Chapter Eighty-Four
We had fought a dozen battles already that year and rode back home with the clattering of gold in our satchels.
By the last day of our ride, the horses needed no direction, for they had ridden that path so many times before.
But when we reached the steppes and the lush grasses I knew so well, confusion overtook me.
Normally, the steeds galloped the final miles home.
It was my favorite part of the journey. For if the horses were filled with such uncontrollable excitement about arriving, then how could I not feel the same?
However, this time, the city was barely in view when they began to slow.
Confusion flashed across the faces beside me.
Without hesitation, I forced Erebus back into a gallop and headed for the front of the group.
“What is it?” I called. “Why have you stopped?”
Althea answered.
“There is a man,” she said. “A single man, just standing there.”
My bow was ready, my arrow nocked before I had even seen him.
I pulled back on the string, and Erebus moved beneath me with the need for my hands on his mane.
Yet when I reached the front and aimed at the man before us, I stopped.
The weapon quivered in my hand, and the skin on my arms prickled into goose bumps as the air chilled around me.
“That is not a man,” I said, certain of what I was seeing. “That is a god.”
Even at a distance, he was a sight to behold.
How the women could ever have thought it was a mortal man left me in disbelief.
It was not merely his height, which towered over even the tallest of the Gargareans.
It was something more than that. A radiance that shimmered from within him.
A light I feared could be enough to blind me should I look too closely.
I was in the presence of a god, and I was as terrified as any sane mortal would be.
But I was queen, and I would not let my women see my fear.
I waited for a moment longer, eyes fixed and staring as the women trembled behind me. Whispers passed between those who had heard what I had said. Which god did I believe it was, and what did he want from us? Would he hurt us? Was he there to punish us? If so, why?
All were questions I needed answers to, yet I considered my actions slowly, for I would not get a second chance.
Should I drop to the ground? Lower my bow and arrow as a sign of deference and understanding?
It seemed like the most obvious course of action.
What good would a bow and arrow be against a god?
He could destroy me before my feet had even touched the ground.
“If anything happens, take the women and run.”
My voice was a whisper, so quiet it was intended only for Althea to hear, yet I could have sworn the god shifted in the distance at my words. He could hear us. Of course, he could have heard every word we had ever said, but I still had to speak.
“Do you understand?” I said to Althea.
“I do.”
A second later, I kicked Erebus back into a gallop.
I drew close, wanting to put as great a distance between my women and the god as I could. For the moment I could see his face, I knew which god I was in the presence of.
“Great Ares.” I pulled Erebus to a stop, still a distance away, and bowed my head, though I remained mounted as I spoke. “You have blessed us with your presence on this land.”
None can see a god’s true form. To look upon a god in such a state is to burn in the flames of its magnificence. But Ares had come to us in the image of a mortal. The most magnificent of mortals.
The softness of his curly brown hair was in contrast to the hardness of the rest of his body. The shape of his torso could have been carved from stone, the angles of his muscles were so sharp, and his dark eyes were fierce.
“Queen Otrera. Ruler of the Amazons.”
A shudder ran down my spine. Was he mocking me? Perhaps. I could not tell, yet he continued.
“I believe your exploits were fruitful? The village will no longer be raided?”
A smile twitched on his lips. He was playing games with me. He knew all aspects of my life, from birth until my impending death. But that did not explain why he was there.
“We did as was asked of us,” I replied succinctly.
“You did. And now you will talk with me. I do not require the rest of your women. They should head home. After, you will offer me the grace of a spar.”
There were no questions, only commands. My title of queen meant nothing, and he knew that.
I could not refuse, although to accept meant only one thing.
Sparring with a god would likely be my last act in the land of the living.
But if it offered my women some chance of survival, it was what I had to do.
“Of course. Yet I fear I do not have a weapon that will withstand the force of a god’s blade.” The comment was not cowardice. It was the truth. If I was to die fighting, I wanted the chance to protect myself.
Ares tilted his head to the side as he observed me.
“It will not be an issue. Now ride back to your women. Tell them to head home via the forest. They do not need to bother us again.”
The sharpness in his tone implied it would not be wise to question him, so I bowed my head before kicking Erebus into a turn.
“Take the women back to the city.” I spoke with urgency the moment I reached Althea and Damaris. “Take the route back past the forest. Do not come near us.”
“And what of you? It is Ares, is it not?” Damaris said.
“It is,” I replied.
“And what does he want?”
“He wishes to fight me.”
The whiteness to which my friend paled caused fear to rise within me, though I pushed it down before it could fully form.
“To fight you?” Althea said. “Have you offended him?”
“I do not know,” I answered truthfully. “But we do not have time to discuss that now. Go. Please.”
They did not need to be asked again. Althea took charge, and behind her, the women retreated to the forest, leaving me alone with Ares.
I waited only a moment longer, watching them shrink into the distance before I rode back to face the god.
As Erebus’s hooves slammed against the earth, I recalled Phile’s warning from all those moons ago.
The gods would be watching. That was what she had told me.
They would watch, and they would judge my actions.
Now, I realized, was the day I faced that judgment.
He was nothing short of colossal, a behemoth of a man, with muscles bulging from his arms and thighs. And he wanted me to face him. Or so I thought.
“It would appear you misconstrued my earlier invitation, Queen Otrera. I do not wish to fight you. I wish to see how you fight.”
“You wish to see how I fight?” I repeated, even more bemused by the situation.
“And given how you doubt your women’s skills as blacksmiths, take my blade.”
From a sheath at his side, he pulled out a blade longer than his arm, which glimmered with all the divine light it contained.
Still, I hesitated. To take it meant dismounting, and my only form of escape would be lost. But, I reminded myself, Ares was a god.
If he wanted me dead, it would not matter how fast I rode.
Steeling my breath, I dropped to the ground.
“Send your horse away,” Ares commanded.
The air caught in my lungs. Erebus was not one of my women.
He could not hold a bow or fire an arrow, yet his presence was a protection.
He was a dear friend and the only one I believed would be with me in my final moments.
Now I was to lose him. I attempted to shoo the horse away, though he remained stubbornly by my side.
“Go!” I said, waving my hands vigorously. Erebus cocked his ears back slightly and tilted his head, though he still did not move. “Erebus, go!” I shouted, my raised voice directed solely at him, but it had no effect. He would not leave me.
With a step forward, I placed my hand on his shoulder and rested my head against his neck. I knew that no matter how quietly I whispered, Ares could hear, but I could not pay that mind.
“Please, Erebus, you need to leave me now.” The tenderness in my voice was that of a mother with a child or perhaps a child with an elderly mother.
Either way, it was filled with a yearning love that stretched the fibers of my heart.
“I know you only want to look after me. But I want to look after you too. I am going to be fine. I promise. After this, I will find you. We will be together again. But you need to go. You need to look after the others for me. You can do that, can’t you?
” With the last breath of my words, I stepped back and struck his thigh just hard enough to surprise him.
A moment later, Erebus was thundering away, leaving Ares and me alone.