Divine Deception

Kiah

"I'm not here to do anything but free you child." the softness in his voice makes me almost believe him.

"W-who are you?" I managed to ask through my dry and cracked lips.

"I'll explain everything but first I want to get you free and away from this place. I have no desire to spill anymore blood today although my temper tells me otherwise. My first priority is your safety. I will deal with the animals who did this to you at a later date." His voice is hard edged like he's clenching his jaw tightly to keep from being too gruff.

Reaching down slowly to my hands first and deftly unties the knots there. I can barely make myself sit up without crying out in pain as I eye him at my feet. He hasn't removed his helmet so I can't see his face but I don't feel anything hostile from him. After he frees the last of the ropes, I shakily try to edge my way to the side of the wooden plank and swing my feet over. When they laid out my final resting place, they perched the wood on some boulders to prolong the animals getting to me.

The soldier comes to my side and holds out his arms as I attempt to stand. My legs can't hold me and I crumple onto the sand with a groan. Kneeling beside me, he watches as my face contorts from the effort. Taking a deep breath I try my hardest to focus. Everything is fuzzy from the sensations coursing through me. I struggle not to pass out from the onslaught of pain.

"Tell me who you are or I'll assume you're only here to finish that coward's job." I bite out with as much meanness as I can muster, it isn't much.

Slowly raising his hands to his helmet, the stranger starts to remove it. As he beings to uncover his face, I see a square jaw with a full mouth, straight thin nose and piercing blue eyes underneath a strong brow. Finally, his dirty blond hair is uncovered and he sets his helmet next to him. Those bright eyes look at me with a mixture of pity and rage.

"I am Ares. The God of War. And your father." He watches me closely for my reaction.

"I must have passed out and are dreaming or this is all a hallucination. My parents have been murdered by the same mob that left me here. What do you gain by lying to me?" My accusatory tone doesn't upset him.

"The man and woman you know as your parents were chosen by your mother and me. You've got a complicated future and it was being threatened by my father. We placed you on Earth to protect you." The soft rumble his voice is low and soothing.

I snort, "You mean my grandfather is Zeus?" My tone is dripping with sarcasm. "Lightening and thunder himself?"

"Yes. We couldn't bare the thought of you being harmed for what has yet to happen and therefor not set in stone. We had to find a way to conceal you." Ares begins to place a hand on my shoulder but I flinch away.

"Who is my mother then? I know you Gods tend to hop from bed to bed. Do you even know?" As soon as the words leave my mouth I cover my face. Not the best idea to make a God irritated Kiah, I scold myself.

"We're not all of what your myths and legends make us out to be little one," he says with authority tinged with humor. "Yes, I know who your mother is. I was there when you were born. I believe she visited you last night."

My eyes go wide and my breathing gets tight again. I hadn't told anyone but Niki about the vision I had. That is what had triggered this whole mess. Confessing it to him marked me as someone worthy of death in his eyes. He managed to convince the whole town I was a danger to them. Neighbors and kin I had known since I was in a swaddle had turned on us in the blink of an eye.

Thinking back to my dream, a Goddess came to me, yes. Surrounded in golden light, draped in flowing fabric with an aura around her. She told me I had a grand purpose in this life. She said she was my mother and the product of love between her and my father but she left his identity out.

"I am your mother Kiah..." she gestured towards me, beckoning me into a hug. " I am Aphrodite."

With sorrow on her face she had said there was a prophecy about me. I was to be her greatest creation, powerful and envied. After that, she drifted away and I could hear her softly say, "Happy Birthday".

I hadn't thought much of it until I was with Niki later that night. Like usual, we met in the grove of olive trees behind our village. The soft moonlight breaking through the trees onto a soft patch of wild grass. We shared our bodies with one another there. After, I laid on his chest and we talked about the day, our future, anything and everything.

"The Gods will bless us, I'm sure of it" Nikoli had professed.

This triggered the memory of Aphrodite and I shared it with him. He seemed startled at first. He sat up and moved me off of him a little roughly but I thought it was simply because a Goddess had blessed us. How naive I was. He saw it as an omen. Gods didn't visit mortals unless they were going to bring trouble.

I asked the only question that came to my mind. "So If I'm your daughter, what does that mean for me?"