Damocles might have thought that he had the upper hand when he came sauntering into Timaeus’s lodgings, but he had truly forgotten the character of the man that he was dealing with. Timaeus was the sort of man who bit before he barked and did not take the insult lightly. After all, in his home province of Eubocris, he shared the same ruthless reputation that Damocles sported -- the only main difference was that the Baron actually had the power to follow through when he brought down his iron fist. He also had the judgment to know when his anger would be out of line and could force it to cool when he was around those who deserved his respect by the manner of military rank, noble title, or simply good moral character. He could be mean and ruthless, but it was never unwarranted. Never brought about for no reason. Timaeus was not cruel just for the sake of being cruel.

The same could not be said for his unwelcome visitor.

When the Captain from the Drakos provinces decided to burst into the baron’s dwelling for the brief period they were in Taengea, he seemed to think that it was acceptable to not immediately apologize for his intrusion. That was what any man who had an ounce of self-respect or awareness of Timaeus’s rank would have done if they had thought that their business was urgent enough to not even announce themselves first. At the very least they would have conveyed whatever news they brought as soon as they walked in. Instead, Damocles seemed to think that it was appropriate to insult the man upon whom he was intruding.

Timaeus’s expression hardened as he regarded the man before him. A man so brazen he once nearly killed two Taengean princes. A man so callous that Timaeus once had ample reason to suspect him of murder. A man who thought himself so self-important that he had the right to dismiss the military plans that the entirety of Colchian leadership had agreed to. A man who was so self-righteous that he thought he had the grounds to come into Timaeus’s own home and insult him; twice. As far as the Baron was concerned there was no other being in the whole of the Greek isles who was more disrespectful and more self-interested in their own so-called glorious image than Sir Damocles.

Timaeus was not going to cater to such flagrant behavior today.

Before the Captain had decided to intrude, Timaeus had been busy with personal matters. That much was more than clear by the stacks of letters piled high on his desk, all needing to be completed and sent before the sun rose the next day. There were letters of advice to his cousin leading Eubocris in his stead. Notes to his mother who would need comfort as both of her sons went to war. However, the pile that was the largest by a considerable margin was all addressed to the paramour he had only recently found in Colchis; Nana of Leventi. All throughout the long ship journey to Taengea, Timaeus had scribbled out note after note, knowing that it would likely reassure her during the difficult months he would be unable to communicate with her due to the distance between Greece and Egypt. Especially as Timaeus knew that Nana was not prepared for such a harsh separation as the others in his life. His father had been a soldier before he had been a Baron and his campaigns elsewhere had been so long that Timaeus actually had memories of when he had first met the man who had sired him when he finally returned home. His mother, even with her addled mind could remember how difficult it was to reach loved ones, but Nana was not his mother. She had no brothers who gone off to join war efforts and no cousins who had done it either. Timaeus would be the first and he knew it was going to be difficult to bear through especially since the flames of their romance had only just been set alight. If there was anything that he could do to ease that uncertainty, that loneliness that came with having a loved one fighting in a war across the sea, then he would do it. Happily. He would do anything for the girl who had ensnared his heart over the course of a few brief weeks.

With such a short timeframe to complete these missives and no other taxing duties to complete due to his advisory role to Commander Stephanos, this was the task that Timaeus was going to dedicate the rest of his hours in Taengea to. There was no point going out and getting drunk or finding some whore to bed when he was not going to get another chance to complete these important letters. However, he was clearly going to lose precious time to handle these matters to deal with whatever shit Damocles was dragging to his doorstep. The Captain’s arrival was so unexpected that there was a now a streak of ink across the scroll he had been scribbling on. A mistake that had come with turning too quickly to see who had disturbed him. This letter would now have to be rewritten as most of it was illegible. If Timaeus wasn’t already irked enough, the promise that he would have to spend even more of his precious time recopying a letter that could have been spent on another one was enough to wipe any sort of kindness from the man.

Not that there was really any, to begin with for Damocles. At least, not after the various other stunts that Damocles had pulled in the past. The way he was comporting himself now certainly didn’t help. Had this been Silanos or some nobody who had interrupted his time, Timaeus would have stood up from his chair and slapped the fool for daring to waste his time with comments about a lack of decor and some sort of smell that seemed to be coming from Damocles himself as Timaeus had not smelled anything before the Captain came in with his steaming piles of bullshit time wasters. However, Timaeus could clearly see that Damocles was trying to get some sort of rise out of him for whatever reason that only the Captain knew. It wasn’t some sort of genius observation either. No one else would so flagrantly be so disrespectful without wishing to make the man in question angry. Why? Again Timaeus hadn’t the faintest clue. Not that he really cared anyway. He just wanted Damocles to go bother someone else, anyone really. Just as long as he got the fuck out of his temporary home away from home.

However, in his attempt to get a rise out of Timaeus, this was where Damocles made a rather fatal mistake. For reasons that the retired captain could only hope to fathom, the active Captain might like to think that he was on some sort of equal footing with Timaeus. (If he didn’t stupidly think that he was somehow above him, which Tim would not put past Damocles.) The simple truth of the matter was that he was not. For starters, the men held the same military rank. Timaeus might have retired in favor of Maleos, but it was an honorable retirement. One that was only undertaken on account of his duty to both Eubocris and Colchis. The only discharge that was more honorable was being inured by the enemy. So, there they would equal. His current role working with Stephanos also put him in a place above the Captain as Timaeus only had to answer to the commanders and generals. Damocles could not order him about, but if Timaeus was on any sort of business on behalf of Stephanos, Damocles would be required to listen. That alone did not even touch the noble rank that Timaeus held that put him far above the Captain. The Valaoritis was a Baron who worked directly with the Kotas family and as far as Damocles knew this family was the one that was favored above all the others in Colchis as his brother’s crimes had not come to light. The mere fact that Timaeus had a last name and Damocles did not, should have commanded respect from the Captain. This was something that the other man should have known too as it was common knowledge that insulting the nobility could result in a hefty fine and time spent in the flyaki; especially in the militaristic nation that was Colchis. This was something that Damocles knew and yet flagrantly disregarded.

Timaeus was not going to give him the same courtesy.

There was no point arguing with a man that was as clearly daft as Damocles to forget the backbone of their society. Timaeus was also not going to ignore the disrespect that was shown to him by honoring this man with a conversation. Instead, Timaeus remained silent as he waited for Damocles to finish his diatribe. His face was blank, showing no hint of the anger that was bubbling beneath the surface. After all, what with the Baron was about to do, it would not look good if he appeared in the chambers of another irate and frothing at the mouth like he would have liked to in order to put Damocles back into his place and remind him that you never address members of the nobility in this sort of manner. Timaeus could see that he was not going to impart the lesson of respect to the Captain, but that didn’t mean that others couldn’t. Especially when Timaeus was going straight to another man that Damocles had openly disrespected at the same war meeting the Drakos man had lost all of his credibility at. The very same man that Timaeus could not believe he was going to bring a personal problem too, but given that he held ranks in both nobility and military matters that were far above Damocles, there was no way that the Captain could show even an ounce of disrespect in his presence. Not even as the retired captain summoned men who were strong enough to physically detain Damocles in order to bring him to the flyaki. At least, he wouldn’t if he wanted to spend tomorrow morning on a ship instead of in a jail cell like he was clearly itching to do with the way he was treating Timaeus.

He was going to have to get Stephanos.

Timaeus internally balked at the idea as the men had not been exactly best friends during the two weeks at sea, but Stephanos was an honorable man who had been disrespected by Damocles when the older man had rejected his appointment as commander and tried to provide his own -- even though he was in no position to do so. Timaeus’s personal issues with the man aside, he was fairly certain that Stephanos would give Damocles the tongue lashing the fool needed as Tim found men that were stronger than the Captain. Timaeus would somehow make it up to the Commander later.

That was the plan at least as once Damocles had run out of steam, the Baron did not offer any sort of retort, but instead merely rose from his seat and took his leave from the room. He didn’t even look in Damo’s direction as he exited the tent and began to briskly walk to the ship that Steph was currently hiding on as he was under strict orders from Prince Vangelis to not set foot on Taengean soil. Everyone who had been at the war meeting knew that this was where the commander would be, so Damo was likely going to be able to put two and two together to see what Timaeus was doing. However, he might not have been able to tell that the insulted Baron was going to go as far as demanding that Damocles be arrested for his crimes. As far as Damocles would be able to guess was that Tim was just merely going to complain, but the time for complaining when it came to this man who did not think before he spoke was long past. It had come and gone when Damocles thought that he was so self-important that he could walk into the Baron’s tent as if it was his own home. Seven Hades, it had come and gone when Damocles had been disrespectful to Timaeus in his actual home back in Colchis. This was a pattern between him and Damocles and it was one that Timaeus was not going to stand for. It ended here and now.

Damocles only had a few moments to pull Timaeus off of this path that would surely end in the older man’s dismissal from the rank of captain and end his journey here in Taengea. To think, the Colchian commoner had come so far in life, only to end it all because of a personal grudge that he could not keep in check. If Damocles was going to avoid the consequences of his actions, he was going to have to move quickly.

After all, once Timaeus was in earshot of Stephanos, it would all be over.

In truth, he didn’t know what to think of the accusations that Damocles was leveling against the little brother Timaeus had not spoken with in over a month. It was a difficult thing to process, trying to sort out the crimes that Silanos had apparently committed amid the pointed barbs that had encouraged Timaeus to rise from his seat in the first place. The Captain across from him had a certain knack for that, didn’t he? Taking every opportunity he could to provoke the Baron into verbal sparring that undoubtedly stemmed from the resentment brought on by the other times these men had crossed paths. From the open accusations of Damocles committing murder to the defense of Stephanos at the war meeting, there was plenty of occasions that Damocles could draw upon for inspiration of wanting to provoke Timaeus.

The man might think that he was slick in trying to force Tim’s anger to the surface so that he might finally have something to throwback in the Baron’s face after years of Timaeus clawing his way to the superior position -- usually from the threat of his noble blood and the power it inherently held and Damocles openly coveted. However, Timaeus had always been smart enough to never rise to Damocles’s bait. Being cursed with two brothers that had been just as rowdy as he had taught him that responding with anger never ended well. Timaeus could only suppose that it had been this hard-learned lesson brought down on the Baron by his now unwell mother that had kept these two men toeing the line for all the years they had been at each other’s throats. Neither man had any true reason to test the strength of their powerful friends in front of a court of their peers as their conflict would be aired out for all to see -- or at least they had not until today. Damocles had crossed his line by violating the privacy Timaeus held with this space by inviting himself into this sanctum and apologized for his slight by offering the Baron open insults. This was the sort of action that would have seen Damocles join the quarries for several years if this had happened within the boundaries of Eubocris -- regardless of military rank.

However, this was not the Gorge.

This was an entirely new battlefield.

Timaeus had been careful enough over the years to give Damocles no solid ammunition against him. Disgruntled incidents did not make into political weapons once the dust had been cleared and the two men had parted ways. This though? If what Damocles was saying was true, it might be impossible to keep the fragile stalemate that forced both men to remain in line. His little brother didn’t know the meaning of restraint nor did he understand that his actions held consequences that could affect more than just himself. Timaeus did not care about his conflict with Damocles enough to warn Silanos of the dangers of interacting with this man -- foolishly thinking that his brother’s steadfast refusal to take up arms would protect him from crossing paths with the vile demon before him. Now the Valaoritis family was paying the price for such an error. If these accusations held even just a shred of truth, Damocles would have the upper hand for the first time.

Both of them knew this. That stupid, shit-eating grin on Damocles’s face made that clear enough as Timaeus allowed the claims to sink in. There was no telling what Damocles could do with such accusations; particularly the claim that Silanos had been impersonating Timaeus. This was undoubtedly the most serious charge he had levied against the boy -- one that held terrible consequences if such information fell into the wrong hands. Under normal circumstances, such a rumor could surely cause a scandal that might bring shame upon the Valaoritis. However, it could be handled privately if brought to the attention of his vassal house. As the person who was the victim of this crime, Timaeus could elect to deal with this charge privately, only needing to keep the Kotas informed how this sort of crime was being handled. Though, that wasn’t an option during these trying hours.

Silanos was on thin ice with the Kotas family. Damocles would never know as both families had taken every precaution to keep such matters out of the public eye, but the boy had been directly threatened by two senior members of the royal family. The only thing that saved him was the long lineage he had been born into and the noticeable lack of trueborn heirs to follow Timaeus should he join his father and brother in the realm of Hades. The Valaortis family was too valuable to the Kotas to gamble away on behalf of exacting justice against one boy. However, if such claims of his previous recklessness began to circulate, would this simple truth still stand? Or would it be the straw that broke the Crown Prince’s back? Could this be the whisper that brought about the end of his little brother?

This was Timaeus’s main concern as Damocles continued his long-winded explanation of the events that had transpired that afternoon. This was where the glimpse of fear that had momentarily crossed his face, causing his breath to quicken as the Captain’s words sunk in, had stemmed from. Not from the outrage that came with his brother using his name to secure a loan he had no intention of repaying. Timaeus would certainly have to deal with these angry emotions once Damocles was out of sight -- but at the moment all Timaeus could consider how easily these claims could get his brother killed. The man across from him did not know it, but such things could be a legitimate danger to his little brother’s life.

Timaeus could not hold it against Damocles for not being aware of such things and there wasn’t a chance in hell the Baron was going to change that today. However, that did nothing to abate the frustration that was bubbling under Tim’s skin at the flippant way Damocles recounted his tale to the Baron who had foolishly thought that his brief time in Taengea would be his last chance to breathe easy before the war was upon him. How dare Damocles stand there and so flippantly act as if the not-so-subtle threats he was making would not result in great harm if they left in this tent. As if this was some sort of game. Timaeus balled his fist as he looked away from Damocles, fighting back the urge to forcefully remove that shit-eating grin off of the face of the military captain who fancied himself an autocrat. He was playing a dangerous game, gambling with the life of Silanos. Timaeus might not see eye to eye with his brother, but the boy was his family. If these claims brought harm to Silanos, Damocles would think the flames of Tartarus would be merciful in comparison to the fury Timaeus would rain down upon him.

“Get out.” Timaeus finally muttered, having finally reached the boiling point in his anger that he could not bear to see the smug look in Damocles’s eyes any longer. His voice may not have been all that loud, barely rising above the steady beating of the harsh ocean winds, whipping at the corners of the cloth tent Timaeus called home while on the war campaign. However, it carried just as much power as any grand speech delivered by King Tython -- leaving no room for the man to mistake how close Timaeus truly was to invoking the privileges he held as a nobleman and just how deep in the shitter Damocles would be if he tried to throw his weight around for a single second longer. If this man really cared about the money he was seeking, he would wisely shut his mouth and scurry off like a meek little mouse when they were in the lion’s den.

However, it was clear to the Baron that the Captain was too high on his own self-worth that the mere implied threat was not enough to get Damocles to back off without the coin being pressed into his hands. Timaeus recognized that this would be the simplest solution to these claims, fish out the coins and send Damocles on his way. However, Timaeus’s own pride was too large for that. He was not going to allow himself to become the extended coin purse of this man by blinding trusting whatever accusations he leveled against Silanos -- no matter how accurate they seemed to be knowing the boy’s inability to act in a responsible, self-aware manner.

This was made clear in the next words Timaeus managed to spit out at the Captain before him. “You are bringing serious accusations against a member of my own family to my attention. I must determine the validity of these claims before I can offer restitution -- as is proper.” The words felt like acid in his mouth, burning him with every syllable, but Timaeus knew that he had to do this to every legal letter. Damocles could be an absolute fool when it came to comporting himself with the members of the social class above him -- but he was far from ignorant when it came to the law. Timaeus had the right to validate such claims before moving forward and any demands for repayment before Timaeus ould speak to Silanos would work against Damocles when this conflict would inevitably be raised to a higher system -- whether that be a commander, prince, or senator. Damocles might be eager for his chance to get this revenge, but if he didn’t want this spitting back in his face if his words were true, he would allow Tim to do what needed to be done.

“Leave the evidence of your claims here. They will be returned to you before we sail in the morning, along with your answer.” Timaeus started to trail off, the powerful tone of his voice fading into silence as his eyes level with the Captain, showing off the angry fire that was burning bright within them. It was quite plain to see without the Baron needing to utter a word that if the Captain cared about his money or his chances of returning home to Colchis outside of the confines of the brig, he was not to breathe a word about this to anyone. It would not be in Damocles’s best interests to start rumors about these claims as Timaeus would rightly assume such gossip would come from him. Damocles was already thin ice and the threat he posed to Silanos was the only thing keeping him from being arrested for the disrespect he had shown thus far. If the Captain had any interest in keeping Timaeus from gaining the upper hand again, he would not give Tim a reason to go to Stephanos with such matters. If he did... Well, he would be deserving of the hellstorm that Timaeus would unleash upon him as this was not a game for the Baron. No amount of military honors would keep Damocles safe from Tim if he decided to test his odds.

They might be at a weak point, at this moment, but the Valaoritis was not a family to be trifled with lightly. Damocles might fancy himself a king among his men, but that would do nothing to protect him from the powers of noble blood.

Captains, after all, could very easily be replaced. Especially the ones who were keen to place their hands into the burning flames, thinking themselves too large to feel the pain of the flames licking against their skin. Rest assured, if Damocles brought any harm to Silanos or the rest of his family in his quest for a few gold coins; Timaeus would ensure that his lackeys would not even have a pile of ashes to remember the fool once he got his hands on him.

Damocles had better pray that his accusations did not contain a single falsehood as this was a slight that would never be forgiven. There would be consequences for this. Though if such a burden would be born by a Valaoritis or a commoner was yet to be seen as Timaeus curtly dismissed Damocles; making it clear that this was not a place he would wish to loiter.

All that was left was to do was to find Silanos. Only then would the Baron be able to get to the truth of this matter… no matter what the consequences of this might be…