Greek Gods: Lying & Mischief (Book 1)

Prelude

305 BCE: Thebes (Thiva), Greece

Armanius and his wife Meira traveled from Rome to Greece within the city of Thebes. They arrived at the smaller area away from the Polis scenery. Many Andron homes were located away from the smaller houses, usually occupied by the poor. The homes were stacked on each row of land like they were building upon each other. In Thebes, citizens lit their candles in square-shaped mud houses. Their windows would be open in the shape of a circle with one tiny flame appearing from the inside.

Meira was pregnant when she rode on the brown stallion. She breathed heavily each second as Armanius tried to squint his eyes to see in the dark. He held a rope wrapped around the stallion's cheek to pull the animal continuously walking on foot. Winter is just around the corner, and the breeze has gotten chilly.

Armanius and Meira weren't from around here. They're pretty special individuals.

Armanius grew up in Rome without a family. His parents were burned alive in their home when he was just a baby. He never knew who caused the fire once he reached manhood. It was said that the god of war, Ares in human form, found the child in the hay basket and would raise him as his own when he decided to stay on land away from Olympus. Many conflicts happened up there and it stressed him enough to remain on the ground without Zeus or Hera finding out his whereabouts.

All of it was secrecy in Ares's lips.

Once Armanius reached manhood, he was a good fighter. Taught by the god of war himself, people were amazed at his skill. He was nominated to be a part of the Roman army where he fought many battles against his enemies. However, it came at a point in time when Armanius felt alone. Ares had to stay on Olympus to prevent Zeus, his own father, from figuring out what Ares has been doing. Raising a mortal child was forbidden as a god unless it was a demi-god. Even though Ares can be a bloodthirsty warrior yet he tries not to let his rage fuel him. There are times and times again when Hera and Zeus would be humiliated over their son's short temper. Despite that, Armanius has become his soft spot for him to be an even better father figure than the man Zeus was to him.

Armanius denied the riches. He had women flinging at him but he never desired to settle down with the promiscuous women. He wanted more than that. So he pleaded to Mother Earth, Gaia, for a wife in need when crying out to her in the dead of night. She listened to Armanius since she saw such a brave heart.

Gaia transformed into human form and guided him in his tasks for a creation of a woman by gathering rocks, twigs, and mud to formulate the image of a woman's body in a cave.

Armanius listened to every word when creating the perfect woman. Gaia breathed into the lips of the creation. Blood grew on the twigs and everywhere to create the inner flesh. Breasts started to sprout. Her beige skin began to emerge as her chestnut wavy hair covered her chest. She was so precious when her eyes were closed and the most beautiful mortal of all. Armanius was amazed at such beauty.

Gaia told Armanius that knowledge was instilled into the woman and she'll be able to know things faster as a newborn. With the help of Gaia, he became a friend to her. All of this was done in secret and even the gods never knew Gaia would help a fellow mortal.

Once the woman awoke, Gaia provided clothes for the woman and she named her Meira. She told Armanius for Meira to always use a veil to cover her beauty and shield herself in outer places due to the many occurrences of demi-gods born in secret. He listened and made sure that would never happen.

Three years passed and Meira grew to love Armanius. He never forced her to love him yet wanted their newfound friendship to grow into love for a while. Armanius loved her so much that they made love in the most passionate way resulting in her pregnancy. Since Gaia instructed him not to let Meira be known to the gods, she told them to leave Rome and live in Greece. Armanius didn't want to give up his life as a soldier yet it needed to be done.