Cleon looked at the woman, eager to go further, to see what- He cursed as he heard knocking. He closed the path to Tartarus, /grabbed his sword and put on his armour. He grabbed spear and shield, then quickly made his way to the baracks. "To me! He railed his soldiers as he started leading them to clash against the raiders.
Moving to his window, he sees a number of triremes out at Aigina's harbor, their sails bearing the banner of his uncle, soldiers rushing onto the quay to slaughter the guards trying to mount a desperate defence. "There's too many, my prince!" Cleon's captain of the guard says, as they try to rally some soldiers. "Your uncle will spare your mother - he'll want to marry her. But he'll need to kill you if he wants to be king!"
Cleon gritted his teeth. So that' how it was! He... could escape... but he needed to deny his uncle legitimacy. He needed to get his mother, or throw her to Tartars and leave the island. Without legitimacy, it will make all the easier to take over the island. With goal in mind, he lead a band of loyal warriors to queen's chambers.
Cleon barges into his mother's chambers - to see the Egyptian diplomat standing behind her, holding a dagger to her throat. The woman's slaves carry spears, and the bodies of dead guards litter the ground. "Cleon! Get out of here!" The queen calls out. "Oh no, please stay." The diplomat grins. "Your uncle is eager for a reunion..."
Cleon hesitated, but only for a moment. Then he laughed, before grining at the diplomat. "Oh, so you intend to make my uncle a kin slayer by killing his brother' widow? I'm sure that people, gods and uncle will have quite an opinion on you about that." Cleon said as he moved forward, the spear thrusting into the closest slave holding spear. " Men! Forward! Rescue the queen!" He exclaimed as he charged froward, knocking out or killing hi opponents. He would prefer females alive, but if it would put him in danger or his mother, he would just kill them."
“Easy, there. I am Talpharos and this is Atalanta. May we know who you are?” The young hunter tried to sound friendly in order to put the woman at ease as he looked at her questioningly. He had more questions, but decided not to rush things.
"Fool!" The diplomat grumbles and throws the queen to the ground, moving to intercept. Steel rings against steel, as Cleon forces the woman back a few steps, as the slaves kill several Aiginote soldiers. Finally, the woman calls for a retreat, running out of the room through the other door.
"Hng... I know Atalanta. And you're... You're the one the queen mentioned..." The woman says, coughing to clear her throat from ash. "I am Phoebe, mistress to the king."
"No you don't!" Cleon exclaimed as he called one of hellish chains, to make diplomat sumble, making her fall to the ground so he could capture her.
The woman's foot is snared, and she falls to the ground. Rather than fighting, she calls to her slaves. "Grab the queen! Take her to the ship!" As Cleon's powers bind the diplomat, the slaves go to kidnap his mother and run away.
Cursing, Cleon gave a powerful kick to laying diplomat. As the two slaves turned to grab his mother, he stood between them and her, his spear ready do strike. "you surrender, or you die." He snarled. He did not have time to play more games.
The slaves look at each other, before one moves to engage Cleon, while the other goes to grab his mother and flee.
Talpharos chose to ignore the part about the queen mentioning him – he did not want to risk Phoebe saying something Atalanta was not supposed to hear. So instead he tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. “Nice to meet you, Phoebe. How do you feel? Can you walk? Also, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?”
Cleon cursed. Normally he would be in trouble... but he was stronger now. He called a chain to hold his mother, another to flip the slave that was after her. Then he charged at the remaining of slaves, thrusting his skill in spear to overwhelm the woman.
"I...I can walk, yes." She nods. "I was headed to a small shrine of Aphrodite in the woods to pray. It wasn't far from the city, and I had guards, so I thought I'd be safe. The beast... For some reason it dragged me away instead of killing me."
The slave is nimble, knocking out his mother and moving away before the chains can get them, getting away from the doors and out of reach. Her sister, however, isn't quite so skilled. After a few ripostes with his spear, Cleon gets inside the woman's guard, and is able to knock her out or kill her, depending on his wish.
(this might be pretty brutal) Cleon realised that he had little time - not enough to play around. It was a pity, but they choose death. Spoiler: Cleon kills slave With a all is strength, he thrust into female' cleavage, his spear easily sinking between her breasts. He steps closer and rips of her top, hand squeezing her breast as he smashed his lips against hers, for a short moment, he dominates the woman, before ripping of the spear of the slave's body and allowing her to fall on the ground. "Capture the diplomat and take her to the ship!" He ordered his warriors as he started running after the second slave - running with his mother in tow, she was not that fast.
“I am sorry to inform you that you will need new guards.” Talpharos told the woman. “Though the fact that the beast did not kill you is curious... something to think about later. For now we should get back to the city.” He suggested.
With the slave dead, Cleon goes to pursue the other one, but as he rushes into the main hall after her, he sees the doors smashed open, and a mix of Greek and Egyptian soldiers rush into the palace.
She nods, and they begin their trek back to the settlement. As they reach the border, city guards move in and escort the king's mistress back to the palace, not paying Talpharos another thought. Left alone, Atalanta looks at him. "We...should get you to a healer. And a tailor - the back of your tunic's been burned away and your ass is showing." She smirks.
