The afternoon sun was bright as it shone over the lands of Athenia, basking the young Danae of Stravos in its warm glow as she sat alone in the Marikas gardens. Normally, it was ill-advised for a lady of her stature to spend her time out under the open sun, but it was only out here in the fresh air did Danae realize just how stifling her world had become. All her family could think about was the upcoming succession vote which would occur in a week’s time. On paper, it appeared that it would be a Stravos victory over the Xanthos family and they would be just a step closer to putting Elias on the throne… but something seemed off to Danae and the pressure to keep her silence and not spoil the jovial mood weighed heavily on her.

She was no fool and neither was the royal family. It didn’t make sense why they were willingly walking into this. Especially when the odds were clearly stacked against them. The crown was not known to gamble. King Minas made calculated and very precise moves in order to secure what he wanted. After all, he couldn’t afford to have a single card slip from his deck. Not with how unstable his family’s hold on the throne appeared to be. They would not willingly walk into a slaughter like this. There had to be something else going on that Danae was failing to see.

Yet, her family would not listen to Danae’s hesitations on the matter. She was just a girl. A silly, little sixteen-year-old girl who thought she knew how the world worked by shadowing her father ever since she was little. She had never set foot in the Dikastirio. What would she know of politics and laws? It was beyond frustrating for her to be seeing something so plainly obvious and yet be --seemingly-- willfully ignored by those around her.

However, for a few hours, she would be free from these worries clouding her thoughts for the last few weeks. Danae’s cousin, Daniil, had sent her a note earlier that morning, asking to meet her in the gardens of the Marikas Manor. Given that her father had other meetings outside the household that day and the only alternative way to pass her time would be spending time with her mother and sister… well, Danae didn’t need to ponder it for too long before jumping at the chance. She was eager to escape her family, even if it was just a few hours, so that she may have a chance to breathe.

So, that was why Danae sat alone on a small bench in the family’s extensive gardens. Her eyes kept glancing upwards, searching for any sign of her childhood friend, but as the minutes crept by there was still no sign of Dani. Her patience was beginning to grow thin, but it wasn’t like there was anything she could do, but continue to wait. Perhaps her cousin was merely running late? She knew how rough-and-tumble the girl could be. Surely, this delay couldn’t be anything more than just the elder one making herself presentable? Or perhaps the youngest Marikas girl had simply lost track of time? What if --

As these questions about where Daniil could be whirred about her mind, Danae failed to hear the sound of approaching footsteps that signaled an end to her solitude in the garden. However, it was not her cousin as she may have expected. Instead, it was someone who was undoubtedly very surprised to find a Stravos girl on her own in his family’s gardens.

That was something he would no doubt inquire about once he made his presence known to the distracted girl.

Daniil of Marikas, Pavlos of Marikas