Chapter 30

"Bleed you bitch," he hissed at her, with more vitriol than he had ever used during the war; Diana was almost starting to believe Circe hadn't created his hatred out of nothing, but rather she had simply drug to the surface all of the under lying hate and anger Arthur had towards Diana after all these years.

That thought, that this hate was real and not just a figment of Circe's magic, hurt Diana more than any weapon, more than any blow, she had ever received.

Arthur's trident hadn't gone deep, not deep enough to hit any vital organs, but it had penetrated her armour and broken through the skin and if Diana did not find a way to end this fight quickly, she was going to be at risk of bleeding out. She dropped back to her knees, her arms dropping from his waist to his thighs and she pulled tightly, twisting with her shoulders, driving Arthur's thigh hard to the right, knocking him off balance.

The pair tumbled to the ground, the impact against the cold marble causing Arthur to lose both the sword and his trident, leaving him unarmed. There was a slight struggle; Arthur trying to push down on her shoulders, make use of Diana's injury to get back to his feet, but her grip was too tight around his legs.

She climbed up his body, taking his right hand first and pinning it down with her knee, the sharp part of her patella pressing down against his bare wrist to ensure compliance. The other hand, his water bearer hand, would be much more difficult, but it appeared Circe hadn't really tapped into that part of him, so Diana left it alone, neither pinning or worrying about it, merely restraining it with her own right hand above his head.

"Arthur, listen to me, this isn't you!" she said, her voice loud but without the stress of a yell, a little exasperated, as if she had been talking to a lover who simply wasn't listening, which was kind of the truth.

"And what do you really know about me, Amazon?" he hissed. "You never loved me."

"You know that is a lie!" she shouted down, leaning on his right wrist a little harder, knowing that it would cause him pain, but hoping that perhaps it would bring his attention back to her, and off the trident an uncomfortably close distance. "I loved you more than I have ever loved an outsider; it broke my heart when we went to war…"

"And yet to war you went, despite my pleading, my begging for reason! You Amazons and your duplicity! You make me sick!" he spat in her face. "You claim to be representatives of the Gods, to be spreading the ideals of peace and love, and yet you thrill in the blood of combat."

"Arthur…" Diana found her resolve slipping. This was him; this was Arthur, truly, violently his own thoughts. He had said something very similar during their courtship; that he worried for a nation of warriors who promoted peace, then again after when she had asked for his forgiveness and he refused, laying the blame for the war squarely on her refusal to listen.

Her hand gripped the amulet around his neck, a symbol of Circe's control over him, tearing it from him. It was easy for her to snap the chain, it was merely a thin gold link, even a human of average strength would have been capable of breaking it given the right motivation. "This!" Diana's hand crushed the metal casing around the gem, cracking the amethyst coloured stone before pitching it out onto the balcony. "This is not you! She has control of you, Arthur, why can't you see?" her voice pleaded for some sanity, some reason, from him, but the look in his eyes told her she hadn't gotten through yet.

"You sanctimonious fool!" he spat back at her. "Mistress Circe has opened my eyes to the hypocrisy you Amazons preach; how can a nation led by the daughter of Ares ever be one of peace!"

His words cut her deep, and stung as badly as any wound could. Diana was put into a stunned silence by his words, her blue eye lost in the depth of his own, as deep and cold as the Arctic Oceans themselves, and just as lifeless.

"Oh Orin," she whispered his Atlantian name. Could he actually know the depth of which his words cut her? What had Circe told him?

Her heart got the best of her and his water bearer hand was free, giving her a cross cut to the jaw, knocking the queen off balance, and off of him. They rolled, with Diana trying to guide their direction away from his trident rather than towards. Her tactic worked, but she still took a second shot to the face for it. Stars erupted behind her eyes and she could taste blood as her nose began to bleed, dripping down her throat as she lay on her back.

Diana arched up, throwing Arthur off her with a thrust of her hips before getting back to her feet and diving for her sabre as he went in the opposite direction for his own weapon. Her hand gripped the hilt of her sabre and she turned just in time to catch Arthur's trident as it came down upon her, the strength of his attack forcing her to sink to a knee. Never had she ever seen such hatred in the man's face; even when they were about to kill each other and the mysterious, powerful figure stopped them…

"Die, Amazon trash," he pushed harder, but her arms and shoulders were locked and would not bend further, regardless of the strength he put behind the trident.

"Arthur, please listen to me!" she shouted, trying to be heard over his own groaning.

"Oh darling," Circe's sing song voice called from behind the chamber doors. "Are you finished taking out the trash yet, I am so very lonely…"

"Yes Mistress," he called back to her, and inside Diana felt a pang different from the one caused by his harsh words, or the tender kisses she would catch him sneaking Mera during their courtship. This one was like a dagger of ice through her heart.

"On second thought, bring her in, I want her to see something," Circe's voice called as the doors opened seemingly by themselves.

Oh joy, Diana thought as Arthur stood, grabbing Diana by the hair, dragging her behind him towards Circe's chamber. She tried to find a grip on the slick marble, but her boots refused to find any sort of hold to stop or slow her down. What fresh hell and humiliation could Circe possibly have now.

"Stop thrashing, you barbarian," Arthur gave her a swift kick in the ribs, strong enough to crack but not break them, eliciting a groan from the Amazon Queen as she was drug indignantly by a former love to face her greatest enemy.

This was not going to be good.