The Heart of War (12 page)

Feeling unwanted and wishing she were alone, every day she made her way down to the shore where she had begun her new life on this island and looked out over the sea.  So far Ares had been right, no matter when she came here or for how long she stared not a single ship met her eye. There was nothing but ocean, sky and a few small islands beyond the menacing reefs. The longer she stayed here the more likely Cernunnos was to find her. When that happened, Ares God of War had better strut his stuff or everyone here would soon be residing in the Underworld.  If she could just get off the island then at least the others would not be in danger.

On her trips to the beach she scoured it far, wide and deep, looking for any sign of a boat, a dock, a mooring. There was nothing.  Not even a scrap of the ship that wrecked and left her here. The best she would be able to do would be to swim to the nearest island. Most days it didn’t look so very far away. Staring at the distant shore, she wondered how long it would take her to swim there and what she would find on the other side. 

Yesterday as she had stood on the shore daydreaming about her escape, Ares appeared at her side.  She had not been alone with him or made any move to be and she was startled to see him there. “You’re looking very well, Alena,” he complimented. He’d been right, a few days of rest and good food had done wonders for her. Now the sun kissed her pale cheeks, the warm color chased away the haggardness. The lines left by struggle and toil were gone, leaving her face smooth and youthful. Her shoulder-length silver hair was no longer caked with salt and sand. It shone brilliantly around her face, helping to light up those extraordinary gray eyes. Just as he thought on the night she arrived, the little Fey was beautiful. Quite stunning. “I see my island agrees with you.”

“Trust me, woman, that island is a lot further than it appears. Three full days of non-stop swimming. Think you're up for it?” Ares mused. “Do you know what you would find over there?” He waited while she turned her eyes away from the deep blue sea and up to him. “Nothing. Not a soul, no animal life either.  So tell me, woman, what would you do on an island such as that? How would you survive? On walnuts and grapes that are quickly dying for the season?” He chuckled.

Her hopes of escape to the nearest island dashed, she whispered to him. “Let me go.”

“No,” was all he said in return then he disappeared from her sight, leaving her alone on the beach.

2

What Alena was unaware of was the fact that Nicco shadowed her every step at Kat’s insistence. Never was she alone; he was always less than ten yards away and she was always in his line of sight. Every night Nicco reported to Kat on what Alena did that day and whether or not the Fey had been with Ares.

 Every day Alena picked an endless supply of herbs and flowers that she put into a wicker basket to bring back to the cave. Alena filled her room, and to Ares’ dismay, several other rooms in the cave with them. She often tucked them into her silver-gray hair before skipping and flitting along, barefoot, to wherever she was going.  Near the end of her daily journeys, she took a dip in the pool with its rushing waterfall.

Nicco had no idea why Alena seemed to prefer the cold waterfall to the hot spring in the cave, he was only glad that she did as he’d become very fond of this. The Fey would strip off all of her clothing, wade into the water, swim out to the far end, and then stand below the waterfall in the warm afternoon sun.  She was a very pleasing sight indeed, especially now that her wounds healed so nicely and her skin was unmarred. The most pleasing sights came when she finished bathing. Alena would lay herself out on the warm rocks, letting the sun beat down upon her naked body, her hands scampering across her breasts before they wandered between her legs. Unfortunately, he’d yet to witness her actually inserting her fingers into that unused hole but she rubbed that little clit like there was no tomorrow. Coos and hot rushes of air escaping her lips as those slender hips rocked up and down.

In his place in the bushes, Nicco would strip down his slacks, take his pulsing member in his hand and beat off furiously. Imagining what it would be like to break through that virgin territory. Feel her hot blood easing his passage deeper and deeper into her.

As she lay there in the sun yesterday exploring her own body, something startled her. She sat up and grabbed for her gown as she looked around. Nicco had been in mid-stroke and just inches away from his climax when he became certain that she’d seen or heard him. She wasn’t looking in his direction, her eyes fixed opposite him and he thought her about to speak, but then she turned slowly toward him as though she were watching someone walk away from her. The next thing Nicco knew, an unseen force lifted him off the ground by his throat and propelled him backward through the forest. The trip was short and abrupt; when they were away from the Fey’s earshot and line of sight, Ares made himself visible.

“Touch her and die, Nicco.”

“Of course, my Lord. I would never do such a thing.”

“Don’t even think about it. I’ll cut off your dick and feed it to Cerberus,” Ares warned and then disappeared from Nicco’s sight, but whether the God of War still stood there or if he went off to another part of the island, Nicco couldn’t say.

One custom that was almost never broken in Ares’ home was that all who lived on the island sat down for their evening meal together. That night Ares insisted Alena sit at his left at the table while they dined, displacing Nicco, and seating her directly across from Kat. Earlier in the day Alena brought back a very large bouquet of Dragon Arum and placed it in the center of the table in Ares’ throne room.  When Ares asked why they were on his table and beginning to pop up in other areas of his home, Alena told him the place needed a woman’s touch. Daniel tried to hold back the chuckle but it was difficult once he took in the exasperated expression on Ares’ face; he had ended up excusing himself from the room and going outside with David close behind.  Kat, however, did not seem to find Alena’s comment amusing. She leered openly at the woman for the remainder of the meal, refusing to eat it, saying it was nothing more than pig slop.  Happy in putting a damper on the otherwise lighthearted mood of the evening, Kat sat there drinking wine with her arms crossed until the meal was over and plotting ways to get rid of the newcomer.

Later in the night, Ares gave Kat to the twins, Daniel and David Jackson. This was her punishment for having had the audacity to be so crass at his table and Ares’ suspicion that Kat had been so devious as to set Nicco about Alena behind Ares’ back.

3

There was more than flora here, there was fauna as well, and last night as Alena and Onya made a rather tasty rabbit stew, Alena noticed the meat stores were getting low.  There was a smokehouse on the island, but there wasn’t much in it and refrigeration did not exist here.  When she awoke early this morning, she thought she might make herself useful and go hunting.  Ares had a plethora of weapons to choose from, everything from modern day heavy artillery to ancient bows and arrows.  Here she stood in the throne room making her choice. 

She wanted one of the bows but they were all so big. The swords were no good and she wasn’t very adept at throwing daggers or other sharp objects.  Back at the camp they hunted with handgun when possible, but the handguns here were unloaded and she could not find the ammunition.  The men at the camp had also hunted with spears and she had as well but, like the swords and bows, the spears here were meant for someone much larger than she was.

Alena stood there with her finger to her lip carefully considering her options with her foot tapping absently on the dirt floor. In the corner, next to a tartan that did not belong on a Greek Island, stood a massive sword that she instantly recognized as being a Claymore.  By nature, they were huge swords with a double edge running all the way down the blade to a heavy, usually wooden, hilt. However, she had never seen one that big! Her eyes darting around the room again to be sure she was alone, she just had to satisfy her curiosity and pick it up. Alena had to wrap both of her hands around the hilt just to move it from its place.

Raising it up off the floor, she held it out in front of her. “By the Gods!” she exclaimed while imagining the fear and terror it must have struck in its victims.

“Put that down.”

“What?” Startled, Alena turned around to see Ares standing there but she turned too quickly. The blade gained momentum as it wobbled in her already tenuous grasp. Ares jumped backward as the blade came around toward him. Unable to keep the heavy blade upright as it took her for a spin, Alena’s body pitched forward. The blade hit the dirt at her feet, stopped abruptly and the hilt jammed into her stomach. She let out a little gasp of pain.

“You’re lucky it wasn’t your foot,” Ares sneered and grabbed the sword out of her hand. “What are you doing with this?” Ares held the sword next to her, the tip on the dirt, holding it straight up. “It is bigger than you,” he pronounced, looking at the top of her head and the top of the hilt, which was clearly a good three inches above her.

“I’m sorry,” Alena mumbled. “I meant no harm, Lord Ares.”

“Difficult to do harm with something you can hardly lift,” he scoffed and put the sword back in its place and then sat on his throne waiting for her to answer his question.

Alena had hoped to grab a suitable weapon and go about her business, but now she had to ask his permission. Quietly she told him that she had noticed the meat stores were low. “I thought I might hunt something for you,” she ventured timidly.

His full lips pursed as his brow furrowed and he leaned forward to look at her closer. “You? Hunt? For me?” Ares waved one of his large hands in the air in a dismissive motion. “What Fey hunts? I thought you ate the twigs and berries of the forest. Grazers.”

Grazer? What was she? A cow?
Trying not to sound insulted or flustered, Alena spoke. “Well, now, I’m--I’m not quite sure what you believe you know about us, Lord Ares. While we do enjoy the fruits of the forest and it is true that
we
are intelligent enough to raise livestock for milk, eggs, meat and skins, unlike some others,” she muttered, paused, and smiled at him contritely, “we do still hunt. We are excellent archers.” Alena finished proudly. 

Yes, they were excellent archers. Feys with their slightly enlarged eyes had great gift of sight just like their kin, the elves.  “I am not a farmer or a herdsman. I am a warrior and I am the hunter here.” The meat stores were low and Ares intended to go hunting today and replenish them. “What are you going to hunt on my island?”

She had seen many animals that were good for eating while on her walks. “There’s deer, and rabbit, I saw some boar, some turkeys.” Before she could stop herself or think of the words flowing out of her mouth, “Perhaps you’d like to join me?”

That brow furrowed a bit further as Ares stroked the beard on his chin and considered her proposal.  It was interesting. After all, none of the other women hunted with him. They stayed back at the cave to clean and cook what he brought for them. “I don’t know if I have a bow small enough for you.”

“Me either,” Alena mumbled. “But, you have guns,” she said in a brighter tone. “I can fire a gun and hit my target.”

The woman just got more and more intriguing. “You can? Why is this? What Fey uses a firearm?”

Alena stood there quietly explaining about the refugee camp and the lack of supplies and meat. “We hunted almost every day,” she told him.  Since handguns were in ready supply that was what they most frequently used to shoot deer, elk, eland, rabbits, whatever they could find. “We also used spears and I do all right with that but,” she looked around at the weapons, “I don’t think you have a small one of those either.”

“No, I do not. All of the spears here are mine, they are not trophies, and I used each one of them in battle as I have most of the other weapons you see.” Alena suspected that was true but she could have gone without the confirmation that the weapons around her had been used to take lives. “As for the firearms, none of them fire.”

“Well, they would if you loaded them,” Alena ventured out of the corner of her mouth.

Ares thought he had misheard her for a moment, surely she did not say that.  His head tilted toward her. “You think I don’t know how to use a gun?” While his tone was rather light, his eyes darkened.

“Ah, um, well, no, no, of course not.” Alena stuttered and took a step backward. “Of course
you
do, Lord Ares. I just meant that, well, if you put the ammunition into them then I could use them.”

“Hmm, I see,” Ares said and sat back a small ways. “I tell you what, Alena. I was going hunting today anyway, so
you
may join
me
on my hunt.  Let’s see if we can find you a suitable bow.” Getting up off his throne, he looked down at her. “Just so you know, even if you did load the firearms, they would not fire. The pins have been removed.”

That was odd. “Why?” Alena asked quietly. “If you’re a God, of War no less, why dismantle your greatest creation?”

Ares sighed deeply. “Here I was starting to like you.  What did I tell you? Do not believe everything History teaches you…about anything. Stories become mangled and twisted over time. Humans created and perfected guns, not me,” he said strongly. “I prefer an…old school…approach to things such as killing. Besides, I cannot let these morons roam around here with loaded guns. They’ll kill each other. That’s what their kind does best and I didn’t have anything to do with
that.”