In the days following the death of Takis of Argyris, Iris found herself feeling... hollow. Her stepdaughter had been sent to stay with her grandparents. Her husband was busy with the goings on at the Palati. And she had sent her own cousins and her aunt back to Aetaea to grieve properly and pay proper tribute to Takis in their ancestral home. Not to mention the looming... frustration at the Queen having just... disappeared from under everyone's nose...



Iris was in poor spirits, and Gaios' arrival to her study on this particular morning did not seem to help matters in the slightest. Because it was time for Iris to read her father's will. Something she had been putting off for the last few days, but something that could not be ignored any longer. Iris had already taken the title of baroness and she had already continued her duties alongside her steward, but this was the one thing she had been dreading since her father's passing. She knew much of what would already be listed in the will, but reading it... it made everything so final.



Too final.



Because for all of her preparation. All of her knowledge that her father would, one day, succumb to his sickness... Iris hadn't been ready for him to leave her behind. Despite his illness, she had always seen Takis as infallible. Unmovable. Sturdy and strong despite his illness. Because he had lived so long in the face of such a diagnosis that would take him from his family early in his lifetime. Earlier than should have been warranted.



Lifting her gaze from the paperwork in front of her, Iris found herself shifting back in her seat with weariness in her gaze. "Gaios-" she started, only cutting herself off when he shook his head at her.



"He made me promise that you would read it no less than a week after he passed," Gaios responded, setting the roll of papyrus in front of her and then sliding it in her direction. "I'm here to make sure that you read it in its entirety. Right here. Right now..." there was a pause, "My lady."



Staring blankly at the paper, Iris almost couldn't bring herself to reach for it. But she did, keeping her gaze off of her steward and on the task at hand. As soon as she got this over with, then she could return to her duties and silently nurse her broken heart. Alone. As she had wanted in the days since the somber funeral.



It was with shaking hands that Iris unrolled the papyrus, starting from the top of the page and working her way down through all of the official wording. This was Gaios' handwriting. No doubt Takis had long had him write this document time and time again, updating it with each major change to their finances or family tree. Everything written inside was mostly standard. If anything, Iris was happy for that fact. Clear cut and without surprises... until the final line of the will.



Iris sat up in her chair, reading the line over and over and over again as if she might have been going crazy. Green eyes flicked up to stare at Gaios and then back down at the papyrus, her breath catching sharply in her throat. This was... wholly unexpected.



"Am I reading this correctly, Gaios?" Iris questioned with a slight bite to her voice, watching him once more.



The steward only lifted a blonde eyebrow at her. "My lady, I don't know what it is you're reading," Gaios lied, giving his head a slight shake, his gaze conveying a coyness that made her somewhat irritable in the moment.



"I, Takis of Argyris," Iris started to read the line out loud, staring hard at the paper, "do bequeath a small sum of one thousand drachmae to my second born daughter, Dianthe of Aetaea, for the keeping of her comfort and livelihood in the coming years." She slammed the papyrus down on the table and stared at her steward, "I have a sister," was all she said, reading the line once more.



Dianthe. She knew Dianthe. She knew her to be one of the ladies in waiting to Persephone. They had met in short intervals here and there, but little had been exchanged between them. It suddenly set Iris feeling sick to her stomach. Her father had had a second child that he had told no one about. No one but Gaios, as far as she knew. A child who had found a high ranking position within the Palati... which also must have been her father's doing.



"Call on Dianthe," Iris said calmly, unable to keep her gaze off of her father's will. "I want her to meet me tomorrow at lunch," her hand was waving the man off then, "Leave me while I sort out her inheritance." And she left no room for argument. Her steward gave her a single bow and then turned on his heel, shutting the door firmly behind him right as Iris sunk back into her chair and wept silently.