193. Pallas’s Anger and My Bitterness
Pallas’s Anger and My Bitterness
made uncomfortable bedfellows.
He was slow to anger, but when he did,
his rage was legendary. Most of it,
he reserved for his forge,
but today, he paced around our chambers.
When Kratos came running in to throw himself
at his legs, Pallas ignored him.
Kratos looked heartbroken.
I tenderly called my son
so I could gather him into me.
He leaned on my shoulder
huffing slightly, keeping tears at bay.
He kept a watchful eye on his father,
unable to understand what he had done wrong.
‘I cannot understand why Oceanus
would do this. Without his support,
without the Potamoi, this war is lost!’
I ran my hand through Kratos’s
thick curls, so like his father’s.
‘Perhaps he has finally learned
that his children are more than just weapons.’
Pallas paused and stared at me.
‘Styx. Your father treating his children
with value. Do not make me laugh.’
This stung, even though it was the truth.
My parents had seen their countless children
as a way to make themselves more powerful.
But it did not change the fact that they were our parents.
And war changes us all. My father looked older.
Gods should never age, and yet he had
from watching children suffer.
‘Do you not think it possible
that all these years of seeing
his children being injured may have
turned him into a kinder God, who longs
for peace for his own family?’