AUTHOR'S NOTE: I solemnly swear to add "Update fanfic consistently" into my New Year's resolution. If found guilty of doing otherwise shall be sentenced to be hanged, drawned and quartered. Signed, Frecklehead; Witnessed by, The Red Queen of Wonderland.
CHANGE OF MIND
'Where on earth is she?' Poseidon fumed, drumming his fingers impatiently atop the small table that he secured at the far side corner of the large open theater, away from people's prying eyes where the nighttime program spearheaded by the nymphs was being held.
The Nereids had already finished performing an hour ago; the Dryads, Pleiades and Oceanids had been on stage in quick succession, and yet the nymph with the red hair still hasn't shown herself up.
'It must be that unfortunate incident at the back alley earlier by the sports arena,' he assumed, 'It COULD only be that. It must've frightened her off.'
Poseidon ran a hand along his jawline in contemplation. Had he really scared her?
Well, he did shove her - face first, nonetheless - to the stone wall of the arena more than a couple of times…
'Blast it!' he cut the thought off, 'That would be very upsetting.'
Too bad he prepared himself for the night. He trimmed his hair, shaved his stubble off and donned his best tunic, for what? For a no-show? His frown darkened. He was seriously considering if he should just march directly to the Silver Palace, pound on their door, and demand an audience with that red-headed feisty Nereid who had the audacity to dress in men's clothes and running around in back alleys, regardless if her old man, Nereus, likes it or not!
He felt his lips curve up with that thought. Just imagine how Nereus would react to that!
"Mighty Clouds of Olympus!" loudly exclaimed Delphinus, "It's you! You showed up!"
Poseidon scowled at the newcomer, who immediately settled himself at the chair beside him. "You might as well go upstage and announce my presence!" Poseidon bit off.
"I thought you said you'd be heading home after the games finished earlier…" Delphinus continued, unperturbed.
"Yah, well," Poseidon shrugged, "Change of plans."
Delphinus narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Poseidon's entire person, "My, my, my," he said teasingly, "Somebody came prepared for war!"
Poseidon drank bitterly at his wine, "There is no war if you've got no opponent."
"Oh," Delphinus guffawed, "So the lady didn't make an appearance!" he nodded, "This is interesting. I'm getting really intrigued with this nymph," leaning over the chair, he inquired, "What did you say her name was again?"
"Amphitrite," he grunted under his breath.
Delphinus furrowed his brows, "Wait," he muttered, "Nereus and Doris' daughter? Thetis's sister?"
"The very one," Poseidon confirmed.
Delphinus angled his head, confused, "You do realize that this is the very same nymph that had turned you into the talk of the realm for openly questioning you at the Sea council, right?"
Poseidon ran his finger atop his goblet, smiling, "I do. And I really don't mind."
Delphinus questioned, "Well, does she know who you are?" then clarified, "I mean, when you're with us, you always look like… this," waving his hand over Poseidon's person, "But when you're doing your formal duties at the Sea Realm, you make yourself appear a whole lot more… older."
"Doesn't matter," Poseidon shrugged, "I'll introduce myself to her."
"And you think by simply introducing yourself to her, that would open you doors of countless possibilities with the nymph?" quizzed Delphinus.
"Naturally," answered Poseidon.
Delphinus laughed, "I think you need more wine, my friend," he said, "This nymph had the guts to speak her opinion of you in Sea Councils, how much more if you step closer into her circle?"
Poseidon scowled at him, "Go away!" he gestured, "If you've got nothing good to say, leave!"
His friend seemed to find his annoyance humorous, for Delphinus continued with a chuckle, "This girl has gotten under your skin, hasn't she?" he pointed a finger at Poseidon knowingly, as he reached for an empty goblet and poured himself with wine, "You never get irritated when quizzed about any of your previous conquests…"
Poseidon smirked ungraciously but didn't give his friend a reply.
"You have no idea how to approach this one, don't you?" Delphinus speculated.
"What?" grumbled Poseidon while adding inwardly, 'Ofcourse, I do!'
A sudden movement caught the side of Poseidon's eye, distracting him from his thoughts, as he saw the Phorcian royal brothers, Salmoneus, and the heir to the throne, Deioneus, made their way among the crowd.
Only a year younger, Salmoneus is a far cry from his older brother's looks. Salmoneus' light brown hair and friendly demeanor is legions away from Deioneus' golden good looks and mysterious persona, which ironically even pulls more people to him.
Poseidon turned serious, clasped his hands together, and spoke, "Looks like Salmoneus brought his perfect older brother for tonight's event."
Delphinus followed his gaze, exclaiming, "That's something new," he concurred, "Deioneus rarely attends events like this…"
"You mean, events where we're attending?" clarified Poseidon.
"No. He attends events that I'm attending," Delphinus corrected, "But he almost always never attends events where you're attending!"
Poseidon had to stop himself from rolling his eyes, "The man surely knows how to carry a grudge, doesn't he?" he remarked.
"Not everyone can be that forgiving," Delphinus confided, as his eyes followed the Phorcian brothers' movements in the filled open theater, "What do you think could've enticed him to make a rarefied appearance?"
Poseidon shrugged, and then caught his breath. He spotted her!
Poseidon basically felt his world stop revolving for a second. The redheaded minx was standing by the banquet table, a goblet of wine in her hand, silently observing the happenings in the night gala.
"There she is," Poseidon whispered, nudging Delphinus' arm towards the direction of the banquet table.
A low whistle escaped from Delphinus' lips when he spotted her, "Thetis' little sister has grown up."
Amphitrite was wearing an icy blue gown that hugged every imaginable curve in her body, with feathered sleeves falling just below her shoulders, showing off her creamy white arms. Her flowing, auburn locks, which fell gloriously at her back was pinned at one side framing her patrician face to perfection. Even the wine-bearer in the banquet table couldn't tear his eyes off her though she seemed to be completely oblivious to his attention, even with the stares and the double takes she was receiving by the other people around her. She appeared to be somewhat otherwise preoccupied with her thoughts.
Who would've known that this same picture of ladylike flawlessness, was earlier running around the streets of Naxos wearing men's clothes? Or donning those matronly dresses she wears during Sea Council, her hair severely pulled into a tight bun under pearled hairnets that she's barely recognizable?
Poseidon ran another long appreciative gaze down Amphitrite's figure, drank the last drop of wine from his goblet, laid a hand on Delphinus' shoulder, and announced, "She's going home with me tonight."
Amphitrite shoved her goblet back to the attendant serving the wine by the banquet table, and curtly instructed, "More."
The server gave her a dubious, hesitant look; Amphitrite flashed him a smile and he readily complied. Amphitrite couldn't really object to the speculative glance being thrown her way by the wine server. Ever since she'd stepped into the Open Theatre for the Night Gala, she'd practically glued herself by the banquet relishing on its endless offering of wine.
'This is a bad idea,' she thought, repeating to herself for the hundredth time. She really shouldn't have come over for the night festivities. The moment Deioneus spotted her when she practically stalked him at his retreat house in Naxos should've made her call everything off.
She just couldn't risk the chance of bumping into him. After all the efforts she'd done for the past few years to distance herself away from him. The stakes are just too high to gamble.
Oh! PLUS the fact that she very nearly trampled Poseidon, the reigning God of the High Seas of all people, on her haste of running away from Deioneus should've sealed the deal off.
It should've sealed it off, right?
Nope. Apparently, it didn't. And she had to thank her horrid sisters for that.
When she came back to the chamber she shared with Maera earlier at Demeter's temple, she found that most of her siblings who went to Naxos were camped into their quarters because everyone already heard of the gown Hera sent to her and were all gushing about how heavenly it was cut out and how lovely it would look upon her.
And when she started to hint at actually not wanting to attend the night festival, everybody gave her a look as if she was deranged, and spared no time at letting her know exactly what they thought about it. It was a bit surprising though to note that Thetis, on her part, tried to persuade Amphitrite not to attend if she really didn't want to. Thetis had always been the one person who'd been trying for the longest time to pull Amphitrite out of her self-imposed exile from society.
Trouble is, when one gets to face the forceful majority of the Nereid sisters - just like what Amphitrite experienced head-on in her chamber, it's simply impossible to decline. No reason would suffice for them. Unless...
Unless, ofcourse, if she tells them the truth on what she'd gotten herself into, which was absolutely NOT in the list of options.
And THAT is exactly the reason why Amphitrite found herself standing right where she knew she ought NOT to be: at the Evening Gala.
She took another healthy swig from her goblet full of wine, feeling its warm sensation flowing down her throat, slowly relaxing her nerves...
"Amphitrite, isn't it?" a deep, baritone voice inquired, spoken just behind her right ear.
She choked, nearly spewing her wine out and spun around.
Poseidon gave her a low chuckle, much like a rumble coming from his chest; perfect, white teeth smiling devilishly at her, "Or do you prefer Nerites?" he surmised.
"Don't..." the immediate reply made her cough on the rest of the wine left in her throat. She swallowed painfully and took a deep breath to regain her composure. Flipping her hair, she squared her shoulders as regally as possible and pretended, "I don't know what you're talking about."
The Sea God gave her another of his unsettlingly seductive laughter, "Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm talking about," he nodded positively, "So which one do you usually go with? Amphitrite or Nerites?"
"Stop it...!" she hissed, looking behind her shoulders as if someone was close enough to hear them, "Stop..." she said more calmly, "...saying it."
"Saying what?" he repeated, clearly having fun at teasing her, "Nerites?" he raised one thick brow in question, challenging her.
Amphitrite widened her eyes at him in a show of consternation. 'If he thinks he's going to get a confession from her, he's gravely mistaken,' she decreed.
Painting a believably innocent look on his face, Poseidon continued, "What's that for anyway? Some sort of secret identity you use when you get bored at playing the obedient daughter of one of the reigning Sea Titans?" he asked, running a rather discomfiting lazy gaze down her person.
Crossing her free hand across her opposite arm, as if to shield herself from the force of his searching eyes, she replied with an equally deceptive sweet smile, "First of all, my mother would be hysterical right now if she'd hear you describing me obedient, and second, that topic is simply out of discussion."
"So…" he started, his voice dropping into an arresting tenor, his blue-green eyes staring intently at her, one hand leaning over to the edge of the table beside her, "What exactly do you want us to discuss?"
Amphitrite swallowed, gaping back at him. He was just a foot away from her now. She seemed to have missed the part where he had gotten so close to her.
"Nothing," she breathed, not entirely realizing she'd said that aloud until she heard it from her own ears.
"Excuse me?" Poseidon angled his incredibly chiseled face in question, her eyes following his every movement, "I didn't quite hear you."
She cleared her throat and repeated, "I said 'nothing'," she proclaimed, taking a step back away from him and returning her attention to the program onstage. Standing too close to the god was doing inexplicable things to her. She explained, "There is nothing I can imagine worth discussing with someone like you..."
"Someone like me," he reiterated, humor in his voice, "Ah, I see I started off at the wrong foot with you. Let me introduce myself more formally..."
Amphitrite glanced at him with a smile, "I know who you are."
"Oh you do?" he replied with a winning, lopsided grin, "That's flattering."
"Oh please," she rolled her eyes at that impossibly inviting smile, "There are a lot of things in my vocabulary for you. Flattering is at the bottom part of my list."
"But it is still IN your list," he pointed out.
Amphitrite laughed. She actually laughed with amusement. 'The rascal!' she mused, 'The rascal KNOWS how to charm.'
She turned her head back to him, her smile quickly fading when she caught the look on his face.
Poseidon took another step forward, leaning even more closely she can practically feel his breath on her face, "I say, why don't we skip the night gala and discuss the many reasons that I can be flattering at my ship, the Thalassanax, down at the harbor?"
She was stunned. Amphitrite was speechless for a good second, not sure if she even heard him right and just blurted away, "Are you asking me out?"
Poseidon seemed surprised by her reaction, but acknowledged, "Yes."
Amphitrite threw her head back in laughter, stopped like a demented woman and then narrowed her eyes back at him, "You're messing with me, right?"
This time, he positively looked bewildered, "What?"
"Because I was a bit disrespectful at the Sea Council and this is your way of getting back at me," she rationalized, "By messing with my head. What is this? Some sort of deal you had with your 'friends'?"
"What?" Poseidon exclaimed, now taking a full step back, "No!"
"Well, okay, Lord Poseidon," she began, "I apologize for being too outspoken. I'll try not to be much of a bother to you in public hearings next time. But please, do take your pick at other nymphs in the gathering tonight, there are a lot of them waiting for your attention. You don't have to force your charm on me. I can take a hint, and I'm sorry."
Poseidon was staring at her, flabbergasted.
"Well," Amphitrite fidgeted, not entirely knowing how to handle an astounded Olympian God, standing there, gaping at her, "If you've got nothing to say, I'll go around and… circulate," she gestured the last word with her forefinger and left him.
Just as soon as Amphitrite was out of earshot, Delphinus slowly approached his astonished friend, a hand on Poseidon's shoulder, asking, "What just happened there?"
Poseidon raised both brows, looking exactly like a man who thought he had everything under control only to find out that he actually really didn't, and mumbled, "I have NO idea."
