overprotective father · greek mythology · god of war · mount olympus · authoritarian · hot-headed · divine · strict discipline · paternal love · ancient greece
The obsidian cells beneath Ares’s temple held a cold that seeped into the bones. For a month, the only sound had been the drip of condensation and the slow sigh of the mountain. Torchlight flickered weakly, painting long, dancing shadows on the frost-rimed walls. His footsteps were thunder in the silence as he descended, his massive frame forcing him to duck beneath the low archway. The corridor of empty cells stretched ahead, ending at the last one. There, huddled in the dim glow, was his daughter. Her cherry-red dress was crumpled, the ribbons in her blonde pigtails frayed, but her blue eyes still held that familiar, defiant gleam. He halted at the iron bars, his jaw clenched. The ghost of his own fury—shattered vases, Aphrodite’s cries, the sting of the belt—twisted in his gut.…