’No, I’m not going to arrest you. I couldn’t chance having you executed or sold as a slave. There is no way that I can formally take action against you and your cousin or sister or whatever Aea actually is to you. I am offering to take the two of you under my protection. To keep you both safe, perhaps see if there is some way to build upon our time in my tent. But I have a lot of questions for you, as I’m certain you have more for me. Why did you steal the coins and leave my mother’s necklace? Is your family all thieves? What happened in Megaris? I want to know your side of the story. Was anything that happened in Taengea real? Or was it all just an act?’

Kaia remained silent for a moment as his words sunk in. Truth be told, she was not sure what to expect, but it was not that. The words and questions seemed to pour from his mouth and she could feel the honesty behind them. Some of his comments surprised her quite a lot. She had not thought that he would be concerned for her wellbeing considering she stole from him, yet he was willing to offer her his protection. She couldn’t quite comprehend why. She also felt guilty when he mentioned Aea. She had not lied to him, but given that for the sake of their bard con that day, Cassero had called them sisters.

The case about Megaris was mostly what Kaia had expected them to speak about, but hearing him say he did not have plans to arrest her began to pave the way towards setting her nerves to rest. However, it was his questions about his necklace and Taengea that moved her to feel guilt the most.

It took another moment for Kaia to begin to formulate what she needed to say. She understood his need for questions, she just didn’t know how to feel about someone she thought she would never see again. She was pleased, but also scared. The memory of him she kept locked away was no longer just a memory. There he was, standing in front of her, breathing and living. He was real and he was there. Any feelings that were locked away before were free and it would take her some time to understand what to do with them.

“It was real,” Kaia began quietly, but honestly, speaking of course about Taengea. His comment about building upon their time in his tent caught her off guard. What was he admitting?

“I didn’t take your necklace because you said your mother gave it to you,” Kaia answered softly. It was true, she could not have taken it from him, not after hearing him speak of her at the dionysia. “I took the coins, because I couldn’t return home empty handed, there would have been questions.”

Kaia didn’t like admitting so much about her family, but she felt like she owed Alexandros an explanation. Had her family known she had the chance to take more, they would have been furious at her for not doing so. However, coming back with both a sword and a handful of drachmae set any questions on what else she should have stolen aside.

“Because I had the coins, I was able to keep the sword,” Kaia added, shuffling her weight ever so slightly as she met his gaze again.

As for her family and Megaris, Kaia was somewhat at a loss for how to answer those questions. He was right in his assumption about her family. Thieves wasn’t a particularly charming word, but it wasn’t untrue.

“We do hunt, and when we have ample furs, we sell them,” Kaia began carefully. “We do also have talented musicians in the family. My uncle has been known to be paid as a street bard, and Aea showed potential today in the field too. But you are right,” Kaia sighed, lifting her gaze to look absently at the top of the column. “Hunting and music is not how we make our living.”

It was more difficult for her to say that than he could likely expect. Kaia knew her uncles would be furious with her for talking so freely with him, but she couldn’t help but feel like she owed it to him. Her father too would probably be disappointed in her as well, that hurt the most.

“In Megaris, that was primarily self defence,” Kaia began, her gaze dropping to meet his once more. “Aea and I snuck into the city. We ended up running into slavers. While we were separated, one pulled a blade on me and led me outside, where I fought him. He was alive when I left, he stabbed himself in the leg,” Kaia explained, though she knew that Alexandros would be investigating the murder of the man who Kaia knew to hurt Aea.

“The other man, the man that we,” she paused a moment, looking up again as if to find strength to continue. “The man we killed. I found him in the room with Aea, chains in hand with her strapped to the bed. I couldn’t let him get away with that.”

Kaia would not apologise for taking that man’s life. She couldn’t even remember his name, that was how little his life meant to her after what he did.

Her stormy gaze drifting back to meet his once more, Kaia waited to see how Alexandros would respond. She never meant to hurt him, or at least, never thought she would be met with the consequences of doing so. It was much easier to steal from someone she thought never to see again.

’That is good to hear. For some time now I have been forced to wonder whether I was just another mark, some fool you conned and robbed. I had feared that the most interesting woman I’ve ever met was just playing me for the fool, but now my relief is immeasurable. For everything that happened that night, every action and word was real for me as well.’

He still considered her to be the most interesting woman he’d met. Kaia initially wanted to dismiss the comment as something he might tell all the women in his life, but given her raw honesty and his in turn, perhaps there was truth there after all. She wanted it to be true, but she hated that she did. She was supposed to move along with her life, but now that he was there in front of her, everything she thought she knew about them and her future was up in the air. Still, she had not yet finished answering his questions. Kaia explained why she didn’t take his necklace but did take the coins. She felt uncomfortable admitting it, but considering what he knew, Kaia did not think she could afford anything but the truth just in case.

’I see, it’s not like the few coins you took hurt me, but if you had said that you needed them to convince your family to let you keep the sword, I would have given them to you. You didn’t need to swipe them and then run away like a thief in the night. I am thankful that you left the necklace, at some point I will give it to another. The woman who takes my heart and becomes my bride will be given the necklace my father gave my mother after they were wed. It’s an heirloom I could not have afforded to lose, so thank you for not stealing it as well, we wouldn’t be having this conversation if you had.

Kaia had not expected him to reveal so much to her about the necklace. Why was he telling her that? Kaia didn’t want to read into it, she couldn’t let herself. As fun as their teasing may have been, it was not practical. Kaia couldn’t leave her family, nor could she imagine herself as a man’s wife, tending to the house while he adventured to his heart’s content. She couldn’t leave Aea, nor did she want to. If her future husband was to go with her and Aea, that would be different, but Alexandros was a captain and could not go traversing Greece with Kaia and Aea. So truly, there was no point entertaining the idea, no matter how much she was itching to read between the lines.

’Kaia, I can take you and Aea away, pay off your family, and help you both transition into some sort of more normal life. You don’t need to be trapped by the men who raised you in a life that is certain to end in violence. What will happen if they rob the wrong people and all of you are caught? I can promise it won’t be.a good ending for you and Aea. You’ll be turned into pleasure slaves, whores, or executed, and none of us want that. Don’t go back to them, find Aea and I’ll take you both to my home. If I need to pay then so be it, I’ll pay the price for you both.’

Kaia swallowed hard. She knew he wasn’t threatening her and her family, but she could not leave them. It did mean something to her though that he included Aea in his plan, or that he even had an offer for her. Did she truly make such an impact on him that he would take her and Aea out of their current lives? Perhaps she had misread him and his flirtatious demeanour back in Taengea. Maybe he wasn’t so inclined to wander as she had assumed. Even so, Kaia could not accept.

“I can’t,” Kaia murmured, imploring him to understand. “They’re my family. They’re all I’ve ever known. I can’t leave them,” Kaia continued. She did not want to imagine how devastated her father would be if she were to run away. He would teach Colchis apart rock by rock to find her.

’That seems reasonable based on all the evidence I have seen, but you two really should be more careful, and stop playing such dangerous games.’

It was a relief to not hear the threat of imprisonment or slavery. Her and Aea had only wanted to enjoy a night to themselves. They had not had any plans to kill anyone.

“If it wasn’t us, then the slave trade would have gained two more innocent women that night,” Kaia mused. She could hardly bring herself to feel sorry for the man they’d killed after she learnt what he intended to do.

’Damnit Kaia, why must you be so loyal?’

Under normal circumstances, Kaia might have made some sort of playful joke at that, but instead she remained silent, frowning in thought. Pragmatically, she could understand his concern, she truly could. However, they were Kaia’s family. Her father. Kaia couldn’t put him through that pain. Agolois wasn’t a bad man. He was kind, quiet and gentle. He was only aggressive when he needed to be, but malice and cruelty did not come easily to the man.

Kaia tilted her head up slightly to meet his gaze as Alexandros moved closer towards her. For a moment there she thought he was about to either shake her or kiss her. Kaia felt her muscles tense in preparation, though she otherwise made no move to block him.

’I know what family must mean to you, or rather I know how much I miss mine, but these men aren’t good for you or Aea. There is no way that this life they have raised you in ends well, you have to know that, right? If someone other me finds out all the things you’ve done and catches you…’

“I can take care of myself,” Kaia insisted, though with a little less emphasis than she intended. She understood his warning and it was a true concern. Kaia had no misunderstanding about how her life would likely end. She probably wouldn’t ever see old age, like some of the wealthy people. She wouldn’t die peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones. She would likely be killed in the heat of a fight, or executed. At least that was still better than starving to death from being a decent and lawful, but poor citizen.

’I want you to live safe and whole, both you and your cousin. You deserve a chance to prove that you aren’t cut from the same cloth as those that raised you, but I can’t guarantee that unless you both come with me, please, consider it some more. I don’t live far from here, it should be easy to find if you change your mind.’

When Alexandros kissed the tip of her nose, she gave a light exhale, searching his cool blue gaze for any sign of how she was supposed to feel or react. Silently she cursed him for coming back into her life all of a sudden. It would have been easier to leave the memory of him locked away in her past for her to think back on fondly at her leisure. Otherwise if he were angry at her, then she could respond in kind. This though, this offer to look out for her and Aea, along with his concern for her safety left her confused on what to feel. She was grateful but had to refuse him, she had to. She couldn’t leave her family willingly and she already knew from how he spoke that Alexandros would not be extending his offer to them too.

’Yes, if it wasn’t you the man would be alive and still catching unsuspecting girls. If the man had been any stronger the two of you would be being raped and beaten until you broke right now. It worked out, no doubts there, but you must know that what you did was incredibly dangerous and that it could have gone very bad for both of you. Neither of us wants to see you in chains, so please just be more careful in the future, I can’t and won’t always be the one that finds you.’

“We did not go looking for trouble, it found us all on its own,” Kaia murmured softly, unable to bring herself to be as stern as she wanted. She could practically feel how much he cared, which left her once again, uncertain of how to respond. Kaia chewed her bottom lip as she considered his expression again, his face so close to hers. Not waiting long enough to decide if it was a good idea or not, Kaia took Alexandros’ face in her hands, then leaned up to kiss him.

Almost instantly, Kaia realised her mistake. Before she had not known how to feel, now that she was there with Alexandros, kissing him again, Kaia realised just how partial she was becoming towards him. She couldn’t let herself entertain the idea of being with him though, even if deep down she knew she would like to be. She had her family. She had her life and goals to consider. She needed to nip the feelings in the bud before she did something drastic.

After a moment, Kaia broke the kiss and met his gaze once more. Her hands still cupping his face, Kaia tried to push back anything amorous she felt towards him so that she could stay focused on what she had to do.

“I need to go. They’ll be expecting me,” Kaia murmured, letting her hands slip away from his face. She couldn’t tell him how she felt because it didn’t matter, it would just torture the both of them.