Niobe had settled at his side once more, leaning to murmur something about someone in the group of people around them. He was listening intently as he finished his wine. Dark eyes skimmed the crowds. He was debating on which pretty face he should approach first.

He tilted his head, murmuring quietly to Niobe, “And you said there was a princess of Colchis here? Which one?” His tone was quiet as he conversed with his little spy. Despite their closeness, Elias did not have an arm around her, though she had her hands on him. Elias was lazy, which meant Niobe often had to keep on top of society itself, and remind him of the important people that may pave his way to the crown of Athenia. She kept him appearing competent. Usually.

“Athanasia of Kotas, my Lord.” Niobe supplied, with a slight, pained smile. It bothered her that her master was always searching for women that would better his position to take on the crown of his kingdom. It constantly reminded her that she was not enough. She understood the need, though. She was a commoner, though she hoped to one day be more after he had the crown. That was why she did this. “The youngest of the Kotas,” Niobe added, quietly. She was hoping to make a point—the young woman would not suit her lord’s purposes. He should not speak to her.

And yet, Elias quietly insisted that the youngest Kotas be pointed out to him, though the young woman was not immediately in their view anymore. Niobe had done her homework and begrudgingly gave him a description of the young woman. She also briefly described the rest of the Kotas family. Her master was extremely lazy, and unless he deemed somebody worthy of his time, he would almost immediately forget their face.

Niobe continued to describe people at the event, when a piece of fruit slammed into Elias’s chest, knocking the wine glass askew. He was not known for being quick to react, quick to dodge. In fact, Elias was not known as a fighter. Though he was known to be intimidating in his own right. His nostrils flared as he tossed the glass to the ground, dark eyes narrowed as he searched for the owner of the peach.

Instead, the only thing that he caught was the face of a young woman, trying not to laugh, and then she was gone. He cursed under his breath, and tried to clean himself up, as Niobe tittered: “Let me clean your face, here, hold on.”

Elias was silent in his anger as he let Niobe try to clean him up. The scent of peaches clung to his chiton, the sticky juice was drying to his face and hair. He willed himself to stay still as Niobe tried her best to clean him up.

He was silent, stoic, allowing Niobe to try to dab the peach and wine from his face and chiton with a glass of water and a cloth that someone had handed her, he was lost in his thoughts. He was thinking about how nice it might be to skewer the young woman that had thrown the vile fruit. How it might be nice to force feed her some of the disgusting, fuzzy orange mess that now lived on his clothing.

Once he deemed himself clean enough, he shoved Niobe aside and started walking. The revolting scent was going to stick with him until he bathed. Not only did he smell like peaches, but he had spilled what was left of his wine across his front too. He bit back a growl as he headed in the direction the culprit had run.

As he headed in this direction, though, he passed the vendor of the stall that the peach had belonged to. The common man was haggling for the price of the peach, despite the fact Elias had not stolen it. He grumbled under his breath and paid before he continued on his way. Stupid brat, whoever she was, she’d pay.

He had no business with the men she had been talking to. If he was going to get an apology, it would be from the culprit herself. As he walked past vendors and stalls, past people having fun, he was silent, stoic. He already did not smile so much as he smirked. But now, even the smirk was gone from his face.

Niobe, left without instructions, would start talking to the nearest male. She might as well make herself useful, lest she incur Elias’s wrath for herself. She was smug, though, knowing that she had not informed him that the woman that had flung the fruit was the very princess he had been asking about. That had been on purpose, she’d never attempt to sabotage Elias’s conquests unless she believed them to be unworthy of his time.

He turned down a side street and paused to watch the waters. A calming scene. The ocean scent washed over him, briefly removing the disgusting stench of peaches from his senses. He almost considered getting into the water, but… that would not do.

After taking a second to orient himself, he had to choose a direction—so he asked a man if he had seen a young woman. “She has long, brunette hair,” he continued to describe the woman from the brief glance he’d caught of her. The man was able to point him down the street, and Elias’ lips twisted into a brief smile—almost gleeful.

He was looking forward to this.

He continued to walk down the street at a steady pace, and the moment he saw her, he barked out, “Hey! You, girl.” His tone was even, though his anger was evident in the way he carried himself, especially evident in his dark eyes. She was catching her breath from the looks of it—her chest rising and falling, cheeks flushed with exertion. She had run rather hard, most likely ducking alongside chariots and through alleys to get here.

He had taken his time between being cleaned up (as best as Niobe was able) and finding her.

“You need to repay me the money for the peach that you threw, replace my chiton,” he stated firmly, as he stopped in front of her. “And apologize.”

Elias took in her appearance as he neared her, the crown on her head, ribbons in her hair, and the way she had her feet in the water. Niobe could have told him that he was chasing after a princess. He would have been nicer, probably. Probably not, but it was too late to find out now. Besides, she’d thrown a peach at him. A peach!

Elias studied the handful of coin, the sweet smile on her face. Before him was a woman that was used to getting what she wanted, if he had to guess. He accepted the coin, even as she explained herself to him. He didn’t care for her explanation, and replied simply: “You shouldn’t be throwing rotten fruit at anyone, it’s rude and dangerous. Some people have allergies, you know.” He did not.

He just had a genuine hatred for the fruit and anything related to the fruit, it stemmed back from his childhood, though he was loath to think about the specifics involving the fruit, the color of the fruit. He almost scowled, before remembering himself. He listened to her, as she expressed the fact he had impressed her by finding where she was.

He did not smile, nor did he smirk, simply tossing a nod over his shoulder, “A few people saw you running, princess. It wasn’t hard to go from there.” He tucked the coins into his coin pouch, safely depositing it back into its original place, as he studied her.

He could just hear Niobe in the back of his mind, tittering that he was a mess and not fit to be seen. It was true, the chiton was ruined. “Do you know any good vendors that sell chitons?” He was not very well-versed in Colchis (or perhaps he was and he merely wanted to see what he could learn from the princess), so he’d need a guide if he was to clean up and make himself presentable again.

Elias wasn’t sure this young lady would be much use to him, and he hated the idea that Niobe had been right in suggesting he not speak with her. But still, the crown atop her head… She was a princess, and that counted for something. He had yet to introduce himself—the words he would hear from his father later, he could imagine they would not be very pleasant.

He made no move to introduce himself, even now, as he turned to scan what little of the crowd he could see for Niobe. She was probably trying to find him, drape herself across him as she often preferred to do. It was really annoying, but he knew turning her away would upset her, so he simply dealt with it.

Elias would have chuckled if he had known how quickly Athanasia would figure him out. He enjoyed when women were smart, though he often found that women who were smart were also quick to judge him based entirely on lies and rumors.

So either she wasn’t into judging, or she had no idea who he was. Her apology didn’t even get a smirk, instead she received a sigh. “Do you not think that looks childish? Throwing fruit across a busy festival-ground?” He inquired, irritation clear in his voice. Though he was internally amused.

She mentioned going into the forest and he tilted his head. “Do you visit the forest often, just to get away from your guard and family? Why?” Neutral, easy toned, he studied the young woman. So desperate to be allowed out by herself—this was not an issue that Elias had, and he found himself thankful for being born a man. But he could not help wondering what made her wish to rid herself of her guards so often.

He was looking for secrets. He could understand that he was the distraction, though that made his frown deepen. That was not the sort of distraction he had wanted to be. Then she turned talk towards those delectable horrid fruits, and he spat out: “No.” He offered her no more information, there was nothing else to offer about his hatred for peaches. But it was not an allergy.

She mentioned the water and he shook his head slightly. “That won’t make me feel better.” And it would draw unwanted attention towards him, he was sure. He was already looking around them, towards the stalls and vendors as she slipped her sandals on and stood. Elias followed at a languid pace, letting her take the lead—she knew Colchis better than he, after all.

As they entered a stall, the shopkeeper spoke to the young lady he was with, asking about tunics, and he raised an eyebrow. Her cheeks flushed red, and she was quick to leave him with the shopkeeper. Elias raised an eyebrow, watching her go. “Strange girl, is she not?”

The shopkeeper chuckled quietly, ‘Not everyone likes dresses, do they, my lord?’ Elias offered a quiet laugh in reply. The shopkeeper took some measurements, and found a chiton in Elias’s size. ‘Is this satisfactory?’

“Indeed.” He let the man wrap the chiton, and paid him, the new chiton safely tucked under his arm. “Have a good day,” he dipped his head. As he left the vendor behind, his gaze roamed the people, until he found the familiar head of hair with a crown attached, that he was looking for.

“I need somewhere to clean up and change.”

There had still been no introductions, though he had certainly gleaned who she was, he’d still let her introduce herself later. “And then, perhaps you and I can have a proper conversation. Not about peaches or clothes.” He stated, and his tone did not give away what kind of conversation he wanted to have.

Elias listened—he was taking notes, of course he was. She was pretty. He was certain she was the princess he had been asking Niobe about. The tiara in her hair, the outfit she had on… though they had yet to exchange names. What an odd way to meet royalty. He would have to apologize for that oversight once he was cleaned up.

She found him interesting. At that, Elias smirked. Most women found him interesting. Whether interesting stood for ‘pretty’ or some other interest, usually Elias could fit that bill. She was childish, she was rebellious, and… she was threatening him?

His smirk grew. She didn’t like titles, she could hunt, it was quiet in the forest, use her bow… She used a bow? He hummed softly, “Of course, of course. I would never wish to deprive the lady of her pastimes.” He sounded smug, though, like she had just gifted him a secret. She revealed she liked apricots, peaches. How anyone could like peaches… He would never understand.
But he could use it to his advantage.

The fact she had continued to bring up peaches was… not relevant. She was trying to get a reaction, and his father was the worst offender for those kinds of things. So, he did not react. He would not give her the satisfaction of a reaction. Not right now.

When the shopkeeper mentioned tunics, well, Elias had to make a comment. He was learning what she liked, easily picking her apart. There was more to this woman, but he was gaining enough intel without even Niobe’s help. And he kind of felt proud of himself for that simple fact.

When he had found acceptable replacements for his clothes, he left the stall behind and sought the young woman. She was eating a peach, and he fought back a scowl, catching the apple she tossed into the air. “Mmm, aren’t you just the picture of pleasant conversation?” He murmured, biting into the fruit. It was just right, flooding his mouth with a sweet flavor. Sarcastic little mouth she had.

She did not seem to care if he followed, and she almost left him behind, though he kept up. She led him to a cluster of trees, and he raised his eyebrows at her. She was serious. Shaking his head, Elias muttered something about poor accommodations, though he slipped into the cluster of trees.
He undressed and cleaned himself the best he could, as undignified as he deemed it. When he was dry enough to change clothes, he left his previous wear on the ground, and exited the cluster.

Elias snorted, “I didn’t think she’d just run away from me, gods above.” She was certainly different than most of the women he tried to get close too. Usually women were falling over themselves to be first in line with him. But this woman…

She intrigued him.

She had his attention.

Where she followed the stream until she reached the ocean again, he went back towards the marketplace, wondering if she had returned to get more fruit. He did not find her there, though, and eventually headed back towards the water. She had been there earlier.

While he wandered alongside the stream, until it reached the ocean, somewhere around there a little puppy had started after him, hot on his tail. He ignored it, though not out of cruelty, he simply believed it belonged to some children that he passed. But when he had found her, and the pup was still there, he studied it closer.

Taking a seat next to her, he patted the ground next to himself, so that he could look the dog over. “You are a hard woman to find, you know.” He was petting the dog, and he realized—

“I’m sorry, I do not think I caught your name earlier.”

She gave him a reaction—snapping ire clearly in her tone. Elias liked that fire, that spark. He wanted to fan it and see just how explosive she could be, but she was quick to leave him alone. By the time they had reunited, the chance to fan the fire was gone. Oh, the spunk was there, but the fire was not.

She chastised him, and he rolled his eyes, chuckling quietly. He leaned towards her, so that his shoulder touched hers, as he continued to pet the pup. “Well, Your Highness, Elias, when we’re not being so formal. But since you insist on formality… Lord Elias of House Stravos,” his voice was smooth, honeyed.

He’d certainly found the princess he had been looking for.

“As for the pup, no friend of mine, though it seems to think it is.” He continued to scratch the little creature’s chin, dark eyes staring across the ocean as he straightened next to her. “I accept your apology, for the earlier folly with the fruit.” He stated, not looking at her.

It did not bother Elias that he had been so rude to royalty. The young woman next to him did not seem to wish her rank upon others. She did not wish to impose herself as the royalty that she was, if he had read her right. That was disappointing, but also promising.

“Want him?” He lifted the pup up onto his lap, offering it to her. “I thought he belonged to some children a few streets over, but nobody’s come looking, and now that I’ve got him… he looks raggedy. Needs some care. Don’t much care for pets, myself.”

He had the time for a pet, certainly. He just did not want the scraggly mutt. “So, princess,” dark eyes left the ocean blue to find the young woman’s face, “What does one have to do to get in your good graces?” Point blank, the question was implied.

He was here, had been talking to her for a while now. He might as well continue to garner information for himself. He couldn’t very well use Niobe. She was not the one that he wanted sinking their claws into a princess. He was trying to remember what Niobe had told him about Athanasia.

She was supposed to be untouched, innocent. Sheltered.

Sheltered girls were some of his favorites, they could be so wild with the right encouragement… Plus the idea of a girl that nobody else had touched, had been intimate with? It was almost as sweet as the apple she had given him to eat, if not sweeter.