On The Run
The way the girl sat, Antigone knew that she was well aware of her presence. She would have seen her when she walked up, yet she showed no signs of apprehension. Her smaller frame would make it difficult for her to out match the other woman, and she didn’t suspect that any accomplices laid in wait to ambush her, and she she felt a bit more comfortable letting her guard slip, if only a little. Eurybia would have likely charged forward with jaws snapping at the first sign of a stranger without a second thought, and either of her brothers would have likely set in on trying to flatter the girl by promising her a special spot in their kingdom. The thought of her siblings left a bitter taste in her mouth, the fact that they still seemed to invade every moment of her now solitary life more and more of a nuisance. She had no need for hostilities or manipulation. Not now, not in this moment. It wouldn’t be wise to come charging into a strange land with teeth bared and picking fights with anyone who crossed her path. There was no one to watch her back if she got injured, and the last thing she needed was more enemies chasing her down.
She forced the tension out of her stance as the girl looked back at her. She attempted to smile, but the expression was quick to fall away into a more neutral one. She gave only a first name, something the woman was not accustomed to, and something about it felt off. She had known all the family names in her homeland, and just by hearing an individuals name she could put together the puzzle of who they were. Even if the girl had given her full name, it would hold no meaning to her. She knew nothing of these lands or the people within it and without anyone here that she knew, she couldn’t help but feel as though she’d been cast adrift in a vast ocean with nothing to cling to. But she couldn’t let that panicked emptiness show.
Her tongue swiped across her lips before she spoke. “I’m Antigone Dellis.” 'Promised Lady of the Dellis Kingdom.’ The introduction seemed to short with no title to follow it. Just a name with no meaning behind it, no power, no place. It was impossible to not finish the introduction in her own head, if only for her own sanity. “I’m new to these lands and I wondered if you might know anything about the packs of the lands. Places that should be avoided.” She didn’t like to ask for help, but she knew that if she was going to survive her, she would need to get a more clear picture of the area, and the faster she got that, the better.