Good day lads and lassies!! I am so very sorry I took forever to write this chapter, my computer got messed up and I just got it fixed last week, Thank the heavens. Being without my pc is like not breathing lol…Thanks a ton for your reviews, I am so glad you guys enjoy the story. I hope you like it :")

"Why will you not marry me?" Brennus asked. For a brief second I wondered what it would be like to be his lawful wife. His green eyes were pleading and I knew that if I continued to look into his eyes, and he persisted, I would succumb.

"Brennus, I…I…I cannot. Not yet. Mayhaps in more time." I glance at him through my lashes.

I looked elsewhere but him. Many travelers filled the inn this evening, the rooms were all filled and those who could not obtain one choose to wait out the storm that had broken across Thebes, drinking wine and sitting warm.

Brennus was quiet for a second as if contemplating his next words.

"Say you do not love me and I'll leave the subject be. We can remain lovers as you choose." His words were cold and emotionless.

"I fail to understand you men. Will it not be much more simple for you if we remained as lovers? Why do you wish to marry me?" He knew my life story, he knew that I was not wise in the art of homemaking.

"It is my wish to give you something for all that was taken from you." It was an irony of life that this red-haired man wanted to give me at least a fraction of something that the god that looked so much like him had taken from me.

"I cannot accept such a gift Brennus." I simply replied.

"Do you not love me like I love you?" He asked. I saw true aguish in his eyes. Though we had spent many nights together I had gone through extended efforts to hide the love that I felt for him. It was strange to love. It was to be venerable and I had a most difficult time accepting vulnerability.

But the anguish in his beautiful green eyes made me wish that I had the courage to say what I truly felt. For I did love him. I loved everything he is and was. I love his long locks that shone like fire under the light of the sun, the freckles dusted along his nose and shoulders, the fullness of his lips. I love his tall powerful form. I love him.

"I…I..." I could not form the words he wanted. I was too afraid and I did not know why.

"Brennus." I placed my hand on his cheek and he seemed to lean into my touch. It saddened me incredibly that I could not give him the joy he had given me became I could not say those dreadful words.

I placed a small chaste kiss in on his full lips. Though it was a chaste kiss, I felt as if the volcano of Pompeii was inside my body, I felt a strange joy in my heart. I felt that without him I could not live.

For a brief second I saw a flash of pain in his eyes. It was the rarest thing I've yet to see. For that brief second his eyes held an ancient sadness, pain and resignation. I felt like weeping at the sight. Then just as quickly he was the old Brennus again, and he was smiling at me with that beautiful smile of his.

"No matter. I'll learn to be patient, despite how against my nature it is." His eyes were mischievous.

I placed another chaste kiss on his lips. And held his hand. For a second we were both lost in our thoughts.

I looked to the window lost in thought for a brief second. Lighting strike, illuminating the city and for that brief second I thought I saw the face of a deity with golden hair, and eyes the color of clear skies. It was Hermes I saw. I could not stop my body from tensing, and my heart from pounding. Though it was nearly a year now since I came to Thebes I had not stopped searching for Hermes. There was still a hope in me he kept alive. For he could know what had happened to the survivors of that devastating battle.

Before I realize what I had done I stood, releasing Brennus' hand. I all but ran out the door. Outside the storm was grand, the wind was strong and the rain was pouring. My garments were soaked immediately. Through the dark night I looked around in search of Hermes but I could not spot him. Another lightening illuminated the night and I saw as the golden god walked through the deserted streets, already almost a league away from me.

"Hermes!!" I called. But my voice was no match for the raging storm.

Despite the cold rain and the dark sky I ran towards the god.

Before I reached him he turned around and saw me running towards him. There was a look of surprise on his face as my body collided into his. It felt as if I had ran into a stone wall. The breath left my body and it was his arms around my waist that kept me from falling.

"Liah." He simply said. He did not seem surprise now, as if he knew I was in the city.

"Where are they, Hermes?" Desperation laced through my voice.

His beautiful eyes would not meet my own as I asked him. As he gazed upon my body i followed his gaze and realized that the rain had plastered the fabric over my body and had turned it nearly translucent. But I cared not, I only wanted answers from him, even if I stood as naked as a newborn babe. He took the cloak off his shoulders and draped it over my own.

"He's ruthless, impulsive and savage yet he gets you." It was difficult to hear his words over the storm and he made no effort to speak louder.

"Who?" I asked.

"Ares." He replied looking past me.

"He will never have me." I replied not knowing what he spoke of. "Hermes." He still looked away from me. "Hermes look at me!" I held his face with both of my hands and forced him to look at me. I had the suspicion his face only moved under my hand because he wanted it so, not because of the strength I possessed.

"Where are they Hermes?"

"Last I saw of them they were heading north." He placed his hand on my waist in n a strangely possessive gesture. "They did not say where." He said as if he saw the question in my eyes.

Tears flowed from my eyes, just as the rain washed over my face. I released his face and slumped over the wall. A strange sound escaped my lips. A sob. He was my last hope, but he knew nothing.

A look of indecision crossed his bright eyes. Then determination took over. He leaned in and wrapped an arm around my waist. My head fell against his chest. His body was incredibly warm and he smelled of green grass and windy summers.

"Give me a fortnight and I shall find your beloved sisters." His breath felt cool against my skin.

"Will you?"

"Yes." I wrapped my arms around him. "My Thanks." I said to him.

His body tensed under my own and I felt his arms stiffened around me. I looked up to see that his face looked somewhere past me. I released him and tried to turn but his arms still encircled me. When he released me I turned to find Brennus watching us.

At that very moment he was the most terrifying man I had laid eyes upon. The rain had matted his hair to his skull, his full lips were curled into a snarl, and there was a savage, demented look upon his eyes. The soaked tunic did naught to hide his powerful body underneath. He appeared as if he wanted to dismember Hermes.

Then lightening stroked again and perhaps my eyes had turned into tricksters. Under the light it was not Brennus, the man that I loved that I saw. It was Ares my eyes beheld under the savage light of Zeus. His skin pale and taunt, his hair like flame even when wet, and his eyes like the brightest emeralds across the land. The scar I found so indentifying over his cheek.

When the night darkened again I stood in shock. I could not move or run or hide. When the night was dark again it was Brennus I saw yet again and not Ares. And he simply turned with fist held tight and body taunt and walked away. I could not follow the man I loved for I was frozen in shock at the trick my eyes had played.

I hope you liked it : )