Showing Off

During the trip, Drusus, the fat man, would sneak looks whenever he could at the women, but otherwise stayed cooped up in his carriage not wishing to antagonize the warrior women. He was not a brave man and could be said to be one of the milder lordlings running around.

Though they were beautiful, he didn't feel it was worth risking his life when there are others he could pursue in the city who may come up short at times when compared but still were equally pretty in their own right and not as scary.

The girls were having fun riding horses, Sigyn got the other two to help teach her as it was her first time even seeing a horse and wanted to try it. Theoric just watched from the wagon trying not to ruin their fun, he didn't like the idea of riding something that didn't necessarily give its consent.

The horse did seem to like Sigyn though as it galloped around happily enjoying her soft petting that came at moments of extreme joy when the horse did a happy trot that bounced her a bit.

A worried Io and Annabeth rode beside her in case she fell from the excited horse.

It was later at midday they arrived at the city's first checkpoint were 4 armed men blocked the entrances with spears pointed out while another two flanked the sides as they approached.

"Halt, state who you are and what business you have." asked the guards suspiciously.

Before Manousos could answer, Drusus poked his head out and began to yell feeling the need to make up for his early performance and show off a bit.- "How dare you stop me, do you know who I am? I will have your heads if you don't move out of the way this instance!"

One of the guards sneered at this fat fool yelling at him- "What makes a fatty like you so brave?" but just as he finished speaking he was elbowed hard by his colleague and fell to his knees groaning in pain.

The guard who recognized the fatty did his best to remedy the situation as he bowed down- "Lord Drusus, please forgive us for not recognizing you, we've been under heavy pressure lately to tighten up security due to the recent raids by Sparta.

Drusus who wasn't about to let it go paused hearing the report- "We to were ambushed on our way here by Spartans, tell me has my father and the rest started preparing for war?"

"Not that I'm aware of, I think the situation is still being monitored though they have been positioning more men near the border."

Drusus nodded- "I'll need to meet my father to see what's going on."

The guard getting the hint yelled at the other 4 who have yet to move- "What are you fools doing, get out of the way before I throttle you!"

The 4 men quickly backed off allowing them to pass by.

Drusus passing by flicked a silver coin to the helpful guard who grinned widely seeing the shiny coin.- "Thank you, milord."

An angry groaning guard got off his feet giving the man a death glare as he spied the silver coin in his hand.

The lucky guard snorted- "What are you staring at if I didn't act in such a thorough way you may have got yourself killed."

Theoric and the girls watched all of this in amusement, grinning when they saw the smiling fat man who was ballooning in pride.

Manousos shook his head at his lord knowing he was only acting this way because he lost face when he threw up in front of the women.

The guards they passed stared hungrily at Annabeth and Sigyn when they passed with occasional glances thrown at Io. Something the guards they traveled with knew not to do because of how fearsome they were.

Theoric seeing this glared back ready to take lives if they should be dumb of enough to make a move, not that they noticed though as the caravan quietly passed by out of sight.

When the caravan was about to take a side path meant for wagons that took them away from the main city entrance Theoric and the girls decided it was time to hop off.

Drusus gathering his courage came to see them off,- "Thank you once again for saving me, if you ever need anything feel free to look me up, there is little I can't resolve." he boasted.

Io- "It's our pleasure, Thank you for letting us ride with you."

Drusus getting a little red shook his head- "No trouble, no trouble at all, once again thank you and don't forget what I said."

Splitting off they headed to the main city gate where another group of guards stood checking people coming and going.

Sigyn commented- "Well he was a nice man."

Theoric- "He was amusing at the very least if nothing else."

Annabeth- "If he was really nice he would have paid us for saving him, did you see the way he arrogantly acted and then flipped a silver coin to that guard even though he didn't give us anything."

If the fatty knew what she said, he would be crying tears of blood having forgotten to give this fierce woman a reward.

"Well, he did give us a ride," Io said more than happy about not having to walk the rest of the way.

Coming up to the gate they were stopped again.

"Halt, haven't seen your lot here before, tell me why you're here and what you want." said the guard as his eyes roamed the women causing them to shiver in disgust at his undisguised lecherous gaze.

Theoric moved to stand in front blocking his view causing the man to frown- "We're here to visit and take in the sights, we've heard many wondrous things about this great city and so far it hasn't disappointed."

Another guard seeing the problem came over to help- "Alright just make sure you don't cause any trouble, move along now don't block the entrance."

Theoric and the girls accepted his kind intentions and entered before anything more could be said.

The lecherous guard wasn't happy to see them leave as he angrily turned to his comrade- "Why did you have to ruin my fun?"

The man snorted- "Are you kidding me, if your eyes and mind weren't so focused on the women you may have noticed that wasn't a man you wanted to mess with, even after he blocked your view you managed to see nothing, not only was the guy big and well geared, he looked like he was ready to rip your head off if you made the slightest move and I wasn't about to risk my life to save a scumbag like you."

"What do you know, I could have taken him and then his woman would come running into my arms asking me to protect them."

"Keep dreaming, you should just save your money for the brothels because that's the only kind of women that'll ever sleep with you."