Achilleas realised he was staring at Theodora, silently complained at himself for his own lack of subtlety and peered down into his cup of wine instead. An afternoon’s ride and a picnic sounded idyllic, but then these scenes Stephanos painted often did. It was only once they were underway that things seemed to follow a more chaotic path. Like venturing to magical pools within the palati grounds, for example. He ought to know better than to think anything involving his cousin would be as innocuous as it sounded by now.

But maybe...and Achilleas would never admit it aloud, he needed these little scrapes Steph liked to get them into. Something to break up the seriousness of his days and stop him from turning into an old man before his time. He knew there were some already that thought him staid and boring, and Achlleas’ naturally introverted personality wasn’t one that was going to see him disavow anyone of that notion. He absolutely would deny it if asked, but Stephanos provided some light entertainment that was often missing from his days.

And much as he ought to regret the evening as it had all fallen out, it had thrown him into Theodora’s company again, and that was never unpleasant. The Mikaelidas lord recalled the leeches and thought he ought to amend that sentiment, but later perhaps. Right now, they had company, and he tried to put her at ease a little with his questions.

He didn’t think the Dimitrou lord was the type to make a fuss unnecessarily. Most of his dealing with Lord Gavriil had proven the man sensible, quietly spoken and most of all, fair-minded. Achilleas was more perturbed by Steph’s suggestion that the Dimitrou Head would be more likely just to revise his opinion of them than to see it go any further. That was as bad; he had to see the man in the Senate every week.

As if to compound his unease at that, Theodora then enquired as to whether any in his household were likely to discover their late-night get together, and Achilleas had pulled a face and opened his mouth to answer when Stephanos did it anyway, causing his cousin to turn a mildly affronted look upon him.

Not that Stephanos was wrong precisely, but Theodora had asked the question of him, and his cousin had rather rudely cut across whatever his answer might have been. Achilleas frowned at him a moment before turning back to Theodora. “I hope not.” Was what he went with before begrudgingly tacking on, “But Steph is right. It’s useful having a prince on hand sometimes.”

The right prince. The Wrong Prince showing up would be less than desirable, but Achilleas was reasonably sure his father would choose to sleep at the palati rather than journey home this night.

“You won’t find yourself in any trouble, will you, Lady Theodora? About slipping off at the party, I mean?”

He was glad she had come so they might at least end the evening on a better note, but Achilleas wasn’t one to be as flippant about these things as his cousin. However, he had learned that Theodora wasn’t one who appreciated every attempt to protect her from censure. She’d positively bristled when he’d tried to do the same back in Macendia, and he still didn’t understand why. Women were perplexing creatures. But if there was currently a search party going on at the palati for one Theodora of Leventi, then this night might not end so prettily for any of them as it looked to at this moment.