Dimitri wanted to protect her since the first time he'd seen her.

Zeus had been angry that day, unleashing rivers of rain unto the earth and muddying the calm morning derailing Dimitri from his path to the great hunt.
Fortunately he had a cabin near the small town of Theaspia- Eros worshipers.
He rarely visited there but his ill fate had stranded him there.

Something caught his eye.

Around the wind-blown stalls scattered on the wayside was something ... his stomach dropped.
Narrow streams of blood and water flowed to his feet.
Dimitri slid on his knees to her side.
Her head rolled lifelessly on the crook of his hand and her skin an unhealthy shade.
Gods, his heart clenched.
There was nothing he could use to carry her or drag her the rest of the way.
But not trying was not an option.

She weighed nothing in his hand in her frigid stiffness. His legs held them as he ran through the rain to find shelter not stopping even when the rains too recess from the down pour.

At times, she was so still in his arms and a small voice questioned if she was dead already.
In this case, was he wasting his time racing to bury her among the trees surrounding his hideaway.
It was ever so slight, the movement of her brows but it came with a fountain of hope gushing deep within his heart. With this hope, he ran faster and leaped higher in order to get this stranger life saving medicine.

He wrapped her in layers of cloth in hopes she would get some warmth back in her body.
The cabin had been abandoned for too long, there was nothing but dust mites and cob webs.
Gathering firewood was easy but he needed to remove the crust of dirt and blood off her and hit water would make her warmer quicker.
Three vats lined up outside the cabin empty but with faint sent of the homemade wine, or oil or lard in each respectively.
Dimitri picked the oil vat and scrubbed it with rough sponge before running to the stream for water.

Water spilled out the vat as he carefully lowered her into the warm water stripped to her undergarments.
He wiped the sweat off his brows and checked her complexion at every turn of the minute with a beating chest and anxious thoughts running amok.

Heavy smoke pillaged from the fire in the front where he smoked some herbs then vegetables.
Was there anyone looking for her? Family? A husband or father of the child she'd lost?
His father's anger unfurled within him when he thought of the spineless man who was responsible for her being in this state.

Four days and she still hadn't opened her eyes fortunately she breathed steadily as one would in deep sleep.

The medicine bowl was empty again so Dimitri went outside bowl in hand and mind focused.

Footsteps, they came from his left.
"Who goes there?"
That's when he saw the beautiful man with the bow and quiver- a hunter.
Except the hunters he knew looked rougher than the genteel man who walked towards him.

"You found a girl." He said.

Dimitri stepped towards the door, his fingers reached to his side and touched the empty air by his hip.

"I mean her no harm or you."

Dimitri looked him once over again doubting very much what the pretty boy could do to a descendant of Ares.

"Why did you save her?" He asked Dimitri.

"That's a stupid question."

He scoffed and admitted, "indeed it is. A better question is why did you bring her here?"

"I only trusted myself to do my best to save her."
Dimitri knew how far he would go to save the maiden but he wouldn't know for any other person after all did they not abandoned her?

"How do you know her?" Dimitri asked taking his turn to question the man with the bow.

"Have you told her grandmother where she is?"

Dimitri shuffled his feet and looked back at the door.
"No, I haven't. She still hasn't woken up so I couldn't get any information about her family, but I would have the second I knew of it."

The man nodded.
"I'll inform the old woman. Just get her better."

He held out a small bag to Dimitri,
"Some herbs I picked out, they should help in more ways than one."

His ominous words gave Dimitri reason to pause.

"You can trust me, I wouldn't dare cross a child of Ares."

This certainly wasn't an ordinary man; His beauty surpassed mortals and demigods. why would he know this stranger?

Dimitri cautiously took the bag and told himself he'd inspect every single herb before feeding it to the maiden.
"Go to her." He said.

Dimitri turned his back towards the stranger- a mistake he wouldn't understand.
The sharp pain bounced from his back to his chest abdomen lasted for seconds.

He swore he'd been hit by an arrow yet when he touched the spot there was nothing and when he turned the mysterious man was gone.

***

Eleni was her name.
It was the most beautiful name he'd heard in all his years and her eyes were the most glorious he'd ever had the fortune to behold.

She was terrified of him; his singing might have been the reason for that.

Were he in her sandals, he too would be cautious so he gave her space, watching so he could read her mood changes.

Her small smiles and the crinkle around her eyes when she gazed affectionately at the old woman warmed his heart.
Shame and pain overwhelmed the initial defensive note her voice had when she spoke to her grandmother. She cried several times and he had to walk away to give them their privacy.

How any man could walk away in such heartless fashion boggled Dimitri's mind.

Konstantina was there to take her away and would complete her recovery and after they were gone he too would return to his to the great hunt.

"You aren't fit to travel my dear.  Rest here for sometime. Uh... If that's alright with our host."

Dimitri nodded.
"I'll be away for months for a hunt anyway so she can stay with no worries."

Konstantina hugged him tightly.

"You've done so much for my granddaughter ... I don't know what to give you. I'll offer extra prayers to Eros on your behalf."

Thankfully, she released him only to cup his face and pull him down for kisses on his forehead and cheeks.
Dimitri laughed and lightly hugged the adorable woman. She suddenly reminded him of his Yiayia he had left back home with his half siblings and mother.

"I'll tend to your home as payment." Eleni muttered, looking away from them.

"Of course you will, that goes without saying." Konstantina said.
"Your house is in safe hands. We won't take any more of your time."

Suddenly he didn't want to leave on the hunt and when he was gone his mind returned to the cabin.
What of she was gone by the time he returned?
Three weeks had passed already so she could have already packed up and left meaning he would never see her again.

He rolled on his back, startling the deer he'd been stalking.
The trap snapped the prey into the net.
The struggling beast took nothing away from Eleni who stole his attention.
He'd return right away.
Dimitri sat up and grabbed his dagger, energized by the sudden decision he finished off his prey.
Sleeping only when he needed to, he hurried back before he missed her.
And if he did what would he do once he found the place empty without a trace of Eleni?
Questions like these he ignored and kept his pace with the anxiety that nipped at his gut and heels, keeping him running like a man wanted by the gods.

The sun peaked throwing its brightest light down the canopy of trees where Dimitri stood watching the door of his cabin open and Eleni drag a bucket behind her.

She was indeed the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.
It was the he realized he wasn't going to the great hunt he was going to remain until she left.