Chapter 8 Ares
Children. I can hear the voices of happy children.
“Daddy, Daddy.” One child holds my little finger, pulling me along the way.
Daddy? My children are…
I recognized her body from the back. She is cutting something on a board in the makeshift kitchen.
“Talia.”
“You are late. The children and I were getting worried.”
The children? I look at the two boys and a girl.
All under the age of 10. Dark curls and blue eyes like mine.
These are my children with Talia. Slowly, I move past the children, moving behind Talia.
Her hair was piled up on her head, decorated with beads and pearls.
I lean in, loving her scent of myrrh and jasmine.
My hands hover over shoulders, trembling with a need to touch her.
“You can touch me, Ares. What is wrong with you?” Talia’s voice feels like music to my ears.
What was wrong with me? I look around the room. It looks like a watercolor painting, with the edges missing and leading into darkness.
I close my hands over her shoulders and squeeze her tightly. I turn her around to see her face, and I am met with nothing but a gaping black hole.
The faces of the children all look like gaping black holes.
“What the fuck is happening?”
“You are leaving me to die.”
“No, Talia.”
Her voice screeches high, and her body is turns grey. She and the children drop on all fours and run toward me.
“Talia!”
“You forgot about me.”
I shake my head. “Talia, I love you.”
“She must die.”
“She has to die.” She stands and pulls me to the edge of the painting. Darkness swirls around me.
“Talia, I will fix this.” I feel desperate.
Talia steps away from me and stands on the edge of darkness.
“If she doesn’t die, then I guess I will have to.” With that, she throws herself down into the darkness.
“Talia, no!” With arms outstretched, I dive into the darkness.
SORAYA
I am awakened by Ares murmuring in a language that I can’t understand. I roll over to touch his shoulder.
He sits up, screaming, “Talia!”
I lean over to my side and switch the light on. Ares’s chest is heaving. He looks around the room, trying to find his bearings.
“Ares.” I touch his shoulder lightly. He pulls away and walks into the bathroom.
For a while, I sit at the side of the bed, trying my best not to make assumptions.
I mean, hearing the man you’re about to marry scream another woman’s name on the day of your wedding is not for the weak.
I am not going to jump to conclusions, and I can’t be hurt.
We are not getting married for love; it’s more for my protection.
I rub my forehead. Then why do I feel so…sad?
The bathroom opens, and Ares walks out, sits beside me on the bed.
“You okay?” I want to touch him again, but…
He takes my hand in his. “Yes, I just had a nightmare.”
Don’t ask who Talia is, don’t ask… “Who’s Talia?”
Ares looks down at my hand and folds his lips, like he is debating whether to tell me. “Someone I loved years ago, and she died.”
My heart drops. “I am so sorry.”
“Yeah, I am too.”
Was she his first love? Where did they meet? How did she die? As I sit looking at Ares, I realize I am about to marry a man that I know nothing about.
What does he do for a living? Where are his parents from? What are their names? Does he have siblings?
My face must have looked startled because he asked, “What?”
I swallow, wondering how to approach this. Because the truth is shining in my face. This is not a love match. We like having sex together…but love?
“Where are you from? What’s your favorite color? Who was the last person you had sex with?”
He looks at me and smiles. “Why the sudden interest?”
“Because in a few hours, I am about to walk down the aisle, and I would like to know more about you.”
I wait for him to huff and shout; that’s what Elias would’ve done, especially if he didn’t want to answer.
He takes my legs and places them on his lap. “Let’s see. Greece, black, Cherry, siblings…two and some other children my dad had outside.”
Who the hell is Cherry? Why did he answer that so easily?
“Cherry was before I met you.”
I shrug and look away. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“Right, next question?” He rubs slow circles on my ankle.
“What do you do for work? Are your parents alive?”
He kneads the bottom of my foot, and a little moan escapes me. “I’m an arms dealer, and yes, both are alive. Our relationship is strained.”
“Really?” I should ask more about his parents, but his tone tells me I should leave them alone.
“One more question.”
Maybe I should ask him if he wants kids? Or what his favorite meal is?
Then he reaches up to his face with the back of his hand and wipes the hollow, scarred cheek. I know what I had to ask.
“How did you get that scar?” I wait patiently, hoping that I hadn’t crossed a line.
He calmly utters, “A bad family dispute. Some fights leave scars.” He touches his face lightly. “Does my scar bother you?”
“No. I told you, it gives you character.”
His brows raise. “Character?”
“Yes, a dark and sexy character.” My cheeks feel a little hot.
“You don’t say.” He moves forward, rubbing his nose gently against mine. My lips brush his —
The door slams open. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Hecate stands with Nisa, who is peeping from behind her.
“What?”
“A groom is not supposed to see the bride before a wedding,” Hecate screeches.
Ares rises and puts on a shirt. “Hey, Cate, let me talk to Nisa. Raya will be out in a bit.”
Hecate throws her hands in the air. “No one cares about traditions anymore.” She moves out of the doorframe, leaving Nisa standing there, pulling at her fingers.
“Come in.” Ares sits at the edge of the bed.
Nisa’s lips tremble, like she’s about to cry. “I didn’t mean to get us into trouble. I’m sorry, Raya.” Her shoulders crumble, her knees wobble, and she collapses to the floor, crying. Both Ares and I run to her.
I draw her into my arms. “Shhh, it’s not your fault.”
Nisa hiccups as if she had all these tears bottled up. “People always do bad things to me. I’m so…”.
I pull her into my chest and rock her. Ares is on his knees and cradles me while I hold Nisa.
“Please don’t send me back to the home. I’ll be good.” Nisa wipes her eyes.
“Enough.” Both Nisa and I look up at Ares.
Ares’s eyebrows furrowed, and his face was taut. “You are part of this family. In some months, you will be Nisa Kallistratos.”
Forever the protector. “Listen, you did nothing wrong, kiddo. You are loved, and you will be protected.”
“Promise?” Nisa looks at Ares.
“I promise, little one.”
There is a beat of silence before I speak up. “I would be honored if you would be my bridesmaid. I have none.”
Nisa wipes her face. “Me, a bridesmaid?”
“I couldn’t think of a prettier one.” I take joy in seeing her sadness being removed by being a bridesmaid. I think we should send her to therapy, but let’s get to the wedding first.
Clapping makes the three of us look up. Hecate is standing by the door again. “This is all good, but by the fates, can we get ourselves together? We are having a wedding.”
She sets her eyes on Nisa. “As long as I live, I will always be here to protect you. That’s what aunties do.”
Nisa leaps and hugs her tightly. “Thank you, Aunt Hecate.”
Hecate taps her back softly and pulls away. “Nisa, go to your room and pick a dress. Now, about the wedding. Let’s move it, people.” Hecate claps, signifying for us to move.
Ares helps me to my feet, and Hecate ushers me out. We walk down the stairs, past my bedroom, past the living room and game room. I see a door that wasn’t there before, but I still have yet to explore this house in full.
The door opens, and I gasp at its beauty. If I knew that Ares had a spa in his house, I would’ve been here every day.
The walls are tiled; the tiles have an iridescent glitter. Long, white, sheer curtains hang over three arches, hiding whatever is behind them. The air smells of roses and ivy.
“In ancient times, we would have custom call proaulia.” Hecate walks up to the curtain and pulls it aside. “First, we would have a katabasis. Your parents would bring you to your husband-to-be’s home. Then they would make an offering to Artemis or Athena.”
The thought of my parents not being here for the important times in my life pulls at me.
Hecate holds out her hand. “Since I am here, and I have the name of a great goddess, you can make the offering to Hecate. Artemis and Athena are so overrated.”
“Hecate, this feels like a lot.”
She shrugs. “This family is a lot. What are you offering?”
“I have no idea what to offer.”
“Give me a lock of your hair.”
I frown. “You want my hair…as an offering? Hecate, really?”
“These are my family traditions.”
Hecate passes me a small pair of scissors, and I cut a piece of my hair.
“Now, say this after me.” Hecate holds a gold bowl in her hand. “Soi, soi, Hekatei touto prosphero.”
I repeat the words, and a part of me feels happy, like I invited someone divine. However, this feels binding…final.
A small smirk graces Hecate’s face. Slowly, I drop my hair into the golden bowl. She closes her eyes and bows her head a little to me, then places the bowl on the table. A small flame flickers in it and dissipates, leaving the ashes of my hair behind.
Something about the way Hecate moves makes me a little nervous. I feel like this wedding is not just about my protection. It feels locked in and real.
She pulls the curtain of the second arch to reveal a porcelain bathtub. The scent of earth and mint invades my senses.
“Disrobe and sit.” I drop the robe and step into the bathtub. Am I a bath person? No, but, hey.
Hecate pushes a cart of golden jugs. “As in the old days, this water is from a very sacred spring. It’s to prepare a bride for a husband.”
Shit, I was about to get a husband…again. But this time I feel less stressed. I sit in the tub as Hecate pours water over my head. My skin prickles, as if electricity dances on it and then goes away. She takes a jar of something that smells like mint and begins to scrub my skin with it.
Then, she pours another jar over my head. She whispers under her breath, as if she is praying. For a millisecond, I feel like the water clings to my skin longer than it should have. I chuckle to myself. Maybe she’s marking me or cleaning Elias’s juju away. Either way, slowly, I start to relax.
It feels like I’m being blessed with the scrub and lotion that she places on my skin.
“Stand and rest on the marble slab.” I skip out of the tub and lie on the slab.
It’s euphoric. Hecate scrubs me down again. I fall asleep. I wake up as she’s drying my skin. Sitting up slowly, I feel like I slept for hours. Hecate dries my hair and adds perfumed oil to it.
My body feels relaxed and limp. Hecate places my arms in a robe and pulls it to my body.
“Let’s go behind the last curtain.”
As the curtain moves to the side, my breath is taken away by the delicate white dress falling gracefully over a mannequin.
“This is traditional Greek wedding wear.” Hecate’s hands trace the saffron-colored veil and the wrist wreath made of roses entwined with gold. I inhale because the reality was settling in my mind.
“This is beautiful, Hecate.”
Hecate smiles proudly. “And it will be even more beautiful with you in it.” I look at the dress, loving the gold embroidery at the ends. My stomach churns because the dress feels like more. It feels like I’m saying goodbye to my old life and stepping temporarily into a new one.