LOGINSaea may be feeling a little too at home with Hypatos, but do you think she’s ready to admit why?
The changes in Androkles were subtle, a slow, almost imperceptible thawing of the ice that had encased his heart for as long as I had known him. They weren't the kind of shifts a casual observer would notice, but I had known the boy most of his life. I had trained him, watched him grow from a hollow-eyed child into the most lethal weapon House Ares had ever forged. I knew the rhythm of his movements, the cadence of his thoughts, the carefully constructed emptiness he wore like a suit of armor. And now, that armor was showing cracks. He wasn't softer exactly, not in any way that would compromise his abilities on the field. His training remained as vicious as ever, his body a perfect, lethal instrument. But he was less hollow. The vast, echoing emptiness that had always been his defining feature, the void that made him so perfectly suited to be the Destroyer, was slowly being filled. I caught him staring off during weapons drills, his hand pausing mid-polish, his gaze fixed on some d
Several months had passed since Androkles had returned from the chimera attack in Pella, the seasons having turned and the memory of the battle fading into a story told and retold in the taverns and training yards of Olympus. The atmosphere between Hypatos and me had settled into a familiar rhythm, a nightly dance of bickering and banter that the patrons had come to quietly expect. It had been our strange, unspoken language, a comfortable, if sometimes tense, routine. But the stories about Androkles had continued to spread, his reputation growing with each telling, a mythos built on a foundation of fear and awe. The “Destroyer” title, once a whispered prophecy, had become a known fact, a brand that preceded him in every corner of the city. I had heard the soldiers’ tales as they had passed through the Pegasus, their voices a low, excited hum. They had described him as terrifyingly efficient in battle, a force of nature on the field, his movements a blur of lethal precision, and his
Weeks after the chimera campaign, a new, subtle tension began to coil in the halls of House Ares. It was a quiet, predatory focus, all directed at Androkles. I had noticed it first during the council meetings. Eugenius, who usually ruled with a bored, autocratic air, paid increasing attention to his heir. He wasn’t openly suspicious, but he observed in a way that set my teeth on edge. He watched Androkles with a calculating intensity, his eyes missing nothing, from the way the boy held his cup to the subtle shift in his posture when a particular territory was mentioned. The same thing happened during the training sessions. Eugenius appeared, ostensibly to observe the younger recruits, but his gaze inevitably drifted to Androkles, a lingering, analytical look that was far more than casual interest. He was testing the boy, probing for weaknesses, looking for cracks in the armor of his controlled exterior. Then came the questions, casual, almost throwaway remarks that were anything bu
The days following our conversation, the one where he had confessed his fears for Androkles and our hands had brushed with a lingering, deliberate warmth, were different. The shift in Hypatos had been almost imperceptible, a subtle change in the atmosphere between us that I doubted anyone else in the bustling tavern would have noticed. But I had felt it immediately. He became more guarded. Not cruel. Not distant enough to raise eyebrows or invite questions from the other patrons. But careful. Deliberate. It was as if our conversation about Androkles finding an emotional attachment had struck far closer to home than he had intended to admit, and now he was treating me like the very danger he feared. He had been a man suddenly aware he was standing too close to the edge of something precarious, and, in response, he took a step back. He still came to the Pegasus, still sat in his usual place at the bar, but the ease had vanished. The comfortable, unspoken rhythm we had fallen into was
The army returned to the capital battered but victorious, the standards of House Ares flying proudly amidst the dust and exhaustion. I stood on the balcony of the main hall, watching them march through the gates, my heart a tight knot of anxiety. I scanned the ranks, my eyes searching for one figure, one face. Then I saw him, riding at the front beside the commanding officer, his broad shoulders straight, his helmet concealing his expression. Androkles was back. But immediately, I noticed something different about him. Not physically; he looked the same, tall and imposing, his armor scarred but intact. It was something emotional, a subtle shift in his energy that had been palpable even from a distance. The boy was quieter than usual, distracted beneath his usually controlled exterior. I assumed at first that the chimera battle had finally rattled him, that facing the monster that had defined so much of my trauma had finally broken through his unnerving calm. I met him in the cour
I had seen Hypatos in every state of disrepair over the years. I had seen him so drunk he couldn’t stand, so lost in grief he was a ghost in his own body, so furious he could shatter stone with his bare hands, and so numb he was a hollowed-out shell. But that time was different. It was a quiet, controlled unraveling that felt more terrifying than any of his previous meltdowns. He had sat at the bar, tense as a drawn bowstring, his back ramrod straight, his eyes fixed on the door as if he could will Androkles to walk back through it. He had barely touched the ambrosia I had placed in front of him, his hand resting on the mug but not lifting it. The mention of chimeras had clearly ripped open something old and festering inside him, a wound I hadn’t even realized was still there. I had moved around the tavern, my duties a distant hum, but my attention had been entirely on him. I started a conversation, not about the boy, but about the creature, testing the waters. “I had only heard sto
One year. Three hundred and sixty-five days of having Arete as my charge. One year of stolen conversations in the Pegasus tavern with Saea, her acidic humor smoothing some of the roughness from each day. One year of stolen moments with Arete herself, slipping into dark corners to press desperatel
Truthfully, there had been whispers flying around The Obnoxious Pegasus long before sweet ambrosia had met sweaty brows.As a satyr, my hearing was keen. Over the last few months, I’ve taken to listening to conversations around me. Those sneaky sods at the tables near the hearth by t
The miserable reality of serving ten-year-old Androkles settled over me like a shroud.I woke each morning with the same thought: today, I will have to wipe the smug look off that boy’s face. I fully expected him to be spoiled and cruel, a miniature version of Nikos, Lord Zeus,
Six years. That was how long I had been pouring ambrosia at The Obnoxious Pegasus—a lifetime for a satyr.My kind were born to wander, chasing adventures across wild hills and into warm beds, never lingering long enough for the grass to grow beneath our hooves. My parents s







