Eleutheria

XVIII

XVIII

“Is that too tight?” Erasmos asked as he adjusted the tie on Hypatia's peplos. Eutropia had decided to teach him how to dress their mistress. Since it allowed him to touch her body, he had agreed. He hadn't realize just how much work there was to dressing a princess though.

Everything had to be just so. Hypatia could not be allowed to be shown in a bad light around other members of the court. Though he didn't see how it would matter, if she looked anything less than radiant it would make whispers start about her maturity. He couldn't help but think that this city had no real idea what maturity actually was.

Hypatia seemed to be the sole exception and took her dressing with a frown. They wouldn't have time to dress her at the coliseum, but she was going before the court, she had to look the part.

“It's fine,” she answered without even looking at him. She was reading the scroll that Galen was holding up for her to to pursue as they dressed her.

Each round had a special set of rules that changed from round to round. To keep things fair, the rules were only delivered to the masters the dawn of their turn at the round. Hypatia was reading through the overly worded list so she could explain it to him on the way to the stadium.

Erasmos stepped back so Eutropia could finish and straighten what he had done. His work wasn't nearly as flawless as hers. She even undid the tie he had put in place. It wasn't too tight or too loose, but he hadn't done it neatly. Presentation was everything for the court.

When she stepped away, he could see the difference and shrugged. He would prefer, he decided, to take the clothing off of her. Which was, he grinned at the thought, what he was looking forward to most tonight. A single battle was nothing for that kind of prize.

A soft knock on the doorway had them all turning as Diantha entered. The lady's maids all bowed at the waist, Erasmos took to his knees and lowered his head even as they stood straight.

“Morning, mother,” Hypatia greeted, looking from the rules. She had already read them twice; really she was just memorizing at this point and trying not to focus on Erasmos's deft fingers on her skin. It was not such an easy task.

Diantha smiled at her. “Oh, you're so pretty. I don't know why you don't dress up more.”

“It's pointless and time consuming. I could be continuing to sleep were it not for this useless ritual.”

“Sharp tongued so early in the morning? Did you not sleep well?”

She hadn't, but that was because she had been having delightfully uncomfortable dreams about Erasmos, and she wasn't telling her mother that. Instead, she looked over her mother's head and into the doorway where she saw her father hanging just out of sight.

She frowned at him darkly, but he didn't see. He was staring elsewhere, looking remarkably small for a man so big. He knew that Hypatia knew what he had done last night. He didn't want to face her out of his shame. Personally, Hypatia thought that was smart.

She looked away from him deliberately and back to her mother. “Is this important? I have to be off soon so we can begin preparing Erasmos at the coliseum.”

“I know. We're going with you,” Diantha beamed at her. “You didn't think we would miss your performance in tournament, did you?”

Hypatia gave her a ghost of a smile. “I'll be happy to know that you are watching, mother.”

In the doorway, she saw her father flinch at her deliberate wording.

Diantha looked back at her where her husband stood before turning back to Hypatia. “Something I missed, dear?”