The War God's Woman

11. The Hated God

Jaz and Sophia sat across from one another – the empty tea cup on the table between them.

"Give me a drink that will stop me from having to obey him." Sophia demanded.

"I can't, it's your fate."

"My fate?" Sophia's nostrils flared. She would not accept that it was her fate to be some kind of slave.

"The curse was placed on your bloodline to last for 3000 years. You have no choice but to be a servant to the gods, just as your great grandfathers were and how your great grandchildren will have to be." Jaz explained, his tone gentle but firm. 

Sophia glowered at the tea cup.

"Ares isn't a god. He's a monster." She seethed. What kind of god would take over her home? What kind of god would force her to hand over a fortune? "There must be a way..."

Jaz glanced out of the window. The sprawled blue sky didn't have a single cloud and, already, the sun was beating down – melting the tarmac. It was going to be another glorious summer's day. The shop was filling up and Jaz lowered his voice so that they wouldn't be overhead.

"One of your ancestors was named Ganymede. He also suffered from this curse. Zeus fell in love with him and took him as a lover. The king of the gods showered Ganymede with riches – but even Zeus couldn't free him."

Sophia considered this. 

"Ganymede had the wrong idea," she mused. Fellow customers were casting looks at Sophia – eyeing her designer clothes and handbag. She raised a perfectly manicured hand, tucking her hair behind her ear and revealing large, weighty pearl earrings. "He tried to seduce the gods. I'm not going to play that game. I'm going to destroy them. Whatever it takes – to break this curse." She rose to her feet and soothed down the front of her dress.

Jaz seemed unconcerned by her words.

"You'll need to come back every few days for more tea – or the haziness will return."

Sophia nodded.

"I'll be back." Reaching into her purse she pulled out a fistful of crisp notes and placed them on the table. Jaz's lips curled up into a smile and he quickly pocketed them. He dearly loved rich people.

**

Whilst she was supposed to be counting stock in the store cupboard, Sage surreptitiously used her phone to look up 'Ares, the god of war'.

"The hated god..." she read aloud. According to the website – Ares was even despised by his fellow gods. Sage considered this. Whilst she wouldn't usually rely on Wikipedia – the theory did check out. He'd already told her that he was exiled from Olympus.

Sage carried on reading. "Whilst Ares was still an infant, he was captured by two giants and put into a bronze jar..." She pulled a face. Now the website was becoming far-fetched.

"Hello," Ares greeted. Sage would have screamed in shock but Ares quickly put a hand over her mouth to silence her. Once her heartbeat had returned to normal, he let her go.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed, glancing around at the confined space. Ares shrugged. He looked moody.

"It's not my fault that I missed you."

Sage bit her lip. She wondered if he knew that her heart had fluttered just then. She shook her head – trying to clear it.