Emilia was a fidgeting mess that morning.

She had been woken up bright and early by Helen dragging open the blinds to her windows, rudely jolted by the sunlight that streamed right through and disturbed her half-asleep, unopened eyes. The young princess had groaned and burrowed back into her soft sheets, intent on gaining more sleep, but Helen was undeterred. After all, she had trained for years to be handmaiden to Princess Emilia - and the very first time the young princess was to have a public appearance where she was the main, Helen was not about to let anything go awry with that.

"Your Highness, you have to get dressed. Tis late."

"It's... barely time for the break of fast, Helen." Emilia had groaned, but the elder handmaiden was insistent in dragging the covers off. By then, many other maids and slaves had bustled in with a large tub of water, the various items of clothings that she would require for the day, accessories of every kind... it was almost an army that swarmed around her chambers, making enough noise to wake the dead. Emilia flipped over, blearily opening her eyes... and then she remembered what day it was.

That in itself was enough to make her jump out of bed in a panic, eyes now wide opened. Her brunette locks were a mess from bed, her white sleeping chiton askew on her body. A million thoughts ran through her mind. She had so much to do. So many things to remind herself of. Look up, look proud, the family name rides on your performance, do not fall into the water Emilia of Xanthos, and for Aphrodite's sake smile! All of the lessons her tutors and her sister had ever taught her now roared to the forefront of her mind, as she now meekly allowed Helen to bustle her to her tub of hot water. Filled with scented lavender oils, Emilia was quickly stripped of her chiton and dumped into the waters, her hair brushed and cleaned, before she was towelled off and made to stand in front of her mirror.

There, the girl watched silently whilst her maids worked. The chiton she would wear as one she had picked out days ago when Persephone had just announced that she would launch the opening of the King of the Waves race, instead of the usual opening done by Persephone or her father. Why her? That had been her first question. And her sister had said for pride. Pride of her as a Xanthos... the kind that Emilia had always eschewed, used as she was to standing in the background, to be glanced over for her illustrious elder sister's achievements. She had never envied Persephone, merely allowed her sister the glory she knew she deserved.

But now, there she stood to get ready for an event that, honestly, now made her shiver to her toes. Emilia enjoys the life she has of a second princess, free of responsibilities and to go where she wanted, to do what she wanted. She loved Persephone, but she did not envy her elder sister's pile of work.

Through the mirror, Emilia watched the servants wind the sky blue chiton she had picked out. Fine, wave-like patterns had been weaved into the edges of the material with a slightly darker blue that blended in but added a dash of contrast. The blue silk was fastened around her waist with a golden belt, and then over her shoulders with golden clasps that narrowed the material and revealed more of her bronzed skin. That done, the slaves picked up another piece of material. This one was of a dark seafoam green, and they draped it over her left shoulder, ensuring the folds of it fell daintily down, before securing it to the right side of her chiton by her calf. Along the seafoam green material, various small pieces of shells had been procured, washed and sewed into the material.

Right over the left shoulder where the seafoam green material was left hanging, Helen then pinned a large, white flower, before pushing Emilia to sit before the table. Immediately, two other servants picked up a brush, beginning to comb out all of the knots in her her hair, before beginning to plait them. Whilst they plaited and wound Emilia's hair into a chignon atop her head, Helen proceeded to attached the silver armband around her upper left arm, and then clasped the smaller wristlets around both wrists, each with a small symbol of a swan hanging off them.

Picking up the skyblue chiton around both her ankles, the elder lady's maid clasped a two-layered silver anklet that had tear-shaped emeralds connecting both layers. From the emerald that rested right in the middle of her leg, a strand of silver extended out to a ring which Helen slipped around Emilia's toe.

By then, her hair was properly wound, a braid being the finishing touch that the maid's made into a border around her brunette locks. Over the properly coiffed hair, Emilia smiled as Dawn approached with a crown she had specifically commissioned to be made.

Unlike the rest of her dainty, leaf-motived crowns, this one featured precious stones prominently. The turqoise green stone were not as clear as the Taengean water emeralds that Emilia favored for her crowns. Instead, they were solid in color, which while did not shine as brightly, provided the mettle the stone needed to have to be carved in the shape Emilia wanted. Her instructions had been for the smiths to make the turqoise stone into a pointed, dome shape with a long body. The gold filligree was then twined around the turqoise stone's body to hold them all in place in a row, arranged according to height. The tallest one stood in the middle, and descended downwards. The crown was placed upon Emilia's head and secured with pins, before the mirror was turned to her for a final inspection.

Emilia smiled. Just what she wanted.

Like Amphitrite herself, Emilia rose and eschewed the sandals to exit her room barefooted. With the help of her retinue, she waited for her guard's arrival before exiting the palace for the royal carriage of the Xanthos awaiting her at the steps of the Royal Palace. Handed into her carriage, Emilia was careful to not crumple her outfit as she sat, allowing others to close her door before the carriage began rumbling.

Could she handle the crowd? Immediately, worries flooded her mind. Oh, she had been through the Feast of Sinners, this shouldn't be much of an issue. It was largely why Emilia had agreed to attend. Her common sense balked at the idea of entering a large crowd again, but Emilia also knew that she did not want to disappoint her family on. So Emilia took this smaller scaled event as a way forward. It was no question by now that if her sister's bid succeeded, she'd be technically her sister's heir until she produced one of her own. And she had been enjoying her life as a second princess with close to no responsibilities.

It did not take long before the carriage rumbled to a stop, and Emilia knew that as she heard the cries of gulls, the crash of waves, the tang of salt that now tinged the air in which she breathed in. With a click, the doors opened. Emilia knew who stood behind it - Nicholai was never far away. But it was the roar of the crowd behind the doors that sent nervous electricity down her arms. It was the glimpses of people she could see, the bustle as the racers got ready, which had Emilia short of breathe.

The last time she attended a race, a head ended up on a pike.

Your family name is at stake. Pull it together. A voice firmly reminded her, enough for her to tightene her fingers into fists by her sides, and then take a deep breathe to steady her pulse. She can do it.

With a smile on her face, Emilia turned to descend the steps, allowing Nicholai to take her hand and step down to the crowds, her intricate design of her chiton falling to complement her small stature and bronzed skin as she greeted her people.

The day had already proven to be long, and the sun had yet to reach its zenith in the cloudless sky.

It was not often that Pavlos cursed his luck for being surrounded by women - he was rather grateful that his wife and children were living, healthy, and able - but it was mornings like this that he was sure the gods were testing his mettle. Three daughters, a wife, and a brother who, though a man, took their sweet time readying for the day.

Pavlos paced the marble floors, eager to be going. He had a lot of money on this race, and he wanted to size up the competition.

But his daughters bickered, his wife gossipped, and his brother... well, who knew what Rafail did to take so long getting ready. By the time they all assembled, ready to enter the carriage, Pavlos had had just about enough from all of them.

He, Raf, his father, and his chosen sailor - a youth with more brawn than brains, and more looks than Pavlos liked, judging by the curious glances and flirtatious smiles from his daughters - took one carriage. "You lot take the other," he told his family irritably.

Pavlos didn't like to waste. In fact, he prided himself on being resourceful. He felt a twinge of guilt at the expressions of the women's faces; but he would not go back on his word. It was said, and he would go through with it.

He sat next to his brother while his father and the sailor made small talk. Pavlos was silent for most of the ride in the carriage, lost in his own thoughts of winning and rubbing various noses in his upcoming victory. He gave Raf a sideways glance. He, too, seemed more silent than usual. Perhaps he was planning something foreboding? One never knew with Raf. "You will behave today?" he asked, his voice low enough that it wouldn't attract his father's attention.

The elder of the two Athenian princesses was not held up by the younger's slow start to the morning. Persephone was already down at the harbour, an hour before the event was due to begin and watching from her carriage window to ensure that plans and set up were carried out as they should be. She could not step out into the public eye and make it look at as if the princess of the kingdom was personally instructing manual labourers, but she was too much of a controlling and organised person as to not want to keep an eye on the main docks and ships that had been rigged together to form by the main awards dais and seating area for the highest of the nobles. Only the royal family and the Heads of Houses would be permitted to sit beneath the main awning - if they did not choose to sit with their families on their own boats or stand amongst the crowd, allocating their own spot to witness the event with their guards stationed as the boundary barricades.

It wasn't until Persephone noted another royal carriage arrive and her sister to step out of it, that she did the same. Meeting her sister at the base of the steps that lead up to the main platform for the high class spectators, Persephone smiled at her encouragingly and kissed her cheek in greeting, before mounting the stairs and heading for the black and silver awning that had been constructed.

The event was just about to start and Emilia was right on time.

Instead of dressing in spectacular fashion as she had done for the Feast of Sinners - an even that Persephone quickly pushed from her mind - the elder sister had not wanted to try and steal centre stage from the younger. This was Emilia's first chance to show that she would warrant the title of heir apparent should Persephone ascend to the throne without kinder.

While her sister was dressed in a beautiful light blue that was both fitting for the type of event she was overseeing and also honourable to the God of the Sea, Persephone had dressed in pure white. With her gold ivy crown back in place and a thick band of gold links wrapped several times around her waits, Persephone followed her sister's lead and removed her slip on sandals at the edge of the dais so as to offer fealty and penitence to Poseidon. She had gone to pray at the deity's temple prior to the event but she was not foolish enough to think such gifts and prayers would allow her to bypass simply civility to the God.

"Ready for this?" Persephone asked her younger sister with another encouraging smile as the wind whipped at her chiton and the few curls her maids had left loose from the coiled braid that wrapped around her head like a second crown...

It was still pitch black when Con woke with a start and he was immensely relieved to see the night was still dark. Crawling out of his straw-stuffed bed he rubbed the sleep from his eyes groggily. This was going to be a very busy day. He wasn't sure whether to feel excited or terrified at representing his family alone at an event such as the "King of Waves." Just thinking about it made his feet grow cold, a shiver slowly crawling up his spine.

He pulled on his robe and clasped his belt quietly around his waist. Tiptoeing through the house so as to not wake his mother, he began packing the final items on his list, careful to pick out only the finest of knick-knacks and jewelry purchased from over-seas. Many of these trinkets he held longer than usual, thinking of his sister Kalli and wondering where she was at, what adventures she was having and what places she had been to.

Snapping back to reality he stashed the rest of the rings and necklaces into his bag and ran off to hook-up Odysseus the donkey. Today, however, Odysseus had decided that of all days he was going to be more than a donkey, he was going to be a full-on ass. Con pushed, pulled, shoved and even went so far as to jab the animal with a stick but the donkey wasn't playing nicely. Con had to all but pick up the animal to get him to move but just as he was about to give up, Odysseus had a sudden change of heart and calmly walked to the cart. "Stupid animal," he swore, finally hooking him in.

Double checking and triple checking that he had gathered all of the trinkets he intended to peddle this day they finally set off, just as the first rays of the sun were creeping over the horizon. Thankfully it wasn't far from his home.

The sun was welcome to a body fresh with the night air and Con smiled with confidence at the day he was about to have. Odesseus lazily sauntered on, through puddles and over daisies paying no mind to the tiny obstacles. As they approached the edge of town, Constatine's mood soured. There, wearily returning from who-knows-where was his childhood friend Anastasios. The two exchanged cold acknowledging looks as they parted ways, both thinking of the girl that was Stasi's wife now.

The trip to the event gathering didn't take more than another hour and between birds singing, and the occasional frog hopping away in terror at the monstrosity thundering down the road, Con's mood lifted once more. This early in the morning only fools and merchants were on the road and today he was alone. He smiled again as he dismounted the cart, looking over the baubles he would be laying out. He began carefully arranging them all so that any passerby would be drawn in to marvel at the variety and selection. Ornate polished shells, ivory carvings, necklaces and earrings littered the hand sewn carpets his mother had crafted just for this event. The blues and greens all flowed together and amidst the shimmer one could almost thing they were gazing into a pool of wonder rather than just a carpet.

Keikelius had spent the morning briefing his sailor for the day's race, along with the man's crew that would aid him in the competition. One would think that the man would have picked a different sailor than the year last, but Keikelius thought of himself as a creature of habit. And skills that one used over and over were skills that the individual would find strengthened over time.

Dressed in the formal dress of his house, the man sat in his carriage with Circenia at his side, quietly going over strategy and loss prevention. Keikelius didn't care about the man, really. He simply wanted his ship, specially drawn up for this competition, to come out alive. And Keikelius ensured that his challenger knew that fact. Boat first. Person second.

Circenia said little, taking a few moments to preen herself before they arrived at the event. Keikelius couldn't help but glance in her direction, silently admiring her appearance before his attention fixed itself back on the sailor. They spoke in length throughout the ride, which helped to pass the time that it took to travel.

When they arrived, Keikelius motioned his competitor out of his carriage before turning his body to face Circenia. He didn't say anything, simply tucking a loose lock of hair behind her ear before pulling his hand back and offering to help her out of their carriage.

Finding themselves on solid ground, Keikelius took his arm in hers and guided her to where everyone had gathered, his gaze settling on Pavlos of Marikas as the man headed to the docks. His own challenger had already moved leagues ahead of them, though they were in no rush to catch up, and Keikelius would not exert himself to make himself known to the Marikas head of house.

It was important the Nikolaos family present themselves at this event. Stavros and Diomedes were both unavailable for the time being -- perhaps they would find their way to the event later on, Dysmas mused. Until such a time, he was responsible for representing the Nikolaos household and showing their support for the monarch’s latest public event.

Influential and recognizable though he may be, Dysmas didn’t relish the idea of attending alone. Therefore, it was only natural he drag Thalia along with him. It would be good to have her presence seen; let those who had worried for her safety after her kidnapping see she was in good health and none worse for the wear. Besides, Dysmas enjoyed spending time with Thalia, and on top of his concern and fear for her well-being, he had missed her while she was... away.

“Lord Pavlos named a sailor to participate on his behalf today, I believe,” he commented to his sister at his side, keeping a -- no doubt annoyingly -- watchful eye on her, “I’m interested to see how they fare. I hear Cyrene is working in the Marikas home now? We should keep an eye out for her in case she’s been given leave and is looking for us.”

Not that Dysmas thought she’d have any trouble finding them; he was easy to spot in a crowd. No sooner had he said as much did he catch sight of an arm waving for his attention. He followed the blonde-haired girl’s path as she weaved between bodies to reach him. “Oh! I think I see her!” he said to Thalia with a light nudge and a happy smile.

“Cyrene!” he greeted enthusiastically, with a quick hug. “It’s definitely been too long.”

Dysmas laughed. He took a small step to the side when Cyrene asked after Thalia, revealing the woman had only been hidden behind his towering height... or so he thought.

“You mean her?” The question came before Dysmas realized the sister he thought had been standing beside him was no longer there. Cyrene was no doubt confused, and Dysmas -- head on a swivel trying to spot where his sister had disappeared to -- tried to weakly explain, "Wait, she was just here a second ago!"

Why did the Gods give him a sister that couldn't just stay put??

A skafos race was the perfect thing for Alec to show of his sailing talents. The love for the water was always in his blood. He had traveled on the sea for more time than he could count with and without his family. It was a pity that his twin didn't have such passion or the young lord would have asked him to accompany him on this race. Oh well, at least Calix was generous enough to come along to cheer him on.

The carriage that had carried his brother and him came to a stop near the docks. Alec could see that many competitors were already there. He recognized a few faces, like Lord Rafail as well as the two princesses, Persephone and Emilia. The other faces did not register in his mind as much. Perhaps he saw them around in the capital? Shrugging his shoulders mentally, he pushed the thoughts towards the back of his mind. He had other things to worry about, and those unfamiliar faces weren't one of them.

Leaving his brother in the crowds with a promise to return safely, Alec and the rest of his teammates went towards their skafos. Climbing aboard the water device, he quickly checked it over for any damages that might hinder his performance. Seeing that everything was in working conditions, the young lord nodded to his men with a bright smile on his face before seeing a quiet prayer to Poseidon. He hoped the lord of the Sea was kind today to all of the competitors and that there would not be any significant trouble.

After saying his prayers, Alec glanced up at the sky. The sun was shining brightly. It was currently clear, and the temperature was perfect for the race. He took it was a good sign. But the young lord of Axios knew not to get his hopes up too high. The gods could quickly change the weather without warning. There was no telling what might happen during the middle of the race.