Survivor Guilt wrote:
King Thalamon of Athens x Elizabeth Eleanor Marie Lightning
"Well isn't this wonderful?" I mutter under my breath as I peer out into the street. In accordance with Greek culture, I can't be seen out without a male escort, so I'm going to have to be sneaky in getting out of the city. "I'm lost in a different time with no way of getting back home." I'm estimating that it's about 400 BC, which means I'm about twenty-four hundred years out of date. Going back in time isn't in itself unusual to me, as I've gone many past places without ceremony. However, not being able to open a gateway back home is very unusual, as this is the first time it's happened and more than a bit disconcerting, since I really don't want to get stuck in Athens, circa 400 BC.
I don't see anyone else out on the street right now - it's about twilight, so most citizens are in their homes with their families - besides the guard at the gate, and I know I can take him out easily as long I sneak up on him. However, if I'm caught-
Suddenly there's a cry of, "Woman!" in Greek behind me - I am fluent in Greek, as well as many other languages - and I sigh to turn around and find a startled shop owner staring at me in shock and fear, the pottery he was holding a shattered mess on the ground at his feet. I hadn't seen him before because he was in the back of his shop, so I guess there's nothing I could have done to avoid this. It's a shame that I'm going to have to kill him before anyone else hears.
Drawing an arrow from the quiver on my back and fitting it into my bow, I aim at his heart and am about to fire when a pair of arms grabs me from behind. My bow and arrow clatter to the ground, and I immediately begin to wriggle and squirm for all of my might. I manage to turn around and face my assailant, who happens to be the same guard I saw at the gate and a good five inches shorter than I am, and headbutt him for all I'm worth. Instantly he lets go of me and falls to the ground, unconscious.
I then turn back to the shop owner who originally raised the alarm to find two other guards coming at me now.
"Oh, beautiful," I growl under my breath as I watch them approach me warily. Deciding to take a less violent approach, I stand up and tell them clearly, in perfect Greek, "I mean you no harm. I just wish to leave the city."
The guards seem very surprised that I speak Greek - it's not like I look Greek, after all - but the one on the left quickly recovers from his shock to answer, "You are a woman, and you cannot be out on the street without a male escort. I'm sorry, but we have to apprehend you."
"That's too bad," I say, and the guards immediately get suspicious again. After all, I'm supposed to be giving up. "I didn't really want to hurt you two."
The shock is just starting to register on both of their faces when I charge them, find the pressure point in their shoulders, and grip their shoulders tightly until they both fall to the ground, unconscious like the first guard.
However, the shopkeeper has been yelling his lungs off during the whole exchange, so by this time a crowd of at least twenty guards has gathered. Balling my hands into fists, I watch them all warily as they slowly walk towards me, and feel my heart sink into my stomach when I realize I'm surrounded with my bow kicked off to the side. I still do have arrows, which I suppose I could throw like darts, but all of the guards are wearing fully body armor and have swords and daggers hanging from their belt.
"I guess this is what they call going down fighting," I murmur, steeling myself for the guards to rush at me. Suddenly, before I can do anything else, a guard grabs me from behind, and two more grab my arms and pull them behind my back before I can even try to fight the first guard off. I feel something tightening around my wrists and sigh as I feel the rope binding them together. It looks like the guards are going to apprehend me after all.
I look up in surprise when I hear the sounds of a large crowd ahead of me, and see that there are in fact at least two thousand people lining the sides of the streets. My gaze then falls on the procession in the middle of the streets, and immediately I understand why.
Sitting at the head of a long parade of nobles, astride a majestic bay stallion is a young man who could only be King Thalamon, the ruler of Greece who the people love with all of their hearts. He smiles and waves and occasionally even throws coins into the crowd, and his golden cloak ripples out behind him in the wind as his blue-green-gray eyes dance. He seems to love the people as much as they love him.
Suddenly the king sees the escort of twenty guards, with me in the middle being securely held by four of them, and his eyes meet mine for a moment. In that moment, I see right into his soul, and the intelligence, compassion and love for these people and this city that I find there greatly surprises me. I mean, he's king of the most powerful empire on earth, and he's not even arrogant!
Apparently he sees something in my eyes that intrigues him as well, as he gestures for the leading guard to approach his horse. The guard immediately does so, and falls to his knees in reverence before the king. I smile slightly when I see the exasperated, almost annoyed expression on the king's face, and realize that he must not be a big fan of being treated like a god. Of course, I can't blame him.
"Why does it take twenty men to apprehend a woman walking on the streets alone, guard?" the king asks after the guard gets to his feet, his eyes on me with an amused interest.
"She is a very skilled fighter, and succeeding in defeating three guards before we managed to apprehend her, your Majesty," the guard replies, bowing conspicuously after he's done talking, and I can't help but roll my eyes at the gesture. That would get really annoying really quickly.
The king seems to notice my eye-roll, for a smile crosses his face, and he slides off of his horse to walk towards me. I realize, with a start, that he's actually about three or four inches taller than I am, which is very surprising given the time period. He must be almost a foot taller than average for an Athenian man.
He stops when he is about five feet away from me, gestures for the guards to release me, and says with a grin, "I have not seen a girl so adept at embarrassing my best men as you seem to be. Tell me, what is your name?" His eyes are locked on mine, and it occurs to me, with another start, that, despite his size and intelligence, he can't be more than twenty-one years old.
"Lizzie," I reply instantly, not even bothering to think about using a false name to throw him off.
One eyebrow arches in skepticism, and he asks, "Just Lizzie?"
"Well," I concede, "Elizabeth Eleanor Marie Lightning, but Lizzie's a lot shorter."
"Indeed it is," he agrees with a smile, and, taking me by surprise, turns to his second-in-command - who is by his side now - and says in a loud voice, "Prepare a meal and a bed for her in my quarters. It seems that Lizzie and I have much to talk about." He then closes the gap in between us with three strides, wraps his arm around my shoulders, and walks me back to his horse, at which point he insists on helping me up.
After mounting behind me, which I find very disconcerting, he murmurs in my ear, apparently sensing my distress, "I'm sorry if you find this inappropriate at all; this is just the only way for us to be able to talk, as I am very interested to hear about how you got these incredible fighting skills of yours."
Even though I'm surprised at the amount of respect he showed me - after all, women are basically on the same level as slaves in Athenian society - I'm still not happy about being apprehended, and even less happy about being picked up by the king. "It's a very long story, your Majesty," I reply stiffly, wanting nothing more than to slide off the horse and bolt for the gate.
"Please call me Thalamon; I will have none of that 'your Majesty' nonsense from a foreigner too," he tells me, and, upon hearing the disgust in his voice, I know that my suspicions about him disliking the gestures made to him because of his status are correct. "And I have all the time I could ever want at my disposal, so I would love to hear your very long story."
I feel him smiling over my shoulder, and can't help but sigh slightly. All I want to do is get out of this damn city, not spend hours telling the king about my days as an assassin!
However, I can't let any of my reservations manifest themselves, lest I get caught in the midst of forming my escape plans, so I reply, "My story you'll hear then," not being able to resist adding a slightly medieval flair to my words.
"Good. I look forward to hearing about it over dinner." I feel him smiling again, and immediately my eyes shoot open at the 'over dinner' part. Do I honestly have a date with the king of Athens?
