KING OF BEASTS (Hiatus)

Ares awoke in utter warmth. He sighed against it, allowing it to flood over his body. He opened his eyes to see Lana and then leaned in to kiss her forehead before rolling off of her.

He stood up, though his legs shook and his hands began to work on the knots within his lower back. The evening and night had been a blur, and even now he could barely remember just what had happened. All he knew was that Lana had not allowed him to rest, though he didn’t mind that too much.

He stepped out into the brisk air, and after a shudder, he returned to put on some pants before heading out for his morning run. Everything seemed so much lighter than the day before, as if the sun seemed to be joyful for Ares.

Ares waved at the various Riveans on his morning run, before once again joining the elite soldiers for morning practise. This time Ares didn’t bully his captains too much, allowing them their peace after a few minutes.

“Really? Even the day after my wedding?” Ares asked as Rori walked over to him.

Rori had that kind of look on his face, the kind of look that meant Ares had more work to do and more issues to resolve. This kingly business was hard.

The bearman was stone faced as per usual. His long hair flowed down his shoulders, as free as the sun's rays. He wore the typical attire of any Rivean, though a quick glance revealed something quite… no, not stranger, for it was to be expected.

Rori was swole. There was an inch or two extra around his legs, his arms, and his torso. Even his shoulders seemed as though they could bear the weight of his burden as Consul.

"Are you free, Ares-kin?"

Ares smiled. "For you? Always." He laughed and then walked alongside Rori, leading the Consul to the river nearby. Ares nodded to the Marching Blades nearby who were escorting the Consul.

Ares sighed as the cool water encompassed him. He was but a figure in the ice as his body melted into the river. He summoned some soap and began to rub himself down with it.

"I will speak with Heria-kin soon," Rori said. "We will need to speak of the city and it's growth, as well as the area around once our scouts return."

"Alright?" Ares said, unsure why Rori was telling him he was going to speak with Heria. A nagging sensation whispered within his mind that it was relevant, but his eyes remained squinting away.

"You wished to expand the city in a particular manner?" Rori said, as if to remind him.

"Right, well, not quite. Rivea will remain steadfast, but it will also remain as the experimental city. We shall create a single district in the style that I wish for, perhaps only for a hundred people…" Ares thought of that for a moment. No, that wouldn't work. There would be ten districts, that was the basis of the city. Ten districts and a thousand people, including other buildings nearby. Then a… coliseum. How could he forget such an important building. Hell, he could even have a theatre, a shrine or temple…

He recalled then plans of the old polis, where the temple would be on the highest ground. It was almost the same as Rivea, which held the shrine at almost the highest point, the only two things higher were his and Rori's homes.

Did he want that?

Did he want people to put the authority of the two rulers above religion? Yet thinking about putting religion above them made his stomach twist and punch his insides. The things that religion could do to their people… he wasn't sure if he'd be happy with such a thing.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he realised he had been thinking for so long without replying to Rori. "Sorry about that," Ares said as he cleared his throat. "Where was I?"

"You spoke of building a district for a hundred people," Rori said calmly.

"Right, right. A hundred won't do. We will do a thousand. I'll clear some space for it. I believe most of the villages have been made… perhaps I can make another for the future since we have a few ghost villages anyway."

Ares raised a hand out of habit and then narrowed his eyes. The earth around him shifted as he created small blocks of how he envisioned the homes and the districts.

They could see that each block was fairly large, and held about ten homes over three floors, as well as a garden in the middle, pathways heading from left to right, as well as a couple of buildings that had no obvious purpose to them. There were also several paths, going vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. Then he started to copy and paste each block, side by side, and then above and around until at least nine blocks were formed before Ares realised that this would only really house about nine hundred people.

He stared down at it and then cocked his head to one side, unsure of how he would fix such a thing. Unless of course, he… his mind began to race around with all sorts of different ideas. He wasn’t sure which idea he wanted. Would he have a mega block that was twice as big? That did sound pretty fun, or of course he could have a mega block that was five times as big to hold four times as many people, but also an extra block for anything that people would need, like an open area for a school, a hospital, a theatre, a coliseum…

Ares narrowed his eyes and then rubbed his forehead. “Anyway… I’ll try and figure something out later.” Ares rubbed the back of his head.

Rori merely nodded, seemingly not caring, or rather not minding, about such a matter. He had seen Ares’ ideas and they usually turned out quite well, especially his ideas about the various villages and their purposes, and in theory it was a good idea, though the rebellion had put quite a damper on such a matter.

“So what are you going to be talking to Heria-kin about exactly?” Ares cocked his head to one side, narrowing his eyes.

Rori stared at Ares for a long while, judging his face. “I am to speak with Heria about matters of marriage.”

Ares frowned. “I told you, didn’t I? I don’t-” Ares stopped. Suddenly his face grew flush with a deep heat and he hid his face behind his hands. Ah, right.

Rori was the one who had a crush on Heria.

Ares shook his head slowly within his hands and then he pulled back away from them. “Ah, right. Of course, well… I do hope you the best of luck.”

Rori nodded his head. “Thank you.”

Ares rubbed his face. “Rori-kin, I’m…” Rori waited for Ares to finish the phrase, though Ares felt as though rubbing his face was wiping the shame all across it. “I’m sorry for being an idiot.”

Rori stared down at Ares. “It is not a matter of being an idiot, but merely a matter of memory. You have been under a lot of stress, and no doubt the wound within your gut is not helping.”

Ares nodded towards him. “So uh… right…” Ares threw his head back and then stared up at the sky. He had no idea what he wanted to say, but Rori waited all the while.

“May I speak with you alone, Ares-kin?” Rori asked.

Ares furrowed his brows together. They were alo- oh right. Ares glanced at the soldiers nearby, the elites that were assigned to protecting them. Did Rori not want to speak with them in ear shot? It must be serious.

Ares nodded and then waved a hand to dismiss his soldiers, and Rori repeated the action. Ares’ ears twitched and then he nodded towards Rori once he noted that they were truly alone.

“What does the name Kayla mean to you?” Rori said.

Ares’ eyes grew wide and his heart stopped for a second. “How do you know that name?” Ares asked as he stood up, his body tense and taut, as though he was a piece of paper that had been twisted.

“You have mentioned it once.”

“When?” Ares furrowed his brows in further confusion. He hadn’t mentioned the name ever, he was certain of it.

“During your fever. You called Emerli-kin that name.”

Ares turned even redder as his body began to cool, the river making quick work of his heat.

That made a lot of sense. In his fever he could have mistaken Emerli for Kayla, that was pretty believable. Ares reached up to rub the back of his neck once more.

Ares stared off to one side and then sank back into the river. “It means a great deal to me,” Ares said.

There was a long moment, and when Rori realised that Ares wasn’t going to say anymore, he nodded and then left.

The guards returned to protect Ares, but Ares remained within the river. He wasn’t trying to think, he just wanted some time alone.

“Ares-kin!” a Flying Wolf exclaimed. Ares nodded. “The Reptai are here.”

Ares squinted up at him in confusion.