Somehow, standing before the man who helped give her life rushed all the blood from her body faster than the bear that sought to take her life. Old habits became a shield where Rhene clung with pinching grip onto Orius’s arm, hid as best she could behind his side, and stuck her stare on her feet expecting her brother to do all the talking. 

“Pater. Mater,” Orius acknowledged each in turn. 

“Welcome home, Orius,” Aetion spoke. Slight relief came from the similarity between voices of father and son, though Aetion’s rang deeper with an aged rasp. “We are glad to have you back safely, and, I see, successfully.” Aetion paused, and Rhene shivered from knowing his attention was on her. “You are welcomed home as well, Hellanike.” 

“She has stated to prefer the name of Rhene, which is what she has grown up using,” Orius explained before she could fluster a response of incoherent syllables. 

“He-Hellanike is fine,” she used the brief extra moment to formulate the graspable whisper instead. 

Everyone waited. Silence followed both statements. Rhene heavily scrutinized the shape of her big toe to ground her mind wishing to succumb to a dizzy faint. The detachment sending her thoughts to the clouds might have led her there had that nicked hand, warm and firm, not landed tenderly on her shoulder. Instinctively, Rhene looked up. Fright and nerves persisted, yet the barrier of contact broken offered better stability. Aetion gave Orius nearly all of himself, save for his eyes of blue mixed with the gray of gentle storm clouds. Her same eyes. Although, not quite. Curiosity further bolstered her handle on consciousness as Rhene couldn’t help but lock on to the strangeness in her blood father’s right eye. The lower left edge of the iris bulged as if a tight rope had attempted to squeeze the two sections apart. 

“The name Hellanike was all I had as I clung onto the thought of a daughter I had never met,” Aetion said, serious but poignant and very much genuine. “Now that I have that daughter before me, a mere name means little. I shall call you as you please, not what you believe shall please me.” 

“R-Rhene, then.” 

“Welcome home, Rhene.” 

Aetion opened his arms. Rhene leaned towards the invitation, and she was folded into his embrace. No sweeping rush of innate connection came over her. Rhene rather wished it had, but she took a deep breath of Aetion’s clean scent with a touch of musky oil and found her terror easing off. Awkwardness remained in abundance though. Thankfully the embrace did not linger into discomfort. Aetion set his hands on her shoulders and drew his face closer. 

“Kalykso always complained that Orius took too much from me. I’m sure she was glad to have you take after her. You have your differences, of course, but she is still alive through you.” 

Rhene managed a nod. What was one to say in this situation? Rhene didn’t know. 

“Many discussions will be had in time. There is no need to pick through it carefully here before the door,” Aetion continued. “Orius...told me some of his intents for returning you. It has certainly been an ordeal, and the journey must have been wearying. Jocasta has seen to it that a bath is being filled and warmed. Rhene, go clean and relax. Orius can tell me most, and what we need to say to each other can come later.” 

“Yes. Thank you,” Rhene gave a small smile. 

“I do see first before you go that you have additional companions. Evelthon, yes, and...” 

“This is Haidee. My...my, um...” Rhene’s tongue went heavy. She didn’t wish to call Haidee a slave, but how did she otherwise explain the situation when Rhene also didn’t know if Haidee approved of being referred to with familiar terms. 

“The slave girl Kalykso bought,” Aetion recalled to take the matter out of her hands. “She has come back into our family’s service?” 

“Yes,” Orius chose the simple answer for now. 

“Perfect. Rhene, I was to let you choose from ours who you liked best, but Haidee is perfect to accompany you to your bath. Head on in now.” 

Haidee scurried to Rhene’s heels, and the two rapidly crossed the gap to Jocasta, waiting with a tender smile and enthusiasm in her stride. She beckoned them on but delayed speaking until they passed the entranceway of simple decoration and took a hall north with white tiles beneath their feet. 

“What a pleasure it is to meet you, Rhene.” Jocasta’s voice was smooth and steady with an enunciated sting. “The daughter and sister Aetion and Orius lost has always been a burden in my heart and a silent dagger in theirs. Even with how far they’ve risen their line, few had hope that it’d be enough to find the you who all but vanished into the mist. Aetion ran home from his council to wait with me by the front door.” 

“I hope I can be the relief everyone has been looking for these many years,” Rhene’s pleasant expression faltered. Jocasta slowed to a stop and graced her sympathy. 

“You are the relief. Our pleas have been granted. There is nothing you need to do or be. Simply do, say, and act according to your desires. That is your right as the eldest daughter of Aetion, great war general and friend of the kings. It is the least you deserve as you missed out on so much.” 

“I...” The blush returned. 

“Come. Your bath awaits.” 

Jocasta wrapped Rhene’s arm around her own. They turned two corners, Rhene glimpsed the large atrium hosting plants in abundance much like the garden, and amazed whispers hit their backs. Rhene, Haidee, and Jocasta glanced over to find two small heads poking out from the last intersection. Both had locks of wispy brown like their mother’s. The older one of nine let her curls flow with brown eyes more carefully curious than the true blue stare of wonder of the little one of six. Her strands fell gracefully straight. Rhene’s heart skipped. Kypris and Merope held fast their mother’s appearance, but Rhene spotted the hints of similarity she held with them as well. 

“Can we—” Kypris tried. 

“Girls, I told you introductions would come after your poor, weary sister cleans and rests. Resume your activities and let us move on.” 

“I do not mind. I’d love to meet them,” Rhene said. 

Jocasta’s brows bobbed down, and she released a breath knowing how obvious the sign of displeasure was. “Forgive me. I see now there is one request I have for your actions here. For my decisions over my children, I ask that my desires be honored.” 

“Of course. I did not mean to overstep. I just...” Rhene glanced to the corner where Kypris and Merope only peeked out enough now to show their eyes. Rhene waved, and they giggled. 

“Naturally, you are excited to bond as sisters. I do understand,” Jocasta smiled. “It will come in time. First, your bath.” 

Slumping, Kypris and Merope obediently shuffled off. The bathing room was only a few more doors down where slaves, having just finished the preparations, hurried to the corners. With a tall ceiling and high, slitted windows, the steam from the stone bath set within the floor spiraled up in playful coils. Placed in baskets were all the necessities for cleaning with a lilac chiton hanging on the wall. Rhene squeezed her calves and clenched her fists to gain a rush of blood helpful in being bold. 

“Haidee will be bathing with me. May I have a change of clothes for her as well? 

“Oh,” Jocasta blinked faster. She motioned to the three other slaves. “Most certainly. One of them will bring an outfit with haste. Would you like any of them to stay and help?” 

“We will be alright. Thank you.” 

With a diplomatic dip of her head, Jocasta left the room with the other women on her heel. Rhene and Haidee hadn’t yet finished unbinding their hair when the youngest slipped a yellow chiton—common, but clean and soft—through the door. The pair undressed. Rhene grabbed one of the metal strigils from a basket. 

“May I help you first?” 

“S-Sure,” Haidee accepted timidly. 

They sat off to the side, and Rhene used the curved instrument to delicately scrape off the accumulated dirt, oil, and sweat from Haidee’s body. Haidee used a fresh one to reciprocate the assistance. Together, they dipped their toes into the pool, found the water cooled enough to tolerate, and submerged themselves on the bench carved within. Rhene shivered as the initial flush of heat first surged a sting almost icy before settling in nicely. 

“It has only been a little over a week, but I can’t believe how differently a warm bath feels after those days of traveling,” Rhene effused, dipping down until her chin hit the water and her hair splayed out in all directions. She took the calm sounds of the gently lapping water as tranquil until Haidee’s breaths erupted short and shaky. With eyes clenched, nose scrunched, and lips quivering, tears were inevitable. Rhene snatched her hands to grasp. “What is it?” 

“I’ve...I’ve never had a hot bath!” Haidee explained, tears indeed flooding her cheeks when her eyes opened. 

“Does it hurt?” 

“No. It...it feels otherworldly in a way I can’t describe. I never knew I could feel like this!” Haidee submerged herself deeper in the water. “I want to stay in here forever. I am grateful for your kindness in inviting me in with you. Yet, I’m scared!” 

“Scared of what?” Rhene brushed back Haidee’s strands of hair floating towards her face. 

“That this will go away! That the momentary responsibility and sympathy you have towards me will vanish! That my life will return to nothing more than thankless work, cruel hands, meager food, and cold cloths! If that is my future, I would rather you not have shown me such—!” 

“That is not your future.” Rhene brought their clasped hands up, holding Haidee’s firmer still. “My sympathy for you is not transitory. My love for you is not shallow. I know that we have not known each other long, and I know that we don’t know much about one another. I understand that much of your affection for me comes from you clinging onto the hope my distant existence brought, and I know that much of my care is from a source of simple pity. Even so, in all my life...with all the love I have experienced, I know this is something more. You are important to me. No one here will be allowed to mistreat you. You will eat well, bathe well, and have to do no work. Remember that, at any moment, freedom is one request away.” 

“...Yes,” Haidee fought for the syllable, but it came out more even than before. “Thank you, Rhene. I wish to believe in your promises, so I’m going to.” 

“I’m glad. Here. Let me wash your back.” 

Rhene cleaned carefully, taking note of any potential sore spots by the scars and watching for a reaction. However, once Haidee’s tears finished, she entered a dreamy daze making Rhene giggle. She washed herself instead of forcing Haidee out of her reverie. They remained in the water until it began to cool where creams and oils plumped their skin right back up. The lilac chiton of familiar quality cloth fell comfortably upon Rhene’s shoulders, and Haidee slipped hers on with cheery exuberance. One of the slaves waited at the end of the hallway to bring them to a room in the northwestern quarter where a bedroom large and open awaited. True to Samatis style, the decorations and furniture bore less extravagance than what Rhene had at home, but there was a bed with a fluffy mattress, a chest full of clothes of all colors, a table laden with products for her body, and even a new lute housed in the corner. 

“Can I help you with your hair agai—” 

Rhene’s question halted from a high-pitched whine of pain, one that’d been preceded by a dull thump. It was strange enough that the noise came from neither Rhene nor Haidee, but it was stranger still that it came from under the bed. Rhene and Haidee peeked down. Underneath the frame guiltily grinned two younger girls—an older one with eyes of brown and a younger with eyes of blue.