"I do not know so much about you."
"Really?"
"You know that I am right."
"Do I?"
"Domina!"
Leonidas heard her laugh as she dove back into the water then moved towards him, her head coming out of the water as she stared at him while he was seated bare chested on the rock, only his legs in the water. "What is it?"
He pouted, "Why will you not tell me anything about you?"
"What is there to tell?" She asked, her hand now holding his feet as she placed small kisses on his toes. "The me in the past is not important but the me with you is."
Though she was managing to distract him with the way she was bewitching his feet, Leonidas managed to bite his lower lip and say, "You are the one who is always saying the past is important."
He heard her laugh, one of amusement and pleasure as she left his feet and did a butterfly stroke, swimming backwards. "Who would have thought you would use my words against me one day? I dare say Leonidas Aetos, you are getting bolder."
Leonidas' cheeks were already burning with red, his eyes now on the water as he played with his feet but did not say any other thing.
While they had been in 'Ard almiead last night, he had watched different people dance in their many cultures and made a small deal with Alcaeus Chloros to have some of his people perform in the Gathering and though the old man had refused to let them do so, he had agreed that he would let them teach anyone their ways only if the person would not make ill use them.
It had been Persephone who had added that they should also get paid for teaching the other Familias which also Alcaeus did not want to accept but after she pleaded, reluctantly agreed.
Leonidas watched her swim towards the shore now, leaving him on the rock as she came out of the water and wrapped a towel around her hair then wore his white shirt that he had left behind as he said, "Just like I did not know what you do for them. I would have never known if you eventually left me like you planned to."
Persephone slowly sat on a stool, folding up the sleeves of the shirt to her elbows and crossing her legs as she picked up a palette knife from a bucket of blue paint next to her then stared at the canvas in concentration. "I did not do all those things for anyone to know."
"Then why did you do it?"
"So that no one would know."
Leonidas whined now, "Domina."
She tilted her head to look at him then said, "I have this strange feeling that you want to moan my name. Is that what this is about?"
He blushed more there, now remembering how she had finally removed the cloak in the cabin and let him see what she wore underneath. The idea that she had worn such a thing and walked around that night had made him nearly lose his mind. "Stop changing the subject."
Persephone turned back to the canvas now. "Have I ever painted you? I mean with actual paint, and not just sketched you?"
Leonidas shook his head. "Not exactly. I do not think so."
"Hmm."
Persephone turned to her side and searched through a box there then brought out a golden harp before she walked to the edge of the water and said, "Here."
Leonidas stared at it, then her. "You -,"
"I would have given you at the festival yesterday but for some reason Micah had it done today and Miriam brought it over." She cut in. "Take it. My hand is beginning to hurt."
He slowly slid off his rock, landing in the water before swimming towards her as he reached out for it.
When she placed it in his hands and returned back to the stool, he stared at the golden harp that had the word Narcissus engraved on it. "Domina, I can't -,"
"See it as a late birthday present," She said, not bothering to look at him. "And would you return to the rock? I need you to play it while I paint you."
Leonidas kept staring at it, his fingers trailing the name before he returned to the rock and said, "I do not even know your own birthday."
"It is the same as yours."
His head shot up to look at her that same moment, his mouth agape. "You never told me!"
"I do not celebrate it."
"I never celebrated mine either, I did it because of you."
She turned to him again, "Me?"
His face heat up one more time making him look back at the harp, his fingers now plucking the strings gently as he whispered, "It does not matter anymore."
Remembering how they had met made him smile, and even though he knew that it had been a silly encounter in the first place, he was glad that it happened.
"I have always imagined you as a siren."
Leonidas slowly raised his head to face her again, "The creature of the sea?"
"Yes," Persephone pressed the knife to the canvas now, stroking it slightly. "That you would be seated on your rock while a ship passed and playing your harp."
"I would never like to see anyone come to harm," Leonidas replied, striking a chord.
"I know," She said, now returning the knife and taking up a paintbrush, moving it across the canvas now. "Have you ever thought that there are possibly some sirens that do not want all the ships that crossed their paths to sink? Perhaps, that they would rather talk to this sailors instead of causing their doom?"
Leonidas played another note now, his face looking solemn. "I- I have never thought of that"
"I think you are just like that siren."
She kept her focus on the paint, using her thumb to flatten some strokes as she said, "That you do not have many choices on what you want. That you sit on that rock and play your harp with tears over your eyes, turning your back as the ship sinks because you do not wish that is what would happen but you cannot control it."
Leonidas did not say any words as she spoke, his hands making music silently before he began to sing the words.
It was a sad song he had once heard them play in the lounge room when Mother requested to be entertained by musicians.
It had been a man that had found his lover but for some reason, they were not meant to be. No matter what the man did, no matter how many sacrifices he made or how many choices he corrected in every lifetimes they met, they were never just meant to be.
It made him wonder if he and her were star-crossed lovers as the man and woman in the story.
The thought made him sing from the bottom of his earth, letting his sadness flow through each key that left his lips before he finished, opening his eyes as his heartbeat began to slow down, the realization hitting like bricks.
No.
He could not live without her.
No matter what happened.
"You have a lovely voice,"
Her words snapped him out of his trance as he faced her, seeing that there were paint smudges on her hands and some on her cheeks as he said, "Thank you. Was that- Was that enough for you? Do I need to keep singing so you can draw well?"
"There was no need for you stay still," She said, "I can draw you even if you had moved. I just needed to see how you looked on the rock to picture in my head. That is all."
"Oh," Then he said, "You never told me why you help them."
"I am sure you saw what type of people there are," She replied. "For people who suffer so much, they manage to keep being happy. I know how it feels to be somewhere dark and having no means of escape so I make every single second of happiness matter, which is what I want for them. I want them to keep remaining that way."
Leonidas knew that with the way she spoke, she did not expect him to ask anymore questions and instead played with his feet in the water now, staring at how the water droplets dripped down his pale feet before he said, "I never understand how you look into me."
"Explain."
He looked at her, brushing some locks of his hair away from his face so he could stare at her well. "I-I had always felt like that siren for the longest of times. To be honest, knowing that I- That I was not, well, you know."
"No, I do not."
But Leonidas knew that she did know what he was talking about and wanted him to say it which he did quietly, "A Zeus Familia."
Though he was aware that she had seen the tattoo countless of times on his back but she had never looked twice or ever mentioned it to him which had made him feel less conscious around her.
By the gods, he never felt any single bit of shame when he was with her.
"What is wrong with not being a Zeus Familia?"
"I do not know. It is just -," He puffed his cheeks, looking for the right words to explain. "It is how we have been. All my forefathers before me. They are all regal and tough and strict but I- I am not even their Familia to begin with."
"Leonidas,"
He looked at her. "Domina?"
She paused in her drawing and looked at him, her face blank. "The reason why people live under the idea of the Familias so much is because they use it to understand who they are, explain why they do what they do. For example, when someone likes wine too much, they say it is because they are a Dionysus Familia, but let us be honest, everyone likes wine. Some more than most."
"I do not like wine,"
She smiled, "You do, just not the one that has alcohol. The point is, that sometimes, they are people who do not fit into their categories. I am sure that there are Hera Familias who would rather plant than gossip. Aphrodite Familias that would rather avoid makeup on their faces than use it."
Leonidas sighed, "But I am not even a Zeus Familia."
"It does not matter what Familia you are born into. It does not define you, Leonidas." She said, "Let me ask. If you were born into another Familia, what would you have done?"
"Try to fit in?"
"Which you have been doing all this years and how does that feel?"
His face fell. "It- It felt horrible."
"See?" Persephone said, turning back to her painting. "Unlike others who are under a Familia they have no connection with, you have an idea of what you really are. Unlike them, you were special enough to be made unique. What are you is not your fault. Do not beat yourself up for it."
Then she stood, moving away from the canvas and said, "Come here, Leonidas."
The male set the harp on the rock and swam towards her, sitting next to the canvas with his legs crossed before he looked at it, his breath hitching.
On it was him on a rock, just like he was, his collar still on him except that chains attached on collars to the rock kept him in place he now had a tail with tears falling down his lips as he played the harp.
Behind him was a ship sinking with water surrounded all around him but somehow, he could feel what she had done.
He was being forced to do what he did not want to do, which hurt him but he was not doing anything to change that.
"Do you like it?"
She was now seated back on the stool, her hand raking his hair as he looked at her. "I do, but it is -," He turned back to it. "Sad."
"Well, the world is a sad place," She replied, making him turn back to her before she leant down and pressed a kiss on his forehead. "That is why people like you exist Farhat."
Farhat had been the name he was given by Alcaeus Clan. As they gave her Shahzadi, they gave him Farhat, which meant Joy or Pleasure.
Persephone had personally suggested the name.
"I do not want to be chained any longer," He said when she moved away.
"Then what do you want to do about it?"
"First, I would wed you,"
Persephone's eyes widened as she suddenly snatched her hand away from him, the action stinging him just a bit but he continued, "Then with you by my side, I can correct everything that needs to be corrected."
When he said those words, the shocked look on her face faded away as she said softly, "You do not need to wed me for that."
"Why not?"
"I would always be by your side," She replied. "Bride or not, besides, you have Stylani. Would you reject her? Are you even thinking of her?"
Leonidas could admit that he was not. In all honesty, he had forgotten her existence even. "She knows that I have never loved her."
"Not all unions are about love," She said, "And rejecting her. You know what that could do to her. No one would want her anymore."
That was how it had always been in Renatus. When a female or betrothed were rejected by their significant others, they never remarried. Usually, they just ended up spending the rest of their life in the temples.
A rule set by the gods themselves.
"Then we can work on fixing that too," He found himself saying, desperate as he held her hand. "I do not want to keep lying just so we can be together. I want to hold you publicly. I want everyone to know that I belong to you. I want you with me every single time."
"Why are you not satisfied with us as we are now?"
"Because I am not always here," He replied, surprised at how bold he was sounding. "I do not want to leave and come back not finding you here. What if you get sick? What if you decide to leave me and I am not here to convince otherwise? What if -" The thought made him shudder. "What if I lose you?"
There was a look in her eyes that made him feel fear in his heart but she made the feeling disappear when she smiled at him and said, "I would always be here."
"Why do you keep saying that?" He asked, "Do you not want me?"
"Leonidas,"
She rested her forehead on his and whispered, "I do. More than words can say."
"Then be with me."
He let his courage move him as he placed his lips on hers, slowly moving first then he moved to her neck, leaving trail of kisses there before he heard her let out a low groan and pull him off her.
Her eyes shone a dangerous primal colour as his member tingled just a bit as she said, her voice low, "What are you doing?"
He tried to sound as innocent as possible. "Tempting you?"
Persephone let out a sigh as she stood now, making him sit up before she said, "I would think about it."
Leonidas did not know if that was a good thing but he nodded, "Okay."
She reached out to him. "Let's go home. I think Miriam is making small cakes."
His eyes brightened as he stood, holding her hand, "Alright."
Leonidas began to walk forward but realized she had not moved, making him turn to her as he tilted her head and said, "What is it?"
Persephone kept staring at him silently before she reached out and kissed his temple. "Never forget that you are special, agape mou."
He smiled. "I doubt I will if you promise to be here and keep reminding me."
She smiled in return, but for some reason, he could tell it was a sad one, "I promise."
He wanted asking why she looked like that but her face suddenly made a brighter one as she said, "Enough disgusting talk, let's go. By the gods, you have turned me into a disgusting sap."
And the question flew out of his head as he laughed.