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Being a rather self-conscious girl, there weren’t too many things about herself that Danae took pride in. Her own anxieties had spent years convincing her that she was nothing more than an awkward, waste of space in the courts. She was someone to be laughed at when her back was turned and she was only interesting while the prettier, entertaining people were out of the room. The little voices in her head had done an excellent job of twisting Danae’s perception of her own self-worth in such a wretched way that even genuine comments praising her seemed as if they were just honeyed words muttered out of pity. Even though Danae knew that these thoughts were supposedly wrong, there was little she could do against them. She had long ago accepted their validity. This was just they things were and there was nothing that she could do about it. Even though it was kind of sad to consider that Danae beat herself down so harshly, she had always managed to cope on account that there was one aspect of her life that her inner anxieties could never touch. Her intelligence.
Now she knew that she did not hold the most brilliant mind in Athenia, but among her siblings? Danae easily had that title, no question. Her mind worked in ways that theirs didn’t and the youngest Stravos had always been comfortable in having this category all to herself. Let Chara be pretty. Let Elias have the glory. Just as long as she could have the books and the brains to sit through nearly any logical issue, then she would be okay… but even now her anxieties were starting to wrap their tendrils around this one sacred space that she had. Who could blame her really? This whole mess in Athenia was one gigantic mess of decisions that Danae did not understand nor could she fully comprehend. From her father’s decision to defect to Persephone’s side to the court session where her family attempted to swindle the courtiers and then embarrass her when she did not understand what was happening, to finally the forests of Aetaea…
She did not even want to think about the forests of Aetaea.
Gods almighty. Danae did not have the faintest inkling what could have possessed Elias to burn down the Antonis province. It was so stupid on every front. Even the sixteen-year-old could see that this plan of theirs would end in nothing short of unmitigated disaster. Even if the Queen had perished in the flames, if she was there in the first place, the Argyris family could have died as well. That alone would have the Antonis raving at their door if they even suspected that the Stravos had anything to do with it. Not to mention that the burning crops would be enough to have them pursue restitution. It was a fool’s plan at best. Now granted, Danae did not know everything about what her brother attempted to do. She had not been in the room when Elias concocted this scheme nor had she the chance to grill into him for being an idiot and risking everything again, but she had heard enough rumors to know what had occurred. That was all that was needed for Danae to take a good guess at what really happened in the woods that night.
As soon as she heard rumors about Rafail being involved, she knew that Elias also had to be as well. The Marikas boy was both simultaneously lazy and ambitious for personal glory. He wouldn’t do something as foolish without her brother somehow being tangled up as well. She was nearly certain that her brilliant strategist of an older brother thought that this would go off without a hitch and that everyone would love him for this. However, the mere fact that there was nobody to string up and rumors circulating that Rafail was involved meant that everything went horribly horribly wrong.
However, this was all speculation as far as Danae knew. Her brother would never include her in their talks along as he saw her as some stupid little girl. Her best hope for getting information was out of Circenia, but Danae had her doubts about going down that route. There was no denying that the fractured relationship between the mother and daughter pair were beginning to heal and grow stronger than it had been in years -- especially in the wake of Keikelius practically abandoning them. Danae didn’t think that it was strong enough though to force her mother to include her in how the family dealt with the fallout. That meant that there was basically no one in her family that Danae felt close enough with to turn to in this moment of strife. Where others might be defeated by this prospect and simply content to drift along with the fortune of their fates, Danae had other plans.
If she couldn’t turn to her family for help in this moment, then the young girl would simply have to look outside of her family.
That had been a fairly simple conclusion to come to, but a difficult motion to put into place. With so many of the rumors circulating the Marikas family, it would have been simple enough for Danae to make an excuse to meet with her closest friend in that house; Daniil. The two girls always had always shared some sort of kindred spirit being the oddballs in their family. However, Danae doubted that Daniil would know anything. Rafail was notorious for hating his brother and as a result, she couldn’t trust this sort of crime would have been confided in the trust of his nieces by that brother. There was someone in that house that might know more. Rafail’s sister, Sofia.
Now Danae had never been particularly close with the youngest of her cousins as there was a ten year age gap between the two. However, the two girls did have something in common that could feasibly bring them together after a chance meeting in the agora a few weeks ago. Both of the royal girls now owned tomcats from the same litter. It had been a chance set of circumstances that had brought her little Perseus and Theseus into her life, but it had been one of the best chance moments in her life. She couldn’t speak for Sofia, but Danae loved those little rascals with all of her heart. They had helped her not feel so hopeless in the wake of what she saw as her father’s betrayal and they were just simply an endless source of joy.
Hoping that Sofia felt the same way about the feline she had taken home, the youngest Stravos had sent an invitation in the early morning beckoning Sofia to come so the brothers could see each other again. She knew that her cousin was fairly astute though and would likely read between the lines in order to see what Danae was really asking for. She had feared that Sofia would not come for that very reason, but to her surprise, Sof had agreed. Now she was only minutes away from arriving at the Stravos Archontiko.
Danae had spent most of the afternoon making sure that her room was reasonably free of cat hair as she did not want to meet with the Marikas girl anywhere else in the manor. She couldn’t trust that her mother or sister wouldn’t interrupt and cause the conversation to change. She was a bit worried about inviting Sof into this sacred space of hers as it was not exactly what a chamber for most noble girls should look like. It had never had been filled with fabrics and little tins of makeup like Chara’s was. Instead, it appeared to be more like a boy’s chamber with the ornate desk being the centerpiece of the room, just opposite of the large fireplace. It had only just been cleared of papers and had a few books piled high on it. There was no vanity and the big wardrobe was shut tight with no sign of overflow anywhere. The only thing that really gave it away was the fact that the whole space had a soft, pastel color scheme to it and was lacking the harsh, bold colors that would decorate a young lord’s living space. The only other thing of note was various items for the cats scattered about; from baskets filled with plush blankets that the kittens never used to the various cat toys laying around. Clearly Danae’s boys were the king of this roost.
The Stravos girl was naturally worried about what the Marikas girl would think, but there wasn’t much that could be done in the course of an afternoon… let alone in the course of the few minutes, it took to announce that a Marikas carriage was approaching the manor. Once word of Sofia’s arrival reached her ears, Danae was quick to scoop up the nearest cat (which so happened to be Theseus) and make her way to the front door before her mother caught wind of the same scrap of news.
By the time she reached the bottom step of the staircase, she could already see Sofia with a kitten in her arms. The little animal was so cute that for once Danae didn’t have much trouble conjuring up a smile while greeting her guest, “Lady Sofia, how good it is to see you!” Danae was inclined to give her cousin some sort of odd hug, but that seemed to be impractical when their arms were both preoccupied with wrangling the two brothers who seemed to be eager to reunite. Theseus kept trying to wriggle away from Danae and crawl up her sleeve, the kitten’s favorite method of escape. This drew a giggle out of the normally somber girl as she beckoned for Sofia to follow her up the stairs. “Come, we’ll go upstairs. It’s easier to keep the troublemakers in line up there than in the courtyard.” Even though the girl seemed to be certainly far more playful than she normally was, Sofia might have been able to pick up on the slight note of worry in her voice. Which was understanding given how dire things were getting in the outside world.
Guiding Sofia through the corridors to her own chambers, Danae was grateful to finally be in her own private space and her shoulders visibly relaxed with the stress of needing to avoid Circenia and Chara faded away from her. Before she fully closed the door though, she instructed a nearby slave to go get a platter of refreshments for the girls. Danae was careful enough to also ask for a snack that she knew was fairly complicated for the chef to make in the hopes that would keep people away from her doors long enough for the girls to talk about what was really going on with their brothers without the fear of eavesdroppers lurking around.
Once the door was finally shut though, Danae was grateful that everything had seemingly worked and she was more than happy to set Theseus on the floor to go play with his brothers as she invited Sof to either take a seat on the couch or at the desk -- her choice.
However, Danae was not keen on wasting a moment of this precious time though and began to speak before she even sat down on the plush comfort of her bed, “I am really glad to see you Sofia... Though I think we can both tell that there’s more that we need to discuss than just our cats, right?” Even though she was fairly confident that neither of them would be overheard, Danae kept her voice low, just in case. Clearly this whole mess had taught the girl that she couldn’t trust for things to be as simple as they truly seemed.
“Have you heard the rumors?” She asked cautiously, hoping that this would not upset Sofia given that this was likely a sensitive subject for her given that this was the first time that the Marikas was in any hot water regarding this conflict. Danae was certainly sympathetic, of course. She didn’t leave her room for a month after the first real trouble for the Stravos family. However, sympathies did not turn rumors into truths and Danae wanted to know what had really happened so she could feel prepared for the fallout, which explained why she made a point to clarify which rumors she was talking about, “You know, the ones about your brother… and Aetaea…”
Her voice trailed off, unsure if Sofia would be willing to talk or even if she knew anything at all. Danae could only hope that both of these were the case and that she’d be willing to talk about such things with a Stravos of all people. She wouldn’t know though until she and Sofia got these important discussions started and then who knows what would happen from there…
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Being a rather self-conscious girl, there weren’t too many things about herself that Danae took pride in. Her own anxieties had spent years convincing her that she was nothing more than an awkward, waste of space in the courts. She was someone to be laughed at when her back was turned and she was only interesting while the prettier, entertaining people were out of the room. The little voices in her head had done an excellent job of twisting Danae’s perception of her own self-worth in such a wretched way that even genuine comments praising her seemed as if they were just honeyed words muttered out of pity. Even though Danae knew that these thoughts were supposedly wrong, there was little she could do against them. She had long ago accepted their validity. This was just they things were and there was nothing that she could do about it. Even though it was kind of sad to consider that Danae beat herself down so harshly, she had always managed to cope on account that there was one aspect of her life that her inner anxieties could never touch. Her intelligence.
Now she knew that she did not hold the most brilliant mind in Athenia, but among her siblings? Danae easily had that title, no question. Her mind worked in ways that theirs didn’t and the youngest Stravos had always been comfortable in having this category all to herself. Let Chara be pretty. Let Elias have the glory. Just as long as she could have the books and the brains to sit through nearly any logical issue, then she would be okay… but even now her anxieties were starting to wrap their tendrils around this one sacred space that she had. Who could blame her really? This whole mess in Athenia was one gigantic mess of decisions that Danae did not understand nor could she fully comprehend. From her father’s decision to defect to Persephone’s side to the court session where her family attempted to swindle the courtiers and then embarrass her when she did not understand what was happening, to finally the forests of Aetaea…
She did not even want to think about the forests of Aetaea.
Gods almighty. Danae did not have the faintest inkling what could have possessed Elias to burn down the Antonis province. It was so stupid on every front. Even the sixteen-year-old could see that this plan of theirs would end in nothing short of unmitigated disaster. Even if the Queen had perished in the flames, if she was there in the first place, the Argyris family could have died as well. That alone would have the Antonis raving at their door if they even suspected that the Stravos had anything to do with it. Not to mention that the burning crops would be enough to have them pursue restitution. It was a fool’s plan at best. Now granted, Danae did not know everything about what her brother attempted to do. She had not been in the room when Elias concocted this scheme nor had she the chance to grill into him for being an idiot and risking everything again, but she had heard enough rumors to know what had occurred. That was all that was needed for Danae to take a good guess at what really happened in the woods that night.
As soon as she heard rumors about Rafail being involved, she knew that Elias also had to be as well. The Marikas boy was both simultaneously lazy and ambitious for personal glory. He wouldn’t do something as foolish without her brother somehow being tangled up as well. She was nearly certain that her brilliant strategist of an older brother thought that this would go off without a hitch and that everyone would love him for this. However, the mere fact that there was nobody to string up and rumors circulating that Rafail was involved meant that everything went horribly horribly wrong.
However, this was all speculation as far as Danae knew. Her brother would never include her in their talks along as he saw her as some stupid little girl. Her best hope for getting information was out of Circenia, but Danae had her doubts about going down that route. There was no denying that the fractured relationship between the mother and daughter pair were beginning to heal and grow stronger than it had been in years -- especially in the wake of Keikelius practically abandoning them. Danae didn’t think that it was strong enough though to force her mother to include her in how the family dealt with the fallout. That meant that there was basically no one in her family that Danae felt close enough with to turn to in this moment of strife. Where others might be defeated by this prospect and simply content to drift along with the fortune of their fates, Danae had other plans.
If she couldn’t turn to her family for help in this moment, then the young girl would simply have to look outside of her family.
That had been a fairly simple conclusion to come to, but a difficult motion to put into place. With so many of the rumors circulating the Marikas family, it would have been simple enough for Danae to make an excuse to meet with her closest friend in that house; Daniil. The two girls always had always shared some sort of kindred spirit being the oddballs in their family. However, Danae doubted that Daniil would know anything. Rafail was notorious for hating his brother and as a result, she couldn’t trust this sort of crime would have been confided in the trust of his nieces by that brother. There was someone in that house that might know more. Rafail’s sister, Sofia.
Now Danae had never been particularly close with the youngest of her cousins as there was a ten year age gap between the two. However, the two girls did have something in common that could feasibly bring them together after a chance meeting in the agora a few weeks ago. Both of the royal girls now owned tomcats from the same litter. It had been a chance set of circumstances that had brought her little Perseus and Theseus into her life, but it had been one of the best chance moments in her life. She couldn’t speak for Sofia, but Danae loved those little rascals with all of her heart. They had helped her not feel so hopeless in the wake of what she saw as her father’s betrayal and they were just simply an endless source of joy.
Hoping that Sofia felt the same way about the feline she had taken home, the youngest Stravos had sent an invitation in the early morning beckoning Sofia to come so the brothers could see each other again. She knew that her cousin was fairly astute though and would likely read between the lines in order to see what Danae was really asking for. She had feared that Sofia would not come for that very reason, but to her surprise, Sof had agreed. Now she was only minutes away from arriving at the Stravos Archontiko.
Danae had spent most of the afternoon making sure that her room was reasonably free of cat hair as she did not want to meet with the Marikas girl anywhere else in the manor. She couldn’t trust that her mother or sister wouldn’t interrupt and cause the conversation to change. She was a bit worried about inviting Sof into this sacred space of hers as it was not exactly what a chamber for most noble girls should look like. It had never had been filled with fabrics and little tins of makeup like Chara’s was. Instead, it appeared to be more like a boy’s chamber with the ornate desk being the centerpiece of the room, just opposite of the large fireplace. It had only just been cleared of papers and had a few books piled high on it. There was no vanity and the big wardrobe was shut tight with no sign of overflow anywhere. The only thing that really gave it away was the fact that the whole space had a soft, pastel color scheme to it and was lacking the harsh, bold colors that would decorate a young lord’s living space. The only other thing of note was various items for the cats scattered about; from baskets filled with plush blankets that the kittens never used to the various cat toys laying around. Clearly Danae’s boys were the king of this roost.
The Stravos girl was naturally worried about what the Marikas girl would think, but there wasn’t much that could be done in the course of an afternoon… let alone in the course of the few minutes, it took to announce that a Marikas carriage was approaching the manor. Once word of Sofia’s arrival reached her ears, Danae was quick to scoop up the nearest cat (which so happened to be Theseus) and make her way to the front door before her mother caught wind of the same scrap of news.
By the time she reached the bottom step of the staircase, she could already see Sofia with a kitten in her arms. The little animal was so cute that for once Danae didn’t have much trouble conjuring up a smile while greeting her guest, “Lady Sofia, how good it is to see you!” Danae was inclined to give her cousin some sort of odd hug, but that seemed to be impractical when their arms were both preoccupied with wrangling the two brothers who seemed to be eager to reunite. Theseus kept trying to wriggle away from Danae and crawl up her sleeve, the kitten’s favorite method of escape. This drew a giggle out of the normally somber girl as she beckoned for Sofia to follow her up the stairs. “Come, we’ll go upstairs. It’s easier to keep the troublemakers in line up there than in the courtyard.” Even though the girl seemed to be certainly far more playful than she normally was, Sofia might have been able to pick up on the slight note of worry in her voice. Which was understanding given how dire things were getting in the outside world.
Guiding Sofia through the corridors to her own chambers, Danae was grateful to finally be in her own private space and her shoulders visibly relaxed with the stress of needing to avoid Circenia and Chara faded away from her. Before she fully closed the door though, she instructed a nearby slave to go get a platter of refreshments for the girls. Danae was careful enough to also ask for a snack that she knew was fairly complicated for the chef to make in the hopes that would keep people away from her doors long enough for the girls to talk about what was really going on with their brothers without the fear of eavesdroppers lurking around.
Once the door was finally shut though, Danae was grateful that everything had seemingly worked and she was more than happy to set Theseus on the floor to go play with his brothers as she invited Sof to either take a seat on the couch or at the desk -- her choice.
However, Danae was not keen on wasting a moment of this precious time though and began to speak before she even sat down on the plush comfort of her bed, “I am really glad to see you Sofia... Though I think we can both tell that there’s more that we need to discuss than just our cats, right?” Even though she was fairly confident that neither of them would be overheard, Danae kept her voice low, just in case. Clearly this whole mess had taught the girl that she couldn’t trust for things to be as simple as they truly seemed.
“Have you heard the rumors?” She asked cautiously, hoping that this would not upset Sofia given that this was likely a sensitive subject for her given that this was the first time that the Marikas was in any hot water regarding this conflict. Danae was certainly sympathetic, of course. She didn’t leave her room for a month after the first real trouble for the Stravos family. However, sympathies did not turn rumors into truths and Danae wanted to know what had really happened so she could feel prepared for the fallout, which explained why she made a point to clarify which rumors she was talking about, “You know, the ones about your brother… and Aetaea…”
Her voice trailed off, unsure if Sofia would be willing to talk or even if she knew anything at all. Danae could only hope that both of these were the case and that she’d be willing to talk about such things with a Stravos of all people. She wouldn’t know though until she and Sofia got these important discussions started and then who knows what would happen from there…
Being a rather self-conscious girl, there weren’t too many things about herself that Danae took pride in. Her own anxieties had spent years convincing her that she was nothing more than an awkward, waste of space in the courts. She was someone to be laughed at when her back was turned and she was only interesting while the prettier, entertaining people were out of the room. The little voices in her head had done an excellent job of twisting Danae’s perception of her own self-worth in such a wretched way that even genuine comments praising her seemed as if they were just honeyed words muttered out of pity. Even though Danae knew that these thoughts were supposedly wrong, there was little she could do against them. She had long ago accepted their validity. This was just they things were and there was nothing that she could do about it. Even though it was kind of sad to consider that Danae beat herself down so harshly, she had always managed to cope on account that there was one aspect of her life that her inner anxieties could never touch. Her intelligence.
Now she knew that she did not hold the most brilliant mind in Athenia, but among her siblings? Danae easily had that title, no question. Her mind worked in ways that theirs didn’t and the youngest Stravos had always been comfortable in having this category all to herself. Let Chara be pretty. Let Elias have the glory. Just as long as she could have the books and the brains to sit through nearly any logical issue, then she would be okay… but even now her anxieties were starting to wrap their tendrils around this one sacred space that she had. Who could blame her really? This whole mess in Athenia was one gigantic mess of decisions that Danae did not understand nor could she fully comprehend. From her father’s decision to defect to Persephone’s side to the court session where her family attempted to swindle the courtiers and then embarrass her when she did not understand what was happening, to finally the forests of Aetaea…
She did not even want to think about the forests of Aetaea.
Gods almighty. Danae did not have the faintest inkling what could have possessed Elias to burn down the Antonis province. It was so stupid on every front. Even the sixteen-year-old could see that this plan of theirs would end in nothing short of unmitigated disaster. Even if the Queen had perished in the flames, if she was there in the first place, the Argyris family could have died as well. That alone would have the Antonis raving at their door if they even suspected that the Stravos had anything to do with it. Not to mention that the burning crops would be enough to have them pursue restitution. It was a fool’s plan at best. Now granted, Danae did not know everything about what her brother attempted to do. She had not been in the room when Elias concocted this scheme nor had she the chance to grill into him for being an idiot and risking everything again, but she had heard enough rumors to know what had occurred. That was all that was needed for Danae to take a good guess at what really happened in the woods that night.
As soon as she heard rumors about Rafail being involved, she knew that Elias also had to be as well. The Marikas boy was both simultaneously lazy and ambitious for personal glory. He wouldn’t do something as foolish without her brother somehow being tangled up as well. She was nearly certain that her brilliant strategist of an older brother thought that this would go off without a hitch and that everyone would love him for this. However, the mere fact that there was nobody to string up and rumors circulating that Rafail was involved meant that everything went horribly horribly wrong.
However, this was all speculation as far as Danae knew. Her brother would never include her in their talks along as he saw her as some stupid little girl. Her best hope for getting information was out of Circenia, but Danae had her doubts about going down that route. There was no denying that the fractured relationship between the mother and daughter pair were beginning to heal and grow stronger than it had been in years -- especially in the wake of Keikelius practically abandoning them. Danae didn’t think that it was strong enough though to force her mother to include her in how the family dealt with the fallout. That meant that there was basically no one in her family that Danae felt close enough with to turn to in this moment of strife. Where others might be defeated by this prospect and simply content to drift along with the fortune of their fates, Danae had other plans.
If she couldn’t turn to her family for help in this moment, then the young girl would simply have to look outside of her family.
That had been a fairly simple conclusion to come to, but a difficult motion to put into place. With so many of the rumors circulating the Marikas family, it would have been simple enough for Danae to make an excuse to meet with her closest friend in that house; Daniil. The two girls always had always shared some sort of kindred spirit being the oddballs in their family. However, Danae doubted that Daniil would know anything. Rafail was notorious for hating his brother and as a result, she couldn’t trust this sort of crime would have been confided in the trust of his nieces by that brother. There was someone in that house that might know more. Rafail’s sister, Sofia.
Now Danae had never been particularly close with the youngest of her cousins as there was a ten year age gap between the two. However, the two girls did have something in common that could feasibly bring them together after a chance meeting in the agora a few weeks ago. Both of the royal girls now owned tomcats from the same litter. It had been a chance set of circumstances that had brought her little Perseus and Theseus into her life, but it had been one of the best chance moments in her life. She couldn’t speak for Sofia, but Danae loved those little rascals with all of her heart. They had helped her not feel so hopeless in the wake of what she saw as her father’s betrayal and they were just simply an endless source of joy.
Hoping that Sofia felt the same way about the feline she had taken home, the youngest Stravos had sent an invitation in the early morning beckoning Sofia to come so the brothers could see each other again. She knew that her cousin was fairly astute though and would likely read between the lines in order to see what Danae was really asking for. She had feared that Sofia would not come for that very reason, but to her surprise, Sof had agreed. Now she was only minutes away from arriving at the Stravos Archontiko.
Danae had spent most of the afternoon making sure that her room was reasonably free of cat hair as she did not want to meet with the Marikas girl anywhere else in the manor. She couldn’t trust that her mother or sister wouldn’t interrupt and cause the conversation to change. She was a bit worried about inviting Sof into this sacred space of hers as it was not exactly what a chamber for most noble girls should look like. It had never had been filled with fabrics and little tins of makeup like Chara’s was. Instead, it appeared to be more like a boy’s chamber with the ornate desk being the centerpiece of the room, just opposite of the large fireplace. It had only just been cleared of papers and had a few books piled high on it. There was no vanity and the big wardrobe was shut tight with no sign of overflow anywhere. The only thing that really gave it away was the fact that the whole space had a soft, pastel color scheme to it and was lacking the harsh, bold colors that would decorate a young lord’s living space. The only other thing of note was various items for the cats scattered about; from baskets filled with plush blankets that the kittens never used to the various cat toys laying around. Clearly Danae’s boys were the king of this roost.
The Stravos girl was naturally worried about what the Marikas girl would think, but there wasn’t much that could be done in the course of an afternoon… let alone in the course of the few minutes, it took to announce that a Marikas carriage was approaching the manor. Once word of Sofia’s arrival reached her ears, Danae was quick to scoop up the nearest cat (which so happened to be Theseus) and make her way to the front door before her mother caught wind of the same scrap of news.
By the time she reached the bottom step of the staircase, she could already see Sofia with a kitten in her arms. The little animal was so cute that for once Danae didn’t have much trouble conjuring up a smile while greeting her guest, “Lady Sofia, how good it is to see you!” Danae was inclined to give her cousin some sort of odd hug, but that seemed to be impractical when their arms were both preoccupied with wrangling the two brothers who seemed to be eager to reunite. Theseus kept trying to wriggle away from Danae and crawl up her sleeve, the kitten’s favorite method of escape. This drew a giggle out of the normally somber girl as she beckoned for Sofia to follow her up the stairs. “Come, we’ll go upstairs. It’s easier to keep the troublemakers in line up there than in the courtyard.” Even though the girl seemed to be certainly far more playful than she normally was, Sofia might have been able to pick up on the slight note of worry in her voice. Which was understanding given how dire things were getting in the outside world.
Guiding Sofia through the corridors to her own chambers, Danae was grateful to finally be in her own private space and her shoulders visibly relaxed with the stress of needing to avoid Circenia and Chara faded away from her. Before she fully closed the door though, she instructed a nearby slave to go get a platter of refreshments for the girls. Danae was careful enough to also ask for a snack that she knew was fairly complicated for the chef to make in the hopes that would keep people away from her doors long enough for the girls to talk about what was really going on with their brothers without the fear of eavesdroppers lurking around.
Once the door was finally shut though, Danae was grateful that everything had seemingly worked and she was more than happy to set Theseus on the floor to go play with his brothers as she invited Sof to either take a seat on the couch or at the desk -- her choice.
However, Danae was not keen on wasting a moment of this precious time though and began to speak before she even sat down on the plush comfort of her bed, “I am really glad to see you Sofia... Though I think we can both tell that there’s more that we need to discuss than just our cats, right?” Even though she was fairly confident that neither of them would be overheard, Danae kept her voice low, just in case. Clearly this whole mess had taught the girl that she couldn’t trust for things to be as simple as they truly seemed.
“Have you heard the rumors?” She asked cautiously, hoping that this would not upset Sofia given that this was likely a sensitive subject for her given that this was the first time that the Marikas was in any hot water regarding this conflict. Danae was certainly sympathetic, of course. She didn’t leave her room for a month after the first real trouble for the Stravos family. However, sympathies did not turn rumors into truths and Danae wanted to know what had really happened so she could feel prepared for the fallout, which explained why she made a point to clarify which rumors she was talking about, “You know, the ones about your brother… and Aetaea…”
Her voice trailed off, unsure if Sofia would be willing to talk or even if she knew anything at all. Danae could only hope that both of these were the case and that she’d be willing to talk about such things with a Stravos of all people. She wouldn’t know though until she and Sofia got these important discussions started and then who knows what would happen from there…
It felt strange, approaching the Stravos home with the knowledge of what needed to be done. She stayed silent as the carriage driver opened the door for her, clutching the little basket containing Ischyros close to her chest. This was insane. She was about to spend the afternoon with a sixteen-year-old in a desperate ploy to save her brother from the younger girl’s brother. Sofia sighed heavily and stared up at the lavish home. The Stravos family was self-important, yes, and eager to appear that they’d had money and power all along. Elias himself was a clear example. Desperate for power and willing to step on the heads of anyone who got in his way. She felt a jolt of surprise mixed with nausea; when had her opinion on Elias shifted so drastically? Her interactions with him had been limited, but Marietta’s fondness for the man—not to mention Rafail’s—had left her with an overall good impression.
And then the rumors started. Rafail of Marikas, setting a forest ablaze. Arson. Attempted murder. Of a queen, no less. Burning and raging and Sofia knew that it must have been Elias’s fault. Her dear brother, caught up in a dangerous game. Politics were important. There was no doubt in her mind about that. But there was a difference between political intrigue and the court agendas Pavlos and Papa orchestrated and destroying a forest for a man who refused to get his own hands dirty. Sofia had felt a disturbing feeling in her stomach since she’d heard. There was no way for this to end well, and for Rafail to come out of the flames unscathed… Sofia needed to find a way to stop this.
Asking Raf herself would not be enough. Her brother loved her and valued her opinion to a certain degree, but he was still a man who believed in the power of men. And his relationship with Elias was involved enough that Sofia doubted she could say anything at all to set him free from the spider’s web. Which left Danae. The servants let her in and took the kitten’s basket from her, leaving the mewling creature in her arms. The tiny source of heat was minimal comfort in the wake of what she needed to do, what she needed to ask. Even less of a comfort was the fact that Sofia knew her cousin, at least enough to know that the younger girl would have more planned for the afternoon than simply a kitten playdate.
Her cousin appeared only a moment later, clutching one of her own kittens. “Lady Danae,” she smiled in response, dipping her head in lieu of a more affectionate greeting. Kittens were cumbersome, and Sofia feared that her uncharacteristic nervousness would be more apparent up close, anyway. She followed the girl up the stairs, hardly taking in the mostly unfamiliar manor as they went. Decorations were of no concern, as long as Elias of Stravos was not hidden among them. She trusted that Danae would not be so foolish as to bring her here to discuss a man who could burst in at any moment. The shutting door seemed to put Danae at ease, but Sofia still clutched Ischyros tightly, taking an extra moment to set him on the floor to play with his siblings. At last she gave the creature a gentle scratch on the head and set him free, seating herself on the couch and turning to face her cousin. “I wish I were her to visit on a happier occasion, cousin, but I’m afraid you’re right. There is much to discuss.”
This was dangerous. The usual thrill of anticipation that came with risks had soured and turned to anxiety. This was not like bathing in a lake or singing with a foreign sailor. This was not like dancing in a thunderstorm. This had real, tangible consequences and the possibility of ending with her brother’s execution. Her smile softened and turned vague as the sticky business began, eyes flickering from the rowdy kittens to her cousin.
“I have, though I held some hope until recently that the birds who whispered them were mistaken." There was no use pretending. Sofia needed something from Danae, and Danae clearly wanted information. It would be an advantageous trade if they could assist each other.
She gave Danae a sharp look, all remnants of a smile fading. “I’m sure you are aware just how serious these rumors are. And I’m sure you are also aware that if Aetaea was set alight on purpose, that the person who did so would scarcely have acted alone, nor thought to act at all.” They were in this together. That needed to be clear. Relation meant little, and while she mostly trusted the girl in front of her, some part of her feared her very presence in this house could be used against her, against her family. More conspiracies was the last thing House Marikas needed.
Ischyros mewed excitedly and tumbled over one of Danae’s kittens. Another smiled tugged at Sofia’s lips, though she still felt sad and nervous. Desperate enough to talk about wild political conspiracies with a sixteen-year-old. Desperate enough that she would soon be asking for help.
“I have not spoken to my brother much of late,” she said vaguely, glancing around the room and pretending not to notice each detail. Anything could help. She should have paid more attention downstairs. Any little thing to convince Danae to help her, even if the shame of asking threatened to burn a hole in her chest. “Your own seems to have captured his attention and time.”
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It felt strange, approaching the Stravos home with the knowledge of what needed to be done. She stayed silent as the carriage driver opened the door for her, clutching the little basket containing Ischyros close to her chest. This was insane. She was about to spend the afternoon with a sixteen-year-old in a desperate ploy to save her brother from the younger girl’s brother. Sofia sighed heavily and stared up at the lavish home. The Stravos family was self-important, yes, and eager to appear that they’d had money and power all along. Elias himself was a clear example. Desperate for power and willing to step on the heads of anyone who got in his way. She felt a jolt of surprise mixed with nausea; when had her opinion on Elias shifted so drastically? Her interactions with him had been limited, but Marietta’s fondness for the man—not to mention Rafail’s—had left her with an overall good impression.
And then the rumors started. Rafail of Marikas, setting a forest ablaze. Arson. Attempted murder. Of a queen, no less. Burning and raging and Sofia knew that it must have been Elias’s fault. Her dear brother, caught up in a dangerous game. Politics were important. There was no doubt in her mind about that. But there was a difference between political intrigue and the court agendas Pavlos and Papa orchestrated and destroying a forest for a man who refused to get his own hands dirty. Sofia had felt a disturbing feeling in her stomach since she’d heard. There was no way for this to end well, and for Rafail to come out of the flames unscathed… Sofia needed to find a way to stop this.
Asking Raf herself would not be enough. Her brother loved her and valued her opinion to a certain degree, but he was still a man who believed in the power of men. And his relationship with Elias was involved enough that Sofia doubted she could say anything at all to set him free from the spider’s web. Which left Danae. The servants let her in and took the kitten’s basket from her, leaving the mewling creature in her arms. The tiny source of heat was minimal comfort in the wake of what she needed to do, what she needed to ask. Even less of a comfort was the fact that Sofia knew her cousin, at least enough to know that the younger girl would have more planned for the afternoon than simply a kitten playdate.
Her cousin appeared only a moment later, clutching one of her own kittens. “Lady Danae,” she smiled in response, dipping her head in lieu of a more affectionate greeting. Kittens were cumbersome, and Sofia feared that her uncharacteristic nervousness would be more apparent up close, anyway. She followed the girl up the stairs, hardly taking in the mostly unfamiliar manor as they went. Decorations were of no concern, as long as Elias of Stravos was not hidden among them. She trusted that Danae would not be so foolish as to bring her here to discuss a man who could burst in at any moment. The shutting door seemed to put Danae at ease, but Sofia still clutched Ischyros tightly, taking an extra moment to set him on the floor to play with his siblings. At last she gave the creature a gentle scratch on the head and set him free, seating herself on the couch and turning to face her cousin. “I wish I were her to visit on a happier occasion, cousin, but I’m afraid you’re right. There is much to discuss.”
This was dangerous. The usual thrill of anticipation that came with risks had soured and turned to anxiety. This was not like bathing in a lake or singing with a foreign sailor. This was not like dancing in a thunderstorm. This had real, tangible consequences and the possibility of ending with her brother’s execution. Her smile softened and turned vague as the sticky business began, eyes flickering from the rowdy kittens to her cousin.
“I have, though I held some hope until recently that the birds who whispered them were mistaken." There was no use pretending. Sofia needed something from Danae, and Danae clearly wanted information. It would be an advantageous trade if they could assist each other.
She gave Danae a sharp look, all remnants of a smile fading. “I’m sure you are aware just how serious these rumors are. And I’m sure you are also aware that if Aetaea was set alight on purpose, that the person who did so would scarcely have acted alone, nor thought to act at all.” They were in this together. That needed to be clear. Relation meant little, and while she mostly trusted the girl in front of her, some part of her feared her very presence in this house could be used against her, against her family. More conspiracies was the last thing House Marikas needed.
Ischyros mewed excitedly and tumbled over one of Danae’s kittens. Another smiled tugged at Sofia’s lips, though she still felt sad and nervous. Desperate enough to talk about wild political conspiracies with a sixteen-year-old. Desperate enough that she would soon be asking for help.
“I have not spoken to my brother much of late,” she said vaguely, glancing around the room and pretending not to notice each detail. Anything could help. She should have paid more attention downstairs. Any little thing to convince Danae to help her, even if the shame of asking threatened to burn a hole in her chest. “Your own seems to have captured his attention and time.”
It felt strange, approaching the Stravos home with the knowledge of what needed to be done. She stayed silent as the carriage driver opened the door for her, clutching the little basket containing Ischyros close to her chest. This was insane. She was about to spend the afternoon with a sixteen-year-old in a desperate ploy to save her brother from the younger girl’s brother. Sofia sighed heavily and stared up at the lavish home. The Stravos family was self-important, yes, and eager to appear that they’d had money and power all along. Elias himself was a clear example. Desperate for power and willing to step on the heads of anyone who got in his way. She felt a jolt of surprise mixed with nausea; when had her opinion on Elias shifted so drastically? Her interactions with him had been limited, but Marietta’s fondness for the man—not to mention Rafail’s—had left her with an overall good impression.
And then the rumors started. Rafail of Marikas, setting a forest ablaze. Arson. Attempted murder. Of a queen, no less. Burning and raging and Sofia knew that it must have been Elias’s fault. Her dear brother, caught up in a dangerous game. Politics were important. There was no doubt in her mind about that. But there was a difference between political intrigue and the court agendas Pavlos and Papa orchestrated and destroying a forest for a man who refused to get his own hands dirty. Sofia had felt a disturbing feeling in her stomach since she’d heard. There was no way for this to end well, and for Rafail to come out of the flames unscathed… Sofia needed to find a way to stop this.
Asking Raf herself would not be enough. Her brother loved her and valued her opinion to a certain degree, but he was still a man who believed in the power of men. And his relationship with Elias was involved enough that Sofia doubted she could say anything at all to set him free from the spider’s web. Which left Danae. The servants let her in and took the kitten’s basket from her, leaving the mewling creature in her arms. The tiny source of heat was minimal comfort in the wake of what she needed to do, what she needed to ask. Even less of a comfort was the fact that Sofia knew her cousin, at least enough to know that the younger girl would have more planned for the afternoon than simply a kitten playdate.
Her cousin appeared only a moment later, clutching one of her own kittens. “Lady Danae,” she smiled in response, dipping her head in lieu of a more affectionate greeting. Kittens were cumbersome, and Sofia feared that her uncharacteristic nervousness would be more apparent up close, anyway. She followed the girl up the stairs, hardly taking in the mostly unfamiliar manor as they went. Decorations were of no concern, as long as Elias of Stravos was not hidden among them. She trusted that Danae would not be so foolish as to bring her here to discuss a man who could burst in at any moment. The shutting door seemed to put Danae at ease, but Sofia still clutched Ischyros tightly, taking an extra moment to set him on the floor to play with his siblings. At last she gave the creature a gentle scratch on the head and set him free, seating herself on the couch and turning to face her cousin. “I wish I were her to visit on a happier occasion, cousin, but I’m afraid you’re right. There is much to discuss.”
This was dangerous. The usual thrill of anticipation that came with risks had soured and turned to anxiety. This was not like bathing in a lake or singing with a foreign sailor. This was not like dancing in a thunderstorm. This had real, tangible consequences and the possibility of ending with her brother’s execution. Her smile softened and turned vague as the sticky business began, eyes flickering from the rowdy kittens to her cousin.
“I have, though I held some hope until recently that the birds who whispered them were mistaken." There was no use pretending. Sofia needed something from Danae, and Danae clearly wanted information. It would be an advantageous trade if they could assist each other.
She gave Danae a sharp look, all remnants of a smile fading. “I’m sure you are aware just how serious these rumors are. And I’m sure you are also aware that if Aetaea was set alight on purpose, that the person who did so would scarcely have acted alone, nor thought to act at all.” They were in this together. That needed to be clear. Relation meant little, and while she mostly trusted the girl in front of her, some part of her feared her very presence in this house could be used against her, against her family. More conspiracies was the last thing House Marikas needed.
Ischyros mewed excitedly and tumbled over one of Danae’s kittens. Another smiled tugged at Sofia’s lips, though she still felt sad and nervous. Desperate enough to talk about wild political conspiracies with a sixteen-year-old. Desperate enough that she would soon be asking for help.
“I have not spoken to my brother much of late,” she said vaguely, glancing around the room and pretending not to notice each detail. Anything could help. She should have paid more attention downstairs. Any little thing to convince Danae to help her, even if the shame of asking threatened to burn a hole in her chest. “Your own seems to have captured his attention and time.”
As the two girls disappeared into Danae’s bed chamber, the Stravos girl knew that her Marikas cousin might have certain expectations of this odd meeting brought about under the guise of a kitten playdate. She could practically see it in Sofia’s face. She was just starting to deal with all the same stresses that the sixteen-year-old had been dealing with for months. It was almost scary how Danae saw an eerie reflection of herself in the older woman, but what scared her more was how Danae was forced to realize that those feelings of stress had almost become normal to her in the wake of everything that her brother had done. Danae had come to always expect the worst from Elias as that was the only thing that he was seemingly capable of. It seemed to be that Sofia was just coming to terms with the fact that her brother might have willingly jumped into the same boat as her own.
She wasn’t sure how that would bode well for either of them. If Raf and Elias decided to team up and work together on whatever silly plan they had concocted, there was little that they could do. Especially the sixteen-year-old in this situation, Danae was not her brother’s keeper. She was not a girl that he confided his plans in and she held no sway over the man who was likely lazing around the Palati right now. Elias had made it very clear that he thought very little of his sister that night at the court event where he had publicly embarrassed her for the simple crime of trying to do right by Athenia. This minor event was something that a lot of the other courtiers likely did not understand and would likely hold judgment against Danae for putting so much weight into, but she did not need their opinions on this matter. Not when she knew the truth about what had happened that night. Elias had purposely left her out a plan that he knew she would immediately see the fallacies in and when she acted accordingly (because she had no reason to believe that he would not follow through with it) he had utilized her own greatest weakness to shut her up. In the days following, he had the audacity to defend his actions and attempt to pin the blame for the who fiasco on her. Thank the gods Circenia had stepped up to not only defend her daughter but recognize that it was time that Danae had a place at the table when all of these plots were laid out. That was the only saving grace that came from that night. Her mother finally recognized that Danny was not a little girl that could safely be ignored. Not anymore at least.
Elias refused to do the same. He ranted and raged about her now cowing to his will merely because he was the head of house. Her older brother had tried to convince Danae to not use her strengths and not act in the best interest of her country just merely because it messed with his plans. Even now, weeks later, he refused to admit that he had done anything wrong. That Danae was the one at fault. This was not an easy thing for the sixteen-year-old to forgive. Not when it came on the tail of nearly sixteen years of teasing. Sixteen years of stupid comments about how she was a baby and not very ladylike for taking an interest in dad’s work. Sixteen years of being pushed aside by both him and Chara. He was half the reason she became so self-conscious around others and as if that wasn’t bad enough that he had spent her entire life giving her reason after reason to hate herself, Elias then went and threw out any redeeming qualities by gambling with her nobility. A gamble which he lost. She had no reason to trust his judgment. No reason to confide in him. Seven hells, if she wasn’t forcibly chained to him through the shackles of blood relations, she might have jumped ship with her father as he was that selfish and incompetent in her eyes.
The hatred she held for him was so deep that instinctively Danae felt herself grow a bit more standoffish at the mere mention of Elias’s name and his ties with Rafail. Just hearing her brother being referenced was enough to set her on guard but she forced her prickling skin to cool a bit as she reminded herself that Sofia would not know how deep the distaste went for her brother. She would be foolish not to see that the two of them were not close, but given that most of the things that had soured Danae had occurred behind closed doors, her cousin would only know a fraction of it all. That was something she was going to have to remind herself of throughout this conversation as she could sense that Sofia had not accepted her invitation for the pleasure of confirming that the rumors were indeed true. She was a smart girl, she was likely going to ask for something in return and Danae would happily put money on the fact that it was going to have to be something to do with Elias.
Everything always had something to do with Elias, after all.
Nodding as she watched Theseus and Perseus happily play with the brother they had not seen in a few weeks, Danae was quiet as she thought over what she was going to say, not readily willing to let it slip that she knew next to nothing about what had actually happened in Aetaea. “Yes, even though it only takes one spark to light a flame, having more does make it easier.” As Danae was still learning how to work the courtly languages that her mother and sister knew so well, it was not that surprising that her statement sounded more like a confirmation that Elias was involved than just a simple musing on how likely it was that the Marikas boy (if the rumors were true, of course) had to have help. Danae mentally kicked herself for this, but given that the two of them were in the same boat as it was a pair of stupid brothers acting in their own interest rather than the ones that benefitted their families… well, she would have to trust that if Sofia looked too deeply into it, she wouldn’t blab about it to the rest of the court. That was the last thing that any of them needed after all.
Accepting that maybe she had already failed in keeping her cards somewhat hidden, Danae breathed a deep sigh and glanced at the door to make sure that it was properly closed before she spoke again. With the recent loss of their noble status, the family had been forced to downsize their staff. Even though their rightful rank had since been returned to them, that was one part of their lives that had not recovered yet. The slaves that had not been sold were ones that had proven themselves to be loyal and competent at the their jobs, so she had no real reason to believe that someone could be spying on them… but one could never truly be sure. That was precisely why Danae’s voice dropped to a whisper when she spoke next, despite the visual confirmation that the door wasn’t ajar.
“Our brothers have always been close. If these rumors are true, there’s no reason that the two of them wouldn’t have involved each other.” Danae knew that Sofia was aware of the truth in her words. The two of them practically fed off of each other’s preening, using each other to justify their awful behavior as through their eyes, whatever they were doing couldn’t have been that bad if the other was doing it too. They were two peas in the same rotten pod. Always have been. Always will be. She couldn’t speak for her cousin in this regard, but Danae personally had every reason to believe that this would be the case. Especially after their little victory during that fiasco of a festival.
That was something that Danae was sure to bring up in her next statement to Sofia, “I mean… we all saw their last stunt not too long ago. They surely thought of themselves as kings.” Danae practically sneered as her mind flashed back to how the two of them sauntered into the event with a cartful of food. The two of them were so self-righteous in a moment that should have occurred eons ago. Instead, they withheld the food and made people angry just for the dramatics of the moment. Those two were clearly a piece of work. They were practically a match made Olympus by the gods themselves. If one of them was involved in the burning of Aetaea the other one had to be as well.
In many ways, Danae had to admit that it was likely that both of them had a hand in this. The theatrics of razing a forest seemed to fit more into Rafail’s style of doing some big and shiny thing that made him feel self-important. (This also applied to Elias, but at a somewhat lesser scale in recent months, Danae had to give him credit for that as he had wised up following hiring a literal pirate to sink every ship except those that belonged to the Stravos.) However, there could have been a personal motivation behind it as well. The current baroness was supposed to at one point be Elias’s wife. It didn’t go through for whatever reason, Danae didn’t know as she had been too young at the time to understand such things, but either way she did not put it past her brother to destroy an entire forest as a final ‘fuck you’ to her. Everything but the reasoning for why this happened now when everything in Athenia was already bad enough. That was the one key bit that Danae couldn’t wrap her hed around. Maybe that was because she had only heard far fewer rumors than Sofia would have in her natural disdain for gossip, but either way she was hoping that her friend might be able to provide the insight that Danae was lacking in this situation.
Her eyes drifted away from the playful kittens to her cousin seated next to her on the plush bed, trying not to make it painfully obvious that she was eagerly awaiting for Sofia to give her thoughts on the situation or any sort of solid confirmation of what the girls both suspected to be true. This was the sort of crime that their brothers would commit. However, could they have actually done it was another matter entirely, wasn’t it?
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As the two girls disappeared into Danae’s bed chamber, the Stravos girl knew that her Marikas cousin might have certain expectations of this odd meeting brought about under the guise of a kitten playdate. She could practically see it in Sofia’s face. She was just starting to deal with all the same stresses that the sixteen-year-old had been dealing with for months. It was almost scary how Danae saw an eerie reflection of herself in the older woman, but what scared her more was how Danae was forced to realize that those feelings of stress had almost become normal to her in the wake of everything that her brother had done. Danae had come to always expect the worst from Elias as that was the only thing that he was seemingly capable of. It seemed to be that Sofia was just coming to terms with the fact that her brother might have willingly jumped into the same boat as her own.
She wasn’t sure how that would bode well for either of them. If Raf and Elias decided to team up and work together on whatever silly plan they had concocted, there was little that they could do. Especially the sixteen-year-old in this situation, Danae was not her brother’s keeper. She was not a girl that he confided his plans in and she held no sway over the man who was likely lazing around the Palati right now. Elias had made it very clear that he thought very little of his sister that night at the court event where he had publicly embarrassed her for the simple crime of trying to do right by Athenia. This minor event was something that a lot of the other courtiers likely did not understand and would likely hold judgment against Danae for putting so much weight into, but she did not need their opinions on this matter. Not when she knew the truth about what had happened that night. Elias had purposely left her out a plan that he knew she would immediately see the fallacies in and when she acted accordingly (because she had no reason to believe that he would not follow through with it) he had utilized her own greatest weakness to shut her up. In the days following, he had the audacity to defend his actions and attempt to pin the blame for the who fiasco on her. Thank the gods Circenia had stepped up to not only defend her daughter but recognize that it was time that Danae had a place at the table when all of these plots were laid out. That was the only saving grace that came from that night. Her mother finally recognized that Danny was not a little girl that could safely be ignored. Not anymore at least.
Elias refused to do the same. He ranted and raged about her now cowing to his will merely because he was the head of house. Her older brother had tried to convince Danae to not use her strengths and not act in the best interest of her country just merely because it messed with his plans. Even now, weeks later, he refused to admit that he had done anything wrong. That Danae was the one at fault. This was not an easy thing for the sixteen-year-old to forgive. Not when it came on the tail of nearly sixteen years of teasing. Sixteen years of stupid comments about how she was a baby and not very ladylike for taking an interest in dad’s work. Sixteen years of being pushed aside by both him and Chara. He was half the reason she became so self-conscious around others and as if that wasn’t bad enough that he had spent her entire life giving her reason after reason to hate herself, Elias then went and threw out any redeeming qualities by gambling with her nobility. A gamble which he lost. She had no reason to trust his judgment. No reason to confide in him. Seven hells, if she wasn’t forcibly chained to him through the shackles of blood relations, she might have jumped ship with her father as he was that selfish and incompetent in her eyes.
The hatred she held for him was so deep that instinctively Danae felt herself grow a bit more standoffish at the mere mention of Elias’s name and his ties with Rafail. Just hearing her brother being referenced was enough to set her on guard but she forced her prickling skin to cool a bit as she reminded herself that Sofia would not know how deep the distaste went for her brother. She would be foolish not to see that the two of them were not close, but given that most of the things that had soured Danae had occurred behind closed doors, her cousin would only know a fraction of it all. That was something she was going to have to remind herself of throughout this conversation as she could sense that Sofia had not accepted her invitation for the pleasure of confirming that the rumors were indeed true. She was a smart girl, she was likely going to ask for something in return and Danae would happily put money on the fact that it was going to have to be something to do with Elias.
Everything always had something to do with Elias, after all.
Nodding as she watched Theseus and Perseus happily play with the brother they had not seen in a few weeks, Danae was quiet as she thought over what she was going to say, not readily willing to let it slip that she knew next to nothing about what had actually happened in Aetaea. “Yes, even though it only takes one spark to light a flame, having more does make it easier.” As Danae was still learning how to work the courtly languages that her mother and sister knew so well, it was not that surprising that her statement sounded more like a confirmation that Elias was involved than just a simple musing on how likely it was that the Marikas boy (if the rumors were true, of course) had to have help. Danae mentally kicked herself for this, but given that the two of them were in the same boat as it was a pair of stupid brothers acting in their own interest rather than the ones that benefitted their families… well, she would have to trust that if Sofia looked too deeply into it, she wouldn’t blab about it to the rest of the court. That was the last thing that any of them needed after all.
Accepting that maybe she had already failed in keeping her cards somewhat hidden, Danae breathed a deep sigh and glanced at the door to make sure that it was properly closed before she spoke again. With the recent loss of their noble status, the family had been forced to downsize their staff. Even though their rightful rank had since been returned to them, that was one part of their lives that had not recovered yet. The slaves that had not been sold were ones that had proven themselves to be loyal and competent at the their jobs, so she had no real reason to believe that someone could be spying on them… but one could never truly be sure. That was precisely why Danae’s voice dropped to a whisper when she spoke next, despite the visual confirmation that the door wasn’t ajar.
“Our brothers have always been close. If these rumors are true, there’s no reason that the two of them wouldn’t have involved each other.” Danae knew that Sofia was aware of the truth in her words. The two of them practically fed off of each other’s preening, using each other to justify their awful behavior as through their eyes, whatever they were doing couldn’t have been that bad if the other was doing it too. They were two peas in the same rotten pod. Always have been. Always will be. She couldn’t speak for her cousin in this regard, but Danae personally had every reason to believe that this would be the case. Especially after their little victory during that fiasco of a festival.
That was something that Danae was sure to bring up in her next statement to Sofia, “I mean… we all saw their last stunt not too long ago. They surely thought of themselves as kings.” Danae practically sneered as her mind flashed back to how the two of them sauntered into the event with a cartful of food. The two of them were so self-righteous in a moment that should have occurred eons ago. Instead, they withheld the food and made people angry just for the dramatics of the moment. Those two were clearly a piece of work. They were practically a match made Olympus by the gods themselves. If one of them was involved in the burning of Aetaea the other one had to be as well.
In many ways, Danae had to admit that it was likely that both of them had a hand in this. The theatrics of razing a forest seemed to fit more into Rafail’s style of doing some big and shiny thing that made him feel self-important. (This also applied to Elias, but at a somewhat lesser scale in recent months, Danae had to give him credit for that as he had wised up following hiring a literal pirate to sink every ship except those that belonged to the Stravos.) However, there could have been a personal motivation behind it as well. The current baroness was supposed to at one point be Elias’s wife. It didn’t go through for whatever reason, Danae didn’t know as she had been too young at the time to understand such things, but either way she did not put it past her brother to destroy an entire forest as a final ‘fuck you’ to her. Everything but the reasoning for why this happened now when everything in Athenia was already bad enough. That was the one key bit that Danae couldn’t wrap her hed around. Maybe that was because she had only heard far fewer rumors than Sofia would have in her natural disdain for gossip, but either way she was hoping that her friend might be able to provide the insight that Danae was lacking in this situation.
Her eyes drifted away from the playful kittens to her cousin seated next to her on the plush bed, trying not to make it painfully obvious that she was eagerly awaiting for Sofia to give her thoughts on the situation or any sort of solid confirmation of what the girls both suspected to be true. This was the sort of crime that their brothers would commit. However, could they have actually done it was another matter entirely, wasn’t it?
As the two girls disappeared into Danae’s bed chamber, the Stravos girl knew that her Marikas cousin might have certain expectations of this odd meeting brought about under the guise of a kitten playdate. She could practically see it in Sofia’s face. She was just starting to deal with all the same stresses that the sixteen-year-old had been dealing with for months. It was almost scary how Danae saw an eerie reflection of herself in the older woman, but what scared her more was how Danae was forced to realize that those feelings of stress had almost become normal to her in the wake of everything that her brother had done. Danae had come to always expect the worst from Elias as that was the only thing that he was seemingly capable of. It seemed to be that Sofia was just coming to terms with the fact that her brother might have willingly jumped into the same boat as her own.
She wasn’t sure how that would bode well for either of them. If Raf and Elias decided to team up and work together on whatever silly plan they had concocted, there was little that they could do. Especially the sixteen-year-old in this situation, Danae was not her brother’s keeper. She was not a girl that he confided his plans in and she held no sway over the man who was likely lazing around the Palati right now. Elias had made it very clear that he thought very little of his sister that night at the court event where he had publicly embarrassed her for the simple crime of trying to do right by Athenia. This minor event was something that a lot of the other courtiers likely did not understand and would likely hold judgment against Danae for putting so much weight into, but she did not need their opinions on this matter. Not when she knew the truth about what had happened that night. Elias had purposely left her out a plan that he knew she would immediately see the fallacies in and when she acted accordingly (because she had no reason to believe that he would not follow through with it) he had utilized her own greatest weakness to shut her up. In the days following, he had the audacity to defend his actions and attempt to pin the blame for the who fiasco on her. Thank the gods Circenia had stepped up to not only defend her daughter but recognize that it was time that Danae had a place at the table when all of these plots were laid out. That was the only saving grace that came from that night. Her mother finally recognized that Danny was not a little girl that could safely be ignored. Not anymore at least.
Elias refused to do the same. He ranted and raged about her now cowing to his will merely because he was the head of house. Her older brother had tried to convince Danae to not use her strengths and not act in the best interest of her country just merely because it messed with his plans. Even now, weeks later, he refused to admit that he had done anything wrong. That Danae was the one at fault. This was not an easy thing for the sixteen-year-old to forgive. Not when it came on the tail of nearly sixteen years of teasing. Sixteen years of stupid comments about how she was a baby and not very ladylike for taking an interest in dad’s work. Sixteen years of being pushed aside by both him and Chara. He was half the reason she became so self-conscious around others and as if that wasn’t bad enough that he had spent her entire life giving her reason after reason to hate herself, Elias then went and threw out any redeeming qualities by gambling with her nobility. A gamble which he lost. She had no reason to trust his judgment. No reason to confide in him. Seven hells, if she wasn’t forcibly chained to him through the shackles of blood relations, she might have jumped ship with her father as he was that selfish and incompetent in her eyes.
The hatred she held for him was so deep that instinctively Danae felt herself grow a bit more standoffish at the mere mention of Elias’s name and his ties with Rafail. Just hearing her brother being referenced was enough to set her on guard but she forced her prickling skin to cool a bit as she reminded herself that Sofia would not know how deep the distaste went for her brother. She would be foolish not to see that the two of them were not close, but given that most of the things that had soured Danae had occurred behind closed doors, her cousin would only know a fraction of it all. That was something she was going to have to remind herself of throughout this conversation as she could sense that Sofia had not accepted her invitation for the pleasure of confirming that the rumors were indeed true. She was a smart girl, she was likely going to ask for something in return and Danae would happily put money on the fact that it was going to have to be something to do with Elias.
Everything always had something to do with Elias, after all.
Nodding as she watched Theseus and Perseus happily play with the brother they had not seen in a few weeks, Danae was quiet as she thought over what she was going to say, not readily willing to let it slip that she knew next to nothing about what had actually happened in Aetaea. “Yes, even though it only takes one spark to light a flame, having more does make it easier.” As Danae was still learning how to work the courtly languages that her mother and sister knew so well, it was not that surprising that her statement sounded more like a confirmation that Elias was involved than just a simple musing on how likely it was that the Marikas boy (if the rumors were true, of course) had to have help. Danae mentally kicked herself for this, but given that the two of them were in the same boat as it was a pair of stupid brothers acting in their own interest rather than the ones that benefitted their families… well, she would have to trust that if Sofia looked too deeply into it, she wouldn’t blab about it to the rest of the court. That was the last thing that any of them needed after all.
Accepting that maybe she had already failed in keeping her cards somewhat hidden, Danae breathed a deep sigh and glanced at the door to make sure that it was properly closed before she spoke again. With the recent loss of their noble status, the family had been forced to downsize their staff. Even though their rightful rank had since been returned to them, that was one part of their lives that had not recovered yet. The slaves that had not been sold were ones that had proven themselves to be loyal and competent at the their jobs, so she had no real reason to believe that someone could be spying on them… but one could never truly be sure. That was precisely why Danae’s voice dropped to a whisper when she spoke next, despite the visual confirmation that the door wasn’t ajar.
“Our brothers have always been close. If these rumors are true, there’s no reason that the two of them wouldn’t have involved each other.” Danae knew that Sofia was aware of the truth in her words. The two of them practically fed off of each other’s preening, using each other to justify their awful behavior as through their eyes, whatever they were doing couldn’t have been that bad if the other was doing it too. They were two peas in the same rotten pod. Always have been. Always will be. She couldn’t speak for her cousin in this regard, but Danae personally had every reason to believe that this would be the case. Especially after their little victory during that fiasco of a festival.
That was something that Danae was sure to bring up in her next statement to Sofia, “I mean… we all saw their last stunt not too long ago. They surely thought of themselves as kings.” Danae practically sneered as her mind flashed back to how the two of them sauntered into the event with a cartful of food. The two of them were so self-righteous in a moment that should have occurred eons ago. Instead, they withheld the food and made people angry just for the dramatics of the moment. Those two were clearly a piece of work. They were practically a match made Olympus by the gods themselves. If one of them was involved in the burning of Aetaea the other one had to be as well.
In many ways, Danae had to admit that it was likely that both of them had a hand in this. The theatrics of razing a forest seemed to fit more into Rafail’s style of doing some big and shiny thing that made him feel self-important. (This also applied to Elias, but at a somewhat lesser scale in recent months, Danae had to give him credit for that as he had wised up following hiring a literal pirate to sink every ship except those that belonged to the Stravos.) However, there could have been a personal motivation behind it as well. The current baroness was supposed to at one point be Elias’s wife. It didn’t go through for whatever reason, Danae didn’t know as she had been too young at the time to understand such things, but either way she did not put it past her brother to destroy an entire forest as a final ‘fuck you’ to her. Everything but the reasoning for why this happened now when everything in Athenia was already bad enough. That was the one key bit that Danae couldn’t wrap her hed around. Maybe that was because she had only heard far fewer rumors than Sofia would have in her natural disdain for gossip, but either way she was hoping that her friend might be able to provide the insight that Danae was lacking in this situation.
Her eyes drifted away from the playful kittens to her cousin seated next to her on the plush bed, trying not to make it painfully obvious that she was eagerly awaiting for Sofia to give her thoughts on the situation or any sort of solid confirmation of what the girls both suspected to be true. This was the sort of crime that their brothers would commit. However, could they have actually done it was another matter entirely, wasn’t it?
Sofia could not help but be impressed with the way her young cousin held herself. Of course, it was not surprising that a royal girl—from House Stravos, no less—would already be learned in the ways of a blank face and an artful tongue. She herself must have done so at Danae’s age, too. But that was nearly a decade ago now, a decade of growth, and Sofia found herself wondering how she would have fared in such a situation as her cousin at that age. Somehow, she doubted that she would have done as well under the building pressure. One spark to light a flame. It was clear Danae had spent a lot of time thinking about this meeting, and about the flame in question. Sofia herself had never cared much for politics. At least, when they did not affect her life or her family. The same clearly could not be said for her cousin.
The younger girl was not perfect, though. As poised as the girl was, Sofia noticed the way her eyes darted nervously to the door, the way she seemed to tense as she spoke. She held the same fear that Sofia did. This was a dangerous game. Sofia almost breathed a sigh of relief as Danae acknowledged their brothers’ involvement with each other. The willingness to admit as much boded well for the rest of the conversation. On her way here, she had been imagining the potentially impossible task of getting a proud Stravos to acknowledge connection to any sort of wrongdoing. “I am glad to hear you say it, even if this is not a time to be glad of much of anything,” she said, offering her cousin the hint of a smile.
The older woman went quiet for a moment, thinking back to all the countless times she had seen Elias and Rafail sneak away from a crowd, any time their easy, handsome smiles might have held something more dangerous, nefarious. She did not want to think of her dear brother, her valiant—if sometimes overly so—protector, as a villain. The thought of it turned her blood cold. And yet… Elias of Stravos had poisoned Rafail slowly, seeding these thoughts and these crimes one at a time over the years. He had used Raf as his puppet. He had used Raf as Raf might use a servant, and that was unforgiveable.
“I do wonder,” she said quietly, pale green eyes lit intently on Danae’s face now, “about the nature of this rumour. They say there was a blonde man, yes. A man with a likeness to my brother.” It was Raf. They both knew he had done it in their hearts. “And yet I think my brother would have known to use a proxy, unless…” Unless he was a proxy himself. A poisoned proxy. It was Raf’s hand that lit the flame, but it was Elias’s voice in his ear all the while.
Sofia yawned delicately and leaned back into the luxurious couch. She hated this distance, this secrecy. The matter was an urgent one, and here sat two royal women with a need to clean up their brothers’ messes, stuck talking in hypotheticals with roundabout phrases. It was maddening. Sofia simply wanted her brother back.
“I am concerned,” she said at last, her eyes still fixed on Danae. “The proximity of our brothers has landed both our houses in hot water. My brother’s safety is paramount to me, as I’m sure you can imagine. I simply want to suspend any future rumours before they can take root.” It was as straightforward as she dared to speak. She wanted Raf free from Elias’s clutches, at whatever cost. Let Elias of Stravos sink alone.
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Sofia could not help but be impressed with the way her young cousin held herself. Of course, it was not surprising that a royal girl—from House Stravos, no less—would already be learned in the ways of a blank face and an artful tongue. She herself must have done so at Danae’s age, too. But that was nearly a decade ago now, a decade of growth, and Sofia found herself wondering how she would have fared in such a situation as her cousin at that age. Somehow, she doubted that she would have done as well under the building pressure. One spark to light a flame. It was clear Danae had spent a lot of time thinking about this meeting, and about the flame in question. Sofia herself had never cared much for politics. At least, when they did not affect her life or her family. The same clearly could not be said for her cousin.
The younger girl was not perfect, though. As poised as the girl was, Sofia noticed the way her eyes darted nervously to the door, the way she seemed to tense as she spoke. She held the same fear that Sofia did. This was a dangerous game. Sofia almost breathed a sigh of relief as Danae acknowledged their brothers’ involvement with each other. The willingness to admit as much boded well for the rest of the conversation. On her way here, she had been imagining the potentially impossible task of getting a proud Stravos to acknowledge connection to any sort of wrongdoing. “I am glad to hear you say it, even if this is not a time to be glad of much of anything,” she said, offering her cousin the hint of a smile.
The older woman went quiet for a moment, thinking back to all the countless times she had seen Elias and Rafail sneak away from a crowd, any time their easy, handsome smiles might have held something more dangerous, nefarious. She did not want to think of her dear brother, her valiant—if sometimes overly so—protector, as a villain. The thought of it turned her blood cold. And yet… Elias of Stravos had poisoned Rafail slowly, seeding these thoughts and these crimes one at a time over the years. He had used Raf as his puppet. He had used Raf as Raf might use a servant, and that was unforgiveable.
“I do wonder,” she said quietly, pale green eyes lit intently on Danae’s face now, “about the nature of this rumour. They say there was a blonde man, yes. A man with a likeness to my brother.” It was Raf. They both knew he had done it in their hearts. “And yet I think my brother would have known to use a proxy, unless…” Unless he was a proxy himself. A poisoned proxy. It was Raf’s hand that lit the flame, but it was Elias’s voice in his ear all the while.
Sofia yawned delicately and leaned back into the luxurious couch. She hated this distance, this secrecy. The matter was an urgent one, and here sat two royal women with a need to clean up their brothers’ messes, stuck talking in hypotheticals with roundabout phrases. It was maddening. Sofia simply wanted her brother back.
“I am concerned,” she said at last, her eyes still fixed on Danae. “The proximity of our brothers has landed both our houses in hot water. My brother’s safety is paramount to me, as I’m sure you can imagine. I simply want to suspend any future rumours before they can take root.” It was as straightforward as she dared to speak. She wanted Raf free from Elias’s clutches, at whatever cost. Let Elias of Stravos sink alone.
Sofia could not help but be impressed with the way her young cousin held herself. Of course, it was not surprising that a royal girl—from House Stravos, no less—would already be learned in the ways of a blank face and an artful tongue. She herself must have done so at Danae’s age, too. But that was nearly a decade ago now, a decade of growth, and Sofia found herself wondering how she would have fared in such a situation as her cousin at that age. Somehow, she doubted that she would have done as well under the building pressure. One spark to light a flame. It was clear Danae had spent a lot of time thinking about this meeting, and about the flame in question. Sofia herself had never cared much for politics. At least, when they did not affect her life or her family. The same clearly could not be said for her cousin.
The younger girl was not perfect, though. As poised as the girl was, Sofia noticed the way her eyes darted nervously to the door, the way she seemed to tense as she spoke. She held the same fear that Sofia did. This was a dangerous game. Sofia almost breathed a sigh of relief as Danae acknowledged their brothers’ involvement with each other. The willingness to admit as much boded well for the rest of the conversation. On her way here, she had been imagining the potentially impossible task of getting a proud Stravos to acknowledge connection to any sort of wrongdoing. “I am glad to hear you say it, even if this is not a time to be glad of much of anything,” she said, offering her cousin the hint of a smile.
The older woman went quiet for a moment, thinking back to all the countless times she had seen Elias and Rafail sneak away from a crowd, any time their easy, handsome smiles might have held something more dangerous, nefarious. She did not want to think of her dear brother, her valiant—if sometimes overly so—protector, as a villain. The thought of it turned her blood cold. And yet… Elias of Stravos had poisoned Rafail slowly, seeding these thoughts and these crimes one at a time over the years. He had used Raf as his puppet. He had used Raf as Raf might use a servant, and that was unforgiveable.
“I do wonder,” she said quietly, pale green eyes lit intently on Danae’s face now, “about the nature of this rumour. They say there was a blonde man, yes. A man with a likeness to my brother.” It was Raf. They both knew he had done it in their hearts. “And yet I think my brother would have known to use a proxy, unless…” Unless he was a proxy himself. A poisoned proxy. It was Raf’s hand that lit the flame, but it was Elias’s voice in his ear all the while.
Sofia yawned delicately and leaned back into the luxurious couch. She hated this distance, this secrecy. The matter was an urgent one, and here sat two royal women with a need to clean up their brothers’ messes, stuck talking in hypotheticals with roundabout phrases. It was maddening. Sofia simply wanted her brother back.
“I am concerned,” she said at last, her eyes still fixed on Danae. “The proximity of our brothers has landed both our houses in hot water. My brother’s safety is paramount to me, as I’m sure you can imagine. I simply want to suspend any future rumours before they can take root.” It was as straightforward as she dared to speak. She wanted Raf free from Elias’s clutches, at whatever cost. Let Elias of Stravos sink alone.
“Are you certain of that though?” Danae abruptly asked when Sofia mentioned that Rafail would likely only act via proxy. That was something that she doubted that the Marikas boy would even consider as he loved making a show of everything he did. Raf would want to be in the thick of things and the both of them knew this to be true. “But then again there are lots of blonde men in Athenia…” She absentmindedly mutterred, trying to smoothe over the slight awkwardness that came with immediately assuming that Sofia’s statement to be false.
Though could anyone really blame her for thinking such a thing? The Rafail that Danny knew and the Rafail that Sofia knew were two completely incompatible men that somehow also managed to share the same body. There was just no other way to describe the stark the differences that the two girls shared in regards to one boy. Sofia knew him as her big brother -- a boy that could be hopelessly dumb sometimes, but still had a big heart beneath it all. Danae… well she thought he was a disgusting pig on his best days. The Marikas man had been nothing short of vile to her over the past sixteen years, insulting her nearly to the point of tears on the senate steps just because she didn’t hold the same values as Chara. He had never held back his opinion on girls like Danae who thought that there were more important things in life than fawning over men like him. Truly, Danae was understating how awful he had been to her over the years. In many ways Sofia’s brother was just as terrible as her own brother -- if not worse as Raf was not a member of her family like Elias.
All of these memories came flooding back to Danae as she stood there, slowly processing what Sofia was asking her to do. Clearly, she didn’t know some of the vile things her brother had spat at the sixteen-year-old -- which in all fairness, she had said some equally terrible things to him. If she did know of how strained things could be between the two Athenians, she never would have approached Danae. Sofia would have gone to Chara, Circenia, or seven hells, to Elias himself before she ever approached the youngest of the Stravos’s brood. After all, what stake did she have in Rafail not getting caught up in her own brother’s crimes? What did she have to lose or gain by letting her brother fail on his own as he did so frequently? She was not his friend. She did not even enjoy his company. Danae had no reason to care if he fell in his attempt to be Elias’s Icarus.
No reason beyond Sofia at least.
She might not have any love in her heart for Rafail, but she did at the very least like Sofia. Granted, the two girls barely knew each other due in part to the age difference between them. However, what the Stravos did know of the woman before her was fairly positive in the fact that she wasn’t a whole lot like Chara and Elias. That alone was a pretty good indicator of a person’s character as far as Danae was concerned. She might not have held out much hope for anything warm between the two of them as friendships did not tend to pan out for the youngest Stravos, but was she prepared to ruin that chance on account that Danae already knew that she could never fulfill what Sofia was asking of her. There was nothing that the youngest Stravos could do in deterring Rafail from aiding Elias in his schemes. She was not liked enough by her brother to whisper in his ear and if she tried to play nice, she would immediately be found out as a liar. After all, her brother might be the biggest idiot this side of the river Styx, but he wasn’t much of a fool. He would know that any attempts of her to be kind were bound to be false and only undertaken for some sort of gain. It didn’t need to be stated that her brother would never take kindly to such attempts. At least not from the sister who had so openly scorned him at every turn.
Danae was a sensible girl. She should just tell Sofia the truth of the matter. The Marikas girl would have far better luck in pulling her brother off of his own course than having Danae reason with Elias. It would surely save them the grief of pretending that there was something that the Stravos girl could do. Yet… Danae couldn’t find the words to confess as much. There was just something in Sofia’s eyes that prevented her from sputtering out the truth. An odd sort of desperation that Danae unfortunately knew too well. Sofia was only getting her first taste of how a brother could forever ruin a family’s reputation and she was scared. Danae could practically see it in her cousin’s gaze. As stone-hearted as her logic-side could be, Danae knew that this side had only been hardened through the trials of being through what Sofia was experiencing and the harsh reality that came with it. This might have been something that Danae did not like remembering, but it had broken her. Absolutely shattered her into so many little pieces that Danae had quite literally refused to speak for three weeks. As much as Danae wanted to follow the logic that guided her heart, she just couldn’t let her cousin go down the same path.
How could she, in good conscience, allow another to suffer like she had.
That was why she nodded in understanding when Sofia spoke of wanting to dispel future rumors before they begun. “I think I understand what you mean.” She muttered quietly, still thinking over how to respond in a way that could give Sofia hope without injecting her signature fatalism that made Danae who she was at the end of the day. “If we are thinking of the same solution, there is a major hurdle that we must cross. One that might be utterly insurmountable by the likes of Achilleas and Herakles.” Her word choice made her statements far more grave than they ever needed to be given the situation. However, they were still true. Danae didn’t think they even stood a fraction of a chance because their brothers had been best friends since before Danae was born. It was going to be impossible to undo that. The Stravos girl was certain that this was going to be the case.
“Unless, of course… somehow we drove them apart.” Danae’s words were so soft in volume that it was almost as if she had said nothing at all. It was a crazy thought thinking that they could even start to sever the friendship that was between the two men. However, if Sofia was serious about helping her brother this was the most feasible path into doing so, but it required going down a path that the Marikas siblings were unlikely to recover from. That was if she agreed to it in the first place. There were certain lines that were never to be crossed and this might very well be one of them. Her eyes glanced over to her cousin, waiting to see what Sofia would think about such an idea. Danae knew that she was likely to be shot down just due to how crazy it was, but she would need to hear it from Sofia herself.
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“Are you certain of that though?” Danae abruptly asked when Sofia mentioned that Rafail would likely only act via proxy. That was something that she doubted that the Marikas boy would even consider as he loved making a show of everything he did. Raf would want to be in the thick of things and the both of them knew this to be true. “But then again there are lots of blonde men in Athenia…” She absentmindedly mutterred, trying to smoothe over the slight awkwardness that came with immediately assuming that Sofia’s statement to be false.
Though could anyone really blame her for thinking such a thing? The Rafail that Danny knew and the Rafail that Sofia knew were two completely incompatible men that somehow also managed to share the same body. There was just no other way to describe the stark the differences that the two girls shared in regards to one boy. Sofia knew him as her big brother -- a boy that could be hopelessly dumb sometimes, but still had a big heart beneath it all. Danae… well she thought he was a disgusting pig on his best days. The Marikas man had been nothing short of vile to her over the past sixteen years, insulting her nearly to the point of tears on the senate steps just because she didn’t hold the same values as Chara. He had never held back his opinion on girls like Danae who thought that there were more important things in life than fawning over men like him. Truly, Danae was understating how awful he had been to her over the years. In many ways Sofia’s brother was just as terrible as her own brother -- if not worse as Raf was not a member of her family like Elias.
All of these memories came flooding back to Danae as she stood there, slowly processing what Sofia was asking her to do. Clearly, she didn’t know some of the vile things her brother had spat at the sixteen-year-old -- which in all fairness, she had said some equally terrible things to him. If she did know of how strained things could be between the two Athenians, she never would have approached Danae. Sofia would have gone to Chara, Circenia, or seven hells, to Elias himself before she ever approached the youngest of the Stravos’s brood. After all, what stake did she have in Rafail not getting caught up in her own brother’s crimes? What did she have to lose or gain by letting her brother fail on his own as he did so frequently? She was not his friend. She did not even enjoy his company. Danae had no reason to care if he fell in his attempt to be Elias’s Icarus.
No reason beyond Sofia at least.
She might not have any love in her heart for Rafail, but she did at the very least like Sofia. Granted, the two girls barely knew each other due in part to the age difference between them. However, what the Stravos did know of the woman before her was fairly positive in the fact that she wasn’t a whole lot like Chara and Elias. That alone was a pretty good indicator of a person’s character as far as Danae was concerned. She might not have held out much hope for anything warm between the two of them as friendships did not tend to pan out for the youngest Stravos, but was she prepared to ruin that chance on account that Danae already knew that she could never fulfill what Sofia was asking of her. There was nothing that the youngest Stravos could do in deterring Rafail from aiding Elias in his schemes. She was not liked enough by her brother to whisper in his ear and if she tried to play nice, she would immediately be found out as a liar. After all, her brother might be the biggest idiot this side of the river Styx, but he wasn’t much of a fool. He would know that any attempts of her to be kind were bound to be false and only undertaken for some sort of gain. It didn’t need to be stated that her brother would never take kindly to such attempts. At least not from the sister who had so openly scorned him at every turn.
Danae was a sensible girl. She should just tell Sofia the truth of the matter. The Marikas girl would have far better luck in pulling her brother off of his own course than having Danae reason with Elias. It would surely save them the grief of pretending that there was something that the Stravos girl could do. Yet… Danae couldn’t find the words to confess as much. There was just something in Sofia’s eyes that prevented her from sputtering out the truth. An odd sort of desperation that Danae unfortunately knew too well. Sofia was only getting her first taste of how a brother could forever ruin a family’s reputation and she was scared. Danae could practically see it in her cousin’s gaze. As stone-hearted as her logic-side could be, Danae knew that this side had only been hardened through the trials of being through what Sofia was experiencing and the harsh reality that came with it. This might have been something that Danae did not like remembering, but it had broken her. Absolutely shattered her into so many little pieces that Danae had quite literally refused to speak for three weeks. As much as Danae wanted to follow the logic that guided her heart, she just couldn’t let her cousin go down the same path.
How could she, in good conscience, allow another to suffer like she had.
That was why she nodded in understanding when Sofia spoke of wanting to dispel future rumors before they begun. “I think I understand what you mean.” She muttered quietly, still thinking over how to respond in a way that could give Sofia hope without injecting her signature fatalism that made Danae who she was at the end of the day. “If we are thinking of the same solution, there is a major hurdle that we must cross. One that might be utterly insurmountable by the likes of Achilleas and Herakles.” Her word choice made her statements far more grave than they ever needed to be given the situation. However, they were still true. Danae didn’t think they even stood a fraction of a chance because their brothers had been best friends since before Danae was born. It was going to be impossible to undo that. The Stravos girl was certain that this was going to be the case.
“Unless, of course… somehow we drove them apart.” Danae’s words were so soft in volume that it was almost as if she had said nothing at all. It was a crazy thought thinking that they could even start to sever the friendship that was between the two men. However, if Sofia was serious about helping her brother this was the most feasible path into doing so, but it required going down a path that the Marikas siblings were unlikely to recover from. That was if she agreed to it in the first place. There were certain lines that were never to be crossed and this might very well be one of them. Her eyes glanced over to her cousin, waiting to see what Sofia would think about such an idea. Danae knew that she was likely to be shot down just due to how crazy it was, but she would need to hear it from Sofia herself.
“Are you certain of that though?” Danae abruptly asked when Sofia mentioned that Rafail would likely only act via proxy. That was something that she doubted that the Marikas boy would even consider as he loved making a show of everything he did. Raf would want to be in the thick of things and the both of them knew this to be true. “But then again there are lots of blonde men in Athenia…” She absentmindedly mutterred, trying to smoothe over the slight awkwardness that came with immediately assuming that Sofia’s statement to be false.
Though could anyone really blame her for thinking such a thing? The Rafail that Danny knew and the Rafail that Sofia knew were two completely incompatible men that somehow also managed to share the same body. There was just no other way to describe the stark the differences that the two girls shared in regards to one boy. Sofia knew him as her big brother -- a boy that could be hopelessly dumb sometimes, but still had a big heart beneath it all. Danae… well she thought he was a disgusting pig on his best days. The Marikas man had been nothing short of vile to her over the past sixteen years, insulting her nearly to the point of tears on the senate steps just because she didn’t hold the same values as Chara. He had never held back his opinion on girls like Danae who thought that there were more important things in life than fawning over men like him. Truly, Danae was understating how awful he had been to her over the years. In many ways Sofia’s brother was just as terrible as her own brother -- if not worse as Raf was not a member of her family like Elias.
All of these memories came flooding back to Danae as she stood there, slowly processing what Sofia was asking her to do. Clearly, she didn’t know some of the vile things her brother had spat at the sixteen-year-old -- which in all fairness, she had said some equally terrible things to him. If she did know of how strained things could be between the two Athenians, she never would have approached Danae. Sofia would have gone to Chara, Circenia, or seven hells, to Elias himself before she ever approached the youngest of the Stravos’s brood. After all, what stake did she have in Rafail not getting caught up in her own brother’s crimes? What did she have to lose or gain by letting her brother fail on his own as he did so frequently? She was not his friend. She did not even enjoy his company. Danae had no reason to care if he fell in his attempt to be Elias’s Icarus.
No reason beyond Sofia at least.
She might not have any love in her heart for Rafail, but she did at the very least like Sofia. Granted, the two girls barely knew each other due in part to the age difference between them. However, what the Stravos did know of the woman before her was fairly positive in the fact that she wasn’t a whole lot like Chara and Elias. That alone was a pretty good indicator of a person’s character as far as Danae was concerned. She might not have held out much hope for anything warm between the two of them as friendships did not tend to pan out for the youngest Stravos, but was she prepared to ruin that chance on account that Danae already knew that she could never fulfill what Sofia was asking of her. There was nothing that the youngest Stravos could do in deterring Rafail from aiding Elias in his schemes. She was not liked enough by her brother to whisper in his ear and if she tried to play nice, she would immediately be found out as a liar. After all, her brother might be the biggest idiot this side of the river Styx, but he wasn’t much of a fool. He would know that any attempts of her to be kind were bound to be false and only undertaken for some sort of gain. It didn’t need to be stated that her brother would never take kindly to such attempts. At least not from the sister who had so openly scorned him at every turn.
Danae was a sensible girl. She should just tell Sofia the truth of the matter. The Marikas girl would have far better luck in pulling her brother off of his own course than having Danae reason with Elias. It would surely save them the grief of pretending that there was something that the Stravos girl could do. Yet… Danae couldn’t find the words to confess as much. There was just something in Sofia’s eyes that prevented her from sputtering out the truth. An odd sort of desperation that Danae unfortunately knew too well. Sofia was only getting her first taste of how a brother could forever ruin a family’s reputation and she was scared. Danae could practically see it in her cousin’s gaze. As stone-hearted as her logic-side could be, Danae knew that this side had only been hardened through the trials of being through what Sofia was experiencing and the harsh reality that came with it. This might have been something that Danae did not like remembering, but it had broken her. Absolutely shattered her into so many little pieces that Danae had quite literally refused to speak for three weeks. As much as Danae wanted to follow the logic that guided her heart, she just couldn’t let her cousin go down the same path.
How could she, in good conscience, allow another to suffer like she had.
That was why she nodded in understanding when Sofia spoke of wanting to dispel future rumors before they begun. “I think I understand what you mean.” She muttered quietly, still thinking over how to respond in a way that could give Sofia hope without injecting her signature fatalism that made Danae who she was at the end of the day. “If we are thinking of the same solution, there is a major hurdle that we must cross. One that might be utterly insurmountable by the likes of Achilleas and Herakles.” Her word choice made her statements far more grave than they ever needed to be given the situation. However, they were still true. Danae didn’t think they even stood a fraction of a chance because their brothers had been best friends since before Danae was born. It was going to be impossible to undo that. The Stravos girl was certain that this was going to be the case.
“Unless, of course… somehow we drove them apart.” Danae’s words were so soft in volume that it was almost as if she had said nothing at all. It was a crazy thought thinking that they could even start to sever the friendship that was between the two men. However, if Sofia was serious about helping her brother this was the most feasible path into doing so, but it required going down a path that the Marikas siblings were unlikely to recover from. That was if she agreed to it in the first place. There were certain lines that were never to be crossed and this might very well be one of them. Her eyes glanced over to her cousin, waiting to see what Sofia would think about such an idea. Danae knew that she was likely to be shot down just due to how crazy it was, but she would need to hear it from Sofia herself.
