The contradiction between Orion and Agamemnon quickly degenerated into a quarrel until it finally turned into the main event of Eirene’s party. Many gathered around the small group and yet none interfered. The greek mistress stood aside this time which wasn’t quite unusual despite her temper. As a hostess, she was forced not to take sides even if her own mind was already settled on one or the other. It wasn’t in her nature to just sit back and watch as her protegee and herself were insulted, however.<br/><br/>The biggest problem wasn’t that their secret was publicly revealed by the filth of their society as she viewed Agamemnon to be, but that it happened in her own house and it was actually Daphne who had more to lose because of it than anyone else.  Most of their guests  had an idea on what the two women were sharing behind closed doors, yet their relationship had never truly been a subject of conversation at such a large gathering until now.  Agamemnon’s insults were swiftly repayed, albeit in a very brutal and unexpected manner.  Instead of congratulating the winner or at least thanking him for taking Daphne’s side, and indirectly hers as well, Eirene showed nothing but wrath to Orion.<br/><br/>“I won’t have blood spilled in my house!” she said rushing towards the fallen body of her guest, looking like she was one of the Erinyes herself.  Truth be told, there wasn’t any spilled blood to begin with. She kneeled close to Agamemnon, placing one hand on the base of his neck, praying to the gods that she would get a pulse.  All her prayers proved to be in vain. Her lips twitched and her facial expression changed from ghostly pale to the red of blinding wrath. She would contain her anger for now and chose not to express it with violent words. If anything, blaiming Orion for taking her side would reflect poorly on herself on top of everything else.<br/>“I have to thank you for defending our honor, Orion, on behalf of Daphne and myself.” She said addressing the young man, barely refraining from shouting. Her voice was raised so that everyone in the house would hear.  “However, I fear for your safety.  Agamemnon, despite his lack of manners, has important friends. I hope that when the time comes, all of you here will appear as witnesses before the judge. “<br/><br/>Eirene stood up, arranging her chiton and ordered the slaves to take  Agamemnon’s body to his family with strict orders to relate everything they had seen taking place at her house. In the meantime, she urged the others to go home, ending the party.  Only Eirene, Daphne and her parents as well as Orion remained after everyone else left the house. It seemed that the elderly couple was reluctant to leave their daughter with Eirene for the night or for any other night as Eirene feared.  She believed that she could find a way around Agamemnon’s insult and turn the tables in her favor: losing Daphne was more than she could bear to take despite everything society had thrown at her in the past years.  But now that he was killed in her own house, no parent in their right mind would ever allow their child to step the threshold of such a tainted place. She hoped that Orion would take the shorter straw and get the blame for everything, but sadly things didn’t work that way in life.<br/><br/>She was reluctant to further deny what the dead man said before. Insisting on the matter would only incriminate her and draw more suspicions on their relationship. Therefore, she waited to see what the other parties had to say about the incident. And whether there was any chance of ever seeing Daphne again.