Page 169 of Blood of Olympus

Athena spoke first. “Rally the rest of the allies, choose somewhere to make our final stand, and then raise literal hell.”

“Succinct. I like it.”

“Aros has something infinitely more harebrained to propose,” she added.

“Oh?” I turned my face slightly left of the direction Athena’s voice had originated. A gentle warmth caressed my face front-on, so there was now a fifty-fifty chance I was now addressing either the fire-wielder or the actual hearth.

Aros cleared his throat — from Athena’s other side.

Tartarus, I cursed. My lips pouting as Caelus’ bubbling amusement filtered in.

“Relieve me of my oaths,” Aros said softly.

“What?!” I leaped to my feet in a rush, a high-pitched ringing drowning everything else out as I processed his request, searching for any trace of a joke, or any hidden innuendo.

I found none.

“I’m sorry, whatever I did, I’m sorry.”

What did I do so wrong that he feels he cannot serve me any longer?

“Nyssa, just listen. Please,” he urged, grabbing me by my upper arms in a bid to ground me. “It is through no fault of your own that I request this — it just makes sense.”

“How? How does it make sense to have my Blade, my Harrow, abandon me just as the tide of war has changed and we are on the losing side? How, Aros?” I demanded.

“It pains me more than you know!” he roared, relinquishing me with a loud, “Agh!” After taking a moment to compose himself, he continued, “This is the greatest honour of my life. To know that you trust me with yours, and with the good of multiple realms on your behalf… that the very first move you made as Queen was to install me as your Blade and your Harrow, elevated above even my own father, the Primal god of war⁠—”

“For now,” Aph muttered.

A sharp bark of laughter interrupted his speech, immediately shattering the built-up tension. “Yes. For now. What I wouldn’t do to send him down to the Isle… but if anyone has more right to do that than me⁠—”

“Us,” Evie seethed.

“Us,” Aros conceded, “It’s our mother.”

My brows puckered. “Your mother? Is she here?”

“No, but I intend to go find her. We know there are others out there — other gods, other Titans, even the Primordials must exist somewhere!” In that instant, he reminded me of a small boy who saw the world as something large, mysterious and wonderful.

An adventure.

“You intend to seek out an army.”

He gripped my hand. “I do. I fear it’s the only way we can win from here.”

“On this, we agree,” Athena said. “Even with aid from our mortal allies, we would still have lost the Siege of Hellespont.”

“That’s what they’re calling it? That is the name being written in the history books even now?”

“It is.”

“What else are they saying? What else is to be written?”

A gentle hand tipped my face upwards, and a soft set of lips pressed a kiss to my forehead. “That tale remains to be written,” Caelus murmured. “It can either say that we made a hard choice to send our best warriors on a fool's errand to recruit an army that ultimately doomed us — or that their return is what saved us.”

“You think he should go.”

And though it wasn’t a question, he answered anyway, “Yes. I think he needs to.”