OF WAR Anthology Novels 1-3

by Lisa Beth Darling

  “No, it’s another one of your games. One of your lies,” she accused in disgust. “Are you so bored here or do you hate her so much? Why?”

  Zeus never cottoned to being on the wrong end of interrogation. “I don’t answer to you, all of you answer to me, hummm? Let’s not forget that.”

  “You know what it would mean for Ares if what you say is true,” Hera railed, her head spinning with the horrible thought of it. “You know what she’ll do to him.”

  Zeus nodded happily, “And he’s letting her, that’s why I had to tell him.”

  “And you couldn’t have done it in a less public arena?” Hera scoffed. “Oh, no, never mind, I know, it wouldn’t have had that big impact, you wouldn’t have been able to see poor Alena’s reaction and so you would have been much less satisfied by it all. Isn’t that right?” Nearing tears she shook her graying head. “She’s probably down at the Fortress right now, terrified by what you said, crying her eyes out on Ares’ shoulder and for what? Nothing.”

  “Crying on his shoulder? Sucking him in even deeper, isn’t that what you mean, my Wife?”

  With tears welling her eyes and beginning to spill down her aged cheeks, she asserted, “It’s not true. Alena loves Ares; she is so in love with him that she can’t see straight…”

  “Or is that just what she wants all of us, especially Ares, to believe? Faes, you know as well as I do, how deceptive and beguiling they are. They are like chameleons, they are whatever you need or want them to be, until you trust them so completely that you feel you can’t live without them, that’s when they swallow you whole.” Making the cautious move of putting his hands on Hera’s shoulders, he gave them a little rub. “If what I say is true, that child she’s carrying is a monster and together they will destroy Ares. As his Mother, I would think you would do anything to avoid this. I know how much you love him.”

  III

  Hades, Athena and Poseidon gathered in Athena’s Temple. Unlike Aphrodite, Athena preferred a much more Spartan home. There were no comfortable pillows, no trays of fruit awaiting guests. There were only chairs made of stone or wood for the few guests who came to her home.

  “What do we do?” Hades asked Poseidon.

  “What can we do,” was the reply from the King of the Seas, “unless you’re completely convinced one way or the other. Are you?”

  Stroking his chin with his gloved hand, Hades shook his head and then held the hand out away from his face. “I don’t know what to think.” He turned to Athena. “You, Goddess of Wisdom, what do you think?”

  Athena never liked to jump to conclusions; she preferred having facts and evidence laid before her prior to making any decisions. “We wait,” was her most solid advice. “I know it’s not easy but we must wait, watch, and listen.”

  Slowly, Poseidon settled his old body into one of the wooden chairs and hoped he would be able to get up again. “So then, you think it could be true?”

  “Nearly anything can be true but without proof it can hardly be believed.” Athena, like almost everyone else, didn’t know what to think. Zeus was well known for playing games and executing them with skill and cunning.

  “I knew he was up to something,” Hades moaned. “It’s not proof but two months ago Zeus came to the Underworld and demanded to visit with Maven.”

  Zeus wanted to visit with Morrowind but Morrowind’s soul had been reincarnated several times over and so she could not be produced for the God of Gods. Maven was Zeus’ second choice; he made Hades call her out of the Elysian Fields and to the grounds of the Black Palace where her memories would return to her. In the Fields all one knew was that it was a beautiful sunny day and any moment their loved ones were about to arrive home; outside the Fields their memories came back but it took a heavy toll upon the soul. “He sat there with her for over an hour questioning her until she was so faded I could barely see her. I had to call him off and send her back to the Fields before she faded away for good. She was utterly exhausted.”

  For over an hour Zeus grilled Maven’s soul about her ancestry. For over an hour Maven gave the same answers no matter how many tricky ways Zeus posed the same question. Her mother was Morrowind, her father was Cernunnos and other than that, she had no blood, no kin. When Cernunnos killed Morrowind, Maven was only a small child; with no family she was forced to rely upon the kindness of the Fey in their Treetop Village to care for her until she was old enough to be on her own. The Lord of the Forest never returned the village to visit with her or even just to see her. The only thing she knew about Artemis began after Cernunnos killed her and little Magdalena came running to her mother to report the horrible news. She didn’t know why Artemis was in the Celtic Lands, why she’d taken a liking to Maggie, or what her relationship with Cernunnos had been.

  Maven was unwavering in her assertion that she knew nothing of her mother’s ancestry. Morrowind died before she got the chance to pass on information such as that. Zeus wasn’t satisfied; he pressed her further, hadn’t she heard any whispers amongst the Fey about her mother? Perhaps, at some point during her long captivity, Cernunnos let something slip about Morrowind. About why he chose her to breed with.

  “That monster raped my mother, he raped me for years, and he raped my daughter, Lord Zeus. Three generations of my family’s women suffered under him. You ask me why—I only wish that I knew. Why don’t you call him forth from Tartarus and ask him? Then we can both be satisfied.”

  That was an idea that hadn’t occurred to Zeus, who then looked up at Hades to defer.

  “He’s roasting nicely,” Hades said in a low tone, “in the deepest darkest pits the Underworld has to offer. Since he can’t be released until his sentence is served—another thousand years or so—are you up for a trip there, Brother?”

  The idea of it made Zeus’ skin crawl. “Eh, maybe some other time.”

  “Whenever you’re ready,” Hades said with an easy smile, hiding the fact that he believed there was some very small memory in Maven’s mind that sparked to life at Zeus’ question. A spark she quickly squashed.

  Zeus posed a few more questions to Maven but she only gave the same answers. Eventually he left without the satisfaction he was seeking.

  “Then we went back to the Black Palace where he had me look through my records.”

  Poseidon felt his old heart sink at the expression on Hades’ face. “For what?”

  After his interrogation of Maven, Hades thought he would walk Zeus to the Gates and see him across the River Styx, but Zeus insisted they return to the Black Palace and that Hades call forth his books. For another hour they sat there looking for the entry regarding Morrowind’s death. Not having an exact date but only a month and year to go on, and with the all of the souls constantly coming and going, she was difficult to track down. They finally agreed there was no entry for a soul named Morrowind and none for a Fey during the entire month of November. Thinking Maven’s memory off, Hades scoured the books starting in October of that year and going through December. Still nothing. No Fey. Not a single one. There was, however, an entry for a Fae died October 31, 1670, her name was Shar Draíocht. Next to her name was the notation: Prinkípissa tis Skoteinís Vasileíou (Princess of the Dark Kingdom).

  Hades hesitated in giving this bit of news to his Brother, unsure of what Zeus was up to and so he held it back, closing the book and telling the God of Gods there was nothing there. After all, even though Hades’ record-keeping was beyond reproach, just because that Fae died at that particular time and there was no record of Morrowind, that didn’t mean they were one and the same. Zeus had been itching for ammunition to use against Alena since before she arrived on Olympus full with child.

  Here, among Olympus’ more rational inhabitants, Hades offered up this bit of information. “It’s not irrefutable proof of what Zeus claims.”

  Athena shook her head as her lips pursed and she took in a breath. “No, it isn’t, but it is more fuel for his fire. You were right to withhold it.”

  “True enoug
h,” Poseidon piped up, “but if Alena is of this line, this strong and somewhat infamous line, then her real goal could be to drag Ares back to the Dark Kingdom.”

  “I don’t think there’ll be much dragging involved, do you? You’ve seen them, Brother; she’s got him right where she wants him,” Hades advised. “He’d do anything for her.”

  “Yes, Uncle, it would seem that, no matter what the truth is, Alena has the most power weapon in the world completely at her disposal,” Athena agreed and watched as the expression on Poseidon’s face soured. “What?”

  Shrugging his shoulders and offering out his hands in a gesture of peace Poseidon answered, “Can’t any woman say the same about her husband, one who truly loves her; he would do anything for her? Just because he’s Ares why should that dynamic change?”

  “I wouldn’t know, Uncle, I’ve never been in love. You’d have to ask Aphrodite or Eros about such minor concepts.”

  With much effort and a long groan, Poseidon hoisted his aged body out of the uncomfortable chair and stretched backward a ways to relieve the nagging ache in his spine. Olympians weren’t prone to aches and pains but, then again, none of them ever lived as long as he, Hades, Hera and Zeus. “All I’m saying is that even if any of this is true, it doesn’t mean Alena is up to something nefarious. You saw her when Zeus accused her; she had no idea what he was talking about.”

  Athena rose to see her guests out for the evening. “Perhaps that’s the just the Fae in her showing her skill in deception.”

  “And if it’s not?” Poseidon countered, “if this is all just another of Zeus’ elaborate games? He’s out to ruin her and destroy their relationship, and for what? An ancient feud that all but us have forgotten.”

  “That is what we must look for out, Uncle,” Athena agreed easily. “I know my Father as well as any, and I know what he’s capable of, the lengths and the depths he will go to in order to get his own way.”

  Chapter Six

  Family Ties

  “That’s what Zeus is afraid of.”

  “What?” Ares asked curiously. Zeus was never afraid of anything in his life.

  Alena sniffed back the last of her tears as she brushed the back of her delicate hand across her eyes. “That I’m going to hurt you, betray you. I’m here to use you and suck you dry.”

  Unable to help himself Ares snorted, and then chuckled, then nearly giggled before it all turned into a full belly laugh, his dark eyes shining at her. The boisterous nature of his laughter seemed to frighten her, causing her to pull away, but the absurdity of her statement took him by surprise. He brought her back to him and put his finger on her lips, the smile never leaving his face. “This is why I love you,” he said and then sighed as he gazed deep into her confused stormy eyes. “Zeus couldn’t give a shit less if I fell off the Earth tomorrow and he never could. If you think my Father is trying to protect me, Alena, you couldn’t be more wrong.”

  “You’re his Son.” Instinctively, her hands went to her belly and caressed the life within.

  Life on Olympus was so unlike Life on Earth below. She uttered the words as though the concepts of Love and Offspring were as conducive here as they were down there. As though Love on Olympus were a given. It wasn’t. “He hates me,” Ares admitted softly, “always has, always will.”

  “Eros? Do you hate Eros?” Ares treated his Son very unkindly tonight and all Eros wanted to do was help. Would he be the same way with Raven?

  “No, in my own way I care about my Son.”

  Alena, on the other hand, would love Raven to the ends of the Earth no matter what the boy ever did. She would love him as a mother should love her son. “But you don’t love him?”

  For a long moment Ares just sat there considering his answer. Alena had been honest with him tonight and he should return the favor by reminding her of one small fact. “I never knew love until I met you. You ask me if I love my Son—perhaps one day I will, and if I do it will because of you.” Picking up the chilly hands laying on his warm chest, Ares brought them to his lips and brushed a kiss across them. “So you see, my Love, you cannot possibly be from the Dark Kingdom because they know nothing of love and you know so much.”

  “Do I?”

  “More than Aphrodite and Eros combined,” Ares assured. “Don’t let Zeus do this to you. It’s what he wants, to cause doubt, to foster it, watch it grow strong between us. Mostly he wants you to doubt yourself.”

  “Why?”

  Being strong and protective were things in her nature and in them, Ares had no doubt, Alena did her father proud. Being malicious, spiteful and just plain mean for the sake of being mean were foreign to her. Shaking his head, he wondered when Alena was ever going to come to terms with where she lived and with whom. Ares began to wonder if he hadn’t repeated a past mistake by bringing Alena here to a place where she didn’t belong just as he’d done with a young Onya so many years ago. “Because this is Olympus and boredom reigns supreme here, don’t you understand? I told you, it’s a game to him. A wicked, wicked game.”

  Game? What kind of game? What kind of devious mind would even conceive of such a game? “Well, it’s a good one, and he’s winning,” Alena muttered. With a heavy heart Alena spoke to her Husband again, wanting no secrets or silent suspicions to come between them. It was possible, she said, no one knew where Morrowind came from. She had no family in the village; she could have been from the Dark Kingdom and sought refuge among her distant Cousins. “No one would have known,” she whispered, “they look just like us, she would have just blended in.”

  “So…what? You think you washed up on my island because you were on some secret mission to seduce me and get me to kill Cernunnos?” Ares meant to lighten the mood but accidentally stumbled upon something still unsaid between them.

  “We both know that’s not true. Eros dropped me in the water and that’s how I came to your island, isn’t it?”

  Not one to mince words if the situation didn’t suit her, Alena struck directly at the heart of the matter. “Yes. I take it you remember your time with him?” He wasn’t sure he wanted the answer to that; Ares viewed any and every male as an adversary when it came to his women but he did not enjoy feeling that way toward Eros.

  “Yes,” she confessed. “Don’t be angry with Eros; other than kidnapping me, he didn’t really do anything wrong and I’m sure he thought he was rescuing me from the camp. At least in his own mind, that’s what he thought.”

  Nodding and sucking on his teeth were Ares’ only signs of agreement. “I shouldn’t be angry with him for trying to kill you, is that what you’re telling me? Me?”

  “He wasn’t trying to kill me, he was trying to free me and things went wrong.”

  “Things went…ah, I see…things…you mean like you nearly drowning?”

  “It was an accident,” she asserted with quiet force. The last thing Alena wanted was to come between Father and Son, not with her own boy on the way.

  “Apollo?” As the name slipped from his lips, Alena shuddered beside him and moved in closer to him. He looked down, watching her eyes dart about the room as though someone might be listening. Then she eased up on one elbow to whisper directly in his ear.

  “He’s a very bad man.” With wide frightened eyes, Alena pulled away from him to meet his gaze, she nodded and said it again, “a very bad man.”

  That wasn’t any news to Ares; Apollo always got away with murder and came out shining like the sun. “You want to tell me more?” Alena shook her head almost violently as she bit down on her lip. “Ok.” Ares didn’t need to hear anymore, he knew his Brother and he’d seen enough when Zeus went poking around in Alena’s head. “You know, you’re only proving my point here. If you were truly from the Dark Kingdom, you wouldn’t tell me any of these things. Not now anyway. You would keep them secret and use them to strike with when the advantage came your way.”

  “Unless, of course, it’s all just part of the deception and I’m telling you to gain your confidence even further
before I betray you. Probably to your death.” The last four words were nothing more than a choked whisper.

  “You’d never do that.”

  “You don’t know—it could be in my nature to destroy you.” The thought was terrifying; she loved Ares with all of her heart. Betraying him, harming him, just the idea of it made her stomach turn. She reached up to hold his bearded face in her hands. “I’d never forgive myself if I did anything to hurt you.”

  Ares felt the anger in him for his Father spring to life again even as he tried to comfort the woman in his arms. “You’re letting him win, Alena. He’s in your mind already, making you second guess yourself.”

  “But what if it’s….”

  “It is NOT TRUE!” The force of his voice made her jump and drop her hands from his face. “I’m not angry with you, I’m angry with Zeus for doing this to you, to us. He’s taking advantage of your good nature and using it against you. Why can’t you see that?” Ares knew the answer to that; it was her love for him. Zeus was trying to turn it into a weapon. “Just hold onto me, you got that? When you’re afraid, I will comfort you. When you’re unsure of who you are, Magdalena MacLeod, I will remind you.”

  “How?”

  “Like this.” Ares gently pushed Alena onto her back and hovered over her only to bring his lips down over hers in a heated kiss that made all of her cares flee as it made her toes curl. “How’s that?” he asked with a grin as he pulled away from her.