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 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..."
"Fool!" The diplomat grumbles and throws the queen to the ground, moving to intercept.
"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."
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.
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?”
"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)
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.