Coming Home

Kassandra stared up at the house on the hill above the peaceful town. Maybe one day she'd get tired of the sight but today was not that day. She urged Phobos forward a bit faster, directing him off of the main road so she could cut around the small town ahead. Dyme was a lovely and peaceful little place but it had foot traffic and would slow her arrival as she'd have to avoid running anyone over. Her steed protested weakly before stepping off the trail and moving through the trees. Kassandra loved Dyme but if she cut around the village she could get to the house on the hill faster. Beside a pleasant greeting they left her alone, knowing that they'd see her plenty in the coming days.

She reached the other side of the town and brought Phobos to a stop, glancing up at the rock wall beside her. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and channeled her feathered friend. Ikaros soared high above, eyes searching the land below him. Kassandra could see what her eagle could see, allowing her to scout out the area above her with ease. She spied two men above her. One was lounging on the highest roof of the building and the second was tending to a small vegetable garden. Kassandra opened her eyes and looked to the cliff face beside her with a smirk. She dismounted her horse and gave him a pat on the neck before she approached the wall. With practiced ease she started the scale the rocks toward the building above.

Kassandra pulled herself up onto the soft grass behind the building, relieved to be on flat ground again. She crouched and froze, listening for any movement but there was nothing. The man on the roof above her must not have heard her accent but what was oddly missing was the sound of gardening. Kassandra crept to the edge of the building and peeked out around the corner. To her surprise the man that had been tending to the garden was gone. She frantically looked around in search of her target but he was nowhere to be found.

"Looking for someone?" a voice behind her asked. Kassandra reacted on instinct and struck with her elbow at whoever had snuck up on her. Her elbow slammed into the side of the man's head and he let out a cry of pain as he was knocked off his feet.

"Natakas!?" A voice shouted from above and an elderly man looked down on Kassandra and the man on the ground. "What did you do to my son?" Darius asked, throwing his hands out to the side.

"He snuck up on me," Kassandra defended as she knelt down beside the other man. "Malaka, what did you think was going to happen?" She reached out and gently touched the side of his face.

"You hit me after trying to sneak up on me and this is my fault?" Natakas asked as he removed the hand from the side of his head. "You're just upset you don't hear me."

Kassandra was reluctant to admit it but she was proud of her skills and being caught off guard was embarrassing. Though if anyone was going to sneak up on her it figured it would be him. He had spent his life trying to stay unnoticed. "Let me see," she said as she examined his face for any injury. Natakas remover his hand and she looked to be sure that I part of her armor had injured him. "It looks fine."

Natakas sat up partially and rubbed at the side of his head. "Heartless," he muttered with a teasing huff. Kassandra shook her head as she stood and held her hand out to him. He took the offered assistance and she helped him get on his feet. "So how went your trip east?"

"Not to bad, made a little Drachmae, but I got a bit distracted helping Barnabas with some family business." Kassandra let out a long breath as she remembered the journey that had her running around the Greek islands.

"Barnabas has family?" Natakas asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's a bit more complicated. He got drugged and thought he had a vision of his dead wife. Well even if it wasn't true I had to check it out. Barnabas is one of my most trusted friends and if we could find his wife well…"Kassandra looked at Natakas and her look softened. "How could I not help him?"

"Of course you couldn't say no," Natakas responded with a wide grin. "You're a Misthios with a heart of gold, particularly for your friends."

"I'll admit I was skeptical of if his vision was at all true, he said that he saw a cyclops and heard sirens. Of course the cyclops was just a man and the sirens were very obviously not sirens." Kassandra shook her head slightly in resignation. "But it has a happy ending. I can tell the full story during dinner."

"Then I'll have to cook a meal fit for a god to suit an epic tale." Natakas reached out and his hand settled on Kassandra's side. "But first-" he pulled her closer before pressing his lips to hers gently. Kassandra pushed her body toward his as her arms slipped around his neck to kiss him with more force. Natakas finally pulled away just enough so that he could run his lips along the line of her jaw. "Welcome home," he said against her skin.

"It's good to be home, my love," Kassandra said as she relaxed into her lover's arms. Kassandra could have had the most harrowing and stressful trip but the moment that Natakas had his arms wrapped around her it was like it all melted away. All the wear of the road or the strain of combat vanished when she was wrapped in his warmth. When she was with him she felt like a normal woman living a life with the man she loved. She only worried about preparing dinner, not taking down massive shadow organizations. She was a woman who spent her days patching tares in her clothing, not fighting mythical beasts. And she loved it.

Kassandra wasn't sure how long they stayed there, just holding each other, and she really didn't care. He was her shelter, her home, and she would bask in it as long as she liked. "At some point I do need to start dinner," Natakas pulled away just a little so that he could line up his head with hers, letting his forehead rest against Kassandra's. "How about you change out of that armor and once I've started some food cooking I'll fill you in on all the things I've learned about the locals."

Kassandra hesitated moving away from Natakas but eventually reluctantly released him. "Fine, I'll slip into something you won't have trouble removing later," she teased.

Natakas glanced toward the roof of the building where they knew his father still was. He let out a frustrated sigh and released her as well. "We'll have to make some time alone. Maybe go down to the beach and…fish." Of course she knew that fishing wasn't the activity that Natakas was interested in but he didn't want to discuss their intimacy while his father was around. The reality was that while Kassandra appreciated Darius being around to protect Natakas while she was away he did make for some awkward moments when they wanted to be intimate. "And for the record, I wouldn't have trouble with your armor," he added in a hushed voice.

"Oh, I would love another demonstration of your 'fishing' skills," Kassandra responded with a grin. "We'll have plenty of time. I don't plan on setting out for a while seeing as I made a good bit of coin on that last trip." She moved toward the house, her hand linking with Natakas' as he matched her pace.

"If you're going to be home for a while then we'll have to go hunting some time," Natakas proposed with a smile.

"And here I thought you didn't want your father to know what we're up to'" Kassandra whispered back. Natakas laughed and Kassandra leaned a bit against his side as they moved around the house.