Vangelis watched as the sky turned dark above him. While the weather around them was calm, the heavens were full of cloud, reflecting every change in the sun's path beneath the horizon. Light teased the edges of the cloud cover and shot showers of orange, then pink, purple and blue far above their mast's flag. By the time the clouds had deepened to a mottling of purple and navy, the few stars able to be seen were brightest points beyond the ships bow. Vangelis gave the order for lanterns - candles in glass jars hanging from rigging - to be lit and for the captain of the ship to be roused.

He had taken watch and order of the vessel for the afternoon as the ship's captain caught some much needed sleep and now was the time for the changing of the guard. He had not eaten since earlier that morning and would want sleep in a few hours time. Especially if the storm did indeed break as expected over Midas upon their arrival home. A workaholic and addicted to his responsibilities Vangelis may have been... but he was far from stupid. A tired or malnourished prince was a weak one. And weak rulers very quickly became kings of nothing.

When the captain joined him on deck, thanking him for his allowance of the break and wishing his a pleasant meal and night, Vangelis gave his final orders to the crew, instructing that they maintained pace throughout the dark hours. The water was, for now, calm but Vangelis had been reading skies and waves for so long he could almost feel it in his bones that a storm was coming. That and the fact that he had been able to see the damn thing back in Athenia. It was taking a longer, winding path - Vangelis could see it in distance - but it was moving faster than they. He suspected that their luck would only hold until noon the next day. Then they would be in for it...

With a hand on Captain Naeos's shoulder and a nod to his Commander Nike, sitting out on the deck and chatting with some deck hands, Vangelis disappeared into the bellow of the ship, heading for the meal he knew would be waiting for him in his cabin.

The Lady Thea was sitting by the window of his cabin in a manner that he would have said was... waiting for him. But he had become finely aware over the last three weeks that the Thanasi lady didn't confirm to social etiquette and would never wait on anyone. It was more a simple case that she was dining in the same room as him and she had happened to arrive first. That was the sum and total of her moment of quiet in his cabin - his own presence was superfluous to her requirements for it.

As was custom and tradition, the upper class guests on the ship - of which there were only two - dined together in the finest cabin. A cabin that was the room Vangelis slept in - simply because it was the largest vacuum in the ships underbelly that had a side long enough to support a bed that could actually accommodate Vangelis' height. When the captain was not busy, he also dined with him, but on a night like tonight - when the winds of change were common and storm was on the horizon - he would be remaining with his crew, ensuring a firm hand on the tiller until Vangelis took over from him at dawn.

Shrugging out of his leather tunic as he entered the room, Vangelis moved about the tiny space with his head ducked low. The cot across the far wall might have been able to accommodate his height but the ceiling certainly didn't and he had to dip low to avoid the lantern swinging from the ceiling.

As the serving hand finished setting out the plates and then tried to navigate around Vangelis to reach the exit, Vangelis wasted no time in removed his belt and sheath so that he could sit comfortably at the little table.

With the room naturally lowered by the ceiling, everything else followed suit with the table lower enough to be the right height for eating and the chairs the right stature for the table. By the time Vangelis was sitting down there was never any room for his long sword. As such, he had learnt early on when sailing to remove both his dual swords - one at the waist and one on his back - when moving around in any form of cabin, in order to save them from getting caught and himself from immediately being knocked off his feet.

Always feeling a little naked without his main weapons (he was still coated in hidden daggers from neck to ankle), Vangelis kept the swords on the floor close to where he sat and joined his dining partner as she moved away from the window.

Beyond the customary "good evening" and a few small words regarding the cuisine, the two of them had never really spoken at dinner. When the captain was present they would talk to him as if he were a translater or conduit for the two, but never had they sat down and indulged in deep conversation with one another. In fact, they had never done so prior to their journey either, despite their familial connection.

It had been over eleven years since Thea's sister had married Vangelis' brother and yet the Thanasi family were intensely private and the Kotas insanely loyal. While they existed in the same space on a few occasions over the years, never had they merged as a family unit. Especially given Vangelis' doubts and suspicion regarding Evras of Thanasi's true feelings for Prince Zanon - despite their marriage now being old news. The unity itself had stopped being hot gossip many years ago but the reasons for its enactment were still a curiosity when raised in conversation. And yet... it wasn't polite to judge family on the connections they have through blood. No-one could choose who they were related to...

So though Vangelis was surprised when the Lady Thea struck up conversation, he had no intention of giving her the cold shoulder or rudely refusing to participate in the discussion. Instead he answered simply and succinctly, as was his manner.

"It's a storm." He confirmed, looking out at what little of the inky blue he could see from his position on the other side of the table. "It's curling around towards the east but I believe it will strike Midas hard."

Vangelis picked up some of the bread pieces that had been cut from the slab in the centre of the table and ate directly from his hands. He was clean and efficient eater but not one to stand on ceremony or fancy utensils. He had eaten more of his meals on battlefields or military encampments than he had anywhere else so was hardly a prince by protocol. At least not when he wasn't in the capital. He picked up his food with precision, ate tidily and did so at a calm pace. He was no connoisseur or food fanatic like some of the lords and ladies at court, but he enjoyed the simple pleasure of taking a moment of peace to enjoy one's nourishment.

"I trust your journey has been..." Vangelis made an awkward expression, considering the havoc that had occurred in Taengea and the political shit storm that had happened in Athenia... "...interesting." He finished in an effort to return her attempts at civility but not compromise his own dislike for untruthful pleasantries. "I know that you requested to come with me in order to celebrate your faith." He moved on quickly, in tend of dumping the small talk as soon as he could - Vangelis was not a small talk kind of person. And Lady Thea's faith in one particular God was common knowledge - along with the source of much gossip that he, in this moment, was determined to ignore. "I'm sorry if the dramas of our visit prevented you from doing so..."

Taking a pause in his meal as he chewed and surveyed his dinner guest, Vangelis leaned back in his chair. While he was an appropriate and protocol-following prince back in Midas and whenever he was occupying the role of son to his father, Vangelis would behave with decorum and political nuance. It was an act and game that he was perfectly capable of but one he didn't enjoy, finding the social etiquette restraining and limiting. When abroad from home, Vangelis was more comfortable, taking on the role of General over that of Prince. It was a difficult category of behaviour to exist within and occasionally his mastery of swaying between the two was challenged or compromised but when in the lower decks of a weapons cargo vessel (not even a royal transport) with little more for company than low class sailors or his own soldiers, Vangelis was content to dispense with stuffy tradition. Over the last few weeks of travelling together, he had done so gradually in the presence of both the captain and the Lady Thea, so he felt confident now in his relaxed stance at the dining table.

Pouring himself his own cup of wine and then leaning back in his chair, Vangelis set the piece of furniture back on its hind legs. He placed a booted foot against the table leg to secure the gradual rocking of the chair against the sway of the ship and let his knees spread wide as he relaxed his weight into place. Leaning an elbow on the arm of his chair and taking a sip from the rim of his cup, Vangelis licked at his upper lip before furthering the conversation.

"I do not like to think of myself as an ignorant man." He told the woman, all truth in the sincerity of his voice. While Vangelis was a hard man of devout opinions and cast-iron decisions, he also rarely liked to think of himself as narrow-minded or ignorant in his assurance. His confidence in his own choices came from a wide knowledge base and he was rarely of the intention or mood where expanding that base was of no interest to him. "But I admit to knowing little about the rituals of your faith."

Leaning forward for a moment, Vangelis secured an apple from the bowl in the centre of the table and then leaned back again, testing the chairs balance and his own reflexes as he comfortably propped up the chair and considered the apple. Before taking his first bite, he invited her to speak further.

"Why don't you tell me something more of it. Are your sisters practitioners also? Because I know it is purely nonsensical suspicion that paints the three of you as witches."

Vangelis spoke calmly and with full confidence, before taking a bite into the fruit. The skin gave way easily and he was pleased to find that the food had been picked up while in Athenia - no apple from Colchis would have stayed so sweet for the full duration of their journey...

"I must say... it pleases me to hear this now, my lord. A few years ago, I dare say I would have been hard pressed to believe you meant it. Begging your pardon, of course."

Vangelis could well understand the woman's scepticism and trepidation with regards to his words. The rumours and gossip around court back in the time to which she was referring had been spoken on so many tongues that they had become pseudo-fact. As the two of them were had been so ill-acquainted over the last decade, it was unsurprising that the Lady Thea would have known Vangelis so little enough as to doubt his word. All those who were related to him, shared a connection of loyalty to him and were related to him by blood knew the crown prince well enough to recognise that he would never, and had never, lied regarding his personal feelings on a matter - even for the sake of social convention.

Often to his detriment, Vangelis was honest through and through which means any and all knew what they dealing with whenever they met him. He was just a candid now...

"I've never believed the frivolous tales told regarding your sisters." He answered her honesty with sincerity of his own... "I make no secret that I distrust my Thanasi sister-in-law and I have no time for your sister Lady Nethis... But I have never believed magic to exist in the hands of mortals..." Vangelis drank again from his cup, his tone not accusatory or combative but neutral and statement-based. "I consider all acts of such nature to be completed only at the permission of the Gods... anyone who tries otherwise is, I believe, blasphemous to their divinity."

As the candle over his shoulder dimmed and died away, Vangelis concluded his opinions succinctly, his form now masked differently in the shadows.

"Magic and miracles are for the Gods, not us mortals."

With the extinguishing of one of several candles in the room, the general ambience of the cabin dimmed low, but the shadows also pitched into strange angles, the lights around them no longer balanced or complimentary.

With enough light to see by, but enough darkness to turn his eyesight fuzzy, Vangelis was surprised to note how easy it was to notice the Lady Thea, even after the inky light of dusk had been allowed to invade the room. While her black hair and dark gown seemed to melt into the ether, the paleness of her skin seen to glow through the dim. She was so white she had an ethereal lunar effect glowing over her skin.

Out of habit, Vangelis eyes tracked the woman's movements as she calmly stood and with more relaxed languidness than slow uncertainty, made her way around the table they were dining at and made to relight the lamp behind him.

Finishing what was left of his apple and discarding the core onto his now empty plate, Vangelis sucked the remaining sweetness from his fingers and then tidied himself up with one of the napkins provided at the table. As he did so, he listened the practised motions and familiar sounds of the Lady Thea replenishing oil and striking a flame on the end of a dowel.

As light flared up again, Vangelis glanced to his right and slightly over his shoulder, her profile coming into his eyeline again as she considered the sparking flame. Curious as to her interest in it, Vangelis watched too as the light flickered and fluttered, only to settle, length and conform to its purpose.

As she worked, the Lady Thea spoke of her faith being shared by one of her brothers but not the other ladies of her House. He listened calmly to the... invigoration she placed in her words, the contained passion behind her faith and wondered for a moment when she had last been allowed to speak of it openly with another. Suspicion and rumour were rampant in the capital and as she started to describe moonlight celebrations and rituals situated in the middle of nature, he could begin to understand how practitioners of her belief were seen as pagan or maleficarum.

Vangelis couldn't honestly say he agreed with or maybe even respected the way in which the Lady Thea chose to show her loyalty to her chosen deity. As far as he had always been concerned, the Gods were far too busy to be concerned with the likes of mortals, no matter how many nocturnal dances or rituals were performed. He had been on a battlefield for too many years to believe that the Gods were truly interested in the minutiae of human life. Had they been so included to be swayed by a single mortal's strength of belief, or the strength of hundreds of individual beliefs, there would not let so many devout men perish in war and combat. Instead, Vangelis felt that the only consideration and faith to have was that one was insignificant to the Gods. That they cared little so long as your worshipped, your believed and you knew yourself to be inferiority in every way when compared to their divinity.

Vangelis' practices of faith had never seemed to anger them. And he had certainly never sparked rumours of witchcraft with his regular visits to the holy temple in Midas to pray for safety on his travels.

It was as Vangelis was raising his glass for a mouthful of wine that he was paused with his lips on the rum of the goblet by her next words...

"Pleasure is the greatest form of worship, for it is the greatest gift he gave. Be it through dance, wine, touch...sex."

And there, Vangelis suspected, was another reason the Lady Thea was so shunned or suspected by other ladies within Court. It was not common for a woman of high-breeding to speak so openly of the more carnal desires of human life... In all truth, Vangelis wasn't certain whether her found her openness refreshing or boorish for a lady of her position...

Then again it was hard to spend your life watching men (though only men) from all walks of life cut down in their prime by enemy forces without any regard for rank or title - equalised by the deaths they met - and not believe in some form of equality. While he might not agree with a woman being vulgar or as talkative on the subject of desire as a man, the fairer sex had to - by sheer logic - be interested in the sexual act. Else, such encounters would be too rare to sustain.

And Vangelis had taken his chances and opportunities with confident, sexual women in the past. Most of the time, this had been with women in homes and brothels in towns he and his men had passed through; times where he had paid to satiate his body in a willing woman. These encounters were more pragmatic that romantic as he was a virile man who required certain desires to be met on a frequent basis in order to stay focused. They had been little more than other.

The few other trysts he had been a willing partner of had involved ladies from the lower levels of nobility, or the high-level retainers of the ladies of court. They had always been private, almost formal affairs, in which he had enjoyed their particular brand of company and returned to savour the act with them more than once, but his heart nor soul had ever been involved along with his body.

Allowing himself to take the drink he had paused in, Vangelis considered how he was supposed to respond to the Lady Thea's comment...

Given the intimacy of the dimly lit room, the physical proximity the two had shared over the past three weeks (regardless of how little they had actually communicated in that time) and the fact that the daughter of Thanasi had brought up the subject herself... Vangelis decided to follow her lead and make a sincere comment of his own...

"I find that I agree with you in that sex between agreed partners can be... a sign of affection, a mark of matrimony... or, as you say, a simple act of pleasure, detached from all other earthly or emotional concerns... but I confess that I am at a loss for how such an act pays homage to a member of the divine pantheon... Other than perhaps Aphrodite." He added the last with a small side smile.

Resting the ankle of one boot over his other knee and slouching comfortably in his leaning, creaking chair, Vangelis braced his elbow on its arm and his head on upraised fist so that he could turn his face to watch her, as she stood just behind, in line with the back of his chair.

"Do you truly believe that our Gods care for us to the extent on whether or not we can lose ourselves in the bodies of others?" He asked, his tone simply one of polite conversation over chastisement or derogation.

Vangelis all but rolled his eyes at the mention of the "blessed". For so long he had been told that he was blessed for his courage and devotion to cause. It had always seemed like a strange thing to praise from his vantage point - "congratulations, you're not a coward". But then Vangelis had always seen things in black and white - you were either brave or fearful, loyal to traitorous, dead or a survivor. There was no middle ground in the military. The middle ground, the grey, the lull of indecision... they got you killed.

But Vangelis' blessing didn't only extend to having no fear when on a battlefield, surrounded by death. His unfailing courage also came in the form of making decisions quickly and efficiently and then following through on those choices without fearful retrospective thoughts or self-doubt. He was confident in the decisions regarding his personal life as he was in his military campaigns and, when his attention was not otherwise distracted, gave them equal attention and precision of thought.

As the Lady Thea lamented her lack of participating in certain forms of worship, which conversation later revealed to simply mean sex, Vangelis couldn't help but feel surprise - whether it showed on his face or not. Ladies of the courts never spoke openly of the sexual act, though it had been his experience that most of them were at least aware of it and the basic mechanics it involved. So much for traditions of remaining chaste before marriage.

Not that he had followed such traditions.

As far as Vangelis was concerned, sex was a process that the body required. In the same way he ate and drank to maintain the nutrition and fuel that his muscles needed... in the same way he would sleep in order to rest his mind and heart... The way in which the body - the male body in particular - felt the regular craving for sex was simply another appetite to be fed and taken care of. Else it could become... distracting.

And being distracted was another sure way to get yourself killed in any fight or skirmish.

Not that the scratching of such an itch was a chore or tedious requirement that he had to fulfil simply to maintain a balanced health. Just as a fine meal - when prepared with care and detail and attention to the minutiae could become a pleasure for the stomach... Sex worked in the same way.

And Vangelis was nothing if not a perfectionist...

The issues with sex more often than not, came from the women he was forced to carefully choose. For many of the fairer gender, emotions, affection and compassion were all tied to the act and the idea that a crown prince might choose them to share his bed often began delusions of becoming Queen in the minds of those he was intimate with. On top of this, there was the added complication that sex potentially produced off-spring. And one of the hardest and strongest vows in Vangelis' life was that he would never produce illegitimate children. While such things were left to the Gods to decide and he was aware that he had limited control over his own vow, Vangelis could do what he could to ensure it was met. He had no intention of having any children that would not be his own with the woman he would take for his wife.

Such thoughts were having a natural effect on Vangelis' body, so he readjusted how he sat in his chair and drank from his glass in an attempt to cool his heated skin.

It was at this point that Lady Thea had finished with her ministrations and Vangelis heard her move from the bureau behind him, to directly behind his chair.

The soft noise of swaying material, brushing harshly against the wood of the ship's floorboards was like a teasing sound in his ears as he heard it come closer, but Vangelis deliberately kept his eyes forward and his drink handy, waiting for the lady to retake her seat on the other side of the table.

Instead of placing the wide piece of furniture between them, however, the daughter of Thanasi reached out and touched him.

The top face of her nails were smooth and cold - like the surface of water - against the warm skin of his neck and, had he not heard her shifting behind his chair, would have made him jump. As she trailed their coolness down the length of the column of his neck and into the dip of his shoulder, she moved around to his right and her hand twisted. The flat pane of her nails became the tips which, though short and rounded were hard little crescents, rough and teasing against the thick tendon that ran between throat and collarbone.

"For Aphrodite, it seeks love....for Dionysus, it seeks ecstasy..."

The words were breathed into his ear rather than spoken and Vangelis felt an ache in his lower belly start to make itself known. As his body stirred to life, he felt the muscles in the small of his back contract, his thighs tighten and his palms start to itch... As the lady whispered the last word into the shape of his ear, he felt the locks on his head shift softly and tug at his scalp and neck.

His sensitivities on high alert from being so close to a lithe female figure, Vangelis tightened the hand he had on the arm of his chair. While his body was instinctive in its reactions, his mind was still his own and he had no intentions of being teased and provoked by a member of the Thanasi family. He was not his brother...

As the Lady Thea came around the front of his chair, Vangelis' eyes narrowed and his jaw squared. He analysed her face trying to read a scheme or game in her features...

All he saw was her eyes bright with interest, her lower lip dropping away from its pair and the pulse at the base of her neck starting to flicker...

His pupils widening, Vangelis felt his mouth water and his own breath quicken. Regardless of ulterior motive, no-one could fake or hide such signs of physical attraction.

As if her intentions weren't clear enough, the lady took her intent a step further and braced her hands on his chair, one on the arm he had left free and the other on the patch of seat left in the triangular gap made by his legs. As she came forward, her dress billowed and Vangelis' gaze naturally dropped to see the soft swells of each of her breasts and, further down, the smooth skin of her flat stomach that he could see between them. Her forearm brushed along the line of his inner thigh as she leaned in and then her mouth touched his.

While her lips were thinner than some, lacking the rounded feminine pout of others he had kissed in the past, her mouth made up for it in technique. Her lips slightly open upon first meeting his, they pulled together against his mouth and gave her kiss a feeling of mastery and control. His neck still tingling from her earlier touch, his lips were eager to share in the kiss but he kept them rigid, even when her chin brushed his in a delicious friction against his end-of-day stubble. He kept his eyes open, in an attempt to diminish the effect the kiss was having on a body that had not lost itself in a woman for several weeks, but this only served that, as she closed her eyes, he could see the impossibly long and inky curls of her eyelashes, dramatic against the fairness of her cheek. In kissing him, that fairness flushed with the lightest of colour - a reaction unable to be faked or controlled and so encouraged his already eager lower half into full readiness.

When the woman backed away, her gaze had darkened with desire and Vangelis could feel his chest tightening as his military mind raced through the situation: they were alone in his cabin... they were the only two man and woman on the ship that were of appropriate rank to each other to even begin to contemplate such activities... no-one would be disturbing them until dawn... and it wasn't like the woman was unattractive.

Willowy, lithe and pale as moonlight, Thea appeared almost delicate when still... but the manner in which she held herself and moved, the sway of her hips, the confidence of her step, the way in which she stood brazen, her posture impeccable and her breasts defiant before her spoke of a woman that knew her own body and skin. One who understood desire and ecstasy and the fact that one did not equal the other without the implementation of skill. Skills that, were rumours to be believed, the Lady Thea had spent much time and effort honing...

Vangelis felt himself growing harder from the sheer curiosity of it all... the women - with her ethereal looks and provocative reputation - were temptation incarnate...

But.

That didn't mean he would be succumbing to her wiles... Not unless it was on his own terms.

Pushing himself up and out of his chair, his shoulders bunching beneath his shirt and his thighs tightening and strengthening to take the full weight of his tall frame and broad shoulders, Vangelis refused to move his feet - only a few inches from Thea's - and, instead, used their close proximity to tower over her, his presence encompassing her personal space.

Bracing his hands on the table's edge, his frame and posture forced the woman away, her back becoming an elegant curve and her chest raised higher.

Vangelis took the moment to be quiet, to let all he could hear be his heartbeat, pounding in his ears and all he could see be her own thumping at the base of her neck for all to see... He let his gaze very deliberately focus on that pulse, watching with an amused side smile as it escalated and then dipped his eye line back to the supple line between her breasts. He trailed the stare upwards, towards the hollows of her collarbone, the length of her elegant neck - so white and so fragile... Vang swallowed and took a moment to lick his lower lip... His gaze lingered further north to assess the woman's face. Her elegant and straight features, the sharp angles of her brow and cheekbones, the wild spirit in her dark eyes...

Vangelis remained quiet for what felt like an age, before finally speaking, maintaining the limited distance between them so that his shirt grazed her dress with every inhale.

"What is your game, Thanasi?" He asked her. His voice had deepened with desire and gone from a rough and rumbling tone to pure gravel. "What is it that you want-" Vangelis released one of his hands from the table and reached up to touch the calloused pad of his thumb to the lady's lower lip. "-beyond this...?" His eyes narrowed violently and his features turned aggressive. "I'll allow no ulterior motive or scheme..."

Vangelis did nothing to stop the Lady Thea's fingertips tracing the V line of his hip muscle, the curve of his lower abdomen... nor did her stop her as her hand trailed down the side of his thigh. Convinced that she had now taken liberties far enough against a member of the royal family, there was little Vangelis could do now that wouldn't be considered invited... Which meant that all bets were off.

Vangelis lifted a hand from the table edge to take hold of her hip, his fingers and thumb tightening over her hip bone groove. The woman was thin and lean but somehow that felt good... that she wasn't all soft and delicate... not so breakable. Using the hand to keep her in place, Vangelis stepped forward, reducing the distance between them to nothing in a harsh movement into her personal space. Suddenly her lower half was pressed flush to his, his hips forcing hers apart, her skirts widening over his knees and the evidence of his desire pressed hard up against her lower belly.

He pressed still further, his chest leaning forward enough that the tips of her breasts brushed against the hard expanse of his chest with every synchronised breath they took.

At her last words, Vangelis took his other hand from the table, bracing himself against her and securing his fingers around the woman's neck. His fingertips held firm to her nape and his thumb rode the length of her throat, its tip feeling the sharp point of her chin. His grip forced her eyes up to his, eyes that flashed with fire.

"Do not be coy, Thea..." He told her, dropping all forms of formality or address. "It doesn't suit you..."

The pad of his thumb pushed into her lower lip and his hand shifted so that he could push the digit beyond her entrance and between her teeth. His eyes burned as he took mastery of her mouth and the hand at her hips found the slash in her skirts.

Finding her naked beneath the gown, he let his fingers trail teasingly along the curve of her hip line, a silent message of equality and return. This was not going to be a capitulation on his part, his fingers told her as they gripped her jaw and held her attention fast to his, refusing to allow her to see what he was doing beneath her dress... He allowed her only to feel as he rested his palm flat against the top of her thigh, his thumb curving around to its inner side and finding the hollow between leg and womanhood... It was there that he slowly rubbed the pad of his thumb; barely an inch away from where it would be most wanted... taunting her as she had taunted him.

By now Vangelis' breath came in deep spurts, his skin felt hot, his clothing too tight and he had already found the pulse of Thea's heartbeat against both his hands. She was as excited for their union as he was, their desires purely physical and all the stronger for it...

Part of him wished to abandon the game; to demand that which she had clearly offered him, to bury his body within hers and satiate himself in her tight grip. But every touch, tease and taunt between them would burn the flame hotter and he was enjoying the idea of bringing a so self-assured woman to her knees with desire. So certain was she that her faith have given her all the experience and confidence she would ever need. So commanding she was of his sexual desire...

The competitive streak in Vangelis flashed its teeth and grew claws. By the night's end, he decided, he would have her beg...