Ares' thoughts were rudely interrupted when the doors of the throne room were abruptly thrown open to fly back and slam against the wall on either side of the doorway.
A figure was standing dead centre of the now-open doorway.
Hercules.
Ares rolled his eyes in disgust. Trust my meddling brother to make an appearance. Hades take him! I don't have time for this!
The demigod half-brother of the God of War strode rapidly towards the throne that dominated the massive room, and the figure seated on it, dark, intelligent eyes following his every step.
Ares' face settled into studied boredom as Hercules approached his throne. "To what do I owe the...pleasure...of this visit, brother?" He enquired without any apparent interest, although he knew well enough why Hercules was there.
The son of Zeus came to a halt at the foot of the dais, his own face coloured by anger. "You know why I'm here, Ares! I've come for Kendaa," he told his half-brother with grim determination.
Dark brows raised slightly. "Is that so? Well you can't have her," he retorted coldly.
Hercules' arms raised in a gesture of frustrated anger. "What is it with you? As much as I've hated to admit it, I'd thought you actually did care for her."
"Don't start with me," Ares warned softly, his face wearing a look of fury with which Hercules was all too familiar.
The demigod tried to calm himself. He knew it would take very little for the encounter to develop into a shouting match, which would inevitably conclude with a no-holds-barred physical fight. He sighed, and paused for a moment, trying to find the right words with which to reason with Ares.
"Look, you know as well as I do that Kendaa wouldn't have done what she's been accused of. Why are you going through this farce of putting her to the question? Is it because she's somehow managed to make you look like a fool before the other gods?" Hercules was guessing. The whole situation had left him completely puzzled, and worried, ever since the messenger from the Amazons had found him in Porinthos, carrying an urgent request from Ephiny that he come to the Amazons with all speed.
The equally tall Lord of War sat rigid on his throne, his whole body tense as he gazed in dislike at his brother. "This has nothing to do with you," he informed Hercules quietly, holding his temper on a tight leash. "She has been accused of betraying the gods - and me, in particular. You should, at least, be aware of the Olympian laws concerning such matters - and they are considered grave on Olympus. As her nominal god, it is my right to put her to the question. If she refuses to co-operate - as she has for three weeks now - then in three days time, on the night of the full moon, she will go before the full Court of the Twelve and stand trial. There's nothing you can do about it." he sat back, every line of his tall form dismissive.
But Hercules wasn't finished. "Oh isn't there? I'm not going to leave her here for you to hurt her any more. She has a son - your son - who is making himself sick because she's gone, and you know she wouldn't have done what she's accused of..."
Ares swallowed, bitterly acknowledging the cost of Kendaa's obstinate silence, but stamped viciously on the painful feelings making themselves felt.
His sudden roar cut across Hercules' words. "She admitted it to my face!"
For a moment Hercules could only stare back at his brother, his face incredulous. He slowly shook his head. "I don't care what she's admitted! There's no way she would have done it! Ares, she's told me repeatedly that she has deep feelings for you. Not that she needed to, really - it's written plain on her face every time she mentions you. I wish I could understand why," he added, the disgust heavy in his voice.
Ares had been visibly clenching his jaw as Hercules spoke. His hands were pleading with the rest of him to release enough power to send Hercules to hades once and for all.
"Get out."
It was the softest of whispers, but the tall, golden-haired son of Zeus heard it. His face hardened.
"I told you! I'm not leaving here without Kendaa. Now where is she? In your deepest dungeon, I suppose," he growled. "That would be so typical of you."
The demigod suddenly gave up in the face of Ares' unmoved mien.
"Fine, have it your way. I'll find her myself."
He turned on his heel and headed for the great doors at the other end of the throne room with long strides.
Ares had risen from his throne. As Hercules neared the doors his arm raised, and with a guttural snarl he unleashed a bolt of deadly power that shot past the demigod to smash into the stone floor directly in front of him. The Temple rocked. Attendants, priests and priestesses fled their Lord's infamous temper, making for the farthest recesses of the Temple. Hercules stopped on the edge of a smoking crater three feet in diameter. he turned to face his brother.
The look on Ares' face shocked him.
Utter, deadly rage.
"Take another step and by Olympus, I swear to you, rule or no rule, I'll destroy you where you stand," Ares told him, his voice a cold, evil hiss.
Hercules' blue eyes were stunned. "I've never really understood you, Ares, but this... Do you want to see her die? Don't you have one shred of feeling for her inside you?"
The Lord of War had left his throne and was walking slowly down the steps of the dias, moving towards his brother with singular grace, for all the anger written plain on his face.
He stopped inches from Hercules.
"You know nothing of my feelings," he snarled quietly, his eyes locked with those of the demigod. "You think you know so much. But really, you know absolutely nothing about me." For a moment they were both silent. Hercules waiting, Ares gathering his words.
Ares' beautiful godly face was thoughtful. "Would it surprise you to know that the reason I took her was to try and save her life?" He paused, his face intent, but for once free of any guile. When Hercules remained silent, Ares nodded slightly, a sneer twisting his features. "There's definitely more to this than she says. Think, brother. Who better to get the truth from her than I? If it galls you to ask me directly, then you had better pray to any other god who might be listening that I succeed, because if I don't, and she goes before the Twelve - we will have no option but to judge her guilty," the God of War informed his brother with quiet, precise words. "I saw the evidence for myself. Her own actions and words condemn her. Unless she can be made to reveal what lay behind them, in three days she will die."
He paused for a moment, his face frustrated. "She has yet to do so," he added softly.
For once in Ares' presence, Hercules' anger receded.
"Do you have any ideas on why she did it? Why she's insisting she did it? What of Zeus? And what about the Dahok connection?" Hercules asked cautiously.
Ares shook his head slowly. "Zeus has washed his hands of her until after the trial. As for Dahok... My resources have so far come up empty." He shrugged, frowning slightly, impatience crossing his features.
Hercules looked closely at his brother's face. "You really love her, don't you?" He asked quietly, his voice incredulous.
Ares stared at him, his face revealing nothing. "And that would surprise you, wouldn't it brother?" He asked, his voice heavy with irony. "That I should have any feelings at all?" He whispered. "Perhaps you don't know me as well as you thought you did," he added with a wry smile.
The two sons of Zeus - so different in looks and temperament - stood in thoughtful silence, for once united by their concern for the half-dryad woman who meant so much to them both.
Hercules drew a deep breath. "Alright," he told the dark Lord of War. "I'll trust you not to hurt her - and I'll be waiting."
Ares raised an eyebrow in open mockery. "How...generous...of you, brother."
The golden-haired demigod stared coldly at his half-brother. "Just make sure she survives, Ares. Or I swear I'll come after you," he promised.
The quiet, introspective interlude was over.
The God of War turned and walked back towards his throne. At the bottom of the steps, he stopped and faced Hercules once more.
"Be sure to shut the doors behind you on your way out," he taunted, before moving to seat himself once more on his throne, his eyes resting absently on the spot where Hercules had vacated the Throne Room.
His brother was already dismissed from his thoughts.
In the dark, cold depths of the Temple, Kendaa sat in her chains, head leaning against the wall. She was shivering, her eyes closed. She had heard and felt the bolt that Ares had thrown at Hercules, and wondered dimly what it had meant. But as it had no bearing on anything in the world to which she had been relegated for over three weeks, any thoughts as to its possible significance fled her tired mind.
He'll be back soon. How much longer...Oh Olympus, I can't take much more of this. Gods, all I want to do is sleep...
She began nodding off until her head gave a particularly sharp jolt and she knew she should at least try and stay awake for now, seeing Ares would be returning some time soon. It had been several hours now since his last visit.
Her mind wandered yet again. Back to the morning Ares had come for her...
She rosed, washed and dressed before Helios began his daily journey. Leonides still slept soundly in his small cot beside her own bed as she sat eating some bread, cheese and fruit by the light of a single candle at the small table to the side of the room. She wasn't very hungry at all, but she doggedly finished the apple and banana, knowing it would probably be quite a while before she had anything quite so tasty. Ares' dungeons were not known for their hospitality.
Afterwards, she carefully cleaned up and put the food utensils away in their small cupboards. Automatically, her hands went to her dagger and its scabbard, lying on the table, but she stopped herself mid-motion. Smiling wryly to herself, she withdrew her hand. She wouldn't be carrying or needing weapons today.
Moving quietly to the door, she opened it, carefully moving the comfortable rocking chair in which she had so often cradled her son. Setting it in the doorway, she settled herself into it to watch the day begin.
The sky slowly turned from deep indigo, to a delicate blue. Then the first rays from Helios's chariot made its way above the horizon. Glorious showers of gold and yellow began to suffuse the sky. She smiled, enjoying the beauty of a new day being born.
"Mama?" A tiny hand patted her arm.
She looked down and her smile grew. Her little son stood beside her, rubbing the sleep from his green eyes. His hair, so like his father's was tousled. Leonides had always been a restless sleeper. On more than one occasion, she had remarked on that to Ares, wondering exactly who he had inherited that from. Neither Kendaa nor Ares were restless once they retreated into sleep. Ares slept like one dead - and Kendaa had often wondered if that was typical of the gods. Her own habitual deep, unmoving sleep was a long-held joke among her Amazon sisters. "A dryad thing," Calico had often called it laughingly.
Now she smiled, remembering. Reaching down, she gently lifted her child onto her lap. His little body was still warm from his sleep. He snuggled against her, closing his eyes and preparing to slip back into sleep. She brushed the tangled curls away from the rosy cheeks. "Leo, you can't go back to sleep now, my love. You have to get dressed, because I have to go somewhere in a little while with your father," she told the sleepy child quietly.
The little head raised from her breast. "Going away, Mama? Where?"
She smiled gently. "Oh just somewhere, little one," she told him, her voice reassuring.
Her son snuggled back against the warm comfort of her body, not understanding the import of her words.
Carefully she stood, lifting her child in her arms as she did so.
She slowly washed and dressed him, then sat as he ate the small plate of food she had prepared for him. She heard more and more of her sisters moving past her hut on their way to the Great Hall, where she would, she knew, have to shortly make her own way to present herself to Ares. Several times she heard footsteps slow and stop, before picking up and moving off, as if the individual had thought to speak with her, but then decided against it.
Kendaa drew a deep breath, understanding their reticence.
Eventually there was silence outside, which was strange for the City of the Amazons.
The time had come. She swallowed, but was smiling when she leaned down and gathered her son into her arms. "Come on Leo, it's time to go."
The child giggled, hugging her tightly as she held him, moving from the hut.
As they walked across the empty square, she leaned back to look into Leonides' face. "Leo, I told you I'm going with your father for a while. You might be a little frightened by what he says inside the Hall, but I need you to be brave for me. Do you think you can do that?" She asked him quietly.
His beaming toothy smile tore at her heart as he nodded confidently.
Then they were inside the Hall, and moving through the large crowd of Amazons gathered to witness the formal handing over. At the front of the Hall stood Ephiny, her face expressionless, for all that her body was tense. And beside her, the God of War. She refused to meet his eyes. She couldn't.
Slowly she walked through her silent sisters, who parted to allow her passage. She came to a halt at the front of the Hall, next to a visibly distressed Laurissa.
Now she raised her eyes to those of her Lord. He was watching her with cold, unblinking, angry eyes, his face hard. She swallowed again, beneath the banked fury in those eyes.
Ares moved slightly forward. For all that his words were quietly spoken, they nevertheless rang throughout the crowded Hall.
"Kendaa of the Amazons, you have been accused of an act of betrayal against me, your sovereign Lord, and against all the gods. Do you acknowledge that you have done that of which you stand accused?"
The formal, cold words, coming from the one who held her heart so completely, were like a dagger, aimed with deadly accuracy, which embedded itself to twist and slash at her most vital, vulnerable organs.
There was absolute silence in the Hall around her.
Her own face expressionless, she nodded. "Yes, my Lord. I acknowledge it," she replied evenly.
She could hear the disbelieving whispers and gasps from behind her. Leonides, sensing the tension, began to wriggle uncomfortably in her arms.
The cold, furious look on Ares' face deepened.
"As your sovereign Lord, it is therefore my right to take you from this place and put you to the question. You will prepare yourself and come with me. Now," he finished, his voice frighteningly hard, and completely unbending.
She nodded.
She kissed Leonides and went to hand him into Laurissa's waiting arms. But Leonides suddenly began to scream and refused to let go of her, little little hands clutching fiercely at the strap of her top, his face red, with tears now pouring down his face.
"No mama! No go! No!!!!!" His little voice was screeching. It was almost her undoing.
As gently as she could, she detached his fingers from her top and handed him to Laurissa. In a heartrending gesture, his arms went out, beseeching her not to go as he screamed, struggling furiously in Laurissa's grasp.
She raised her eyes to Ares, her face deathly pale, and moved forward to stand beside him. She thought she might be ill there and then. Behind her, as she walked, Leonides continued to sob and scream for her.
When she had reached Ares' side, she turned to face the crowded Hall. Ares' hand reached out to grasp her arm in a punishing grip, preparing to transport them to his Temple. She felt like she was in the middle of a hideous nightmare, looking at the sea of distressed, angry and confused faces before her, and then seeing Laurissa's tearful visage, and Leonides utterly distressed face. And over to one side, her face openly and malevolently triumphant, Chaerea.
Mercifully, Ares chose that moment to take them both from there.
An instant later, she found herself standing with him in a dark cold chamber that could only have been one of his dungeons.
She looked up into the cold, deadly face of her Lord and love. He looked anything but loving at that moment.
"Sit," he commanded her, indicating a place on the floor against the wall.
She obeyed.
Ares gestured abruptly and she found herself chained by the wrists and ankles to the wall.
He gazed down at her from eyes that were frighteningly angry.
"One way or another," he told her, "I intend getting the truth out of you. I don't know what you think you were doing, or what you've done, or why you've done it, but I'm telling you know, you should really consider your position. If you don't tell me, then you'll stand trial before the Twelve in less than a month."
He moved to crouch down in front of her. "And we both know there's no way on your precious mortal earth that you would have betrayed me, or any other god, to Dahok for the reason you gave his emissary," he told her quietly. "You knew only too well what would be at stake for any mortal who did something so foolish. And you are anything but foolish, Kendaa. Give it up," he bade her intently.
She remained silent, huge green eyes gazing up at him without expression. How am I going to do this? I love him with everything that's in me, and somehow I have to make him believe I'd do this terrible thing. Or at least drag it out... And who can I pray to for strength this time?
He nodded slightly to himself.
"Fine. Then we continue with this farce until you are willing to give it up. You will see no-one but me. You will speak to no-one but me. You will eat, sleep and wake at my choosing."
The tall Lord of War slowly stood to his full height, his eyes never leaving hers.
"Until later, my dear," he told her coldly, before vanishing, leaving her alone in the dim, dank cell.
And so it had begun.
"Time to wake up, Kendaa."
The uncompromising voice came from somewhere above her. She opened heavy, dilated eyes to peer up at him.
It was the day of the trial. If he didn't break her that day,he would have no option but to take her to Olympus that night where she would stand before himself and the rest of the Twelve - on trial for her life. Kendaa looked into his eyes and saw the determination written there.
He meant to break her.
For his part, Ares gazed down at the half-human, half-dryad woman he loved. For one fleeting instant, in desperation, he considered ending the whole thing by simply reaching into her and dragging the truth from her mind. But something stopped him. He'd never been able to do that to her. Loathe to do it at any time - in her case he couldn't bring himself to do it at all, apart from the one time after she had been so badly hurt. But somehow he'd drag it out of her this day, her own iron will notwithstanding.
He moved to stand directly above her. She raised her head with a jerk to look up into his face. He ached to see the condition he was in. He was responsible for it, but she would suffer far worse if she stood trial. Deliberately reaching into his own depths, he called forth the dormant beasts of hate and fury which stood ever at his disposal as part of his personal godhood. The twin beasts rose at his bidding and curled around his heart and mind.
Kendaa watched and knew when it happened. The God of War stood over her now. he who loved her had receded to some place deep inside of Ares. She now faced the dark, deadly Lord of War. Her heart contracted, and she knew fear. Oh my love... Just this once, let me somehow have the strength to withstand you. For both our sakes.
Ares' face now bore an intent, haughty look of concentration as he gazed down at the woman at his feet.
For a moment, she felt nothing, waiting.
Then it began.
Tremors began rippling through her entire being. At first very gently, but rapidly building to a level that had her biting her lip hard to stop herself from screaming out loud.
With savage, cold deliberation, the God of War reached inside her, assaulting every tendril of her body, mind and being.
Driven by cruel, desperate necessity, Ares used his powers to force Kendaa to give up the secret she harboured deep within her. Driven by equally desperate necessity, Kendaa of the Amazons defied him every step of the journey downward into unbearable pain.
Neither Ares nor Kendaa ever spoke of what followed, to each other or anyone else.