Atlas Of Megaras

Prepare for War

Everyone was talking about Prince Hero. I can assure you my ears would start to bleed if his name came up one more time. I tried my best to concentrate on the supply list and not the chatter that was going on in the courtyard. I had to tallying up the number of shield and spears that we had.

Very few soldiers preferred a sword. Spears were the go to weapon of choice. It wasn't so for me. Spears weren't compatible with me. When you are shorter than most men, because *ahem* you weren't a man, Spears became difficult to manage. None of the ones they had at military school, suited me or my height. That was one of the reasons I prefer my sword. It was made from the best quality of bronze, and was about two cubits long. The handle was covered with the best quality of leather that I could afford – a bull's hide. It felt comfortable in my hands, worn down by my grip as I hacked down enemy lines. My name was engraved on the hilt with the epithet, "Storm bringer."

It was a fancy way to say hey, my godly relative is Zeus. But truth to be told, I had never done anything that could indicate I had a god's blood running through my veins. Other grandchildren of Zeus were already running around Greece saving people, killing monsters, living their lives and falling in love.

There was no way I could fall in love. I was a man for all outward appearances. To tell someone my secret could turn out to be disastrous. I had tried to tell Aeneas though, but no words could come out of my mouth as if Athene had cursed my tongue to turn to stone. Every time I would start stuttering badly. "Aeneas, I...I...I am..." And he would stare at me with his brown eyes. It felt he could really see through my soul when he did that. And the words would change to "I'm hungry."

Stupid, ridiculous idiot. How can I not share my deepest secret with my best friend? Even the servants in my house knew our secret, but that was because they were with us since I was very young.

The sun was high up in the sky, it was already close to noon. We were nowhere near to being done. Soldiers that dispersed to their homes in countryside had to be called back. They were slowly trickling in back to the Polis. Many of them had a sour expression on their face and I wouldn't blame them.

Another solider turned their token in. There was a huge line behind him. Word had gotten out. Aeneas was doing the accounting, handing over the weapons and the joining fees. Ilomenalas had been kind enough to offer horses and armour once we arrived at Cassadia. He had to leave by today so he could be back to Cassadia.

Eda was here too, in her disguise. " It's twelve drachmas you gave out, not 11." She corrected Aeneas.

Father never visited while we were doing the grunt work of recruitments and rally the troops. Aeneas's father did come by once or twice to see that the work we did was okay or not. He was also the one who gifted me my sword on the day we graduated out of military school. My own father didn't bother to show up. He had sent our servants - old man Belen, his wife and a 10-cubit long spear to accompany me back home. He could have sent Eda with them at least!

It was lunch time. Thankfully. Someone from the taxation department was there to complete the work for the next day. We went to the inn to get some food.

"When do we leave?" Unlike everyone who was marching to fight the Greeks Eda was happy. Because she had never gone beyond 100 paces of the Polis. Women weren't allowed to travel much. However, under our respective disguises we had managed to make it further than most women were allowed.

"Next week. People are still coming in." Eda asked as we ate our order of beef sandwiches.

"Won't the Greeks already be here then?"

"Maybe, maybe not." It takes some time to co-ordinate a massive army. But they had weeks on us. Megaras was not near to the sea, and wasn't an immensely important town. It took a few days for news to reach our ears.

But soon we would be on our way.

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Sorry for the delay...college has barely started and i need to learn autocad now!!! uhmmmm....can we have an eternal holiday instead