By the lake.

[Dianthe]

Dianthe slid slowly off of her horse when she reached the edge of the trees. She stared out at the lake and smiled, putting a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun's rays. The weather was perfect, with scattered white clouds in a pastel blue sky. A light breeze swayed branches and rippled the grass, tickled the skin of her arm and shone with ferocity against the lake's calm surface.

The horse came calmly as Dianthe gently pulled the reins towards the lake. In the middle of the grass, she slipped the bridle off and grinned as the horse's mouth sunk into the tall grass. Turning her head to look at the distant mountains, Dianthe walked slowly, hypnotically towards the shore. She reached it and pulled her sandals from her feet, dipping the bare skin in the water.

The water was cool on her feet, and Dianthe lifted the bottoms of her linens from the wet that had already began crawling up them. With a small smile, she let them fall and plunged in so that she was completely below the surface. How good it felt to swim.

[Georgios]

<sub>Georgios sat on the bank, the damp ground beneath him and the cool shade of the forest falling over his body. His long, curling brown hair hung down to his chin, his long lashed eyes were closed. He was stretched out comfortably, his long legs crossed at the ankles in front of him, his elbows propping himself up.

In front of him, roughly two feet into the water, stood three sticks. tethered to each end were bits of line, cast into deeper waters with bits of chicken innards on the hooks. Georgios had fashioned the hooks himself; fragments of metal he'd sharpened on a rock until they could sufficiently hook a fish.

It was late spring, the fields had thawed, and long since been plowed and seeded. There was little to do now but wait. The hens had been laying all winter, they'd killed off all they could spare. Food was needed now, and until the newly born chickens grew large enough for slaughter, and crops old enough for weeding and harvesting, there was not much else to do but while away the hours catching fish.

The afternoon sun fell between the newly opened leave of the forest, glinting in patches onto the damp ground where he rested. Occasionally he would open his chocolate brown eyes to check the sticks, arrange the fish big enough for keeping, release those too small for eating.

Mostly, however, he rested and enjoyed his day of peace. As far as he was aware, there was no one else around. As the afternoon heat wore on, he considered going for a swim, deciding against it only because he didn't want to scare the fish.</sub>

[Dianthe]

Dianthe plopped onto the bank after her swim and began to ring out her linens, now soaked completely. Her long hair was even darker now, the waves mostly drenched out. Giving up on ridding her clothes of water, she sat back and decided to let the sun do that for her.

Dianthe began to glance around for her horse, when something else caught her eye. A little ways down the bank was a shape in the grass. A person. She frowned slightly at having not known he was there, then briefly thought of what a fool she must seem to him, then how grateful she was that she did not remove her clothes. Taking note of the sticks in the water, she decided that if he was fishing he must not be noble, in which case diving into the water with all clothes on may not be extremely absurd to him.

Curiousity got the better of her, and Dianthe decided to walk towards him, perhaps talk to him. After all, she had no idea even which kingdom he was from. With a cautious pace, she began to make her way to the form on the bank, who she noticed as got closer looked to be sleeping. When she got close enough, she coughed gently to alert him of her presense.

Um... hello there. I just noticed you on the bank and thought I'd come over to say hello. So... uh... hello. Dianthe never had been good at small talk or greetings, and regretted slightly having come over. She was bound to make a fool of herself. And if words weren't enough, she was fully aware that she probably resembled a drowned rat, with soggy clothes and damp hair. Shifting her feet uncomfortably, Dianthe seriously considered running in the other direction. But she held back, still curious about the other person.

[Georgios]

<sub>Georgios leaned back on his elbows, his long lashed eyes were closed against the afternoon sun. These days of leisure were rare to him, and he cherished every second.

Soon, he knew, the crops would come in and there would not be a day he didn't spend weeding, harvesting, or slaughtering the livestock. And after summer was over; fall. Storage time, working frantically to keep every bit of meat and grains they could for the long winter ahead. He would have to re-thatch the roof, and make sure the house was safe to outlast the storms. And then spring; preparing the fields for harvest yet again. Fishing, now, was a luxury.

As he relaxed on the embankment, the dirt beneath him and thick new leaves spread eagle above his head, he lost contact with the world that he lived in. He momentarily forgot about the farm, his mother and sisters, the long days and years of work ahead of him. It wasn't that he resented his chores; he was, in fact pleased that he could do so much for his family. He did not begrudge the life he might have led, married off to some young Greek woman, with a family of his own to tend by now. No, he contentedly bore the duties of the only son, and took pride in his work.

And so, lost as he was in this peaceful state, it was with quite a shock that he was jolted back to reality as a woman's voice met his ears. His eyes flew open, and he sat upwards quickly, his mane of wavy brown hair falling over the side of hs face as he jerked his head to the side to see who had spoken.

Once the initial shock of having been so greatly surprised wore off, Georgios calmed down considerably. He nodded as she spoke, gesturing vaguely to the earth beside him. He stood, walking the few feet to his sticks, and check the fish they had hooked. Georgios struck the two largest with a stone to the head; killing swiftly and mercifully. The third, much to small for eating; he released. Resetting the hooks with more small pieces of chicken innards, he cast the lines out again, and returned to his place on the bank.

He smirked slightly at her greeting, though not unkindly. As rather shy and unforcoming with stragners himself, he understood her lack of words. Infact, he quite dreaded the akward silences usually ocumpanying his meeting with new people, and to him, this greeting seemed quite allrighit.

Um... hello there. I just noticed you on the bank and thought I'd come over to say hello. So... uh... hello.

Georgios inclined his head slightly, the large borwn eyes smiling gently as his curling hair fell over his face. He brushed it aside patiently and smiled at her. Hello. His voice was soft, and well suited the rest of him. His soft brown eyes and long brown hair gave him the gentle inpression of a puppy dog, and once you got to know him, the pet-like comparison rang truer than ever.

You have been swimming. He stated the obvious. A stupid thing to say, really. But again. Small talk really was not his thing. He took the time to really look at the woman beside him for the first time. Younger than him, by a few years atleast. She was thoroughly soaked, he dark hair hung drenched at her back, and her linens; he was embarrassed to note; clung damply to her body. He looked away sheepishly, gazing out over the water now. He could not thing of a single intelligent thing to say, so he let the silence hang.</sub>

[Dianthe]

Yes, it was warm, and the lake looked very inviting. I hadn't known someone else was here. She blushed slightly at the bluntness of his remark. He must think me a fool, she thought.

Dianthe was really beginning to regret having come over. Not just because she had obviously startled him, nor because he seemed to be busy fishing. Now the embarassment came only from having nothing even vaguely witty to say. And alright, so the fact that she became all to aware of how revealing her linens were now didn't help. She crossed her arms across her chest and bit the inside of her mouth, trying hard to think of something to say, and yet afraid of whatever awkwardness may come with her leaving.

Dianthe had grown up working on her parents' farm, but it had always been her brother who had killed the livestock. She had never had what it takes to take a life, not even that of a spider. Inwardly she flinched as the man killed the fish, though she hid it fairly well. At least he was kinder than most, at least more humane. Dianthe avoided watching the next killing, choosing instead to fiddle with her engagement ring, one of the few pieces of jewelry she owned. Dianthe was not vain, and so rarely spent money on jems. She smiled slightly as he let the other fish go, then recomposed herself and made another attempt at speaking.

So which kingdom do you come from? She returned his smile, feeling relieved that she had been able to come up with a somewhat decent thing to say. Despite the fact that she had never seen him, he could very well be from the same kingdom as her. After all, if two individuals were in different classes or worked on different estates, it was all too possible they would never meet in their lifetime.

[Georgios]

<sub>Gerogios sat on the bank, his large body completely relaxed in the cool shade of the woods. Even beneath the trees, the air was growing hot and heavy. His dark hair curling beneath his chin was dapening on his scalp, and her brushed the back of his wrist across his forehead. When he moved to kill the fish and lay them in the covered basket, he did so with merciful speed, and their deaths were swift. Nonetheless; he saw the female beside him flinch out of the corner of his eye, and as he settled himself back down to the damp earth he turned back to fac her.

They do not feel it, they die so quickly. I am not cruel, and my family needs the food. His voice was quite soft, scarcely more than a whisper. This woman; from the appearance of her garments; was well off inancially. No doubt she had never been the one to slaughter the food she ate; nor even her husband, most likely. His gaze dropped to the engagement ring she fiddled with.

Her awkward silence made his own shy, reserved nature more uncomfortable; and he sat in the shade; inwardly kicking himself for being so awkward among people. When she did speak, it was with relief that he could answer, his quiet, gentle voice not much more than the rustling of the leaves. Yes, it is hot today. A swim would be nice, but for it would scare the fish, and we need to eat them until crops can be harvested. The truth of the matter was that he had been seriously considering a swim, now that his basket was nearly full, until this girl showed up. The allready awkward air between them would not have been helped at all by him removing his outter things to swim int he cool water.

I am from Sparta. He answered her question, chewing absently on the inside of his cheek. My mother, sisters and I farm a piece of land together. I do the crops and farming. My sisters help with the livestock, and my mother keeps the house, along with my oldest sister. He stopped, smiling softly to himself. This is one of my rare days off. And yourself?</sub>

[Dianthe]

Dianthe felt awkward just standing there, and sat down in that place, giving the stranger a bit of distance. The sun had quickly dried her fair skin and was already getting to work on her hair and clothes. She swept her wet locks behind her shoulders and straightened out her linens, making herself comfortable on the soft grass.

I too am from Sparta, she said with a smile. I grew up on my farm, but am about to marry some rich noble who my father betrothed me to. I'll be getting plenty of days off. To anyone else, this may have sounded like a good thing. But to Dianthe, her future was pointless. She already felt useless, now that she wasn't allowed to do labor. Herodes was strict about that. Already her calluses were beginning to fade, and the oils and creams that her servants applied were beginning to soften the once hardened skin. She had always felt satisfied after a good days work, but now she drifted along in a haze, unsure if she even had a purpose anymore. She had once presented this idea to Herodes, who said that her new purpose was to be a good wife and produce sons--a fate she did not find appealing.

With a gentle shake of the head, Dianthe awakened from her reverie and took a moment to examine the man before her. He looked kind, with rugged good looks and a great smile. It was a shame his duties preocuppied him; he would never have had trouble finding a wife. Dianthe turned her gaze out to the lake, watching intently as the water glistened and the surface rippled with hints of life. It was indeed a beautiful site.

It's amazing here, isn't it? I've taken to coming here now that I have more free time. This is, however, the first time I've encountered anyone else. She paused, seemingly spacing out. The world is definately a wonderful experience if you're in the right places.