Chapter 7: Misunderstandings

I sat on a cushion with my arms crossed and my lips in a thin line -- sulking.

The celebration was still in full swing and everyone except for me was having a grand time.

I scoffed, thinking of how Eros offered his hand to a beautiful nymph and led her away to dance after we ended our game of throwing grapes into a chalice.

"Keep shooting Eros those glares and I might think you want him dead." Lena sat down beside me.

I looked at the nymph in his arms, her face glowing with a delighted smile as he twirled her around. "I thought he meant me."

"What?"

"He told me Selene wasn't the one he wanted to dance with..." I elaborated. "For a moment there, I thought... Lena, what is happening to me?" I turned to her. "Why do I want to throw a pillow at that nymph's head?"

Lena laughed. "I think you've taken a liking to him." Then she leaned over and said, "And you feel jealous of the nymph he's with."

I shook my head. "No." I stopped, then shook my head once more. "No."

"Yes," Lena argued. "Do you remember when we first met Prince Konstantinos of Gora?"

I groaned and covered my face. "Don't remind me."

"You threw your slice of cake at Thea and smeared the icing all over her face and hair when she stole him from you."

"I was seven!" I defended myself. "I didn't know any better."

She clicked her tongue teasingly. "Excuses, excuses. I wonder how you'll face the two of them after all these years, especially now that they're betrothed." She glanced at Eros and the nymph. "I'll be keeping an eye on her. If she disappears, I'll suspect you."

I threw a pillow at Lena. She caught it with a laugh. "I won't do anything," I said.

Orion and Bion approached us. Extending his hand to me, Orion asked, "Would you like to dance?"

Lena was already taking Bion's hand and walking away with a wink in my direction.

"I would love to," I said and let Orion lead me.

As we danced the night away, I didn't look at Eros. Not even once.

~~~

Loud snoring woke me from my sleep and I opened my eyes, yawning as I looked around the floor of the cave, covered with sleeping bodies. One satyr was sleeping on the table, his head resting on a loaf of bread.

I'd fallen asleep on the floor along with everyone else. A soft pillow caressed my cheek and a heavy blanket covered me, along with an arm around my torso.

I slowly turned to the other side and widened my eyes when I came face to face with a sleeping Eros. I watched his chest rise and fall with each quiet breath he took, not realizing that I'd stopped breathing myself.

As I brought air back into my lungs, I noticed a fallen eyelash on his cheek. Without thinking, I carefully reached over with my hand to brush it off.

As soon as the tips of my fingers touched his soft skin, his eyes opened, pools of honey catching me off guard. I yelped and sprung up, tripping over a body behind me and falling on top of it.

Lena groaned. "Who the hell crushed me?" She opened her eyes. "Cassia? Will you get off me please?"

"Sorry!" I rolled off her and scrambled to my feet only to hit the side of the table with my head. Loud clanking followed when something fell, along with annoyed groans of those it awakened from their peaceful sleep.

Embarrassed, I rushed to the cave tunnel, careful not to step on anyone as I did so. When I made it to the bathroom, I released a breath of relief and began to wash up for the morning. I was wide awake now.

I winced when I touched the top of my head, feeling the tender skin of my scalp.

"Here." Something cold was placed on my aching head. "This should help."

I looked up at Eros. "Thank you."

"By the rattling of the table, I knew you'd hit your head very hard. Are you all right?"

I nodded and took the cloth covered ice from his hand to place it lower on my head, where it hurt most. "Did I wake a lot of people?"

He chuckled. "Only all of them."

"Great." I grimaced.

"Hey! Are you done in there? Others have to use it too, you know," Selene's voice shrilled, followed by persistent knocking.

I opened the door of the bathroom. "Come in. I'm done."

"Finally," she grumbled.

A nymph that danced with Eros last night walked in behind her. She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

I walked out of there as fast as I could.

"Hi Cassia." Zoe halted me on the way. "Would you like to come with me to collect fruits from the forest for breakfast?" She offered me one of the three baskets in her hand.

"Hi Zoe," I said, taking the basket. "I'd love to help."

"Great! Lena is waiting outside. I'll be right with you once I find someone else to join us."

When I came out of the caves, I saw Lena sitting on a big rock with her own basket in hand. She yawned and waved at me as I approached. "I thought Zoe was coming as well?"

"She is. She's just finding one more person to bring along."

We heard a high pitched roar from the forest nearby.

Lena and I looked at each other with wide eyes. "Do you think...?"

I nodded. "It sounded like a dragon. But definitely not Nephos."

We rushed into the forest, abandoning our baskets near the caves, and followed the sound until the roars became louder as we came closer to the beast. Pulling down the leafy branch obscuring our view in front of us, we finally saw it.

A silvery grey dragon growled as it tried to capture a circular light on the ground which came from a sun ray peeking in through the leaves of the tall trees above.

Lena was the first one to run over and grab the dragon's snout to shake it gently. "Vunos, I've missed you so!"

Vunos sneezed in her face.

I laughed as I joined them. "I see that he's still allergic to you." I scratched the scaly neck of the beautiful creature who purred in response.

"He is not," Lena whined. "It's simply a coincidence that he sneezed."

"Don't worry, he's not allergic to you. It's the flowers," someone said. We turned to see a tall man in royal attire. His grey eyes squinted as he smiled at us. "Nice to see you both again."

My mouth went dry as I looked upon the first boy - now man - I'd ever fancied. "Konstantinos. What are you doing here?"

He tilted his head. "What am I doing in my own kingdom?" When he saw my face redden in embarrassment, he chuckled. "This one here crushed Thea's flower garden." He pointed at Vunos. "She got angry, so I took him for a flight and he landed in this forest. What are you two doing here? Come to visit me?"

"Ha," Lena snorted. "As if Cassia would ever want to--" she cleared her throat when she saw my horrified look. "We're here for a different matter. It's a long story."

I rubbed the back of my neck before daring to meet his eyes. "Does Thea still...hate me?"

I haven't seen Konstantinos or Thea ever since the incident I'd caused many years ago. Every time mother went to visit her friends, Queen Liana and King Leo, and ask me to join, I'd always refused.

Not only had I smeared cake all over Thea's face and hair, but I'd also proclaimed my undying love for Konstantinos in front of everyone at the table, all of our parents included. I couldn't possibly face any of them after that. Never.

And yet here I was. With the culprit of my childhood tantrum standing right in front of me.

Konstantinos shrugged. "Perhaps? I'm not quite certain. I don't spend much time with her."

"Aren't you betrothed to her?" Lena asked.

He nodded, almost bitterly, or perhaps it was my imagination. "I am." Vunos approached the prince and licked his face, making him laugh. He turned to us. "What happened to your battle attires?"

Lena burst into laughter. "You remember them? I still have mine in my closet."

I groaned. "Can we just forget about those times please?"

Looking down at the dress I now wore, I remembered the battle attire I'd always worn when I was a child. I'd begged father to make me one like the one he had, complete with a metal helmet and a shield. It'd made me feel invincible.

"I liked them," Konstantinos said. Then he raised a brow. "But can you still bring me down like you used to?" He asked me.

"Easily," I assured. I motioned to my hair, remembering how we'd play-fight. "Pull it."

He approached me and gently pulled at my hair. "Do you still love me?" He teased. Then, in the blink of a moment, he was tackled to the ground.

But not by me.

"Touch her again, and you'll regret it," Eros warned Konstantinos, pinning him down with a strong forearm across his chest, and with a blazing glare.

"I think you've severely misunderstood the situation," Konstantinos said, struggling to get out of the angry God's hold. Vunos growled, ready to pounce.

"Eros, let him go." I pushed him off the prince, pulling Konstantinos up to stand before things became worse.

Zoe ran over, dropping her basket. "Oh my Gods, you're all right!" She glanced at Lena, then me. "We thought something happened to you both when we came out of the caves and saw your baskets on the ground! Then this stranger held you by your hair and... and..." Her eyes widened when she took a good look at the stranger she was talking about. "Your Highness!" She bowed.

Eros looked confused. "You weren't abducted?"

"No, they weren't," Konstantinos assured him, adjusting his clothes.

"Who are you?" Eros asked the prince.

"Prince Konstantinos of Gora. And you?"

"That's none of your concern, human."

Konstantinos frowned in confusion.

Zoe cleared her throat. "I apologize on his behalf and mine, Your Highness. I was the one who'd assumed you had ill intentions. Please forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive. You had good reasons for your actions," the prince said, making Zoe relax. "I must apologize for the misunderstanding I'd caused. Cassia, Lena, and I are childhood friends. I would never harm them."

Vunos nodded to confirm his words as he stood proudly behind the prince, keeping a careful watch on Eros, lest he attacked again.

"Would you like to join us for breakfast, Your Highness?" Zoe offered. "The other nymphs and satyrs would be happy to see you."

"I'm afraid I have to return now. Why don't you all come to the castle instead?" Konstantinos said. "Everyone is welcome. It's been a long time since we've had a proper celebration there; it would liven things up for once. How does that sound?"

I started to shake my head no, but Lena and Zoe happily agreed.

I sighed. I knew that I had to face the rest of them one day. But I didn't think that it would be today.

~~~

"Wear this," Selene said, putting an exquisitely beautiful dress against my body. "Oh yes. This is the one. His Highness will die when he sees you! And Princess Thea will die of jealousy," she snickered.

She'd found me hiding in the bathroom, refusing to go to the castle, and she somehow got me to tell her about the reason for my resistance. That led to her misunderstanding the situation completely and thinking that I still harboured feelings for Konstantinos and felt hurt that he was betrothed to Thea.

Now she was busy dressing me up, telling me that I had to try to win him over. But I had a feeling that she simply wanted to do this to spite Thea whom she seemed to despise.

Whatever her reasons were, her fretting over my appearance distracted me from the fact that in a few hours, I would be back in the place of my humiliating past. I felt like a coward, and I hated it.

"All done!" Selene said, with a smirk. "I will be beside you when we enter. I want to see Princess Thea's face." She pushed her long hair back. "Let's go."

When we entered the castle, Konstantinos greeted us at the door with a grin. "Welcome, everyone. I've had some time to prepare for the celebration. Come on in. It's this way."

We followed the prince into a ballroom where he had a feast and musicians prepared. People of the court were already inside, raising their chalices of wine in a greeting when we walked in.

Thea walked past me, then stopped to give me a once-over. "I see you've been spending too much time with the nymph whores. You're even dressed like them." She scoffed and walked away with her nose in the air.

Selene had her hands in fists. "I want to rip her ugly hair out!"

I held her back. "Don't. You'll make a scene. That's what she's hoping for."

Selene let out a frustrated puff of air. "I won't, don't worry. Gods, I need wine." She walked away to pour some for herself.

"Did you dress up for that human prince?" Eros was suddenly beside me, taking a sip from his chalice, his gaze on Konstantinos. "What did he mean in the forest?"

"What?" I frowned.

"When he asked you if you still loved him," he said, still not looking at me.

"Oh. I..." I debated on whether or not I should tell him, but seeing the slight clench of his jaw gave me an odd thrill. Was the God jealous? Or was my imagination running wild once again? I wanted to test my theory. "He was my first love."

Eros finally looked at me, his honey eyes swirling with a well-guarded emotion. "And what's your answer to his question?" He watched me intently.

I pretended to struggle to come up with an answer, knowing perfectly well that it was a no. Then a sudden burst of anger coursed through me when my eyes landed on the nymph from last night. I met Eros's gaze. "Why do you care? It's none of your concern." I crossed my arms, mumbling, "Go dance with that beautiful nymph instead."

"What nymph? Oh." He suddenly smiled.

"See?" I said. "You even smile at the thought of her."

Eros shook his head. "No, I'm smiling because I've been a fool. When I told you that Selene wasn't the one I wanted to dance with, you had a disgusted look on your face, so I rushed to dance with the first nymph I saw. Now I see that I've been wrong."

"Disgusted look?" I thought back to that moment. "It was the grape you gave me! It was sour."

He tilted his head back to laugh. "This day is full of misunderstandings."

I smiled. He had a beautiful laugh.

Eros offered me his hand. "Dance with me, human."

I gave him a look.

"Dance with me, Cassia."

I took his hand and squealed when he pulled me flush against him, then lowered his hands down to my waist. I blushed when one of his hands glided down my thigh through the slit of my dress to wrap one leg around his hip as he dipped me toward the floor, his other arm snaked around my waist for support.

He pulled me back up as soon as my hair brushed the floor, releasing my leg and letting the long fabric of my dress cover it once more.

"Everyone's looking at us," I said, breathless.

"Let them."

His eyes devoured every inch of me, making my skin burn from a different kind of fire.

Eros turned me around, my back against him, and slowly traced the skin of my right arm with the tips of his fingers before taking my right hand and spinning me back around, pressing me into him and looking down into my eyes with a small smile.

Then he released me, letting me twirl away on my own, watching me until I came back, placing both of my hands on his firm chest and pushing him away.

Surprised, he stumbled backward, but caught himself, a low chuckle escaping his lips as he shook his head at me.

Grabbing my hips, Eros pulled me back toward him, then lifted my body up in the air, lowering me slowly. My breath hitched when his nose brushed against my stomach, then my ribcage, then my chest and neck until his face was inches from mine. His lips inches from mine.

A cheer erupted around us as satyrs and nymphs clapped at our performance. I'd forgotten that we weren't the only ones in the room. Taking in the shocked faces of the court people, Konstantinos, and Thea, I began to return to reality. Even Lena looked surprised.

Eros released me and winked. "That was quite the dance."

"I'll say." Lena nudged me, wiggling her brows.

"That. Was. Spectacular!" Selene joined us. "Ohh the shock on Princess Thea's face. Exactly what I came here for. Bet she'd never danced like that in her life!"

Bion approached as well, slapping Eros's shoulder once and nodding in acknowledgement before walking away.

A familiar floral scent filled my senses and I froze. I knew that scent. I grew up with that scent.

"May I have a moment to speak with my daughter, please?"

I slowly turned around, coming face to face with a golden-eyed woman. "Mother?"