Kairos 70: Love & War

Andromache would kill for a true laboratory.

The Valians had given her a workshop adjacent to the bedroom she usually shared with Kairos, in the depths of their palace. An amateur alchemist would have found it adequate, but the equipment her hosts provided left much to be desired. Thales would have had a stroke at the sight of their outdated flasks and boilers.

In the end, Andromache had to send Nessus to fetch her ingredients in between his own missions. But the satyr was busy recruiting mercenaries and spying on General Zama on Kairos’ behalf, and couldn’t spare the witch much time.

And then there were the spies. Andromache had seen the servants snooping around her lab when they delivered the day’s meals, and caught one listening through her door. No doubt that they would report all magical information they could gather back to their masters.

Andromache had to set up privacy wards to avoid a leak, and always kept the trident’s shard on her person. The artifact radiated with a faint silver glow on her desk, next to her potions and books.

Andromache had used her time wisely. General Zama had carefully destroyed all the scrolls that could reveal information about his artifact, but he couldn’t suppress everything; especially since the cursed Athena had been a popular deity in the old world, with a wealth of literature detailing her deeds. Figuring out what her eyes did hadn’t taken long.

Something had eluded Andromache though. Vali, the kingdom’s namesake, had ripped out Athena’s eyes for his own use before dying in the New Gods’ wars. One of these artifacts ended up in Zama’s hands, but the other’s location remained unknown. Andromache suspected the royal family kept the second eye for themselves, but couldn’t prove it.

Someone knocked on her door. Probably another servant, checking if the Scylla ‘needed’ anything—and using the opportunity to look around. Andromache ignored them, but the visitor insisted.

“Is that you, satyr?” she asked.

“It’s me,” her Kairos’ voice answered from the other side.

The Scylla immediately disabled the wards, allowing her lover to enter her abode. Kairos walked into the room while closing the room behind him, observing her laboratory in silence. “I see you haven’t wasted time,” he said while glancing at the chaotic pile of documents and magical items on her desk.

“My love, what are you doing here?” Andromache asked while rushing into his arms. “It’s past midnight. Is your hunt over?”

The kiss that followed was brief, full of anxiety. It immediately alarmed the Scylla, even before her lover confirmed her worries. “It’s still ongoing,” Kairos said, “I came back alone with Rook. I needed to see you.”

“Did something happen, my other half? Were you attacked? I knew we couldn’t trust the Valians—”

“It’s… no, it’s different.” Kairos put his arms around her waist, looking into her eyes. He looked so dashing, and yet so tired. “It’s… I’ve missed you. It has only been a few days, but it seemed to have lasted weeks to me.”

His gallant words warmed Andromache’s heart, but she could sense the worry in his voice. He’s afraid of telling me something, she thought. “It’s alright, my love. Nobody can hear or see us.”

“Not even Zama?”

“I have learned much about the [Eye of Athena],” Andromache explained, detailing the results of her research. “It grants the user a limited version of Athena’s foresight. Not only does it serve as a powerful scrying device, but it also gives the user keen insight into military strategy, troop movements, and even the plans of their enemies. In the hands of a [Demigod], the power will be crippled… but still potent. Enough to bypass all [Demigod]-Ranked protections and below.”

Kairos’ scowl deepened the longer she spoke. “So he can spy on us from anywhere, and bypass all our protections.”

“Except this one,” Andromache said while glancing at the trident’s shard. “It blocks divination attempts, and even hides us from the New Gods’ eyes.”

“It still means that Zama might have listened in on…” Kairos bit his tongue. “He cannot see past or future events? Only present ones?”

“Yes.”

“So he would have to catch us at a precise moment, when we don’t carry the shard around. But he might have...” Kairos didn’t finish his sentence, hesitating to say something.

Andromache’s hands moved around his neck. “My love, what’s on your mind?”

“I had a talk with Prince Hadad,” her lover admitted with a long, tired sigh. “He offered me an alliance.”

“Why do you make such a face then? This is good news.” When her lover avoided her gaze, Andromache understood what price the merchant prince asked. “No.”

“His sisters are unmarried,” Kairos admitted, filling Andromache’s heart with fury. “Since I already took you as my concubine—”

“No,” Andromache interrupted him, her tone rising. “No. I refuse. Never.”

“I refused too,” Kairos said, but the Scylla’s relief didn’t last long. “I intend to propose Tiberius and Cassandra as alternative matches, but if it doesn’t work—”

“Then nothing,” Andromache interrupted him, as she sensed her hold over her transformation faltering. It took all her willpower not to change back into a Scylla. Her hands moved to her lover’s torso, her fists closing and shaking. “His sisters will have to fuck someone else!”

“My heart is yours,” he said and sounded sincere. “It will always be yours. This alliance, if it happens, would be political and nothing else.”

“Like with your wife?” This time, Andromache outright pushed him away in anger. “I will not go through this again.”

“Andromache—”

“Can you fathom how painful it is, to see you slip away from my bed to join another’s?” she asked with a hiss. “Knowing that you will whisper sweet words into your wife’s ear, take her the same way you make love to me? Can you fathom how hard it is to imagine that dirty wolf moaning as you pleasure her, while I sleep alone in my cold, empty bed? You can’t, because you don’t share me.”

Kairos had the grace to wince, and to listen to her grievances in silence.

“And now… and now you want to split our time together even further?” Andromache trembled with rage. “With one of these selfish, self-centered whores who are only after your throne?”

“I don’t want it,” Kairos replied calmly. “But Travia might need it—”

“I don’t care about Travia!” By now, she was shouting. “It’s you I want, my other half! Nothing else! I would be happy if the world was just the two of us!”

“I know.”

“You don’t.”

“Andromache, I swear—”

She slapped him.

The blow made Kairos flinch, his right cheek turning red. She knew he had seen it coming, that he could have dodged, but didn’t. He knew that he deserved it.

It didn’t lessen her pain.

“It should have been me!” Andromache snarled, something wet falling down her cheek.

He made me cry, she thought with pain and anger as she wiped the tears with her hand.

“I prayed every night since you got that Golden Fleece that we… that we could…” The Scylla’s hands moved to her stomach, to that barren soil Circe cursed her with. “When I… when I learned that your wife was pregnant… it devastated me, do you understand? Because… because it should have been me.”

“I don’t fault you for this, Andromache.” Kairos tried to take her into his arms again, but Andromache refused to let him touch her. If anything, it seemed to hurt him more than the slap. “Once we meet Orgonos and lift your curse, we’ll make up for it. I swear, it’s just a temporary setback. Don’t beat yourself over it.”

“If he lifts the curse,” Andromache replied with fatalism. “Even then… each time I will see her children, I… they will be a living reminder that another woman could fulfill you better than I did. That you’re not mine alone. That I’m not enough.”

His expression twisted into one of righteous anger. “Andromache, you are more than enough for me. My marriage with Julia was political, you know that.”

“It was, but now?” She locked eyes with him. “I see the way you look at her. Don’t you love her too? Be honest.”

His silence spoke volumes.

“You feel affection for her too,” Andromache said with a tired, defeated sigh. “You can’t help it. You’re a man. If you were cold to her, maybe… maybe it wouldn’t hurt that much. And then, there’s Travia. I can compete with a woman… but how can I compete with a country? With barren rocks and ungrateful people?”

He didn’t say a word. Perhaps he had no answer to this.

“I gave you everything, Kairos,” Andromache said. “I gave my body, my soul, my magic, my love. What is there left for you to take? All I wanted out of our relationship was your heart, and you gave me half of it. And now, you want to split it into a third?”

Kairos looked at her with sorrow, his eyes staring blankly at the dry tears on her cheeks.

“Say something,” she ordered him. “Your silence is unbearable.”

Instead of answering with words, his hands silently moved around her waist. Though she flinched at his contact, Andromache didn’t push him away this time. Her lover pulled her closer, letting her head rest against his shoulder. The [Golden Fleece] he wore as a cloak felt warm to the touch, as did his hands.

“I feel affection for Julia, but it is you that I love first and foremost,” Kairos whispered into her ear, before glancing at the tooth necklace he gave her as proof of his love once. “You don’t own half my heart, Andromache. You hold all of it. I told you when we exchanged vows. You’re mine, and I am yours.”

“Then don’t do this to me,” Andromache pleaded, her voice breaking with despair. “Not again. I won’t survive it.”

Kairos held her so tightly, she thought he might snap her in half like a twig. “I won’t. I swear.”

Her heart skipped a beat, and for a moment she felt hope. “You promise?”

“I do,” he replied. “You’ve said it yourself. You gave me everything you had, and all you asked was for my heart. I won’t force you through another marriage again. Even… even if it costs me.”

Even if it cost Travia.

“I hope Cassandra and Tiberius will be enough to form an alliance,” he said. “If they aren’t…”

“We’ll make another army, my love,” Andromache promised. “I’m a necromancer. I could raise the dead. Or we could call upon our [Pantheon]. We don’t need the Valians. We just need each other.”

He gazed at her, his lips moving to her own. The kiss was loving and true, if bittersweet. The anger within Andromache died down, and was replaced by a desire that burnt as bright as the sun.

“Prove it to me,” she said as their lips parted. “That your heart is mine. Prove it to me, like you did once. I don’t want to hear it, as sweet as it sounds. I want to feel it. I want to feel you, all of you. Here and now.”

He was true to his word.

Andromache had already started removing his armor by the time Kairos wiped away her books and potions off the desk; he removed his own crown while at it. They only kept the [Golden Fleece] for a bedsheet, the trident’s shard glowing as they made love on the table. Their union was rough, sweet, and passionate. Andromache felt blood dripping along her thighs as he entered her, her legs and arms tightening around him.

For a brief moment, the rage and the hunger were gone, replaced with pure bliss. For an instant, Andromache knew peace.

When they were done, they remained glued to one another on the table. Andromache’s hand trailed against her lover’s right cheek, where she slapped him. “Does it hurt?” she asked while he stroked her hair.

“I deserved it,” Kairos replied.

“I… I didn’t mean it, my love. It’s the rage. It’s always there, boiling. The instincts. It’s a daily struggle.”

Her lover looked at her with sadness. “Always?”

“Even now.” Andromache looked away in shame. “It’s… it’s easier with Agron’s songs, or after we make love, but… it’s always there.”

Kairos’ fingers touched her chin and gently turned her face, so they would see each other. “It won’t last forever,” he reassured her. “We’ll make things right, I promise.”

“I know,” she replied. “But the wait is killing me. All the intrigue and these… these bugs trying to drive a wedge between us, they madden me.”

“I shouldn’t have brought this up,” he apologized. “I thought it was my duty.”

“I know. You want to be king, to see your people prosper, and… I was alright with making sacrifices so your dream can come true my love. But only so far, you understand? I… I don’t want to suffer as Medea did.”

“You won’t. I will never abandon you, never let you go.” He kissed her on the lips, and she knew he would stay true to his promise.

“I’m…” Andromache sighed as their lips parted. “I’m afraid of your wife.”

It made him chuckle. “You? Afraid of Julia?”

“I am,” Andromache admitted. “I’m afraid you’ll love her more. Because she is… she is stabler, and I’m difficult to live with. Her curse only affects her during the full moon, but I… I have to live with my bestial nature all the time. And she loves politics as much as you do. She is your queen, and… I am a lonely witch with fewer friends than fingers.”

“Don’t say that,” he said firmly. “You’ve been making progress. I’ve seen you talk with Cassandra, Agron, my mother…”

“I’m improving, yes, but it’s hard.” She caressed his right cheek. “I don’t want to shout or… or to sound so possessive, Kairos. But I can’t help it. You were the one good thing that happened to me in centuries and I don’t want to lose you. To your wife or to another woman. My curse twists that fear into anger, and I… I feel like a tower that can crumble anytime. Being together with you assuages my torment, but only for a time.”

“I will be with you until we solve this curse, and that tower will stand proud for all to see,” he promised softly, his lips moving closer to her own. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

They could have spent eternity like this, their bodies intertwined in a primal embrace, his warm skin against her cold one. A part of Andromache wanted to stay here until the morning, away from the Valians, Mithridates, the merfolk, and all of these insects who prevented her from enjoying a peaceful marital life.

But someone always got in the way.

“Hey,” Nessus’ voice came through the lab’s door, his hand knocking on the door. “Andromache? Do you know if Rook brought Kairos back?”

The Scylla struggled against the urge to murder the satyr for interrupting her peace, before calming herself. The curse twisted her thoughts, though a part of her resented the interruption. Kairos let out a sigh, as disappointed as she was.

“Can he walk in and find us like this?” he asked softly.

“No,” Andromache replied. “The privacy wards prevent him from entering without my permission, or even hearing anything.”

It made him chuckle. “What, did you imagine we would find ourselves in this situation?”

“I did,” she replied with an amused smile. “Though not in these circumstances.”

He gave her a final kiss on the cheek, and they separated to put their clothes back on.

A few minutes later, they welcomed Nessus into the laboratory. The satyr only had to look at Andromache’s blood on the table to understand what happened, but didn’t comment. My love gives me as much pain as pleasure, the Scylla thought as Kairos held her by the waist from behind. In more ways than one.

“Glad to see you again, oh my captain,” Nessus said. “How are the negotiations going?”

“Not as well as I hoped,” Kairos replied without mentioning Hadad’s deal. True to his word, he had given up on the idea. Andromache couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction. “What about you?”

“Well…” The satyr scratched the back of his head. “He’s gone.”

“Who?”

“Zama. He’s gone.”

Kairos’ arms tensed up around Andromache.

“I located his villa and sent Nausicaa to investigate,” Nessus explained. “He has a whole lake and infrastructure set up for mermaids, so she had an easy time approaching. As it turned out, he had gathered a whole fleet there. Nausicaa kept a watch on the ships, and they left this morning. She tried to give chase, but they almost caught her with nets even though she was invisible. She has no idea how they detected her, and this infuriates our mermaid.”

“The general used the [Eye of Athena],” Andromache stated the simple solution.

Nessus’ words had made her paramour anxious. “How many ships?” Kairos asked with a frown. “In which direction?”

“Nausicaa counted around one hundred, and I suspect it’s half the real number,” Nessus explained. “Many of the Valian mercenaries companies I tried to hire were already under contract and preparing to leave. As for the direction, Nausicaa believes they went east.”

“What is waiting for him in the east?” Andromache asked, being unfamiliar with modern maps. She knew the Thessalan League was located north, so if Zama wanted to reinforce Mithridates, he had gone in the wrong direction.

“Alexandria,” Kairos replied while grinding his teeth. “He thinks our efforts to ally with Vali will fail and since Alexandria was our next step, he will try to sabotage us.”

“Or he’s laying a trap for when we leave the country,” Andromache pointed out, “the same way we planned to ambush him at sea.”

“Maybe,” her lover conceded.

“There’s another thing,” Nessus said. “I’ve asked questions around, and apparently Teuta arrived a few days before us... but she immediately went to the ol’ cranky general without asking for an audience with the king or the prince. I think they have been preparing that fleet since the moment they met.”

“Perhaps earlier,” Kairos replied. “Even with his political clout and responsibilities, Zama should have taken weeks to gather a hundred ships ready to sail at a moment’s notice. Nor does one join a [Pantheon] so easily. Mithridates must have been courting Zama for a while now, trying to convince him to join his alliance. Orichalcos’ destruction was simply the push he needed.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too, oh my captain. And this might sound like paranoia, but why go to a general rather than the king first? Especially one supposedly loyal to the crown? Unless...”

“Unless they discussed things that they didn’t want the king to know,” Kairos guessed with a roguish smile. Andromache recognized his expression. He had a plan in mind. “Something that would bother the royal family. And if General Zama has left, then his villa is unoccupied.”

“You think he could have left dangerous evidence at home?” Nessus crossed his arms. “If he is wise, he will have destroyed them or laid a trap for us.”

“What about Teuta?” Andromache asked. “Cassandra once told me that Mithridates always used catspaws and intermediaries to contact his allies. He might have used her and her men in such a fashion.”

Her lover’s grin grew wider. “And Teuta boasted that only fools trust Mithridates without insurance.”

“Ah, you think she might have kept some dirt on him besides joining his [Pantheon]?” Nessus started to smile too. “But how do we get it? Would it violate Xenia if we robbed her ship?”

“You are the Old God here,” Andromache pointed out, an idea crossing her mind. “Perhaps we could offer you as a husband to the pirate queen? You would get along.”

Kairos quickly caught on. “Or to one of Vali’s princesses.”

“Marry a princess? Please, I would bed two and the father’s harem too.” Nessus shrugged. “But I doubt they will take a poor satyr as a bedmate.”

“You’re a god,” Kairos pointed out.

“A fallen god, and how do I even prove it besides summoning Gaia? I have interesting stories to tell, but little to offer otherwise.” Nessus put his hands on his waist, trying to show his chest. “Do you want me to serve as a honeypot to catch the pirate queen? If so, give the order and I will gladly sacrifice my buttocks for the cause.”

“I will consider it,” Kairos said, while Andromache responded with a mirthless chuckle.

Nessus glanced at the couple, then at the table. “You fought over this,” he guessed. “It wasn’t me the princesses wanted.”

Sometimes, Andromache forgot that the satyr was sharper than he looked. “You have something to say, Old God?” she rasped.

“Actually, I do,” Nessus said while ignoring her glare. “The only reason I exist is that my father couldn’t stay faithful to one woman. Zeus gave birth to many heroes and just as many villains. In the end, his own children rose to overthrow him. Some did it because they felt ignored or mistreated, or because of the torments Hera inflicted on them.”

“What’s your point?” Kairos asked.

“If you fuck the world, eventually the world will fuck you back. Because you will make as many enemies as new friends… and the bitter foe inside your house is worse than ten thousand enemies on the outside. Making a new alliance isn’t worth threatening those you already have, Kairos.” Nessus shrugged. “Sometimes, you better leave the gambling table with your winnings intact, rather than take one too many risks.”

Andromache and Kairos exchanged a glance, none of them willing to break the awkward silence that followed.

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