Chapter Text
In its full shining glory, Castrum Kremnos was always a hive of activity. People could be seen moving quickly and efficiently through the gold-lined marble streets. Merchants set up their stalls to sell their goods and warriors patrolled the streets. One would think that it had been this way for years, and for some, it had been. For a smaller fraction of the population however the reality was far stranger. They remembered the streets torn up, titankin loose from their controls, and the glory of Castrum Kremnos was only a memory and a hope for the future.
As Krateros stared out over the balcony and took in the freshly restored Castrum Kremnos, a glory that he had only thought to ever see once more in his memories, he felt a wave of unease wash over him. More than half the people in the city did not remember or really have much knowledge at all of the past cycle. They did not seem to understand, or perhaps care was a better word, that Castrum Kremnos had fallen, that this return to glory was a falsehood. To them they had never lost that glory in the first place. They had never seen their new king s strength and prowess in battle.
There were those, however, usually from the Kremnoan detachment, those who had seen just how far Castrum Kremnos had fallen under the former King Europons' mad reign. Even though there were many who had fallen before they had ever made it to Okhema, those who still believed in the old ways. People who had the same mindset that he used to have
The strum of a lyre echoed from the room next door and Krateros found himself grinding his teeth before he forcibly stopped himself. The voices grew louder from where they were in the next room; clearly, they were on their way to bugging him again about the only topic they seemed interested in.
Taking a deep breath, Krateros tried to brace himself for the same questions he had been facing from them daily, sometimes even twice a day. It wasn’t that he blamed them; they were Mydeimos’ friends, they were his own friends too, he had watched them grow from teens into capable adults. He simply wished the questions were about Mydeimos. That was someone he felt such an overwhelming amount of pride to speak of.
“There you are old timer!” Leonnius joked, jogging over and giving Krateros a hearty slap on the back. The group laughed, and the gentle accompaniment of music mimicked the sound of rain splashing through leaves.
“Ptolemy was sure that the mob had finally gotten to you.” Came the sly response from Hpheastion as he leaned back against the balcony. His slim frame was slowly gaining the strength that had always eluded it.
“No, I was sure that he had found a better hiding place. You are thinking about Perdikkas, Hyphaestion.” Came the annoyed response from Ptolemy, he even pulled his head out of his tome momentarily to give Hyphaestion an annoyed look, amazing.
It was truly astonishing to see these five faces alive and together again, after all these years. Certainly a sight that Krateros had never expected to see again, it was almost enough to warm his heart.
“We have news, dear old teacher.”
“So, even though we are sure you only told us to go ask around the rest of the Kremnoan detachment to get information about or dear little prince’s lover, they all simply repeated what you said.” There was an exasperated sigh here from Perdikkas. All of them had been rather annoyed at their search for answers about Phainon. The lack of forthcoming information did not deter this group though; they were as stubborn as a dromas was when one attempted to feed it hay.
“‘It was about damn time.’” Came a quiet interpretation from the background, accompanied by the flare of a lyre.
There were small chuckles through the group at the impression. Though he supposed it was quite good, he did have a reputation to uphold and Krateros fought the smile to simply raise an eyebrow at the bunch. “So why the continued questions?” He knew why.
“We simply want to know who captured our dear prince’s heart. He had never shown any inclination to romance while we traveled with him. It is simply unbelievable that some Okhemen captured his heart so thoroughly.” Came Perdikkas’ argument. Which was somewhat fair.
It was true that until he had met Phainon and had all but recreated the Kremnos Festival on that field outside of Okhema, their wayward Prince had never shown any inclination to romance before. Still, after witnessing such a fight it had been clear to every Kremnoan that their Prince was… for a lack of better word, smitten. The… and here Krateros hesitated to call it a romance… dance? Perhaps that was better; the dance the two of them had played around each other for years had been painful. It had been quite a mystery to the detachment why Mydeimos had not simply slung that oblivious white haired nuisance over his shoulder and taken to him the Lady Goldweaver to secure their union legally in Okhema. As far as Krateros and the rest of the detachment had been concerned, because there had been much grumbling amongst the ranks, those two had been united as sworn battlemates since the end of that ten-day and night battle.
Quite honestly, Krateros did not really like thinking about it. He had never known himself to be prone to situational embarrassment before those two had met. It was not a feeling he experienced alone, however, much of the detachment and several citizens of Okhema felt it as well when Phainon came around.
A slight clearing of a throat snapped him out of his memories and had him realize that he had been quiet for far too long. “I am not sure what else I can tell you that the others have not.”
“You could simply tell us anything. That would be more at this point.” Hyphaestion offered with a raised brow of his own.
“What does the man even look like? No one has even answered that.” Came Ptolemy’s own response as he put away his tome and pulled out a little journal, one that seemed surprisingly empty, for once.
Sighing, Krateros reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. While he did understand why these boys in particular were so interested in their friend's new husband. He knew that they would go tearing off to find him the moment they got a clue as to his location or even more than the name Phainon. That is what he would do if he were in their position after all. Thankfully, he was not in their position and he had zero desire to go anywhere near Aedes Elysia while those two were on their honeymoon. He loved Mydei like the son he had never had and even he found those two to be insufferable at times together. The thought of interrupting them at the culmination of that obsession with each other was the last thing he wanted to subject himself to. Thankfully, he was not the only one who thought this way it seemed as the boys had been rebuffed from every avenue it seemed.
“You will simply have to be patient; this is their next stop.” Was all he offered on that. Thankfully, this had given him enough time to find a suitable room far away from the royal quarters but not far enough to cause insult. As much as he would never admit it out loud he was getting up there in years and every moment of sleep counted, especially if he wanted to keep up with these young men and… him.
As expected, his words were met with the expected sounds of disagreement.
“Does Mydeimos even know that we are alive?” Came a sudden question from Perdikkas, a thoughtful look on his face.
Now that was a good question. It had taken a while for these five to make their way to Castrum Kremnos and almost give Krateros a heart attack upon seeing them alive and happy once more. “Hm…” While Krateros had found himself revived in Okhema, able to witness the whole debacle between his charge and that boy from Aedes Elysiae. He knew that most people came back where they had been last. The boys, however, admitted that they had come back just outside of Castrum Kremnos, together for the most part. They had stayed outside for a few days, talking together and trying to figure out just what had happened before venturing inside. It was certainly a strange tale but Krateros did not doubt it in the slightest, they might play pranks on each other often enough but when it came to matters such as this they were as honest as they come.
“If I was to hazard a guess I would say the new Titan of Strife does not know you are here.” A strong and sure voice cut through the silence.
As always all heads whipped to the side to witness the tall and powerful man in traditional, if ancient, Kremnoan clothing stride in as if he owned the place. At the sight of the man Krateros felt his spine stiffen and himself stand up a little taller, all while his eyebrow twitched in irritation. He had no idea where Mydeimos had found the man, he himself had never seen him before. Still, it annoyed him how the warrior seemed to command the attention of everyone around him with his sheer presence alone. Everyone stood up straighter around him, their gazes locked on his figure and respect was instantly given, even if no one had yet seen him in the arena yet. Such a man given such instinctual respect from those of Kremnos without ever being on the battlefield, was inherently un-Kremnoan and yet… the thought of disobeying him seemed… it caused a shudder to run down Krateros’ spine.
“Gneasus.” Was all Krateros managed to offer through gritted teeth as he forced his body to lean against the balcony.
The man nodded his helmeted head to the group as he walked past them to join Krateros on the balcony. “I came to tell you the first shipment of flour from Aedes Elysiae arrived just this morning.”
Confusion hit Krateros at the news. Why was he being told this, and by Gneasus at that, and why should he care? It was nice to know that shipments of food they had purchased were starting to come in but nothing that could not wait until the planned meeting later in the week.
He knew of the village of course, Mydeimos had placed an extravagant standing order for flour from them the moment news of its return had reached their ears. At the time, Krateros had simply believed it to be a kind gesture for a tiny village to receive such an outrageous sum of money simply for flour. That the kind gift to a lover's home, had turned out to be rather strategic in unexpected ways. While Aedes Elysiae was unknown to almost all of Amphorous, it was known, quite famously so, within one small sector of the populace, bakers. None of whom were able to place an order for the amount they wanted upon hearing the news, and then the subsequent purchase from Castrum Kremnos itself. The group had sworn curses upon Castrum Kremnos and Mydei’s name upon hearing the news-- which had suddenly stopped one night. While Krateros knew Mydeimos had not intentionally bought out most of this apparently special flour from the rest of the baking world, it had not stopped a smirk from gracing his Highness's lips when he had heard the news. It seemed Mydeimos’ brand of Strife would show itself in other, unexpected ways.
Still… Why was Gneasus telling him this? “Ok.” He felt suspicion rise inside of him as he watched the other man. Behind him he could see Ptolemy’s attention was suddenly caught on the conversation, an interest here that was not there before, as if he had realized something, just what Krateros had no idea. They stood there for a moment, Ptolemy leaning over and whispering something into Peucesta’s ear which caused the tune on his lyre to turn to excitement.
“A new shipment of flour. We should go investigate.” The eagerness could hardly even be considered hidden in Ptolemy’s voice as he stood up suddenly and started to try to push his confused friends out of the room. Behind them Peucesta followed with a jaunty tune as they left.
It was only as the door shut that Krateros made the connection. Phainon of Aedes Elysiae was often how that man introduced himself. Even he had used that title when speaking of the man and there was a good chance that those boys had heard it being used when doing their investigation into Phainon. Slowly his gaze slid over to the large muscled man who was the temporary leader of Castrum Kremnos. “You did that on purpose.”
The helmeted man made no attempt to hide his mischief as he watched the group leave. Silently, Krateros hoped that they would make it back in one piece as he wasn’t sure just how those two would handle their special time visiting Phainon’s family to be crashed by five rowdy men.
“That will keep them busy for a while.” Was all that Gneasus said before turning his gaze down to the courtyard below them.
Following his gaze Krateros noticed two familular figures somewhat in the shadows speaking to each other. “Ah.” Was all he said and he was no longer curious as to why the other had sent those boys away.
“Have they said anything to you?” The question was curious, not demanding, as if aware of Krateros’ former relationship regarding the two of them.
Shaking his head Krateros found himself studying them on his own, inside his feelings somewhat mixed. “Nothing important.” Simple basic greetings and the like but nothing of substance. He was not quite sure what he felt about all of that. The two were close, which was strange considering their final moments together. There had been no shouting, no anger, no fights or… anything… They had not protested Mydei taking the throne, if anything, they had seemed happy about it.
They stood there in silence as they watched the two speak for a moment before leaving together. “Hm. I cannot help but feel as if something is off with the two of them.”
That was something that Krateros could agree with. Something was off with the former King and Queen of Kremnos. He was not sure what it was, and no one had mentioned them really doing anything strange, which seemed to only raise his hackles further on the subject. It was even more strange that he had somewhat expected some further tug of loyalty towards the former Queen Gorgo, but that was strangely absent. It seemed that his time in the young prince's presence had firmly planted his loyalty there. “You aren’t wrong.” Is what he finally said to the other man.
~
“So why did you suddenly pull us away from whatever drama was about to happen between Krateros and Gneasus?” Came Hepheastions, somewhat annoyed question as he was quickly led down to the vast kitchens.
Rolling his eyes at his friends ignorance, Ptolemy wondered if his friend thought of anything but the sword these days. “Because Gneasus was giving us a clue.”
Jogging ahead of them Leonnius turned around, never slowing his pace jogged backwards now, facing the group. “A clue?”
“Phainon of Aedes Elysiae.” Was the quiet answer behind them accompanied by a dramatic flourish of the lyre from Peucesta.
While Ptolemy had wanted to say it himself in a far more dramatic way, one that made him look exceptionally clever too, he supposed the musical embellishment was fine too. “That is how a lot of people spoke of him, Phainon of Aedes Elysiae.”
“That place exists?”
“I thought you couldn’t find it on a map?”
“I couldn’t.” He had searched too, there had been no maps in the entirety of the Castrum Kremnos vast library that had mentioned Aedes Elysiae. That had been an exercise in frustration that almost had Ptolemy tearing his hair out. “But it has to exist. We just got some flour from there.”
“Perhaps if we ask the merchants, they might be able to tell us.” Perdikkas mentioned, catching on quickly.
“Let’s hope they are still here.”