It was safe to say that the Stravos girls were not the most loving of sisiters, No, it would be clear to any passing stranger that there would never be a kind word shared between them. Not from the way they held true to their false smiles and hissed insults aimed towards the other while the girls were forced to be in each other’s presence. To the public, it was obvious that they did not have a strong relationship beyond the pure hatred that they shared. Some even curiously wondered as to why they would even pretend to bother that they liked each other if this wasn’t the case.

Simple.

There was no pretending once they were safely behind the closed doors of the Stravos manor.

Danae blinked back tears as she studied the reflection of herself in the little hand mirror presented by one of her ladies in waiting. She nodded at the young girl, who like her mistress was barely old enough to consider herself a part of the court and now had the misfortune of calling the Stravos manor home, apparently pleased with what she saw. Though, her already closing throat made it clear to the littlest anchor that this was not the case. It was no secret in the Stravosi household that Danae held deeply rooted insecurities, all of which had some foundation in her appearance. Her reflection was beautiful, stunning even, but it didn’t seem to be enough. Not that the morning the other girls had spent ensuring that every thin strand of Danae’s hair was tucked into its proper place, every jewel adorning her would be able to catch the light just so, and every fold of her dress would flow around her like water when seated. There was no question that the wealth and beauty that the Stravos name she held was on full display tonight. No one else could be able to afford such deep red fabric with gold trimmings or the sheer amount of rubies on her bracelets, necklace, and earrings. No other family could have hired the number of hands it took to turn her usually simple braid into a delicate updo that resembled a crown. The crown she would win someday for her family, which unfortunately included Chara.

All the resources Danae had, Chara held as well and she made sure to utilize it that day in order to give her older sister a run for her money… and yet it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough to chase the angry, spiteful voices from her mind. She would give anything to do that, yet they remained; constantly reminding her that no matter what Danae did… next, to Chara it would never be good enough.

As her ladies prepared themselves for the gathering to come, Danae couldn’t help, but let her anger fester as the minutes ticked by. It was Chara’s fault that Danae held these insecurities. There was no way she could have avoided developing them with how her sister stole the spotlight at every event or how her older sister went out of her way to make the younger girl miserable every chance she got. It was so clear to Danae that this “invitation” (more like forced appearance) for this gathering Chara was holding was just a smokescreen. A diversion. A false premise if you will. No, she could see right through to Chara’s real intentions behind inviting her “beloved” little sister to spend time with her carefully chosen inferior friends. She wanted to publicly embarrass and shame Danae. Chara wanted to drag her little sister down into the deepest recesses of her own insecurities and for what? A laugh? She knew that this was what was going to happen. The elder Stravos had done it a thousand times before and every time Danae was dumb enough to play right into her hand, but today… today would be different.

This time she had no intention of going down without a fight.

Danae was tired of her sister’s crafty ways and once everyone was ready, she resolved that today she would be the victor in this game they played. However, she also wasn’t going to be dumb enough to make the first move. After all, she didn’t want Chara to be able to run off and spin some sob story to their father or worse, their mother.

So, when Danae swept into the courtyard with her ladies trailing close behind her, she ignored Chara as she settled in on a plush couch as far away from the host as she could get. Her hands trembled as he held her head high, but she turned her back to her sister all the same and started some dull small talk with her ladies. The insult was clear and the game was now afoot. It would be up to Chara to make the first move.

This would be a game neither girl had any intention of losing.

When Circenia swept into the room and offered Danae an opportunity to escape from her sister for a few hours, the youngest Stravos jumped at the chance. Nevermind the fact that a dress fitting with her mother was bound to be just as unpleasant as this affair already was.

Although, she already knew that she would probably be absolutely bored to death as her mother would pile on fabric after fabric onto her thin frame; it still seemed just a tad bit more appealing than spending the day with Chara. So, Danae didn’t outwardly protest as she rose from the couch and signaled for the pair of girls accompanying her to do the same. As the group of ladies swept out of the room, Danae couldn’t help, but shoot her sister a self-satisfied smirk that celebrated the younger one’s victory.

However, the fact that she may have celebrated too quickly soon settled over Danae as the mother and daughter pair headed deeper into the household. With every step, Danae withdrew into herself as she allowed her mind to take over from her bubbling insecurities. Though she didn’t give any outward signs of this. Danae would never let her mother see how quickly the woman could put her daughter on guard, edge, defense, whatever term you liked in order to protect herself from the sheer concept of Circenia of Xanthos.

Danae resented her mother, though it was never for anything that the woman had done. No, instead it had everything to do with what Circenia represented to her young daughter. This was the woman that she should aspire to model her life after and granted, the Xanthos princess was an excellent choice of role model… but that didn’t mean Danae wanted to be a carbon copy of her.

Her Mother was a constant reminder that all Danae should aspire to be was a mother and dutiful wife. That was all she should expect from life as that was bound to be her destiny. After all, she was the royal daughter of the wealthiest man in Greece and there were rumors that she was the favored one at that. Danae was painfully aware that it was only a matter of time before she was married off to one of his allies. Her life would soon revolve around providing that man the heirs he needed to his name and maintaining a household worthy of his -expected- high status… Just like what Circenia did for her father.

She didn’t want that.

Giving up her Stravos name? That would be an abrupt end to all of the ambitions and goals she ever held. What would be the point of her following in her father’s footsteps or her working to ensure her bloodline would be on the throne if it would not have her name attached to it? No, soon enough her entire legacy would be tied to a man who would probably not allow her to pursue her own interests if he had any common sense about him. Instead, he’ll trap her in a life of domesticity that would cause her to go insane since she already knew she was capable of doing so. much. more. She knew it was going to happen. Danae was not foolish enough to pretend that it wouldn’t, but still… she’d rather not think of it. Though how could she avoid it when her mother’s mere existence was a constant reminder of her own future?

This is why Danae did not enjoy spending time with her mother and was always prickly, standoffish, and even sometimes aggressive to the woman. She didn’t want the constant reminder of what fate had in store for her, even though she never once dared to voice these thoughts aloud.

Needless to say, the two of them couldn’t be more different in Danae’s eyes. This was only highlighted by her mother’s humorous quip. Only hearing the words and not the intended tone, Danae was forced to a standstill in the middle of the hall as she stared at her mother, eyes wide in disbelief. “I what?” She uselessly parroted back as she was stunned into absolute silence by her mother’s view of the situation. Circenia was wrong. Danae did not do such a thing. If anything, Chara did that to her, a viewpoint which she made clear in her next statement as she wordlessly dismissed the girls trailing behind them, sending them up ahead.

“I do not antagonize her.” Danae practically growled once they had turned the corner, finally allowing some of the boiling anger from the day’s events appear on the surface. Turning to her mother, she continued by saying, “Can you not see what that really was?” Her tone was incredulous, almost as if she couldn’t believe that her mother could really be that blind as she had also grown up with a sister. Although it was true, her mother’s cool Xanthos’s blood lacked the fire of the Stravos in Danae and her siblings, there was no possible way that her mother couldn’t see the truth of the situation.

So, clearly, Danae would have to spell it out for her.

“I don’t know what she told you, but this was not just about seeing her friends” These few words were practically a sneer and surely her mother would not be pleased with how ugly her expression became as she spoke of her beloved sister. However, Danae was clearly in no mood for lessons about how letting her expression sour would one day lead to wrinkles. She was the wrong daughter for Circenia to bestow that knowledge on.

“If it was truly about seeing her friends, where was Agathe? Why would she be so insistent on seeing me there?” It was here that her angry words began to break slightly and Danae could almost feel the hot stinging tears she held back threatening to overflow… almost. “She hates me. I ha-”

A heavy and awkward silence filled Danae’s mind as she abruptly cut herself off from saying anything further. They both knew what she was going to say. Her bitter tone had done nothing to hide Danae’s true feelings of her elder sister. However actually saying that she hated Chara out loud? That was far too dangerous for Danae to risk especially when Chara clearly had to be the favored daughter in her mother’s eyes. If it were true… well actually spelling out her hatred for the world to see was just asking for a world of hurt, if she hadn’t managed to find herself there already. Saying all of that had clearly been a mistake on her part. A stupid, horrible mistake that she clearly would not be able to rectify.

Ugh, why on earth couldn’t she learn to keep these emotions hidden instead of letting them spew forth like a volcano whenever they were prodded?

It was too late for that now. All Danae could do was brace herself for the tongue lashing her mother was surely about to deliver to her youngest and most unruly child.