Free Web NovelChapter 20: Chapter 20
"It’s getting late," Niko said. "I should be leaving."
"Of course," Hera replied. "Thank you for the walk."
"And thank you for agreeing to walk with me." He said and kissed her hand.
Iris came to stand beside Hera while she watched Niko leave, then nudged her a little with her shoulders.
"I saw the way you looked at him," Iris said, smiling.
"The way I looked at him?" Hera huffed, "You don’t possibly know what you’re saying."
"Of course I do. You were laughing so loudly, I think the whole of Erindros heard you."
Hera was mortified. "Are you being serious? I was that loud?"
Iris chuckled. "It’s not a bad thing per se, but I would advise you to tone it down next time. You probably wouldn’t have noticed it, but a few of the servants gave you this look. I can’t quite place my hand on it."
"Oh no." Hera covered her face with her hands.
Iris laughed. "Forget about all that. It’s not like they’re going to beat you up or anything. You were simply enjoying the company of an acquaintance."
"It’s still very embarrassing, Iris. I honestly had no idea I was that loud."
Iris placed a hand on her shoulder and patted her gently. "Forget all of that, Hera, now, tell me everything.
Hera shook her head and smiled a little. "He asked me to come and watch him practice his archery."
"Archery?" Iris asked. "He prefers archery? To sparring or sword fights?"
"Not everyone wants to be rough, you know," Hera said.
Iris looked at Hera, smiling with both eyebrows raised.
"Don’t look at me like that, Iris, I’m only repeating what I was told," Hera grumbled.
Iris laughed. "Fine, fine, where are we meeting him exactly?"
"He called it the Sun Arena. He said all the nobles practice there."
"Brilliant."
Two days after their walk together, Hera was on her way to the sun arena to watch Niko. It was a little far away from the city.
Iris’s eyes bulged as soon as they reached. The arena was a large open space with swords, spears, and wooden targets scattered around, and most importantly, sweaty men sparring and fighting each other.
To the left, there was a large building with an open staircase running from the first floor to the second. The first floor had a few rooms, mostly open spaced, and possessed a large bathhouse.
They had asked one of the men training if he could help them find Niko.
"Princess," he said, delighted. "You came."
"I did." Hera was smiling, but thoughts from the last time they met flooded her memory, and she immediately pressed her mouth into a thin line.
"Come, come, let me show you around."
Iris stuck closely to Hera, linking her arm with hers. Hera looked a little confused but didn’t question it.
"These are my friends," Niko said, pointing towards a few of the men in the arena. Then they headed into the first floor of the building and were met with men screaming and shouting at each other.
"You don’t need to worry," Niko assured them, "they’re always like this."
After he had shown them around the whole place, he escorted them through the open staircase in front of the building to the open gallery to watch him practice.
"Thank you, Niko," Hera said. "We’ll be sure to watch you as closely as possible."
After he went down the stairs, Iris and Hera could see him try to flex his muscles and make exaggerated poses. After a while, when the sun had reached its peak and he was sweating buckets, he peeled off his shirt.
Iris couldn’t help but laugh when she turned to Hera.
"Look at you," Iris said, "you’re practically drooling over the man." fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
"What?... I mean, what did you say?" Hera stuttered, a bit distracted.
Iris shook her head. "Good for you," she muttered and turned back to face the men practising. "Good for you."
The mood dampened immediately they saw Princess Penelope enter the arena, like a dark cloud looming over the sky.
She kept her head high and hardly spoke to any of the men in the arena. But then she saw Nikolas and immediately smiled at him.
"Nikolas, it’s good to see you again," she said.
He replied with a grunt.
She scanned the grounds, and her eyes landed on Hera. She snickered.
"You haven’t been here in a long time, princess," Niko said, drawing her attention back to him. "To what do we owe the honour of your presence?"
"I needed a change of scenery," she replied casually, "and what better way to do that than coming here."
"I understand the sentiments, princess, but..."
"You don’t have to be awkward around me, Niko. We’ve known each other for years."
His jaw tightened.
"Would it be so bad if we rekindled our friendship? Or just became cordial? At least, only for the fact that we’re going to keep seeing each other because you’ve been frequenting the palace a lot recently. I guess, after all these years, your presence brought back a few memories." Penelope said.
Hera sat at the edge of her seat, wondering what the princess and Niko were talking about.
"How do they know each other?" Hera asked Iris, visibly agitated. "And why is she smiling so widely, like they share some kind of secret?"
"Hera," Iris said, "try not to look affected by her shenanigans. That’ll only alert her to what makes you tick. Know this now, they grew up in the same city, raised in the same background, which means they will probably know a lot about each other.
Something tells me she knows that you two have become more familiar and she wishes to cause a rift." Iris said.
"You’re probably right." Hera’s voice wavered.
"I am right." Her voice was strong with conviction. "So, relax into your chair and watch what they both do. If Nikolas ends up acting like a fool, then you know where you stand." Iris couldn’t help but grimace at the sight of Penelope.
"I see you have great foresight now, Penelope," Niko said. "It would have been useful in the past."
Penelope laughed. "Don’t tell me you’re still bitter about the past. We were children, Niko, we all made mistakes at that age."
Niko scoffed. "You call sleeping with my older brother at sixteen a mistake even though you knew I liked you?"
"Niko, you weren’t actually a saint now, were you?" Penelope asked. "You were pining for my sister and lying behind my back. Then I find out that you two had been lovers for a while. You made a fool out of me."
Niko rolled his eyes.
"Does she really know what you’re like, Niko?" Penelope asked, looking over at Hera. "Does she know the awful things you can do?"
"She doesn’t need to know anything." He said. "I like her, she’s different."
Penelope almost laughed. "And I wasn’t?"
"Don’t kid yourself, princess. You know exactly what type of person you are."
Penelope rolled her eyes. Looked up at the gallery where Iris and Hera were again, then left Niko’s side.
"What does she want now?" Hera muttered.
"It really doesn’t matter what she wants," Iris said, her eyes never leaving Penelope. "But if it’s trouble she wants, I have plenty to give."
Penelope reached the gallery and sat down, right next to Hera. There was silence among the three women, but she spoke first.
"I wanted to apologize for the way I’ve behaved with you," she began.
This prompted both Hera and Iris to throw glances of surprise at each other.
"I’ve just never been someone who warms up to people so easily. Plus, this whole competition thing with my brother happens to be very off-putting. I truly apologize for my behaviour ."
Hera sat silently, stunned by the confession.
"Well, I guess we could forget about the past, let bygones be bygones."
"Princess!" Nikolas called from the training ground. "Why don’t I show you a few of my techniques?"
Hera, distracted by Niko, forgot all about Penelope, who was seated next to her.
"Of course, hold on a moment," she replied.
She quickly climbs down the stairs to where Niko stood. He motions for her to stand in position, in front of a wooden target, and hands her a bow and arrow.
"Alright, take aim," he commanded. "But first, have you ever shot an arrow before? Or do you have a weapon you normally use?"
Hera looked down at her feet and smiled shyly. "I’ve never used any kind of weapon before," She said. "My father wanted me to be dedicated to my studies, so that was all I could focus on."
"Well, that’s alright as well." He immediately tried to reassure her. "We can’t all fight or use spears and swords."
He stood behind her and guided her hand, steadying the bow and arrow. Hera could feel his warmth, how his hands brushed against hers, and the sweat from his face dripping down her sides. She felt hot all over.
"Focus on your target, look at nothing else." He whispered in her ear.
He held his hand in hers as she dragged the arrow.
"No release it."
The arrow landed on its target.
"Would you look at that," he said, laughing. "You’d probably beat me with a little more practice."
Hera smiled from ear to ear. "No need to exaggerate, Niko, I know my limits."
Back at the gallery, Penelope and Iris sat silently, looking down at the arena.
"Was this really a coincidental visit, or did you have something else in mind?" Iris asked coldly.
"What could I possibly have in mind, lady."
"Iris."
"Yes. What could I possibly have in mind, Iris, except visiting a place I often frequented?"
Iris scoffed and looked at her pointedly. " I’ll tell you one thing and one thing only. Stay away from Hera. If you cause her even the smallest bit of pain, I’ll make sure you regret it."
Penelope returned the glare, "You have a lot of nerve for a nobody."
Iris smirked. "Try me."
Penelope smiled back. "May the best man win."
