As they walked through the growing crowds, Daphne's focus remained on the ethereal vision of her lover. So graceful, so at ease in her environment, Eirene was the picture of feminine beauty and grace as she weaved around the stalls and sellers shouting their wares. The sight alone was enough to make the blonde quiver with renewed desire and all but glow with pride in her love. She watched as her Mistress moved towards the age-old fountain the market surrounded, touching the spilling water with a fond, familiar smile curling her lips and silently the young woman sent a prayer of thanks to Aphrodite and Eros who blessed her with such a beautifully blissful union between the student and teacher. Feeling her heart skip a beat Daphne went to the other woman at her beckoning, happily stepping into her embrace and leaning into the delicate caress of a kiss placed upon her cheek.<br/><br/>Although the kiss could be interpreted as nothing more than an affectionate touch between two friends, she could feel the love behind the action and Daphne's soul soared. She did not understand it but with a touch, a<em>look</em>, Eirene could make her pupil sigh with pleasure, feel a joy few could ever know; the older woman could make her feel wanted and desired, loved and cherished all in a way none had ever managed before. It was a heady experience and one not unwelcomed. Still, as much as she wanted to turn her head to press soft lips against the enticing rose of her Mistress' own, she resented the secrecy of their relationship. What had they done wrong to warrant this need to hide? What grave sin had been committed?<br/><br/>Stifling the frustrated sigh, Daphne contented herself to slipping a companionable arm around her lover's waist, pushing such aggravations aside and smiling warmly, her excitement growing at what sort of gift could be important enough to be kept secret. "I am sure I will adore it, it is from you after all," she spoke with a delicate blush coloring her cheeks only for it to darken in guilty surprise at the appearance of her father's chosen suitor. It was the same man who had taken her for strolls around the courtyard and had accompanied her family at the dinner table surely but gone was the tension that had hung upon his shoulders just as heavily as her father's judgmental stare had weighed upon her. Instead it was a pleasurable change to see him with a truly sincere smile painting his lips and without carefully chosen words yet Eirene...<br/><br/>Glancing at her Mistress from the corner of her eye, she took the offered rose with a warm smile, bringing the aromatic petals to her nose. "Any gift given with the greatest happiness will forever be far richer than any other, the thought behind the action is by far the more meaningful." Turning to Eirene, Daphne could feel her heart pounding wildly in her chest, she would have sold everything she owned to know what her lover was thinking. With a dry shallow she spoke again, "Eirene, this is Orion. He is a captain and his profitable business has caught my father's attention." She paused briefly and chanced a glance at Orion, unable to not notice the relaxed comfort he exuded when he was no longer approaching her like a business deal. "My father wishes us to marry."