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