Having been dragged from below deck by Acinonyx, Rowena watched as the mysterious fog appeared, enveloping the ship of her beloved husband. Hearing the laughter of the Crown Prince of Hyperion, the Queen of Aether glared at him as he uttered: "The Goddess of Love will never allow you to be taken from me, Rowena! She promised you to me and mine you shall remain!"
"The interferences of a deity will not stop Falco and his companions, especially not those of one who knows nothing of that which she is associated with." Retorted Rowena.
Grabbing her by the throat, the Crown Prince of Hyperion raised a hand before saying: "Do not mock my patron, woman."
"Oh, I will mock, Spoiled Prince." Said Rowena, still glaring at Acinonyx. "You are nothing compared to Falco and your so-called 'Goddess of Love' is nothing compared to our patron the Donkey God."
Letting go of Rowena's neck, the Crown Prince of Hyperion burst out laughing. Bringing his right hand to his forehead and leaning against the mast of his ship, he laughed long and hard at what Rowena had said.
The other Hyperionites did not laugh alongside him. They merely stared at him, horrified at what he was doing. The Donkey God, the Storm Falcon, the Earth Bull, the Cow of the Harvest, the Sky and the Earth were the greatest deities in all the world. Laughing at them was unthinkable!
Noticing the lack of laughter from his companions, Acinonyx incredulously inquired: "What? Are you all so cowardly?"
"We are no cowards, Prince Acinonyx." Replied one of the Hyperionites. "But she is the Queen of Aether."
"Why are you telling me what I already know?"
"The dynasty to which she belongs was founded by the High Priest of the Donkey God, cousin!" spoke Acinonyx's cousin, whom he did not even bother to remember the name of. "He is the current patron of Aether's royal family! Her patron is greater than yours... No, not her patron... Our patron!"
Rising to his feet, Acinonyx walked over to his kinsman and asked: "What talk is this? We are not foreigners!"
"In Aether we were, Acinonyx!" exclaimed his cousin. "Never to my memory did I ever see you at the Donkey God's fane as long as we were in Aether! Such a thing is an insult to the Patron God of Foreigners!"
"I have one patron and one alone!" snarled Acinonyx at his auburn-haired cousin. "The Goddess of Love is my patron do you understand me? Not the Earth Bull and definitely not the Donkey God!"
"We are all subjects of the Earth Bull in the end, Spoiled Prince." Commented Rowena, causing the Crown Prince of Hyperion to turn and look at her. "When you arrive in his kingdom, I wonder how he will punish you for disowning him he who counts the Goddess of Love as one of his consorts."
The Earth Bull was many things, but his domains outside of his prison beneath Aether were the waves and the realm of the dead and among his consorts were the Goddess of Love, the Cow of the Harvest and even the very Earth herself. Disowning such a patron was unwise unless one had an equally mighty patron to protect them such as the Donkey God and the Storm Falcon.
In a flash, Acinonyx struck Rowena across the face with an open palm. Expecting to see the Queen of Aether fall the ship's deck, the Crown Prince of Hyperion turned disappointed when he found she stood still. Clenching his fist, Acinonyx prepared to strike again when he saw Rowena's cold glare was still upon her countenance. This alone caused him to hesitate. Wherefore did she not fear him?
The answer was simple: The only man she feared was Taurus Minor and he was certainly not Taurus Minor.
Taking a moment to breathe, Acinonyx removed his headband and then ran a hand through his golden hair. Looking over the redheaded beauty before him, he then asked his kinsman: "Red hair is associated with the Donkey God, is it not, cousin?"
"It is, Acinonyx."
"Why, cousin?"
As Acinonyx's cousin proceeded to explain, Rowena looked at the dagger upon the Spoiled Prince's person. Now was her chance! She could grab the dagger and put an end to him right... The moment the Crown Prince of Hyperion gripped the dagger's hilt, Rowena sighed. Maybe not this time.
Placing a hand upon her left cheek, Rowena felt where she had been struck. It did not hurt terribly, yet at the same time, it was not something that the Queen of Aether could hardly feel.
As Pasiphae, Taurus' younger sister by nineteen twelvemonths, approached her and placed her gentle hands upon her queen's shoulders, she asked: "Are you alright?"
Rowena looked at the native Aetherean woman, before nodding. She was by no means "an individual whose taste included both snails and oysters", as the euphemism went, but even then, Rowena admitted that Pasiphae was an attractive individual with her aquiline nose, her long, luscious locks of ebony hair and her athletic body. She was clad in a red tunic that went down to her ankles, typical for the clergy of the Earth Bull.
Looking over to her sister-in-law, Rowena saw that Eithne was completely disinterested in what had just happened. Why would she have been? Eithne had not been the one who had been struck, so why would she even concern himself?
And then Eithne's mask cracked.
A look of envy was starting to appear upon Eithne's countenance. That her rival in attractiveness was the one that the Goddess of Love had called the most beautiful woman in all the world was nothing short of an insult to the one and twenty twelvemonth old Princess of Aether. Why should she have been stepped over in favour of someone who dressed like a common dancing girl? Rowena barely wore no jewellery besides from her gold earrings while she, Eithne, would adorn herself with a diadem, rings, bracelets, a necklace and earrings, all of gold that must have been finer than that, which Rowena's earrings were made of. Why would anyone consider someone with barely any jewellery upon her person more beautiful than her, Princess Eithne of Aether, Firstborn Child of Tigris? And her face! Eithne could not believe that anyone who did not paint her face white as she did with a red sun painted upon her forehead could ever be comelier than she!
Eithne was what she was. A hypocrite was one such thing, for while Rowena left her face unpainted, she herself had her face unpainted, having had it washed off by the rain when the Hyperionites had taken them to the Fortress of Yara.
Looking away from Green-Eyed Eithne, Rowena looked to the other captive. Six women had been abducted from Aether's palace. With Scholastica and Xe-tian's rescue, there were now four of them. She looked nearly exactly like Rowena, even being the same age and height and was dressed similarly, albeit her breastband and perizoma being pink and her hair being loose rather than in a ponytail. Her name was Hilda and no doubt she had been taken because one of Acinonyx's men had mistaken her for Rowena.
Or had that been the case?
Rowena had no doubt that Acinonyx had some plans for Hilda. They were most likely not the same as the plans he had for her, but still, Rowena was left to wonder what they could have been. A blackguard such as Acinonyx would probably not keep a nigh-lookalike of Rowena captive as well, unless he had a good reason to, some plans relating to their resemblance, but Rowena knew not what.
Noticing Acinonyx take a seat next to his cheetah Paris, Rowena then turned her attention to the Crown Prince of Hyperion's cousin. Approaching him, she quickly looked him over. He was a stocky-fellow with black, twinkling eyes and his auburn hair was short and straight. He was nine and twenty twelvemonths of age and stood at a height of five feet and ten inches with his attire being similar to his cousin's, but with kilt's tassels being yellow, his cloak red and his headband purple, while lacking earrings.
"Queen Rowena..." said Acinonyx's cousin, giving a bow. "How might I help you?"
"What is your appellation, sir?" Rowena inquired.
"Ascanius, Your Majesty."
"How far to Hyperion, Ascanius?"
"We've actually made good time, Your Majesty. We should be arriving tomorrow morning."
Tomorrow morning? She had no idea they were that close and if they were indeed to arrive tomorrow morning, then that meant Falco and his companions would be outnumbered by the Hyperionites. The troubled expression turned to one of horror, her reddish-brown eyes going wide as she covered her mouth with her right hand and tears began to form.
Falco and his companions would be... No, no they would not be. Falco was too intelligent for something like that. He would cheat death and he would lead his companions to her rescue and that of the others.