The Love of War

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Hercules/Xena characters. They belong to Renaissance Pictures. I don't profit from my writing (yet), I write because I have a naughty imagination and currently no other outlet.


The Love of War part 8

Eris was watching Jessie leave the Temple of War on her new horse. The two made a striking pair. As Goddess of Love and Beauty, she totally approved of the fact that the intriguing mortal had a horse to match her hair. Both Jessie's hair and the horse's coat gleamed in the sunshine. The armor fit her closely, outlining her curves and flexing with her movements. She looked comfortable in the saddle. She'd look even better if she was wearing embroidered silk instead of armor, the goddess mused. Maybe a dark blue robe with gold designs around the yoke and sleeves? Or maybe a dark peach with matching gloves?

What was she thinking?! She had to shore up the girl's defenses before her nephew got to her! Cupid wouldn't wait too long before he made first contact. Eris had to get busy quickly, but she also had to wait until Jessie was far enough from the temple that Cupid wouldn't catch his Auntie meddling with his future conquest. She had a feeling that the God of War wouldn't be amused by the fact that she was making it harder for him to get the mortal in his bed.

Eris carefully considered her plan of action. A delicate little suggestion planted in Jessie's subconscious would be the way to go. A little prick of annoyance at the male arrogance of expecting her to simply squeal in delight and immediately start undressing when Cupid expressed his interest; yeah, that ought to do it.

Jessie was getting far enough from Cupid's temple that unless he was watching her himself, he shouldn't notice.

:Ares?: She sent out mentally to her twin.

:Yeah, Rissy? Whatcha need?: He sent back.

:Is Blonde and Deadly occupied at the moment?: She asked silently.

:Yeah.: He answered promptly. :I knew that the mother of my next grandkid was leaving this morning, so I purposely sent Bliss back to his dad after I let him 'help' me make honey cakes this morning. Right about now, my son should be dropping the little imp into the bathing pool at his temple.: Ares' wicked enjoyment of Cupid's predicament resonated in her mind.

:Perfect! I'll just bop down and give our mortal's pride a little nudge.:

:Have at it, Sis. Cupid will be occupied for awhile, I let Bliss have six of those honey cakes before I sent him home.:

:Oooo, and you said that *I* was mean!: She grinned and flashed down to Earth just as Jessie paused at a stream to let her mount drink.

Eris watched as the mortal dismounted and began stretching. Eris cocked her head and watched Jessie pat her mount's neck as the horse drank. Jessie sighed and tried to readjust her breastplate a little, unused to the armor she was wearing.

Eris remained invisible to mortal eyes as she approached the tall woman and horse. The mare began twitching, her animal senses registering the divine presence close to them. The Goddess of Love held still and sent warm thoughts to calm the horse. She wasn't used to having to deal with anything except her temple cats, and they didn't require much more than a little petting and the occasional dish of cream.

Jessie, sensing something was amiss with her mount, began looking around herself. Maybe the powerful mortal could feel her as well. Better make this fast, the goddess decided.

Eris reached up and brushed her fingers against Jessie's forehead. Jessie closed her eyes and tensed. Eris frowned as she sensed that the mortal was fighting her influence. The goddess levitated up and brushed a kiss on Jessie's cheek, sending her suggestion through the vivid aura that surrounded the woman. A touch from the Divine hadn't done it, but a Kiss did. Eris could feel that her little impulse was settling into place, just waiting for a certain arrogant Olympian to show up.

Eris reached up and framed Jessie's face, repairing the little dent in her aura. It wouldn't do for anyone to see that the Goddess of Love had been meddling. When Jessie's intense unseen coloring was back in place, the goddess quickly flashed away before Cupid was finished being distracted.

Boy, was her nephew in for a surprise.

Cupid grimaced as he looked at his son's clothing. What had Bliss and Ares been doing? Cupid had looked up from his map of Greece as his son was flashed in from the House of Love. His baby boy was dusted with flour, oats and something sticky. He was also *very* hyper. A hyper Godling of Mischief was much more important that the Amazon Coalition hitting the Sovereign's northern border. Cupid had instantly abandoned his battle planning to start chasing his son. Bliss had taken one look at his father's face and tried to flash out, but Cupid had put a teleport lockdown the moment he saw Bliss' sticky face. Bliss knew what that look meant-bath time!

"I'm going to have to talk to Dad about what he's feeding my kid." Cupid muttered to his dog. Greagus wagged his tail in agreement. Bliss had been literally bouncing off the walls and ceiling. Wrestling the giggling godling into a bath hadn't been easy or quickly accomplished. He had a sneaking suspicion that this little incident was payback for Bliss getting into Eris' body paints. Cupid had a little talk with his son about messing with his aunt's things- just in case. It wouldn't be good to piss off his most faithful babysitters.

Bliss had finally calmed down as the tidal wave of his sugar rush finally ebbed. It seemed like between one moment and the next, Bliss had dropped into a nap. Cupid left his son tangled in blankets on the floor of his playroom and almost staggered back to his battle plans.

There was a knock at the door, then it opened as his little sister, Harmonia the Goddess of Assassins walked in.

"What's with the teleport block?" She asked annoyed, as she flopped down into a chair and looked around the debris of Bliss' 'playful' mood. "And what happened in here? It almost looks as bad as when Psycho left."

"Bliss, on a sugar high," Cupid explained as he flopped into a chair of his own and wearily rested his head on the back.

"Whooh," Harmonia let out a long breath. "Maybe we ought to unleash the kid on the next barbarian horde."

"Nah. I'm cruel and sadistic, but that would be just...wrong." The thought of that much carnage did give him a little shiver, though. Maybe when his son was older.

Cupid viewed his little sister through slitted eyelids. She'd gotten Dad's black hair and pale blue eyes and their mother's figure. Although, you really couldn't tell Aphrodite's figure under those high necked gowns most of the time. Such was not the case with her daughter. Harmonia's black leathers covered her from the neck down, with only her hands bare, but it was skin tight. Silver rivets circled over her breasts and swirled across her torso. She was also wearing about a dozen knives in various places on her body, and only a few of those places were visible. She tossed one leg over the arm of her chair and propped her chin on her fist.

"Dad's been a little twitchy for the last few days." She told him.

"How could you tell the difference?" Cupid asked wryly.

"There's a whole new crop of temple virgins down in Athens, and he hasn't even flashed down there once."

"Maybe he's busy. The House of Love is as busy as we are." He really wasn't interested in paternal twitchiness. Jessie was supposed to have left his temple this morning. She'd be all alone, out in the open, just waiting for a certain god of War to happen by.

"Cupid, I'm serious. Something is happening with Dad." Harmonia sat up straighter, trying to get her brother's attention.

Cupid raised his head off the back of his chair and looked at his sister. He didn't want to be thinking about their father and his sexual habits. He'd rather be thinking about a certain mortal and how the taste of her blood had set him on fire. A fire that had not been quenched when he saw her dream later that night. A fire that hadn't been quenched by the willing body of one of his priests.

But, his little sister was obviously concerned.

"What's the problem? So something has Dad's attention, so what?"

"The last time that Dad was this celibate, it was when he was matching Persephone and Uncle Hades."

"I wouldn't call two or three days of abstinence celibacy." He pointed out.

"Celibacy for Dad is relative. And you have to admit that for the god who thinks that 'Once more before breakfast?' is a good substitution for 'good morning', going without for a few days is weird."

"I had no idea that you were keeping such close tabs on our father." But, she was right. Dad not getting laid was weird.

"I keep close tabs on everyone in our family. Do you think that Dad might be getting the urge to match make again?" Harmonia kept her face carefully neutral. Cupid may be her brother, but he was also the head of her House. He might start thinking that she was weak if he knew how much the thought of dodging their father's attempts at making her 'happy' bothered her. With how active Deimos and Phobos were about giving Ares grandkids, she hoped that she would have a few more centuries before Daddy started in on her. Besides, Cupid had already brought about the next Olympian generation.

"Hmmm. Well, I think that we'll all know pretty soon. Dad usually isn't subtle when he goes to work." Cupid shrugged.

"Well, I have to see about 'retiring' a certain warlord." She got up from the chair and started for the door. Cupid still had a teleport block on.

"One of mine?"

"No. He used to be one of mine, until he thought that keeping back the best of the tribute was something that I wouldn't notice."

"If he's that dumb, how did he get to be a commander?" Ripping off the Goddess of Assassins was an invitation to have a knife in your back.

"I think that success went to his head. Now, I'll have that head on a platter."

"Who are you going to send?" He asked curiously.

"Jace. I think that he's had enough of a rest." She licked her lips. Jace was resting alright. He was worn out. They had gone at it until Aunt Demeter's horses started their daily run at dawn.

"Have fun." He waved her out. The door clicked as she left.

He conjured his scrying mirror and called up Jessie's image. She was remounting at a stream. It looked like she had just finished watering her horse. Damn, she looked good with his symbol on her chest, looking dangerous all encased in leather. But she needed to have her hair down. What was with her always putting it up or braiding it? It needed to be loose so he could wrap his fist in it.

Maybe it was time to formalize their first face to face meeting. That dream that she had the other night had been a fine introduction for him, but a daylight meeting when she was conscious would definitely speed things along. Or, he could wait until she stopped for the night. Yeah, that might be good. Wait until she was tired and maybe he could 'offer' to transport her the rest of the way, after they got to know each other. Let her see the benefits of an association with him.

She mounted in a smooth movement. Her legs and ass flexed under her leather breaches and Cupid almost drooled at the way they tightened around the barrel of the horse. She clucked to the horse and turned her back to the road.

Cupid stroked his cock through his leathers as Jessie urged her mount into a trot.

Tonight.

Jessie refilled her water skin and hung it on her saddle. She swung herself back up with the practiced ease that she had learned from Kate. Tugging on the reins, she turned her horse back onto the road. Delphi wasn't getting any closer while she was just sitting here. She clucked to her mount and set her into a trot.

The back of her neck itched, and it wasn't because of the armor. She had had the oddest feeling all day that she was being watched. And then, her horse started acting twitchy. Like someone or something was close by, but Jessie hadn't seen anything. But the odd feeling remained. She didn't hear anything or see someone in the trees. Maybe, she was just getting a delayed reaction from her arrival and subsequent first kill in the Temple of War. It had been a rough couple of days.

Was she a bad person because she didn't regret what she had done? Shouldn't her conscious be pricking her a little more for the men that she had killed? And why hadn't she hesitated when the last man was down? It was like her whole world had narrowed to that bare patch of skin under his helmet. And she never felt so calm except when she was in the middle of a kata. She hadn't panicked or tried to talk them out of trying to rape her. She didn't just beat them down and let them live. The thought hadn't occurred to her. It just hadn't enter her mind to let them go. They had obviously done this before, their movements and looks between them had signaled their experience at culling a victim and bringing her down like a pack of hyenas. And it was doubtful that they would have let her live afterward. She didn't have anything of value to buy her life.

Jessie rubbed the hairs raising on the back of her neck. She had almost thrown up. She clung to that remembered feeling of nausea. Killing had caused a physical reaction. She wasn't a complete sociopath. So, she didn't obsess about killing a trio of bad guys? Okay. She could deal with that. She could also deal with the fact that looking at all that blood for the first time had caused her gorge to rise. But she didn't think that she was going to get nightmares from this either.

Jessie saw that the horse had slowed to a walk during her ruminations. She let the mare walk. She didn't know how often the horse had been exercised at the temple and it wouldn't be good to tire her out on the first day of their journey. They still had a long way to go.

She just wished that the feeling of being watched would go away.

They stopped for the night at a spot that Nikos had told her about. It had a clearing that was sheltered by some trees along with a pond that was fed by the stream that they had stopped at earlier. It was a perfect spot for a bath.

Jessie got a fire going and spent some time brushing her horse and checking her feet so see if the mare had picked up any stones. The mare loved being brushed. She leaned into the strokes like a large cat being petted and made the silliest faces of pleasure. She whickered her joy at being the center of attention until Jessie finally stopped. There was a look of reproach in her liquid brown eyes when her rider put the brush away. She whinnied a protest.

"Minx," Jessie said affectionately. Then she stepped away as the mare tried to nip her. She slapped her nose. "None of that, now!" Kate always said that it was important to establish dominance quickly with a horse. It saved so much trouble in the long run.

The mare looked loftily away, like she hadn't even thought of trying to bite Jessie. The expression reminded Jessie of a woman in her Renaissance group. In a burst of mischief, Jessie decided to name her after the snooty woman.

"Kyria, that will be your name. You even look a little like her." Jessie giggled. She also remembered that the name Kyria, meant 'lady' in Greek. She hobbled Kyria and set her to grazing.

She laughed at the thought of the woman's expression if she ever found out that Jessie had named a horse after her. She set her saddle over a log and sat down next to it to remove her boots. The breeches came next and then the breastplate. Clad in only her tunic, she started some stretches that turned into yoga poses. Jessie knew that she was going to be sore tomorrow, but she could minimize the damage by stretching now and when she got up in the morning. She ate some of the rations that the temple had provided. Then she grabbed a blanket and headed over to the pond for a nice refreshing dip.

There was just enough current to keep algae from forming, but not enough to be a problem. Jessie laid the blanket over a branch and removed her tunic. She knelt down to rinse it out a days worth of sweat from it. She could sleep in her tank top tonight and the tunic would be dry by morning. The stones at the bottom of the pool were worn semi smooth, so Jessie didn't think that she would cut her feet in the water. She laid out the tunic on a branch next to the blanket, unbraided her hair and stepped into the water.

Oh, it felt good. The water was still a little warm from the sun but cool enough to feel wonderful for a swim. Jessie ducked under the water and swam to the center of the pond. The sun had set and stars were just starting to glimmer in the purple twilight. Jessie laid back and floated for a few minutes, drinking in the beauty above her. Ah, it was so peaceful.

"Need someone to wash your back?"

Jessie immediately dunked under the water and then slowly surfaced and stayed crouched down so the water lapped at her chin. She slicked back her hair and looked at the figure standing on the bank. A figure that had snowy white wings and was wearing black leather. Cupid, God of War, was smiling laciviciously at her with a wicked glint in his eyes.

The crickets sung an innocent backdrop that was totally belied by the look on the god's face. Water was dripping off the end of her nose.

Better brazen it out.

"Thanks, but I think I'm done."

"If you're done, why don't you come out?" He walked over to pick up her blanket. He held it out with a raised eyebrow, silently daring her to step out of the water and take it.

Well, if she was going to brazen it out, she'd better *be* brazen. She stood up, baring her body in the deepening twilight. Water streamed down her form as she stepped up and reached to take the blanket.

Up close, Jessie inhaled the scent of leather and something spicy. He was dressed a la' Ares in a sleeveless black leather vest with braided trim, black bracers, black leather trousers and boots. The Sword of War rested on his hip. He had the same armband tattoo that his counterpart in the other universe had. He had a neat goatee and the same twin lines of beard that went up each cheek as the other Ares had. What were they? War God racing stripes?

Bottle green eyes held hers and he kept hold of the blanket. She tried to tug it away. Finally, he let it go and she kept looking right into his eyes as she wrapped it around her wet body. She held his gaze for a few seconds longer before she coolly brushed past him to walk to her campfire, picking her tank top as she went.

Once their gazes weren't locked, she took a deliberate breath. Gorgeous alpha male in black leather; her favorite flavor.

Cupid let his eyes follow her as she sat down and wrung out her long hair. She looked good wet. And, judging from the state of her nipples, the water had turned cool. That, or this was going to be easier than he thought. He stepped closer to the fire.

Jessie pulled her top over her head and then pulled out her comb. She kept the blanket wrapped around her waist. Cupid was looking at her with what could only be termed predatory interest. She swallowed down the fluttering in her stomach and pretended nonchalance. She recognized the look on his face and she hoped that he would chalk up the state of her nipples to the cool night air against damp skin.

"Something I can do for you?" She tilted her head and started running the comb through her wet hair.

He let his eyes travel downward. "I have a list." He ran his thumb along his jaw line. The image of her combing her hair reminded him of the daydream that he had had. He swallowed.

"Oh? What did you have in mind?" She tilted her head the other way and started on the other side of her head.

"I was thinking of something along the lines of a personal offering in thanks for the gear that I gave you." He let his eyes drop to the twin points of flesh that were almost poking holes through her shirt. She resisted the urge to draw the blanket around her shoulders.

She put down the comb and started unwinding the now wet bandage from around her wrist. She held up the healing cut for him to see.

"I gave at the temple." She said with the same polite tone that was reserved for brushing off telemarketers.

"I remember." Cupid purred. He was looking at the small cut like it was a dripping ice cream cone. Ooooo, maybe that blood offering hadn't been such a good idea. Should she be nervous that some of his feathers seemed to be quivering? She swallowed hard and he caught it.

He smirked and swaggered over. Something clicked in her brain. He expected her to just rolled onto her back! She drew herself up until her spine was arrow straight and allowed her expression to chill to glacial coolness. The expression stopped him mid stride.

"I thought that they were gifts. I didn't think that I would have to pay for them." Her tone was now low and even and her expression had turned deadly. Even her nipples were softening. Cupid had enough experience to know that any chance of willing sex tonight was probably gone. She definitely wasn't in the mood now. Time to retreat and regroup. Rape had never been one of his personal tastes, especially with the God of Love as a father.

"They are gifts." He told her. "Please accept them with my compliments." He shifted back onto his heels hooked his thumbs on his sword belt.

"Thank you." She accepted with a regal nod. Her tone was still polite and even.

Cupid allowed his expression to turn playful. "Besides, you look good with my symbol on your chest." He pretended to flash out, but turned invisible instead. He was treated to the sight of her bare bottom as she stood and bent over to arrange her bedroll. It took every ounce of his control not to pounce.

"He may be gorgeous, Kyria, but I'm not easy." She told her horse as she settled down to sleep.

*Good*, she's interested, the god thought as he teleported to his temple. *That’s a start. Not a great start, but a start.*


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