Chapter 1
Ares stood in front of his new recruits in disbelief. This was the best and brightest his generals had to offer him? These soldiers were the best out of all of his armies? He wasn’t even sure all of them were soldiers even. Not to mention the lack of diversity in obvious skill sets. They were all the same, big brooding men who by sheer size were a force to be reckoned with. Out of all of this, the least disastrous was the one who didn’t quite fit in.
He should’ve known that it was Tyrs’ recruit who was fairing the best. This soldier was clearly picked based on skill, not just their mere intimidating presence. Which she certainly had going for her as well. Katia was a tall woman whose raven's dark hair contrasted beautifully against the shine of her armor. She always had a stern look on her face while training. She was definitely a soldier one would not want to cross swords with on a battlefield. Her attacks were quick and packed with power. Not to mention she was smart, and oh so observant. In a duel she often took the defensive to allow her opponent to show their weakness, before she swiftly cut them down.
Ares was so very impressed, not to mention inappropriately enthralled. This wasn’t the first time he had worked with a skilled women soldier, and it wouldn’t be the last. But there was something about that gleam in her eye when she analyzed the fights, or a new technique like she was storing it all to use later. Or maybe it was the way that her face had changed, softened, when training was done for the day and she sheathed her weapons. She almost instantly became more human, obviously mortal. Off of the training field she was talkative and easy to joke. She had this beautiful, scary duality that Ares craved to learn everything about.
Ares tried to think back to a time he felt like this about someone, completely distracted by the sheer existence of someone.
Not even Athena, goddess of wisdom and war strategy who was his female parallel, had made him feel this way. He wanted to fight alongside her in battle, but he also wanted to spar with her himself. He wanted to be the one she directed her quips to as she taunted him, he wanted to feel the way her strength buckled as his sword struck against her own. He wanted to protect her even when it was obvious she had no need for it. Somehow more importantly he wanted to watch her grow and improve.
There were so many problems with the way Ares was currently feeling. He was her superior, in almost every way imaginable. He was a god, while she was a mere mortal. He was her commander for Olympia's sake. Then there was the issue of his reputation, how he was perceived. He spent milenia making sure he was viewed in a very certain way. He was a strict man, in every sense. He was cold, calculating, unyielding, and more importantly heartless. The way he was feeling, yearning, definitely had to come from some forgotten part of himself that was still primal. These were human emotions he always thought useless.
Ares couldn’t understand why he allowed these thoughts to haunt him as he observed these soldiers. He would never do anything about them. Acknowledging them only meant that it would complicate things all the more when Athena came in a week to help him pick their 13th general. The general that would be very much his right hand. The very same general that he was supposed to spend the next month in close proximity with in order to train in Ares’ specific style of combat. He wasn’t entirely sure he could be objective in choosing. All he yearned to do was give the title to this strong woman. He yearned to give so much to Katia: the world, protection, peace where she wouldn’t need her incredible combat skills, him… He had to stop himself, he couldn’t do that, he couldn’t even show her the man he truly was under the cold warrior he needed to be seen as. He could, however, make damn sure she was fit to be a general. He would offer her every opportunity she needed in order to take for herself the things he would never allow himself to give her. He would allow her, help her, take anything she wanted. Maybe even himself if he wasn’t careful.
They spent the next week going through hundreds of drills and trials. A long time ago Ares and Athena sat down and decided how these generals were to be selected and trained. It was rigorous, thankless, and meant to weed out the weakest of contenders his generals had sent to him. This was the worst batch he has seen in at least a hundred years. Ares would return to his quarters nightly and slam his head repeatedly into the wall. If these were his best men, then his entire cavalry was in great danger.
At dawn they would already be on the training field with their selected weapons in hand. By noon they would be eating a quick lunch, just to quickly return back to obstacle courses that only 3 had managed to outsmart. Katia was of course one of those 3. She was always one of the ones on top of anything. It almost seemed as if the fates themselves were making it so she could not lose. Around the evening they would finally break into dueling groups, in just a few days they would all be pitted against each other. However, only a few of them were starting to realize that they were also looking for those who held leadership qualities. Ares would have assumed it would be a given.
It wasn’t until day 4 of that last week that a cycle broke. It was looking to be another day of only 3 people getting through the obstacle. No one was guiding the others, they were all just trying to fight past those who stood in their way. Ares was about to turn away and leave them to suffer whatever they managed to do to each other when he noticed it. When he noticed her.
Katia was standing there staring blankly at a part of the course that obviously needed 4 people working together to overcome. It would take someone of Ares’ power to get past it on their own. She stood calculating which felt like an excruciating long time until finally she seemed to sigh in defeat. Like she would rather do anything else than work with the 11 other brutes in the course with her. For a second Ares genuinely thought she was going to give up, turn around, and flip him off. For a second Ares hoped she would do just that. That would give him the opportunity he was searching for to talk to her, more than just bark orders at her direction. Sure he would need to be scolding her, but he could still be near her to do it. Gods he needed to figure out this infatuation he had with her, and quickly stop it. How was he supposed to be the god of war when all he wanted to do was find an excuse to talk to this excruciatingly beautiful woman? The answer was he wasn’t, he had to let his feelings fizzle out. The complication with Aphrodite ages ago felt less agonizing then this!
Unfortunately, or for the best really, she did no such thing. She heaved the biggest breath, cursed under her breath, then started calling attention to the others.
It was amazing to watch these big men listen to this commanding woman, comedic really. They were all grinding their teeth as they reluctantly followed her orders. Only about 6 of them managed to swallow their pride and follow her to the end of the course. Katia’s group of 7 were the only ones to make it out of the course before the time was up for the day. When it was over they all managed to stare at her in wonder, before thanking her for helping them finally complete one of Ares’ courses.
The laugh next to Ares almost startled him. It was Athena, of course several days early. She had of course seen the whole exercise. Her eyes sparkled the entire time, it had been a long time since a warrior had surprised her, and this young woman certainly had. “If her fighting skills are as half as impressive as what I just saw, then I think we have found ourselves the next general.” Athena managed to bark out after her laugh ceased. It was always unerring to hear her speak, it was always sharp and precise like the pinnacle of an unforgiving mountain. It always made Ares wonder if he also sounded so harsh, so monochromatic. Just because they were gods of things of violence doesn’t mean they both didn’t crave knowledge and warmth above all else. Ares found he was comfortable in the role of god of war because he knew it meant others could enjoy the peace that came after his wars, that with each of his victories someone was now free to
love and be happy. Ares simply rolled his eyes and gestured for the sessions to switch, it was indeed time for the battles to begin.
They spent the next three days with Ares and Athena observing the 12 of them fight, strategize, and train. It was very clear that they both agreed on the same general. Katia. Shit, Ares was going to have to spend time alone with Katia. Very soon he would have to learn if his control was actually as strong as everyone always assumed it was.
Finally it was time. Katia was officially named as general. The others started to complain, but one glance at the fire in Ares’ eyes and they resigned to wishing her congratulations. Good, he didn’t look as weak as he felt on the inside at the mere presence of this woman.
“General Katia, I look forward to working with you.” Ares said in his usual clipped tone. It was an unusual fight to keep any warmth from the statement.
He just received an answering smile. A smile that beamed from her. A smile that shattered him to his very core. A smile that would break armies. A smile that one day soon Ares would crave to keep on her face no matter what challenges they were to face. A smile that he would protect at all cost. Just one smile and Ares was hers, whether she knew it or not.
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