” Imeeya’s rambling concerns quickly led to tears as she realized the impossible situation she was in now.

Derass quickly turned from his conversation and squatted down to Imeeya’s level putting an arm around her shoulder. “Shhh...It’s ok. Why don’t you tell me one more time, but slower, ok?”

Imeeya sniffed and nodded. “I lost Essa,” she admitted quietly. “I was supposed to bring her to you, but I left her when I went to go play.” She sniffed again.

That made Derass jump back to his feet, scanning the party. Only a moment later he took Imeeya’s hand gently. “Come with me, I’ll take care of this.”

Imeeya wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but he always seemed to know what he was doing. He was walking quickly and deliberately, such that she ended up scurrying after him to keep up. It wasn’t until they had arrived that she realized that he had taken her straight to her mother. No, she was going to be in trouble now. She was supposed to find Essa before her mother realized that she had lost her. She looked up at her uncle, a betrayed look on her face. This wasn’t how this was supposed to work.

He looked back down at her calmly. “Imeeya, I need you to tell your mother what you told me.”

Imeeya squirmed uncomfortably under her mother’s gaze and it felt like she could feel her mother’s judgment over her bedraggled state. How could she ever admit to her mother that she was so irresponsible? “I...I don’t know where Essa is.” Imeeya admitted reluctantly to her mother, her eyes fixed firmly on the ground. She snuck a glance back at her uncle to see if she had said what he wanted, but his face seemed stern and unreasonable. She went back to looking at her shoes uncomfortably, waiting for whatever punishment she was sure her mother would dole out.

Time for the feast. Yiannis sighed, trying to stand up straighter. He needed to behave like the mature adult that he was on the verge of becoming- his parents indulged him, but he knew he was coming to the end of the slack they’d cut for him. Upon spotting his brother, though, Yiannis allowed himself to be distracted from accepting defeat. He would not be ushered along to the table like a good little boy; he had business to attend to. Yiannis changed course as he tried to catch up to Zanon. He cursed his shorter stature as he had to run to close the distance between them. By the end, he slowed down abruptly, trying to look less like he had sprinted to get here.

“Zan!” Yiannis took a moment’s pause to catch his breath before continuing. “Is the wedding everything you dreamed it would be? I’m sorry if the children disturbed your plans- they were having so much fun, which I’m sure you remember?”

It was a cheap shot, but Zanon must have grown accustomed to them by now. Whenever he could, Yiannis suggested that Zanon had stopped having fun or being fun since meeting and deciding to marry Evras. Yiannis still did not understand the occult power Evras wielded over his brother, but he did not intend to allow Thanasi manipulation take root in his family. They would never let go once they sunk their teeth into the Kotas family hide.

“Did that bore Isidore bother you much? I hope you’re not going to leave the festivities. We need you here, brother. This is, after all, all for you and Evras. Come, join me at the tables while we wait for her to return from- wherever she has gotten off to. She does keep herself busy, doesn’t she?”

Yiannis smiled broadly. Despite his insincerity, he found easy to offer a genuine smile; this was in Zanon’s best interests. He needed to recognize Evras for what she was; not a true love match, or something else sickenly sweet and purely romantic, but a vile seductress trying to slip into the cracks of their family’s blind spots. He counted himself lucky that his parents disapproved of the marriage, else he might have been the lone objector to this blissful union. And since his parents disapproved, and since the Thanasi were witches and liars, the lot of them, there was no one here willing to tolerate the farce. Zanon would understand soon, and then he would thank them.

Yiannis smiled politely, although it was as empty and beguiling as the trappings of this wedding. Their mother had not arranged the festivities for the sake of Evras, but for her son, who everyone knew was making a mistake. Yiannis did not understand how he couldn’t see it. Although Yiannis was coming to appreciate the charms of women, he did not believe he would allow himself to be misled this completely. He hoped his brothers would dump ice-cold water on him if he ever turned his back on his family for a Thanasi.

Watching Zanon nearly walk out of the conversation, Yiannis only nodded along. If his brother insisted on rushing headlong into trouble that he had created himself- and if he wanted to pretend that Yiannis had ever been wrong about matters of deceitful serpents, whispering in one’s ear- it took one to know one, and Yiannis knew that every single member of Evras’ family was a snake. It was only a matter of time before she turned on her husband, no matter how much she proclaimed her love for him. One day, she would strike, and Zanon would never recover. He brushed off Yiannis’ comments, though, with a note of reproach in his voice and a mention of their mother. If Yanni had accepted the marriage…but of course, she had done no such thing. Until Yanni welcomed Evras in, Yiannis saw no reason to pretend he liked the woman.

“Please do. When you find the princess, tell her that I hope the venom in her throat poses less danger to her than it does to the people she bewitches. Enjoy your wedding, brother.”

Yiannis looked Zanon square in the jaw, lifting his chin. Yanni would have been proud of his posture, he thought as he directly challenged his brother. Perhaps such thoughts were disloyal, but Yiannis had long harbored the suspicion that of all of the Kotas sons, he and Vang were the only ones with a lick of sense, and that he was the only one with both sense and ambition. Zanon would chase after silly dreams of love conquering all, trapping himself in a marriage to a woman who would never give him what he needed. No, Yiannis knew better than to fancy himself the hero of a story, and he knew that anything he wanted for himself and not for his name or his title, he needed to take.

Yiannis blinked once, eyes focusing intensely on his brother. This woman had bewitched his brother so completely? So be it. He could play his hand more subtly. The Thanasi changed the playing field with their spider web of tricks. Yiannis bit back a number of cruel, petty remarks that floated to the top of his head; Zanon’s grip had not loosened one bit as he spoke, and Yiannis did not have to look to see that his hand had clenched into a fist. The tension between them was palpable. He had severely miscalculated his brother’s ability to control himself where this woman was concerned.

“Of course. How rude of me. Please, go find your future wife.”

The slight bite to the tone might suggest insincerity, but Yiannis thought that he’d done an impressive job of making his expression look neutral enough. Really, his brother had every right to punch him anyway to save face. Yiannis would not begrudge him for it in the slightest. No, he had already been misled by a beautiful woman, and his mistakes all arose from that initial weakness in character. Still, he should say something honest, too; while not all of onlookers would be able to tell the difference, he suspected Zanon could. It might spare him a bloody nose.

“I hope you enjoy the rest of your wedding, Zanon. This should be a day of celebration of your future.”

Face still smarting from the blow, and cold rage coiling in his belly, Yiannis turned to the child reluctantly, studying him quickly. A Thanasi, he remembered vaguely, which meant they were natural enemies, although he supposed he couldn’t muster an great enmity for a child. And this was certainly a child. While Yiannis had barely entered adulthood, he had already started to think of himself as incredibly mature compared to the other people just barely his juniors. Distracted now from his argument with Zanon, though it had seemed so important moments ago, the Kotas lordling raised his chin, trying to present a more regal posture to the young Thanasi boy.

It had not passed his notice that the boy had coated himself in honey. Yiannis hoped he had never done anything quite so embarrassing; certainly, if he had, his mother would not hesitate to remind him of it. He stifled a laugh at the child-like logic; he must envy Evras her beauty, for there was no greater reason to argue about his brother’s marriage than envy. He supposed, though, that perhaps others had come to a similar conclusion, for different reasons. Had he behaved so abominably that onlookers would assume he envied his brother? Yiannis could not allow dishonor to fall upon his family because of his distrust of the Thanasi. He needed to control this situation. Despite the interruption, Yiannis felt a rush of gratitude. He would need to thank the boy by shooing him back to his nest of vipers.

“Your family seems to have more than its fair share of beauty,” Yiannis allowed. That was certainly true. Part of their ability to bewitch men like Zanon came from that. “I do not envy my sister-in-law, nor my brother- not for his marriage. Perhaps I envy that he has grown into a man while I remain a boy.”

Despite saying this directly to Mihail, Yiannis rather thought Zanon would see it as the peace offering that it was intended to resemble. They had rarely argued this explosively (despite their numerous childhood prank wars), and hopefully they could smooth over the moment before it engendered further rumors and dramatics- despite the fact that his vision still blurred from taking the hit. He could not- should not- would not be the one to escalate this even further. Let Zanon receive the talking to from their mother that he so clearly deserved. Yiannis would not embarrass the family.

“As for your tiara, I’m afraid I must defer to my elder brother. Zanon, what do you think? Should the boy receive his tiara?”

Yiannis did not intend to look a fool in front of a child. If Zanon knew what he was babbling about, then Zanon would be the one to resolve the situation. Let him try to cool down from his pointless fury in defense of his enchantress ‘wife’. Yiannis’ anger burned coldly, like his father’s. He would not be drawn into a pointless conflict when he could simply show Zanon his wife’s true colors by planting the seeds of doubt.