Taking Orion’s second rose offering, Eirene said nothing, but nodded. Her features remained once again unreadable and Daphne’s appearance with her parents absolved the Mistress from engaging in conversation with the young sailor, allowing her to watch further and observe. She would have her eyes on him constantly without showing it…and on Daphne without restraint, decided to let him know when the right time comes that her word weighed more than her father’s when it came to Daphne’s marital future.<br/><br/>Eirene curled a satisfied smile watching her young lover dressed in her gift. Men could keep their silly flowers and poems, only a woman would know another’s heart wishes. She gracefully moved from group to group, enganging in small talks, greeting the new arrived and sharing compliments from left to right, making sure everyone had a good time. Her movement pattern followed Orion’s from afar, not wanting to let the young soon-to-be couple from sight.<br/><br/>Her ears caught the conversation started by the one called Agamemnon, a young man known for his status, but most of all for his terrible personality. Eirene loathed such ingrates, yet she never had the chance to speak her mind about it in public. Sharing one’s opinions on others, especially on those who were known to the public eye could easily be viewed as gossip and the Greek Mistress didn’t indulge such vulgar displays. However, the nature of their conversation piqued her interest and she had taken the subtle reference towards Daphne and herself.<em>  ‘May the Gods protect you from my scorn, young whelp.’ </em><br/><br/>She glided towards their group, but settled on the one next to them mostly made out of elders who were still weeping over the loss of Athens’ greatest democratic leader, Pericles in a long-winded dialogue.  Agamemnon’s words enranged the haughty Mistress, but Orion’s reply was unexpected. She almost burst into laughter as the young man exposed the other’s failed deceitfulness, but refrained from revealing her close presence, watching Daphne’s features instead.<br/><br/>The stocky Agamemnon turned pale, his eyes widened and his lips formed a thin line. Eirene couldn’t help but admire Orion for his bold reply then and how he chose to use the information he had on the man, but she also began to fear him. He knew the other from the Academy and had no trouble publicly humiliating his old colleague to win Daphne’s affection. Was he true in his professed love for her? No man went this far in defending his lover’s good name.  As Orion took Daphne’s hand in his, the gesture didn’t go unnoticed. Eirene grabbed the side of her chiton and squeezed tight, until her long fingernails sank into the palm of her hand, painfully so. She realized then that she had true competition in the shape of the handsome young man before her.<br/><br/>“ If we’re to summon into mind the days of our youth, I remember you not being interested in either, Orion.” Agamemnon replied, realizing that most eyes were on him by then. “All men change, including myself, but some truths remain valid. I find your views on “men like me” interesting, especially since you haven’t been around our great city much to witness the bad days in it, as you deem them. Yet I don’t expect a sailor to understand. After all, it was “men like me” who shaped the city into what it is today for you to enjoy each time you sail back here.”<br/><br/>Eirene shifted her gaze from one man to another, liking the fact that the conversation switched from the women of Athens to the men of the city in less than a second. Agamemnon seemed to realize that fact himself and continued after a short moment of respite with renewed conviction:<br/><br/>“That does not give women the right to tarnish the city’s name with their unrestrained desires, however. ”<br/>