Chapter 2

As Aresios disappeared with Cassia in a flash of divine light, I remained slumped by the pillar, blood seeping from the wound on my head into my collar.

I stared in the direction the light had gone, so urgent, so frantic, without a single glance back.

I suddenly remembered how he used to be just as anxious about me.

My natural gift with herbs and healing had earned me a place on the edge of the divine realm.

I was first assigned to be a guardian in the Hall of Ancient Records, where I sorted through old parchments while studying the lost art of mortal herbology.

Aresios first saw me in the old border market. When a few fallen demigods started harassing me, he drove them away with a bolt of lightning.

In the scuffle, his arm was gashed by a dagger dipped in the waters of the Styx. The poison spread quickly through his veins.

I had read in an ancient text of an herb that could neutralize the corrosive poison of the Styx. For three days and three nights, I stayed by his side, using moonpetal grass and holy water to draw out the poison inch by inch until he finally recovered.

After that, Aresios began to appear outside the Hall of Ancient Records more and more frequently.

One night, as I was organizing scrolls late into the evening, Aresios came in. He handed me a crystal infused with his own divine power. "Come with me. You don't need to do such hard work anymore."

I paused, then pushed the stone back. "There's no need, Lord Aresios. Watching over these ancient scrolls is no hardship for me."

He gazed at me quietly for a long time, then left behind a crest engraved with his divine sigil.

"I am Aresios. I will come again tomorrow."

The next day, he came as promised.

When he saw I was busy, he waved his hand and used his divine power to buy every damaged scroll in the hall, just for a chance to have dinner with me.

For the next three months, to win my affection, the God of War resorted to countless outrageous and defiant acts:

I refused his starlight roses, so he had nymphs deliver freshly picked flowers from the golden apple orchard every day, their fragrance filling the entire library.

I refused to ride in his divine chariot, so he walked with me through the muddy markets of the mortal world and escorted me all the way home.

I told him mortals and gods were of different worlds, so he took off his magnificent armor, knelt by the dusty shelves, and helped me restore the tattered parchments with his own hands.

He stayed with me in the Hall of Ancient Records for three whole months. Every time I refused him, he came back again, and again, and again.

It wasn't that my heart was unmoved. I was just all too aware of the chasm between gods and mortals. I couldn't, and I dared not, let myself fall for him.

Until, one day, he shielded me from the hellfire spewed by a hound of the abyss, a hideous scar burned across his broad back.

Golden ichor dripped from his wound as he writhed in pain. Yet he smiled at me and said, "Elara, I'm disfigured now. You'll have to take responsibility for me."

I reached out and touched the wound. Tears fell, splashing onto his searing hot muscles.

After we got together, he spoiled me rotten.

If I cut my finger organizing ancient records, he would summon the god of healing himself.

If I casually mentioned I liked a certain wild fruit from the mortal world, he would use his divine power to ripen an entire grove of fruit trees for me.

When my mortal body ached from the cold, he would hold me in his arms all night, warming me with the divine heat of his body.

Once, I missed a step and scraped my knee. He was so distressed his eyes turned red, and his hands trembled the entire way as he carried me to the healing temple.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I told him I knew of medicine myself and that there was no need to trouble the gods.

But he said, "Mortal bodies are too fragile. It might look like a flesh wound, but what if it's been tainted by miasma? What if the bone is fractured?"

He insisted on using his divine power to examine my body and had the best healers treat me.

And now, I looked down at the pool of blood beneath me and suddenly laughed, a desolate, miserable laugh.

I walked, step by step, to the Spring of Healing at the edge of the divine realm.

The nymph guarding the spring saw how serious my injuries were and quickly cleaned and bandaged the wound with the spring's water.

By the time she finished, I had lost so much blood that my vision was turning black, and I could barely stand.

As I staggered away from the spring's edge, my wrist was seized in a harsh grip.

"Elara!" Aresios's voice was tight with anger. "Cassia's unborn child was nearly lost, and you still can't stay put? What are you doing wandering around here?"

His brow was furrowed, his eyes sharp and cold.

The cloyingly sweet scent of stardew, Cassia's scent, still clung to him.

"I came to the border, not to cause trouble." I pointed to my newly bandaged forehead.

"You shouldn't be wandering the border."

"The divine energies here are chaotic. They will attract unnecessary attention and disrupt the order..."

"A wound inflicted by a god is not something I can heal on my own."

Aresios's expression froze.

Only then did he seem to notice the reek of blood on me, which had been masked by the floral scent, and the thick white gauze still seeping crimson.

He paused, then reached out to touch my forehead. The moment his fingertips made contact, his frown deepened.

"What happened?"

"You pushed me," I said, dodging his touch. "I hit the pillar. For a god, it was just a casual wave of the hand, wasn't it?"

"Aresios, you once said you would take me away as soon as she gave birth. But can you even see me in your eyes anymore?"

Perhaps remembering his own loss of control, Aresios said nothing, only gathered his divine power to try and heal my wound.

After a long moment, he pulled me into his arms.

"Elara, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I was just afraid something would happen to Cassia. She carries the future of our realm. If anything were to happen, the gods would never let us go, and our departure would be delayed again."

I let him hold me, my gaze empty as I stared at the pale dome of the temple.

I had heard these words too many times.

"I understand," I said, pushing him away. "Go be with her."

I turned to leave, but he caught my wrist again.

"Elara, no matter what, you have to believe that you are the only one I desire. Everything I'm doing is so we can finally leave this place and have a life of our own."

The pad of his thumb gently brushed over the gauze on my forehead, his movements careful. "I'll have the nymphs escort you back. Try not to get the wound wet."

He let go and, as he turned to leave, added, "When I get back, I'll have the nymphs bring you your favorite floral nectar."

He transformed into a streak of golden light and vanished toward the Sanctum of Celestial Healing, where Cassia was being tended to by the finest healers in the realm.

I stood there, watching the divine light fade into the distance.

I suddenly smiled, even as tears streamed down my face.

"I don't believe you anymore," I whispered to the empty air, to my own broken heart. "Aresios, your promises... I don't believe a single one."