180. A War Begins
A War Begins
Each night I would watch Perses return home
long after Nyx had painted the sky dark.
He would bring his weary body to bed,
and I would soothe him in my arms.
‘They are stronger than we understood,’
he told me once tiredly.
‘Poseidon, he has powerful sway
over water and weapons alike.
Hera is stealthy and controls the birds
who inform her of our every movement.
Hestia seems kind, but her power over
fire can devastate whole forests.
Demeter can rot the world whenever
she wishes and turn it into a corpse.
And Hades. He is enthralled with death;
his hands are made for war and damage.’
After so many evenings of stories like this,
I was not surprised the day the messenger came
and told me Perses would
not return home that night.