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Chapter Text

Kyra was celebrating her 28th year on this world the night she met Kassandra. Kassandra had left Kephallonia nearly five years earlier at that point, and her reputation soon became known around the Greek world. The misthios might as well have been Athena herself. She was glorious, tall like Kyra was, her body covered with scars, arms and legs very tone and very built. She was exactly the type of woman Kyra would go for. There was one little problem though, and his name was Thaletas. Somehow, Kyra managed to get Kassandra to stay and help her overthrow Padarkes. The two often spent lots of time planning. Of course, Thaletas would be there too, but he often had to stay with his soldiers, which left plenty of alone time for Kyra and Kassandra. The two bonded and soon became close friends, flirting to no ends but also preventing it from going further for Thaletas’ sake. He needed to focus on the war after all.

It was two months after Kassandra’s arrival that she realized she was in love with Kassandra. Ironically enough, this revelation came at another birthday celebration. This time, it was Kassandra’s 27th birthday celebration. Until then, Kyra had assumed that Kassandra was older than her; she certainly acted that way. She was very wise for her years, but Kyra figured that that is what happens after you are thrown off of a mountain at the age of 7 and are forced to fend for yourself. Regardless, as Kyra looks at the misthios cheeks burning bright in the glowing candlelight in the cave, she knows that she must not act on these feelings. She has been with Thaletas for four months now, and she loves him deeply. Right?

Wrong.

It is only a week later that Kyra arranges a hunt for her and Kassandra. Only a week later that she confesses her love for Kassandra under the stars before they make love for hours on end. And experience a short encore the following morning. Kassandra, gods bless her, was extremely talented with those hands of hers in multiple ways, and her soft words of love and adoration made Kyra forget the war for that far too short amount of time. They agree to keep their affair hidden from Thaletas. They will tell him later.

Four months after that, Podarkes is finally defeated, and Kyra knows that Kassandra will leave again soon. Her odyssey is not done. After Kassandra manages to convince her to continue living (gods, how could she even doubt that when the love of her life was still around?), she saw Kassandra wander down to the beach where Thaletas was. She followed behind Kassandra, knowing that she would need to travel the same path briefly before the road diverged into the town. As she approached the area where the two Spartans were talking, she heard Thaletas shout. He shouted about Kassandra, about her, about them, about how she left him for the love of her life. She heard Kassandra shout back that she didn’t want to fight him, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Kyra stood there in shock as the love of her life fought against her ex-boyfriend. Kassandra kept dodging and blocking his attacks, which only made him angrier until she finally struck back.

Kassandra won. Of course, she did. When Kassandra turned around, she saw a shocked Kyra standing there. Her face shifted to one of remorse; how could she expect Kyra to forgive her?

“I’m sorry, my love. I tried to stop him, but I had to defend myself. I understand if you are mad.”

Kyra responded, “Of course I’m not mad. I’m more upset with Thaletas. That fool! He was once the source of my love, now she is a source of my pain. But I am not mad at you, Kassandra. I love you.”

Kassandra crossed the distance and held the woman in her arms, “I love you too.”

“I know you must leave my love, but when you are done, come back for me. I must help rebuild the Silver Islands, but it should be safe under Spartan rule. I will leave the islands and spend the rest of my days with you if you shall have me.”

Kassandra grinned, “I would love nothing more than that.”

In the morning, Kassandra left. Kyra watched as her heart sailed away.

Chapter Text

Four years after that, word of Kassandra’s success against the Cult spread around the Greek world. She had managed to find her mater, come to peace with her steppater and stepbrother, and persuaded her brother to forgo the evils of the Cult and rejoin her family. Kassandra was practically a goddess.

Kassandra managed to stop by a few times over the years, often letting her crew rest in Mykonos while she took on odd jobs for the Spartan leadership on the Silver Islands. But this time, Kassandra would be returning to her for good.

Kyra waited for months for Kassandra to come. She knew that the defeat of the Cult didn't necessarily mean that Kassandra was free to come back for her immediately. Fortunately, as she drew closer, Kassandra managed to get Ikaros to deliver a note, informing her that she would be arriving in one week’s time. Kyra was ecstatic.

She packed up her things just in case. Four years ago, they had joked that Kassandra might settle down someday. While that might still be true, there was no guarantee that they would be staying on Mykonos. In fact, Kyra was hoping they would settle elsewhere. She was ready to start a new life with Kassandra.

She was ready to be with her love again.

Praxos told her of Kassandra’s arrival. She raced down to the docks, ready to see her love.

Kyra soon spotted her misthios and screamed, “Kassandra!”

Kassandra turned around and saw her. She had barely managed to get her arms out in time to catch Kyra’s body as it barreled into hers. She lifted the older woman into her arms and spun her around, both of them laughing as she did so.

“Kyra! My heart! My sweetest devotion! You are looking well and happy.”

Kyra laughed again, “Of course I’m happy! The love of my life has returned to me for good!”

Kassandra nodded, “I am here love. We will spend the rest of our lives together, I promise.”

They had spoken of marriage before, but both agreed that after they reunited for good, they would spend more time together before getting married. They had time now and they wanted to use it.

The two finally kissed. Kyra thought that Kassandra’s lips were as soft as she remembered.

“My heart, I must introduce you to my family.”

Kyra turns to look at a group of four people walking down the docks. She knew that this was her love’s family, and by extension, her family now as well.

“Kyra, this is my mater, Myrinne. You may know her as Phoenix, fierce leader of Naxos.”

Kyra gasped, “You are Phoenix? It is an honor. Thank you for allowing our islands to do business with yours.”

Myrinne smiled, “Of course my dear. It is a useful alliance!”

Kassandra then introduced her to an older man, whom Kyra knew must be her steppater.

“This is Nikolaos. The Wolf of Sparta. And recently, a man who I have grown to love and accept as my pater once again, even if we do not share blood. The past is in the past, and he has proven his loyalty and worth to no end.”

Kyra shook his hand, “A pleasure, sir. I am looking forward to getting to know you.”

Kassandra continues, “And last, but not least, may I present to you my younger brothers. This feeble one right here is Stentor, and this brooding man who is actually as soft as a dog is Alexios.”

“Feeble?!”

“Dog?!”

Both men shouted at the same time. Kyra just giggled. Leave it to Kassandra to be a teasing older sister. Stentor looked relatively happy around Nikolaos and Myrinne but still seemed a little wary of Alexios. He had grown closer to Kassandra, but they were still working on their relationship. Meanwhile, Alexios still looked very tense. Kyra could only imagine what he had gone through. But, he had been with the family for nearly a year at this point (Kyra remembered the first letter she had received from Kassandra on the matter, almost half a year after Kassandra left for the last time, promising to return once it was all done), and he hadn’t run away, so Kyra took that as a good sign that he could be trusted around Kassandra.

“Everyone is looking forward to spending a few days here. Perhaps you and I can spend some time together and discuss our future?”

Kyra smiled, “Of course, my love.”

She turns to the rest of the family, “You all are more than welcome to stay at my house. Just follow this road, it is the last house on the right. Kassandra, will you accompany me further down the beach?”

Kassandra nodded and followed her girlfriend down to a secluded spot, not far away from where they first made love.

They sat down in the sand next to each other, neither saying anything for a while, just content to be in each other’s presence again and watching the ships passing by.

Eventually, Kyra spoke up first, “How was the travel here?”

Kassandra responded, “It was well. We came from Lakonia and made a stop in Melos before continuing straight here.”

“Any plans to go elsewhere?”

Kassandra sheepishly responded, “Actually, yes. If that is okay with you. I will stay here with you if you wish and relinquish control of the Adrestia to Alexios.”

Kyra placed her hand on Kassandra’s arm, “No, my love. I already told you that I am willing to leave. And I mean it. There are too many memories here on this island. Many are good, but some are also bad, and I want to get away from them. My mater, Podarkes, Thaletas...it is just a lot, and I want our love to continue to grow somewhere new.”

Kassandra smiled in relief, “That is good. We were considering settling in Naxos. My mater is a great leader, and she is willing to rekindle things with my steppater. No, that man is my pater, no matter what. No matter who my biological pater is, he did not raise me. He was too busy protecting the First Civilization artifact, which I cannot blame him for, but my connection to him is not as strong as it is to Nikolaos.”

Kyra grinned. Kassandra really had changed over the four years that they had known each other. She was happy that Kassandra had her family. If anyone deserved a happy ending, it was Kassandra.

She replied, “I would love to settle down in Naxos with you all. I am ready to start a family with you and would love to get to know your parents and brothers more.”

“So, it is settled. We shall stay here for another month and then we will sail to Naxos.”

“Are you actually going to settle down? I can’t imagine you retiring as a misthios .”

Kassandra responded, “Well, I will mostly be doing jobs on Naxos and Paros for my mater. But, I will occasionally sail with the Adrestia to other places as well. You are more than welcome to join me on these journeys. Sometimes, I will take jobs here on the Silver Islands. Other times, I will take jobs on Kos, Samos, and Keos. Sokrates and Alkibiades will call on me from time to help them in Athens. I have helped the Athenians enough times during the war to still be welcomed there, especially with those two on my side. You are welcome to come with me whenever you want.  But, other than that, the majority of my time will be spent near my family on Naxos. Actually, the last time I was in Naxos, I found the perfect house for us.”

Kyra perked up at that, “You did?”

Kassandra nodded, “I did. It is down by the beach, near Maenad’s Hills. It is far enough outside the city to be peaceful, but we can still easily reach my mater’s house by horseback. My mater already found closer houses for Stentor and Alexios to reside in, but since we discussed starting a life together, I wanted to be further away, yet close enough to visit whenever we wanted. Is that okay?”

“My love, that is more than okay. I cannot wait to start our lives together. There is one thing we have not discussed yet though.”

“Oh?”

Kyra nodded, “Yes. How do you feel about kids? I have seen you interact with them around Mykonos and you are quite good with them. I want to be a mater someday. I only want one child, but I want to be a mater. Do you?”

Kassandra took a deep breath and released. She thought it over for a few minutes. She did want kids, she just did not know if she would be a good mater. She decided to share these thoughts with Kyra. Over their four year relationship, they had learned that being honest about their thoughts would help them avoid fights, something they had plenty of while Kassandra and Kyra were working together to take down Podarkes. As their relationship progressed, they knew that talking things over would help them come to a conclusion they could both agree on.

“I want to be a mater, but I do not know if I will be any good. Athena has blessed me with the skills of a warrior. Artemis guides my bow on a hunt. Poseidon has given me a trident like this to help me both in battle and under water. But, I do not know if Leto has blessed me to be a mater. I have prayed to her in the hopes that she will help me. I know that we cannot have children together. But, maybe one day we can adopt? You must be patient with me though, for I might not be the best mater at first.”

Kyra looked at Kassandra with awe in her eyes. She knew that they had discussed talking about their troubles to each other before, but every time this fierce misthios opened up to her, she felt as though the gods had truly blessed her by allowing her to be the one to witness Kassandra’s vulnerability. She fell even further in love with the woman beside her.

“My love, we will go through this together. We do not need to have the child right now. But one day, we can consider it.”

Kassandra grinned, “That sounds wonderful, my heart.”

They leaned in to kiss each other. They spent the rest of the day just sitting and talking. Eventually, Kyra hunted down an ibex for their dinner, but they spent the entire day and night just in each other’s presence, catching up on what happened in the last year and a half they spent apart.

A month later, they set sail for Naxos. Kyra was ready to see the island that would become her new home.

Chapter Text

Three months after settling down into their new life in Naxos, Kassandra asked for Kyra’s hand in marriage. It had occurred after Kassandra returned home, bloody and bruised, after defeating another mercenary who had been spotted loitering around Myrrine’s house. Kyra was tending to her wounds, chastising her for being reckless, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I just do not understand why you are being reckless still! I know you have taken on men twice your size before, but you have a family to worry about now! Your mater and pater love you. I love you! You can’t just go sneaking up behind every opponent, stealthily stab them with your spear, and then hope that that damage is enough to kill them.”

Kassandra muttered, “I don’t think it’s good enough to kill them when they’re that big. I just hope that it’s enough to stun them before I use the sword of Damokles to stab them even more.”

Kyra didn’t hear Kassandra and continued, “This mercenary was known for having a bear as a companion for Apollo’s sake! How could you have forgotten?”

Again, Kassandra mumbled, “I did not forget. I just hoped that Ikaros would distract the bear long enough so I could kill the man without worrying about the bear. Clearly, I was wrong.”

That explained the several claw marks on her armor. Fortunately, the heavy armor stopped most of it, but they were still shallow wounds that reached through onto her torso. Kassandra did not mind; she had tons of scars. This would likely not scar over, but even if they did, it was just more to her collection.

Kyra spoke, “You said you were going to be more careful. Don’t make me accompany you all the time. I swear to Hades, you will be the death of me Kassandra. Part of settling down means not getting hurt as often!”

Kassandra responded at a normal volume this time, “Yes! I know I won’t get hurt as often! But I will still get hurt, my love. I take on dangerous jobs still, but I always make sure that they will be ones that ensure I can return home to you. I am not taking down any more nations or leaders. I am just helping existing leaders and taking down mercenaries. I will get hurt at times, but I promise you I will always return to you.”

Kyra stopped fluttering around the room and settled next to Kassandra. She sighed and wiped the tears from her face.

“You are right. I apologize for acting like this. I know you are more than capable of handling yourself. It just seems different now that you are back in my life for good. I can’t lose you.”

“You never will.”

Kassandra reached into her bag that she had placed down on the floor beside the lounge she was laying on. She pulled out a black velvet pouch. She opened it and retrieved a ring.

“Kyra, I cannot wait any longer for you to be my wife. If my words are not enough of a promise to you, then let this ring be more solid proof that I promise to return to you. I promise to love you, and only you, for the rest of my life. You are the love of my life. Eros destined us to be together, I know it. Will you be my wife?”

“Yes! Gods yes!”

Kyra laughed as Kassandra slid the ring onto her finger. A perfect fit, gods only know how Kassandra managed that on the first try.

Kyra kissed her fiancé with great passion. She could not wait to marry this incredible woman, even if she was an idiot at times.

They married at the end of the year, shortly after Kassandra’s 32nd birthday. It was a small ceremony. Barnabas took the Adrestia to get Kyra’s friends on Mykonos to attend the ceremony. Other than them, Kassandra’s family was present, as was the whole crew of the Adrestia. Overall, it was a small ceremony, with about 40 people present. It was a fun day. Both women wore beautiful dresses, made by the finest tailor in Naxos. Kyra wore flowers in her hair, while Kassandra had pearls braided in hers. Both women were glowing.

They spent the next year in various places around the Greek world. A month after their wedding, Alkibiades needed Kassandra to return to Athens to help him with some issues he was having with his reputation. Kassandra brought Kyra along, and she and Alkibiades quickly became good friends, much to Kassandra’s delight. They spent two months there, leaving as Spring arrived.

They then spent time on Keos, both of them taking jobs to help the Spartan leader that had just ascended to power in the nation.

They returned to the Silver Islands, spending nearly half a year there, also traveling back to Naxos for periods of time in between. Kyra loved being back and spent time with her friends. Kassandra had become good friends with the Spartan leader in charge, and she helped him stop rogue Athenian forces that appeared from time to time.

As fall arrived, however, Kassandra received a missive from Kythera. A cyclops made a home for itself on the small island south of the larger island, and the Athenian leader of Kythera was willing to spend a large amount of money if the famous eagle bearing misthios would come and kill the cyclops. Kassandra, however, was reluctant to leave, for she could not bring Kyra with her. Kyra had taken a job as an emissary for the Silver Islands and Naxos, as she still loved the Silver Islands and they were both traveling between them so often over those six months. She was even allowed to help strategize with both leaders due to her success as a rebel leader. While she was allowed to take time off whenever she wanted due to her position, her relation to Myrinne, and her close friendship with the Spartan leader of the Silver Islands (Xander was a very friendly man, contrary to what one would expect from a Spartan, having ruled the island since Podarkes was controlled, ascending to power at the young age of 25 and was now 30), she knew that five months was too much time to take off.

“Kyra, I do not want to take it if it means I have to spend time away from you. No matter how much the money will help us. We have enough money as it is, and I prefer taking closer jobs anyways.”

“My love, I do not want you to take the job for the money. I want you to take it because I know how much you miss fighting beasts like this. And you have fought off a cyclops before. I know you can do it again. I am okay with being away from you for this period of time if it will make you happy.”

Kassandra whispered, “It would make me happier if you could accompany me.”

Kyra practically melted at the soft tone of her wife’s voice, “I know. But, you need to do this. You are young still. The eagle bearing misthios was personally requested for this job, even if it was by those malakás Athenians. It would look bad if you turned down this job.”

“I do not care if it makes me look bad! I have no business left on Kythera!”

“Kass, my love. Please. Take the job. Take Alexios and Stentor with you, your parents would be happier if you took your brothers there to help you, even if you can take down the monster on your own. It would be good to have the company with you. Our jobs have kept us apart before. This would not be the first time. And I know you will come back.”

Kassandra sighed, “Okay. I will take the job. You are right, I do miss fighting these beasts. And I will take my brothers with me so that I won’t get as hurt as I did the first time I fought a cyclops.”

So, Kassandra sailed to the island with Alexios and Stentor by her side. Odessa and Gelon also joined her as her lieutenants, but they remained offshore as the three siblings handled the beast. She missed Kyra’s 34th birthday, but she managed to get a missive sent to her as they are resting on Melos for a week.

Taking down the beast took under an hour, much less time than it took for Kassandra on her own when she confronted a cyclops two years earlier. They only spent three days on Kythera Island after that, and Kassandra demanded that they gathered enough supplies to sail straight through for six weeks, hoping to make it home two days before her first anniversary with Kyra. Her crew had never seen her be so severe with them, but they knew that she desperately wanted to return home to her wife. She spent her 33rd birthday guiding the sails the entire day, not stopping to rest for a second. 12 days later, they were home, right on target for being home 2 days before her first wedding anniversary.

Kyra wasn’t there to greet her, but that is okay. Kassandra knew that Kyra was likely with her mater, reworking an alliance agreement with Lakonia. So, she went straight to her mater’s house.

She ran into Nikolaos and kissed his cheek, before she continued to her mater’s study.

She flung opened the door and walked in confidently, much like she usually did after she slept with Kyra and decided to proudly strut around after if they had other matters to attend to.

“Mater. My heart. I am home!”

They greeted her with hugs and kisses. She was home. It was all she wanted. But, maybe one day they could have more.

Chapter Text

During the two months in between Kyra’s 35th birthday and Kassandra’s 34th birthday, both women were asked to go to Samos to help the new leader put in power. The old leader, Karan, was brutally murdered by Athenian forces, and Sparta barely managed to pull out a victory in the conquest battle. The politicians elected Karan’s niece to be the new leader. Kalika was about a decade older than the both of them, but she still appreciated the help of the great diplomat and the eagle bearing misthios .

They were in the Black Forest dealing with some leftover Athenian forces when they came across a house not far from the Athenian camp. It looked empty, but there were signs that a struggle took place, likely even death. Both women were curious to see what happened. It was daylight, and they had secured the area, so they were not afraid to enter the house that so obviously looked like a crime scene.

It was a small house. They entered and immediately see a young man slumped away from the front door by an open window in the kitchen. He had 3 arrows protruding from his body. Examining his body, he appeared as if he was dead for under a day.

They continued into what must have been a bedroom. There they saw a young woman who was laid out on the bed, stab wounds covering her body. Her mouth was open in a scream. There was also a baby’s bassinet in the room. Kyra gasped and was hesitant to go near. This was hitting close to home for her, and Kassandra knew it. She laid her hand on her wife’s arm before slowly approaching the bassinet, silently letting Kyra know it was okay for her to stay by the door. Kassandra lifted up the blanket and peered inside. She gasped.

“Kyra! The baby! He’s alive!”

“What?!”

“Yes, he is breathing. They did not touch him.”

“Those Athenian malakás must not have known what a baby bassinet looked like. With the blanket covering it, they might have just assumed it was an empty crate.”

Kassandra responded, “Quickly, go back to Phobos and retrieve my canteen of water. This baby must not have had food or drink for at least a day, maybe even more.”

Kyra rushed back outside and retrieved the canteen of water. She also pulled out a pouch of berries she brought. She ran back into the house and saw Kassandra sitting on the lounge in the den. She gave Kassandra the canteen, who proceeded to let the baby drink. The baby was still surprisingly quiet, not at all shocked by the presence of strangers. Kyra went into the kitchen and found a mortar and pestle. She ground up the berries and found a spoon. She returned to the room and sat next to her wife. As soon as her wife was done with giving the baby the water, she burped the kid and faced him towards Kyra. Kyra then began to offer the baby the mashed berry mixture. Luckily, he seemed to enjoy the berries immensely.

Kassandra whispered, “What should we do with him?”

Kyra responded, “Isn’t it obvious? The gods led us to this house. They let us find him. We cannot let him stay in the orphanage. He should stay with us. We can raise him as our son.”

Kassandra lightly chuckled, “Yes, I thought it was obvious, but I wanted to make sure we agreed with each other.”

They sat in silence for a little while longer while the baby finished eating before Kassandra spoke up again, “What should we name him?”

“I always liked the name Layland.”

It was a good name, Kassandra thought. She knew what it meant. Protector of men. If he was to be their son, he would need a strong name to suit him, and what better name than that?

“Layland it is.”

“Did you see what was on the blanket? It looked like a date.”

Kassandra nodded, “Yes, it was a date. It dates back to three months ago. I think that that is his birthday. Whoever made the blanket must have sewed in the date. Lucky for us I suppose.”

Kyra hummed in agreement.

They spend a few more days on Samos before returning home to Naxos. There, Myrinne and Nikolaos were thrilled to see that they had a grandson.

Kassandra, Kyra, and Layland started to live a peaceful life, full of love and joy.

This was their happy beginning.