Rowena, daughter of Alfred, was seventeen twelvemonths of age and was an inch taller than her husband Falco. She was a slender young woman with light skin, large reddish-brown eyes, and red hair that was long and straight. She was fairly attractive with an honest face, a cute mouth and good legs. As was the case of anyone considered the comeliest gentlewoman of anywhere, it was an exaggeration at best with the exaggeration being that her mouth was the cutest and her legs the best. She was as humbly dressed as her husband, wearing an amber coloured breastband and a brown perizoma, both made of cloth, a pair of gold earrings and a pink ribbon that she used to keep her hair in a ponytail.
To say that she was afraid in her situation would be semi-true. Having been taken by force from her home by a foreign prince, it was only natural. She was not a trembling, weeping mess, but she was afraid nonetheless and put on a brave face as she stood upon the deck of Acinonyx's trireme, the Crown Prince of Hyperion circling her while his cheetah Paris lay upon the deck with narrowed eyes.
Acinonyx was one and twenty twelvemonths of age. He was fair and tall with beautiful brown eyes, soft blond hair and a charming mouth. His attire consisted of a purple kilt with red tassels at the end, a purple cloak, gold bracelets and earrings and a yellow band of cloth about his forehead. At five feet, ten inches and three quarters, he towered overed Rowena, but not by much. In appearance, he was metaphorically a beautiful crystal vase, but one that was cracked with dry, withered flowers within it.
While her fellow captives were down below deck, Rowena stared defiantly at her captor, as he circled her, looking less and less like a human and starting to resemble a troublesome baboon that had once torn through the palace back on Aether. The primate eventually found itself slain from a single touch of the paw of Tigris' golden tiger Aedan. Rowena could only wonder if a single touch from the hand of Tigris' son Falco would slay this mainland prince.
As Acinonyx stared at Rowena with concupiscent eyes, Rowena looked to her captor's henchmen. If they weren't working, they were staring at her and their master, wondering if the latter was going to act.
Ultimately, Acinonyx never did. One of the sailors cried: "Look! A tempest coming in from the northwest!"
All eyes on deck looked to where the Hyperionite was pointing. Sure enough, there were storm clouds on the northwestern horizon and the sound of thunder could be heard. From where she stood, Rowena could see the Storm Falcon, flapping his wings and with each time his wings flapped, thunder boomed.
Turning to his navigator, Acinonyx asked: "What is the nearest settlement?"
"The Fortress of Yara, my prince!"
Rowena had heard of the Fortress of Yara. It belonged to the Cambyses Empire, one of the world's superpowers, and one that was holding the corrupt Commodian Republic at bay. Not long ago, only last winter, Hyperion had elected to join the Cambyses Empire to be granted protection from the Commodian Republic. As was the policy, even if that was for conquered states, Hyperion kept its customs and religion as long as it recognized the authority of the Shah, the King of Kings, and paid taxes. Had there been ulterior motives for joining the Cambyses Empire? Many at Aether's court had wondered and even now, Rowena was thinking that there was.
Falling to her knees, Rowena held her hands together and muttered a prayer calling for the Donkey God, patron of foreigners, immigrants, redheads and currently Aether's royal family, to protect her and her fellow captives. When Acinonyx saw this, he asked, his voice pleasant as always: "What do you pray for?"
Rowena answered: "What I pray for are between me and those that I pray too. You should mind your business."