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00:00I was born with a large chest.
00:02All the men in the forest covet my body.
00:06The fairies say I am cursed.
00:09Because my mother was a priestess of the Moon Temple,
00:12who died while giving birth to me.
00:15And until the end, she never revealed who my father was.
00:19The priestesses therefore see me as an ill omen,
00:23treat me as a slave,
00:24and have forbidden me from looking directly into the eyes of men.
00:28Thena, you think that body of yours is for seducing men?
00:33This is Artemis' sacred grove.
00:36Step out of line,
00:38and I'll feed you to the sea monster Scriper myself.
00:43I didn't know what stepping out of line meant.
00:46All I knew was the ache in my chest
00:48from the bindings they made me wear.
00:51In summer, the fabric rubbed my skin raw.
00:54In winter, the coat turned my fingers blue.
00:57But no matter how tight I wrapped,
01:00those two stubborn mouths pushed through,
01:02refusing to disappear.
01:04I cried into the spring more times than I could count,
01:08begging my mother to tell me why she gave me this body.
01:11The spring never answered.
01:13Only the wind rustling through the laurel leaves.
01:16Everything changed on the spring evening.
01:21Everything changed on the spring evening.
01:25Helios' chariot had just crossed the sky,
01:28painting the growl gold and rose.
01:30I was walking back from the stream,
01:33with a clay jug on my shoulder,
01:35water sloshing,
01:36when I heard sounds coming from the olive grove behind the temple.
01:39Muffled sounds.
01:41The kind you're not supposed to hear.
01:43I put down the jug and crept closer.
01:46Tea was on her knees.
01:48Her robe had slipped down to her waist,
01:50exposing the dry, wrinkled skin of her back.
01:53And standing in front of her
01:55was a man I'd never seen before.
01:57No, not a man.
01:59A god.
01:59He was shirtless,
02:01his body carved like a statue,
02:03every muscle holding enough force to level a city.
02:06Dark brown curls hung past his shoulders.
02:08His eyes were amber,
02:10burning like twin fires in the twilight.
02:12He had Teya by the chin,
02:14tilting her old face up to his.
02:17Tell me,
02:19who's the most beautiful niff in this grove?
02:24The moon goddess's handmaidens.
02:27No.
02:28He let her go,
02:29his gaze sweeping past her,
02:31past the olive branches,
02:33past the floating dust moats,
02:35in the golden light,
02:36and landing straight on me.
02:39My blood turned cold.
02:41His eyes moved down my face,
02:44past my trembling lips,
02:45and stopped at my chest,
02:47pressed tight against the edge of the clay jug,
02:50rising and falling with every panicked breath.
02:53You.
02:54He walked toward me,
02:56and with every step,
02:58the leaves on the ground seemed to shrink back.
03:01What's your name?
03:04Werner.
03:05Werner.
03:07He wrote the name across his tongue,
03:09like he was tasting it.
03:10The corner of his mouth lifted.
03:12Are you afraid of me?
03:14I nodded,
03:16then shook my head.
03:18His scent was too much,
03:20iron and blood.
03:22The smell of a battlefield.
03:24It made my knees weak.
03:27I'm Eris,
03:29God of War.
03:30I knew who he was.
03:32Son of Zeus and Hera.
03:34Every nymph knew the stories.
03:37Once a god like him set his sights on you,
03:40there was no escape.
03:41My knees buckled.
03:43The clay jug sipped from my fingers.
03:46Iris reached out.
03:47His fingers hooked the strip of fabric binding my chest,
03:51moving so slowly,
03:53I had all the time in the world to run.
03:55But I didn't.
03:56I couldn't.
03:58He pulled.
04:00The lean and tore like butterfly wings.
04:03My body,
04:04bound and concealed for 17 years,
04:07lay uncovered in the twilight,
04:09exposed to his gaze,
04:11to the fading sunlight,
04:12and the evening breeze.
04:14I gasped,
04:15tried to move back,
04:17but my feet wouldn't obey.
04:19His ember eyes filled with something I didn't understand,
04:22something hungry and wild,
04:24like a man who'd been walking through a desert for a thousand years,
04:28and finally found water.
04:30Taya,
04:31you were right.
04:33This body really is cursed.
04:37He paused,
04:39bent his head,
04:40and brought his nose within the breath of my collarbone.
04:43Cursed by me.
04:45He inhaled.
04:47The warmth of his breath hit my skin,
04:50setting off a ripple of goosebumps down my neck,
04:52my arms,
04:54my spine.
04:56You smell like
04:58spring.
04:59I shoved him.
05:01I don't know where the strength came from,
05:03but my palms hit his chest solid.
05:05I felt his heartbeat,
05:07loud and fast,
05:08just like a mortal man.
05:10I staggered back,
05:12stumbling over shards of the broken jug.
05:15Blood welled from my foot,
05:16but I didn't feel it.
05:18Don't touch me!
05:21I screamed.
05:23Ayers didn't follow.
05:24He stood there,
05:26watching me flee,
05:27watching my hair whip in the wind,
05:29watching my bare shoulders disappear into the trees.
05:34Then he bent down and picked up the torn strip of linen,
05:37still warm from my skin.
05:39He lifted it to his nose.
05:43The sound followed me through the olive grove,
05:46through the laurel trees,
05:47through the dying light.
05:49It sank into my bones.
05:51That night,
05:52every nymph in the grove heard me cry.
05:55I caught up in the darkest corner of the moon temple,
05:59moonlight falling cold through the high windows.
06:29I tried to wrap my chest again with the torn cloth,
06:35I looked up through my teeth.
06:37She bent down,
06:39close enough that her lips almost touched my ear.
06:42I heard Ares was badly wounded at Troy.
06:45A spear went through his thigh,
06:48right through the tendon.
06:50She didn't finish.
06:52She didn't need to.
06:53A god who couldn't perform.
06:57Lucky you.
06:59Better a broken god than a beast.
07:04At least you won't have to bear children.
07:08She patted my cheek.
07:10Besides,
07:10they say men who can't do it in bed
07:12make up for it in other ways.
07:14I don't want to marry her.
07:16Don't want?
07:17Who do you think you are?
07:19A bastard with no father.
07:23Ares wants you.
07:24That's more than you deserve.
07:26If it weren't for that body of yours,
07:28that slut's body,
07:29a war god wouldn't even look at you.
07:30I cried again.
07:32That night,
07:33I dreamed.
07:35Ares' hands moved up my legs.
07:37And everywhere he touched,
07:39my skin caught fire.
07:42His lips pressed against my stomach.
07:45And I heard his voice,
07:47low and shaking.
07:49Senna,
07:50you can't escape me.
07:53I woke,
07:54soaked in sweat.
07:56My hair was plastered to my face,
07:58my neck.
07:59The blanket had slid to the floor.
08:02Between my legs,
08:03a heat I'd never felt before,
08:05spreading through me like spring flats,
08:08breaking through ice.
08:09I bit my lap,
08:11until I tasted blood.
08:13Shame shook me down to my bones.
08:15Outside,
08:16the moon hung cold in the sky.
08:18The next day,
08:20a messenger came to the grove,
08:21not Aerith,
08:22that Athena.
08:23She wore golden armor,
08:25an owl's crest on her helmet.
08:27Her eyes were sharp and gray,
08:29the color of winter seas.
08:31Her presence alone made you want to bow.
08:35You're Athena?
08:37Yes.
08:39Ares sent me to get you.
08:40He's wounded,
08:41recovering on Olympias.
08:43He wants to marry you.
08:46I don't...
08:47Athena was quiet for a moment.
08:49In that silence,
08:50something flickered across her face.
08:52A crack in the divine perfection.
08:54Something almost soft.
08:56Do you know why Ares chose you?
09:00Because you're the only niff in this grove
09:03who wasn't afraid of him.
09:04You pushed him.
09:06No one has ever pushed the god of war.
09:09I stared at her.
09:11Well,
09:11you're also very beautiful,
09:13but that's not the point.
09:15She held out her hand.
09:16In her palm lay a silver ring,
09:18plain and unandorned,
09:20glowing faintly in the morning light.
09:21Put this on.
09:22Hephaxes made it.
09:24It'll hide your form,
09:25make you less noticeable.
09:27I slid the ring onto my finger.
09:29It tightened to fit,
09:30cold spread up from my knuckles,
09:32washing over my whole body.
09:34When I looked down,
09:35my curve seemed softer,
09:36blurred at the edges,
09:38like looking through frosted glass.
09:40Come on.
09:41Olympus is waiting.
09:42I followed her out of the grove.
09:46Serve him well,
09:48Thena.
09:48Don't forget,
09:49you're nothing but a bastard.
09:51No one's daughter.
09:52No one's anything.
09:54I didn't look back.
09:55The golden chariot
09:56tossed through the clouds.
09:58Thought.
09:58Then Olympus rose up ahead of us,
10:01higher than any mountain in the world.
10:03White marble columns.
10:05Caught the sunlight
10:06and threw it back.
10:07Dazzling.
10:08I never thought I'd see this place.
10:10A nobody nymph.
10:11A bastard girl.
10:12Eris' temple stood on the eastern slope,
10:14facing the sunrise.
10:16I'm not going in.
10:17Eris doesn't like me.
10:19If he gets angry, run.
10:21If you can't outrun him, shout.
10:23I nodded
10:23and walked toward the bronze doors.
10:27They were carved with battle scenes,
10:29chariots,
10:30spears,
10:31fallen soldiers.
10:32When I pushed,
10:33they swung open on their own.
10:36Inside,
10:37the air was dim and heavy,
10:39thick with the smell of medicine and blood.
10:42At the end of a long corridor,
10:44I found his room.
10:45Eris lay propped against the headboard.
10:46His white robe did nothing
10:48to hide the lines of muscle
10:50across his chest,
10:51but his face was too pale.
10:54You came.
10:55I stood in the doorway.
10:57Athena gave you that?
10:58She's kind.
11:00Annoying, but kind.
11:01I didn't answer.
11:03Come here.
11:04I still didn't move.
11:06I don't bite.
11:08Not right now, anyway.
11:09I walked to the edge of the bed.
11:11He tilted his head back,
11:13watching me.
11:15His ember eyes held my reflection.
11:17Small,
11:18scared,
11:19wrapped
11:20in thick wool.
11:22You're afraid of me.
11:24Yes.
11:25Why?
11:26Because of what they say.
11:28He was quiet for a moment.
11:29Then his hands shut out
11:30and closed around my wrist.
11:32His fingers were hot,
11:33like iron pulled from a forge.
11:35I flinched,
11:36but he didn't tighten his grip.
11:38He just held my hand,
11:40turning it over in his,
11:41looking at the lines on my palm.
11:43Your hands are cold,
11:45like mine.
11:46I didn't know how to answer.
11:47He let go,
11:48one finger at a time,
11:49like he didn't want to.
11:51You'll sleep there tonight.
11:52I can't do much anyway.
11:57I'll have clothes brought for you.
11:58You can take the west room tomorrow.
11:59More light.
12:01All right.
12:02A servant came to take me to the baths.
12:06When I looked back at the doorway,
12:09Ares had closed his eyes again.
12:11His face was blank,
12:13expressionless,
12:14like a statue that had been shattered
12:16and glued back together.
12:19That night,
12:20I lay on the couch,
12:21listening to his breathing,
12:22and couldn't sleep.
12:23Moonlight crept through the windows
12:25and sprayed across his face.
12:27Asleep,
12:28he didn't look like the god of war.
12:30He just looked like a wounded boy,
12:32no older than the men
12:33I'd glimpsed at the edges of the grove.
12:35I turned to face the wall,
12:37pressing my face into the pillow,
12:39then my head.
12:40A thought kept circling back.
12:41When he had held my wrist that first night,
12:43his thumb had traced the lines of my palm.
12:46Light,
12:46almost not there,
12:47but it had been there.
12:48I didn't know when I fell asleep.
12:50Half dreaming,
12:51something warm touched the back of my neck.
12:53I rolled over and opened my eyes into amber.
12:57Eris stood beside the couch.
12:59His hair fell forward,
13:01brushing my cheek.
13:02Moonlight painted his silhouette,
13:04the broad shoulders,
13:05the straight nose,
13:07the long line of his jaw.
13:08I tried to speak,
13:09but no sound came.
13:11He didn't say anything either.
13:12He just looked at me.
13:13His hand rose,
13:14hovering over my face,
13:16his fingers trembling.
13:17He didn't touch me.
13:18Sleep.
13:19I watched him go,
13:21my heart slamming against my ribs.
13:22That night,
13:23I dreamed I stood on a battlefield.
13:25That night,
13:26I dreamed I stood on a battlefield.
13:29The sky rad as blood,
13:30the ground cracking beneath my feet.
13:32Eris came riding out to the clouds
13:34in a golden chariot.
13:35He held out his hand.
13:36I didn't run.
13:37He pulled me up onto the chariot,
13:39wrapped his arms around me,
13:41pulled me back against his chest.
13:43His heartbeat was a drum against my spine.
13:45Do you know why I chose you?
13:49Because you pushed me away.
13:52Everyone wants something from me,
13:53power,
13:54protection,
13:54my name.
13:56Everyone wants to use me,
13:57but you,
13:58you were the one who didn't want me.
14:01So I want you.
14:03I woke gasping,
14:05drenched in sweat.
14:06Outside,
14:07the sun was up.
14:08Eris' bed was empty.
14:09The servant who bought my water told me
14:11the war god had already gone to the training grounds.
14:14Even wounded,
14:15he never missed a day.
14:16In the bronze mirror,
14:18I studied my reflection.
14:19The ring still worked,
14:20I thought,
14:21but the edges of my shape
14:22were starting to come through again.
14:24My breasts pushed against the wall,
14:26my waist curved in.
14:27I wrapped the bondings tighter,
14:29one turn,
14:30two,
14:31three,
14:31until I could barely breathe.
14:33Eris came back at midday.
14:35I was in the kitchen,
14:36standing over a bronze cauldron,
14:38stirring the herbal broth
14:39I'd learned to make
14:41from my mother's notes.
14:43What's that?
14:44Medicine.
14:46For your leg.
14:47He came up behind me,
14:48close enough that I could feel
14:49the heat coming off him.
14:51You know how to do this?
14:52I learned.
14:53My mother knew healing.
14:54He didn't ask anything else.
14:56He picked up the cup
14:58and drank.
15:00How is it?
15:02Terrible.
15:03I watched him drink,
15:04and for a moment,
15:05I thought maybe the god of war
15:07wasn't as frightening as they said.
15:09I was wrong about that.
15:10That evening,
15:11I was in my room
15:12unpacking the clothes
15:13Athena had sent
15:14when I heard footsteps in the hall,
15:16heavy and uneven,
15:17like an animal dragging
15:19a wounded leg.
15:20I opened the door.
15:21Eris was braced against the wall,
15:23his face slick with sweat.
15:24His right leg trembled.
15:26Blood was seeping through his bandages,
15:28running down his calf,
15:29pooling on the marble floor.
15:30What happened?
15:33Nothing.
15:34Old wound.
15:35Don't bother.
15:36You're bleeding!
15:38So?
15:39Rest,
15:40the healer said.
15:42Rest?
15:43I'm the god of war,
15:44not a cripple.
15:46He's a cripple
15:47like it was a knife
15:48twisting in his gut.
15:49I didn't argue.
15:49I half carried him
15:50back to his room,
15:51his weight almost too much,
15:53and laid him on the bed.
15:54I found the healer's salve
15:55and unwrapped
15:56the blood-soaked bandages.
15:57The wound
15:58was worse than I'd imagined.
16:00A long,
16:00twisted scar
16:01ran down the inside of his thigh,
16:03where the Trojan spear
16:04had gone through.
16:05My fingers brushed the scar.
16:07Eris went rigid.
16:12Does it hurt?
16:13He didn't answer.
16:15He was staring at me,
16:16his amber eyes wild.
16:17Keep looking at me like that
16:18and I can't promise
16:19what I'll do.
16:21Thought my face went hot.
16:22My hands stopped moving.
16:24I'm just,
16:25I'm putting on the salve.
16:27I know.
16:28Just finish and get out.
16:30I worked fast.
16:31When I was done,
16:32I practically ran out of the room.
16:35Behind the closed door,
16:37I heard a dull thud,
16:39his fist hitting the wall.
16:41I leaned against the wood,
16:42heart pounding,
16:43and listened to him
16:44breathing on the other side.
16:45Days passed.
16:47I made the medicine every morning,
16:49changed his bandages twice a day,
16:52read him the dispatches
16:54from the war councils.
16:55Some days he was angry,
16:57some days he was silent.
16:59When he was angry,
17:01he threw things.
17:02Once he threw a cup,
17:04so hard,
17:05it shattered against the wall,
17:07and a shard cut my cheek.
17:08He saw the blood,
17:10and went still,
17:11his whole body locking up.
17:13Then he closed his eyes and said,
17:15Leave.
17:17I left.
17:20When he was silent,
17:21he sat by the window for hours,
17:24watching the clouds.
17:26Sometimes he watched me.
17:27His gaze was heavy,
17:29but not threatening.
17:30It was like he was trying to memorize
17:32the shape of my face,
17:33the line of my brow,
17:35the curve of my mouth.
17:36Like he was afraid he'd wake up one morning
17:39and forget we never touched.
17:41No,
17:42he made sure not to touch.
17:45Sometimes,
17:45when I leaned down to hand him his cup,
17:48I could feel his eyes on my chest.
17:51My hands would shake,
17:53and a drop of the dark liquid
17:54would fall on his skin.
17:57He'd look at it for a long moment,
17:59then wipe it with his thumb
18:01and bring it to his lips.
18:04Sweet.
18:05He'd say.
18:07Sometimes,
18:07when I passed him in the hallway,
18:09his fingers would lift,
18:10just barely,
18:12like he was thinking about reaching for me.
18:14But he never did.
18:16One day,
18:18Hera came.
18:20The queen of the gods
18:21swept into the temple
18:23with her whole rat knew,
18:25wearing purple robes
18:26and a golden crown,
18:28her presence
18:29like a weight in the air.
18:31I hear you married a nymph,
18:33she said,
18:34looking me up and down.
18:35This one?
18:37Ares grunted from his bed.
18:39Hera crossed to me,
18:41lifted my chin
18:41with her cold fingers,
18:43studied my face.
18:44Pretty enough.
18:45What the figure?
18:47Her gaze dropped to my chest
18:48and her mouth tightened.
18:50Who was your mother?
18:52A priestess of Artemis.
18:54Which priestess?
18:55And your father?
18:56Hera's smile was sharp.
18:58I shook my head.
18:59She turned back to Ares.
19:00A nobody nymph.
19:02A bastard.
19:03Not a fitting wife
19:04for a god of Olympias.
19:06Ares' voice went flat.
19:07I marry who I want.
19:09Ares' face darkened,
19:10but she didn't push.
19:12She swept out,
19:13pausing at the door
19:14to look back at me.
19:15You know why
19:16your mother's body
19:17was like yours?
19:18She said.
19:19Because she was a slut too.
19:21She used that body
19:22to seduce someone
19:23she shouldn't have.
19:24You're just what
19:25she left behind.
19:26She left.
19:27I stood in the empty hall,
19:29cold to the bone.
19:30Ares pushed himself up.
19:32Come here.
19:33Come here.
19:34I didn't move.
19:35His voice softened.
19:36Thena,
19:38come here.
19:39I walked to him.
19:40He took my hand,
19:42his thumb
19:43moving over my palm.
19:44Don't listen to her.
19:45He said.
19:46The way you're made,
19:47it's not your fault.
19:48My eyes burned.
19:50Annoyance edged his voice.
19:51Why are you crying?
19:52But he didn't let go
19:53of my hand.
19:54I said.
19:54I don't know.
19:57No one's ever,
19:58no one's ever
19:59told me that before.
20:01Iris was quiet
20:02for a long time.
20:03Then he pulled me
20:04against him.
20:05One arm went
20:06around my shoulders
20:07and the other hand
20:08patted my back,
20:09clumsy and awkward,
20:11like a man
20:12who'd never comforted
20:13anyone in
20:14three thousand years.
20:15I won't hurt you.
20:17He sat into my hair.
20:18I swear it.
20:19I bared my face
20:20in his shoulder.
20:20After that,
20:22things shifted.
20:23He stops avoiding me.
20:25I stop running from him.
20:27In the evenings,
20:28we sat on the temple
20:29steps together
20:30and watched the sunset.
20:31He sat on the left.
20:32I sat on the right
20:34and arm's length
20:35between us.
20:36He told me
20:36about the battles
20:37he'd fought.
20:38I told him
20:39about the grove,
20:40about Teo's cruelty,
20:41about singing the hymns
20:42off-key
20:43and getting punished for it.
20:44He scowled
20:45like a child.
20:46Do you know
20:46why I hate Athena?
20:48Why?
20:49Because she's always right.
20:51Every time.
20:52Annoying.
20:53No matter what the subject,
20:54she always has to be right.
20:56He watched me.
20:57His eyes softened
20:58in the fading light.
20:59You have a beautiful laugh.
21:01I stopped laughing.
21:02He looked away,
21:04but not before
21:04I saw his ears go pink.
21:06That night,
21:07I doomed of him again.
21:09His mouth on my neck.
21:10His hands on my skin.
21:13I woke up shaking.
21:14My thighs slick with heat
21:16and bit my lips so hard,
21:18I tasted copper.
21:19I'll set my door.
21:21Footsteps.
21:22I looked up
21:23and saw the shadow
21:24of his back
21:25retreating down the hall.
21:26The next morning,
21:27when I went to the kitchen
21:29to make his medicine,
21:30I found flowers
21:31on the work table.
21:33White anemones,
21:34their petals wet with dew,
21:36tied together
21:36with a piece of rough twine.
21:38No note,
21:39but I recognized
21:40the red clay
21:41still clinging to the stems.
21:43It came from the stream
21:44behind the mountain.
21:46With his leg,
21:47it would have taken him
21:48an hour to walk there,
21:50an hour to pick the flowers,
21:52an hour to walk back.
21:53I put them in a clay pot
21:55on the windowsill.
21:57When I went back
21:58to stirring the cauldron,
22:00I couldn't stop smiling.
22:02Spring was just beginning,
22:03and something between us
22:05had changed.
22:06Something that started
22:07the day he first saw me
22:08in the olive grove.
22:10Something that started
22:11when he tore away
22:12the bindings on my chest.
22:13Something that started
22:15in the dark
22:15when he stood over me
22:17with his hand hovering
22:18by my face
22:19and didn't touch me.
22:20Something that
22:21I finally understood
22:23had already changed everything.
22:26Eris' leg got better,
22:28but he still didn't touch me.
22:30I told myself,
22:32it didn't matter.
22:33I'd never wanted
22:34this marriage anyway.
22:36What did it matter
22:37if he can...
22:38That's what I told myself.
22:40Until the evening,
22:41by this stream,
22:42I was washing clothes,
22:43kneeling on a flat rock.
22:45I was bent forward,
22:46and the color of my dress
22:47had slipped open
22:48without me noticing.
22:50Senna.
22:51Eris' voice
22:52came from behind me,
22:53rough as stone,
22:54scraping stone.
22:55I turned.
22:56He was standing
22:57under a plain tree
22:57at the water's edge.
22:59His amber eyes
23:00were fixed on my chest,
23:01where the wet wool
23:02clung to the shape
23:03of my breasts.
23:04I scrambled up.
23:05He walked toward me.
23:06Every step was heavy,
23:08deliberate.
23:08I stepped back,
23:09slipped on the moss-lick stone,
23:11and fell toward the water.
23:13His arms shot out
23:14and caught me.
23:14I slammed into his chest,
23:16my body flushed against his.
23:17We both went still.
23:19His heart was hammering.
23:20His breath came fast,
23:21his chest heaving.
23:23Berries.
23:24He didn't let go.
23:26His arms locked around my waist.
23:28Don't move.
23:29He buried his face
23:31in my neck,
23:32his nose pressing
23:32against my collarbone.
23:34He inhaled.
23:35The heat of his breath
23:35spread across my skin,
23:37and I shivered.
23:38Do you know how long
23:39I've wanted this?
23:40I couldn't think.
23:42Since the first time
23:43I saw you.
23:45Since you pushed me away.
23:47His fingers dug into my waist,
23:48almost too hard.
23:50Three thousand years.
23:51No one's ever dared
23:52to push me.
23:53You were the first.
23:55He pulled back,
23:56just enough to look at me.
23:58And this?
24:00His gaze fell to my chest again,
24:02that I tried to cover myself.
24:04Daddy caught my wrist
24:05and pressed it
24:06against the tree trunk
24:07behind me.
24:08Don't.
24:09Let me see.
24:10His fingers found
24:11the ties at my collar.
24:12They were shaking.
24:14Can I?
24:15I didn't answer,
24:16but I didn't push him away either.
24:18He pulled.
24:19The wet wool
24:20slipped off my shoulders.
24:21His breath stopped.
24:22His eyes went dark with fire.
24:25Athena.
24:25His fingers traced
24:27the line of my collarbone,
24:28moving down.
24:30Aries.
24:31He bent
24:32and pressed his lips
24:33to the curve
24:34where my neck
24:34met my shoulder.
24:36Light,
24:36barely a kiss,
24:37but my whole body
24:38arched into it.
24:39He looked up at me.
24:41For once,
24:41there was nothing
24:42of the war god
24:43in his face.
24:44Just tenderness,
24:45raw and open.
24:46You're shaking.
24:49So are you.
24:51He smiled.
24:52I'd never seen him smile
24:53like that.
24:55I'm scared.
24:57You?
24:58That I'll hurt you.
24:59That you'll cry.
25:01That you'll push me away again.
25:03I laughed.
25:04He touched his forehead
25:05to mine.
25:06Can I kiss you?
25:07I answered by pressing
25:09my mouth to his.
25:10For a second,
25:10he was frozen.
25:12Then,
25:12he came alive,
25:13pushing me back
25:13against the tree,
25:14casing me like
25:15he'd been starving for it.
25:16His tongue swiped
25:17into my mouth,
25:18claiming everything.
25:19I clung to his hair,
25:20breathless.
25:21He lifted me,
25:23wrapping my legs
25:23around his waist,
25:24and I felt it.
25:26The part of him,
25:27the healers said
25:28would never work again.
25:29I went still.
25:30He went still.
25:31We broke apart,
25:32breathing hard,
25:33staring at each other.
25:36The healer said.
25:38His face
25:39cycled through
25:40confusion,
25:41disbelief,
25:42and in a fierce,
25:43almost boyish delight.
25:45I guess they were wrong.
25:47His hand slid down
25:48to my hip,
25:49pressing me closer.
25:51Eris!
25:53What?
25:54You don't want to?
25:55He laughed
25:56and lifted me higher,
25:57carrying me back
25:58toward the temple.
25:59But my spine
26:01hit the bronze doors
26:02with a boom
26:02that echoed
26:03across the valley.
26:05The door.
26:06Leave it.
26:07He pushed me
26:08against it
26:08and kissed me again,
26:09harder this time.
26:10His hands slid up
26:11my sides
26:12and found my chest
26:13through the thin wet cloth
26:15and my thoughts scattered.
26:17I've wanted you
26:18since the moment
26:19I saw you.
26:20His thumb
26:20brushed across
26:21the peak of my breast
26:22and the sound
26:23escaped my throat
26:24that I'd never
26:25heard myself make before.
26:27More beautiful
26:28than I imagined.
26:31Dead, dead.
26:32He carried me
26:33to his bed,
26:34laid me down
26:35and stood over me
26:36in the moonlight.
26:38In Olympus,
26:39gods aren't supposed
26:40to love.
26:42Why?
26:44Because love
26:45is a weakness
26:46and the god of war
26:47can't be weak.
26:48He lowered his head
26:50and pressed a kiss
26:51to my chest.
26:53But you...
26:56You're the one weakness
26:58I don't want to give up.
26:59That night,
27:00every flower on Olympus
27:02bloomed out of season.
27:03Anemones,
27:04crocuses,
27:05hyacinths.
27:07Laurel
27:07doesn't hung thick
27:08in the air.
27:09His mouth
27:10moved down my body.
27:12His fingers
27:13laced with mine.
27:15Sweat
27:15beaded on his forehead.
27:16Does it hurt?
27:18A little.
27:20My nails
27:20bit into his back.
27:22He stopped,
27:23kissed the tears
27:25that had started
27:26at the corners
27:26of my eyes.
27:28We can stop.
27:30Don't.
27:31I pulled him back.
27:32Don't stop.
27:33He looked at me
27:34with something like
27:35reverence in his eyes.
27:36Alright.
27:37The moon slipped
27:38behind a cloud.
27:40That night,
27:41all of Olympus
27:42heard the war god roar.
27:44Not with battle rage,
27:45but something else.
27:46Something that sounded
27:48like a lion tamed
27:49purring at his mate's ear.
27:52In the morning,
27:53Eris was already awake.
27:55He lay propped
27:56against the headboard,
27:57his fingers tangled
27:58in my hair.
28:00Morning.
28:01He said,
28:01smiling.
28:02Morning.
28:03I buried my face
28:04in the blanket.
28:05He pulled it back.
28:06What are you hiding for?
28:08You know why.
28:10He laughed
28:10and hauled me up
28:11against his chest.
28:13Watch the sun
28:14rise with me.
28:15Every day.
28:18Why?
28:19Because I want to see
28:20the beginning
28:20of every day with you.
28:22From now on,
28:25everyone.
28:26Outside,
28:27the first light
28:28broke over Olympus.
28:31Alright.
28:32Deal.
28:34I pressed my face
28:35to his chest,
28:37listening to his heart.
28:39Deal.
28:39Where it spread
28:41through Olympus,
28:42Eris wasn't broken.
28:43The healers
28:44were idiots.
28:45And the God of War
28:46was fiercer
28:47in bed
28:48than on the battlefield.
28:50I was limping
28:51out of the bedroom
28:52when I ran
28:53into Athena,
28:55leaning against
28:55the pillar
28:56in the hallway,
28:57looking amused.
28:59I see.
29:01Glancing at the marks
29:02on my neck.
29:03He's recovered.
29:06My face
29:07went hot.
29:08You knew.
29:10You knew
29:10he wasn't...
29:12You lied to me.
29:14Athena just smiled.
29:16You did it
29:17on purpose!
29:19I didn't lie.
29:21The healers
29:22said it was unlikely.
29:23I just didn't
29:23correct them.
29:24Why?
29:26Because
29:26I wanted
29:27to see him suffer.
29:30You should have
29:31seen his face
29:32when he heard
29:32he couldn't...
29:33Well,
29:35it was worth it.
29:37I stared at her.
29:39But if she hadn't lied,
29:41I never would have stayed.
29:43I would have run
29:44from Eris
29:45on our wedding night
29:46and never learned
29:47that beneath
29:47all the violence,
29:48there was a man
29:49who'd been alone
29:50for 3,000 years.
29:51A man who stood
29:52outside my door
29:53at midnight
29:54with his hands
29:55shaking over my face,
29:57afraid to touch me.
29:58A man who walked
30:00an hour
30:00to pick flowers
30:01with his wounded leg
30:03and left them
30:04on my work table
30:05without a word.
30:08Athena came.
30:10Yes.
30:12What did she say?
30:15That she lied to you.
30:20She said you were
30:21fine all along.
30:27Do you still want
30:28to leave?
30:29And for a moment
30:29he looked
30:30almost afraid.
30:32I cupped his face
30:33in my hands,
30:34stood on my toes
30:35and kissed him.
30:36I'm not going anywhere.
30:38He pressed his forehead
30:39to mine.
30:40Then every spring
30:41we watched the flowers
30:43bloom together.
30:43All right.
30:45Outside,
30:46the pomegranate flowers
30:47were opening,
30:49red as flame.
30:50The wind came up
30:51from the valley,
30:52hearing the smell
30:53of anemones
30:54and laurel,
30:56drifting through the columns
30:57and stirring out her.
31:00Hera came
31:01one more time.
31:02She looked me over
31:04and said
31:05I was too much,
31:06too loud,
31:08too shapely,
31:09not fit to be
31:10the wife
31:11of an Olympian.
31:13Iris stepped
31:14in front of me.
31:15She's fit enough
31:16for me.
31:17Hera looked at him
31:18for a long time.
31:20You've changed.
31:22Yes.
31:23He glanced back
31:24at me
31:24and his eyes
31:25were soft.
31:26Because of her.
31:28After she left,
31:30I took his hand.
31:31Do you regret it?
31:33Marrying a nobody
31:34nymph?
31:35A bastard.
31:36He laughed
31:37and pulled me
31:38into his chest.
31:39You're the best decision
31:40I ever made.
31:41I pressed my face
31:43against his heart.
31:44It beat steady
31:45and strong,
31:46like war drums,
31:47like spring thunder,
31:49like the tide
31:49coming in.
31:50And for the first time
31:52in my life,
31:53I wasn't ashamed
31:54of my body anymore.
31:56Because this body,
31:57this cursed,
31:58impossible,
31:59too much body,
32:01it was the reason
32:02he saw me.
32:03Every spring,
32:04the flowers bloom.
32:06Every night,
32:07the moon rises
32:08over Olympus.
32:10And we will be here,
32:11together,
32:12to see it all,
32:14from now on,
32:16year after year.
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