It was an hour after their arrival that Persephone was starting to feel the edges of her self-control start to wither. She had been awake since several hours before daybreak, it was now past the midpoint of night, and she had yet to relax or properly eat. Her dress kept her posture at its most rigid, her neck hurt from the weight of her coiled hair and ivy crown. She could almost feel the desire to droop overcoming her eyelids. And still, she refused to give in. She was princess of Athenia. She was the woman she wanted to convince all could be queen. She would not snooze in front of the nobility she was destined to lead.

She would, however, likely be attending to her bed shortly. She had made her appearances at all of the events that day, as she was supposed to, and she or Emilia had greeted nearly everyone at the party. She had already passed a message to the younger princess that she was permitted to excuse herself for bed whenever she wished to, so she didn't need to wait on Emilia - where that girl got her energy from, Persephone had no idea.

Smiling and talking with the last of the Marikas line she had yet to greet, Persephone was thankful when the girl became distracted by the arrival of several gladiators as they hastened away to get a better look at the bulk and brawn.

Having no interested in the men herself - she had already seen the only gladiator she would be required to speak with that evening arrive a while ago - Persephone had taken the opportunity to step out into the gardens. The air was less stuffy - less saturated with the incense and perfumes that clung to the air within the walls of the palace and, instead, was fresh with the scent of the roses and oranges in the grounds.

Determined to keep herself awake, Persephone set off through and between the bushes of the gardens, intending for her fast pace to whip up a breeze against her face and for the cool flush to wake her up.

The technique was semi-successful and had Persephone winding her way through the gardens and round to the other side of the palace buildings where the main hall and portico could be found. It was then that she spotted the gladiator in question, loitering out by the tiled terrace.

One last meet and greet... then bed... Persephone thought to herself in encouragement as she adjusted the white chlamys over her ridiculous dress and carried on down the path, approaching the man from the side. Her steps were light and quiet under the sound of music and chatter in the gardens and palace around them but her crown and dress gleamed in the moonlight, the white himation glowing in the darkness... so it was anyone's guess if he spotted her before she spoke or was distracted by anything elsewhere...

"You fought bravely, today." She told him without preamble. In the few times she had socialised with the man, she knew him not to like the stuffy formalities that went with royal decorum. So, she used none of them. "I apologise that the arcus manager appeared over-eager in his planning... I was shocked that you were pitted against such odds..." She told him, wanting to make it clear that she had never intended for the gladiator to wrestle so closely to death on his first appearance of the Xanthos Champion.

Standing calming in perfect posture - for her garments would not allow her to relax even her shoulders - Persephone placed her hands folded in front of her and awaited the man's response quietly...

It was dark in the gardens but she could see well enough from the lanterns in the trees and the candlelight from inside that he had dressed more formally that she had ever seen him. In a white chiton that was bright in the darkness, a dark over-shirt that could have been a leather breastplate like the ones he had worn before - it was hard to tell in the dark - and sandals strapped to his knees, he looked more fighter than socialite despite the black chlamys over his shoulders. His hair was also loose - which she hadn't seen before - and that only aided in giving him a wilder, more untamed look about him.

While nothing he was wearing was inappropriate - nor ugly on his frame - the man looked decidedly out of place...