Rafail was almost nothing if not stubborn.

When he wanted something, that was what he wanted, and he wasn't willing to compromise. Why should he have to adapt to the desires of others to keep them happy if he wasn't going to be as happy as a result. He didn't wish to be mistaken for something as plebeian as being selfless. With the rarest exception that was his relationship with his sister, he tended to make it obvious that the most important person in his life was himself, and that he was the person he intended to make the most happy. That was likely the very reason he had clashed so with the lady of this house: her attitude was too headstrong to allow him to get his way in the manner he might have willed, and he was too uncontrollable. They were near perfectly matched to never get along.

The night had been a long one, and far duller than he would have anticipated, given all he had done to make it otherwise.

Evidently, the closest whorehouse had been a good distance away because it had taken Deucalion and Barnabas an excessive amount of time to bring him someone but, once they had, she hadn’t disappointed. Blonde and big-busted and with an eagerness to please in her eyes, she worked well to earn the couple of drachma - gods, what cheap women they had around here! - Rafail had pressed into her hand when he had sent her off again in the earliest hours of the morning. He had been satisfied, yes, but there was a lack of satisfaction at the same time, a feeling that he hadn’t exactly managed to earn what he wanted. The way Iris had been playing him had irritated but, at the same time, it had left him craving success with her and that had made the sex far less pleasurable than he usually would have. It had been responsible, to an extent, for the rather restless sleep he had had that night.

The time at which he had awoken was uncertain, and there were a few moments where he had yet to get his bearings and could not exactly recall where he was. Rafail was all but convinced that he had been out on a less than well-intentioned visit to one of his favourite ladies and had inadvertently stayed the night. The absence of a companion lying beside him alerted him to otherwise, and, after a brief moment, he came to a sudden realisation, all the memories of the night before and how utterly disappointing it had been flooding back into his mind. On the bright side, there was still the appeal of hunting.

He had changed into something not as awkward as his skin, a dark chiton held with silvery clasps, as he exited the room to find the friends with which he had arrived and to command someone to fetch their horses for the hunt. It would not do to dwell on the drama of the previous day, lest it interrupt their activities.

They had not been out long, not been entirely lucrative in their chase so far, with nothing to show for their attempts. Rafail was growing increasingly infuriated with both his own and his companions’ handiwork, if solely because he didn’t appreciate failure, when, in the distance, he heard a scrambling which, to him, implied there was an animal about. Stopping their movement a moment, he listened for further sounds and, hearing nothing that would prove otherwise, raised his bow, aiming an arrow in the direction of the sounds.

Ah, not an animal then, perhaps unfortunately so. This was not what the man had hoped for. He would have thought their hunt would be quiet and calm and successful - at the very least successful - but it appeared that things were not to go his way that day. It seemed they hadn't been going his way since he'd started this trip and for someone like him, that was, frankly, entirely unacceptable. He was really going to have to put a stop to all these inconveniences, whatever it took. Rafail wasn't one to leave things at halves, and he certainly wasn't one to allow himself to be so awfully humiliated on more than one occasion in a row, and by a woman, no less. He would have the upper hand.

For a brief moment, Rafail was inclined to tell Iris the truth and comment that his sleep had been nowhere near as enjoyable as she might have believed but pride prevented the words from leaving his mouth. As far as he was concerned, she deserved to think he had had one of the greatest nights of his life without her input if solely to keep her aware of what she had missed by refusing him her company. It was only a shame that he didn't have the same lady of the night with him at that moment to vouch for his words.

Adjusting himself to sit taller and with more dignity on his horse, he gave her a curt nod in response to the query, his expression remaining blank. "Yes, despite your lack of hospitality, I slept excellently last night, although I cannot vouch for my companions." Though, judging by the absence of any complaints on their behalf that morning, Rafail could only assume they had enjoyed their rest. That or they were so exhausted from a sleepless night that they were no longer able to speak. Both possibilities were entirely reasonable. "Perhaps on my next visit, you might be kind enough to provide them with a little something to pass the night as well. I wouldn't wish to be the only one of us having such a delightful night." A complete lie. Rafail wasn't at all concerned by whether or not his friends were being given the same opportunities with women as he. It was hardly a secret that his number one priority was himself and himself alone.

Was that all Iris had to say to him? Rafail would have thought she would have had further words, even if they weren't necessarily the most positive. Instead, she had turned and started to ride away from him again, and the thought of a woman turning away from him like that, now that was not alright. Urgh, he was going to have to pull out all the stops on this one again, and he hardly wanted to do that with someone he disliked as much as Iris.

"My Lady," he called out to her, nudging his horse forward so that it would follow her and staying close behind. "Perhaps you could make it up to me, hm? I wouldn't mind your joining me on the hunt."

"You asked whether or not I slept well, it would only be appropriate to answer you fully. I could have given you more details about my activities overnight but I am sure your prudish nature would be unable to handle it. All I can say is that it was absolutely...thrilling." He chuckled at his own words, giving his friends a side glance to ensure they were reacting to his humour just as jovially as he had. Rafail had to admit he preferred to see sycophancy from them over anything else. There was a certain appeal to knowing people were always going to side beside you as required. "As for my advice, I could not care less whether you believe you are capable of entertaining guests or not, I did not consider your hosting up to the calibre I both deserve and have come to expect, given my standing. If anybody has proved disrespectful to the other's house, I can gladly say 'twas not I."

Waiting for Iris to stop ignoring him so blatantly - apparently she believed that her dogs were of greater importance than Rafail - the man made no effort whatsoever to conceal his irritation, the pout on his face clear and eyebrows furrowed into his typical frown. He drummed his fingers on his thigh as he waited for her attention to return to him, where it should have remained permanently. Honestly, the absolute gall of this woman. He would have been impressed had she not already done so much to anger him. "When you're quite done?" he commented, glaring at the dogs as though they were entirely at fault for her distraction.

Hmph.

There was no scenario where Rafail would ever be caught hunting on foot. He was well aware of how typical it was for others (he might have even referred to it as the way the poor hunted, if he believed they ever hunted at all) but he would never have abandoned his horse to do something like that. He was, as ever, dressed up to the nines in an outfit most would never have deemed appropriate for hunting, decorated with the golds he adored. Running through the trees was not an option.

"I would rather not. This chiton is new and I did not have it designed only for me to dash through the forest like some idiotic child," he objected, continuing to follow after on his horse, uninterested in any complaints she may have had. Rafail was not here for a serious hunt: rather, this was meant to be a simple past time for him, and he would not be allowing Iris's bad temper to ruin it for him. "I shall continue to ride beside you and, if you uncomfortable with the matter, I am sure one of my companions would be entirely willing to offer you his horse." Although, he did enjoy being atop his horse whilst she was on the ground. The added difference in height gave him a further sense of power not destroyed by her horrendous attitude and Rafail was certainly enjoying the feeling.

He knew he must have been extremely young because Sofia could not have been more than a toddler at the time and Pavlos had only been oh-so-recently married. Five? Six? He could hardly remember how old he was, only that Mama had been alive. Mama had been very proud and very vain, and Mama had taught him just how to be, even though she hadn't been around so much as his nursemaid. Rafail had wanted to be a nice and perfect blend of Mama and Father, with all of her pride and all of his intelligence and skill. But Mama had died soon, and she had left him without any women to teach him, only with Maeja the nursemaid - and how hilariously ironic that he should have a nanny with a name meaning 'mother' like that. And then, after Father got rid of her because Rafail had decided he didn't want her anymore because she wouldn't give in to his tantrums so easily, there was Helen, and Helen had been spineless and useless and just so happy to let him do whatever he wanted.

It was good to have people like that around. You wanted the ones who let you have things the way you wanted. You wanted the ones who were too desperate to please and would never dare do a thing otherwise, lest they share the fate of their predecessor. You wanted the ones that bent themselves backwards and wrapped themselves around your pinky finger just to keep you pleasantly satisfied and stop your screaming (and Rafail had always, always been excellent at screaming).

He was unused to being anything but the centre of attention.

Iris did not allow Rafail the luxuries he desired nor the ones he believed he deserved, and she hardly gave him the time of day when he was so kindly inviting her to join him on a hunt. And when else would she be receiving an invitation like that? When else would any man of such prestige ask the girl to attend to him on such an event? Despite her gender - and, Gods, it appeared she did anything she wished despite her gender - the woman was constantly active, and Rafail could not imagine she had ever had the time to spend with something as entertaining as a hunt. He would have believed it if Iris told him she had never spoken to a man other than her father or the slaves before although, having said that, he almost had to consider whether Iris even preferred the company of men or whether, as he had heard tell could be the case, absurd as it might seem, she would rather spend her days amongst women. And, if the latter were indeed the case, then he wholeheartedly understood why his advances were so often rejected.

Spoiled as he had always been, the man did not understand the simple possibility that Iris might not have been interested in him for any reason other than not liking men as a whole because, honestly, why should anyone not be interested in him and his wants? He'd had almost every one of the girls at court: the fragile-framed and blonde-haired, the angular-faced and dark-haired, and each kind in between. He'd had all the timid servant girls and the pretty slaves who passed through the Marikas Archontikos, and the well-trained women who wished him well whenever he visited their brothels. But they were easy, and they had fallen to Rafail's charm with no struggle. Iris was a struggle and she would be both a worthy challenge and its equally sweet prize.

Her response to his kindness went unappreciated, and the frown lingered on his face for a few prolonged moments after she had already turned away, the time taken to formulate a response longer than what now remained hidden under his chiton, though Iris had already received an often coveted glimpse at the crown jewels he thought even more stunning than the other gems he decorated himself with. His mind did not even bother with the thought of what his companion was currently shouting about, a dog and his horse and all sorts of fuss which Rafail deemed unimportant as it hadn't the slightest to do with himself.

"Stelios, silence," he ordered the man, raising a hand behind him to quiet the idiot, barely listening to his nonsense. "I shall have Father replace it, I have more pressing matters. The group of you may return to the estate, I'm bored of your uselessness." He muttered an order about accompanying them at Barnabas, turning to follow after Iris once more, regardless of her comments about riding. Why should he have to adjust himself to suit her convenience? The woman, horrendously strong-minded as she was, would be able to handle it.

It took another while before he caught up with Iris once more, lowering the pace of his horse to keep himself quieter so as not to disturb the prey she was so obsessed with hunting. Some people needed to learn to enjoy themselves the way he did so delightfully well and if he had to teach them, then so be it. There were few things the man did better than enjoying himself, hedonist that he was. "My Lady," Rafail called to her once more, unconcerned by any complaints that might leave her mouth. "If you do not wish to hunt for pleasure, then allow me to aid you otherwise. I am a baron myself, I understand the importance of providing for our people." Even if, admittedly, he was not the poster child for perfect baron, nor could he really give a flying fuck who was providing his own people. There were others appointed to handle such affairs, put in place when he had been but twelve and as yet unconcerned by caring for the province he still saw as a gift. "I am an excellent shot, I can guarantee my help will not be in vain."