He hammered more and more, his strength not returning but not dwindling either, thankfully. Soldiers marched up and down as he hammered the metal into place, fixing what he could, doing what he could for his family. He watched soldiers marching, the fear glistening in his son's eyes as Phoebe hid him from their sight, shutting the shutters to prevent him from seeing outside, seeing the horrors that could be unleashed. Chronos continued with his work, hammering the metal as quickly as possible, trying to block out what was happening. Was war going to be announced or something even more horrifying like an execution the people had to attend, something none of the family would want to attend but if they had to, they had to. It was not something he wanted to hear about so he continued to hammer the metal into place. He did not look well; instead he looked like an old man with little strength. He looked so bad, he looked like his father looked, the way he looked towards the end... before his time was up, a few months before his time was up and he joined the gods he loved so much. He unlike his son, worshipped the gods that turned their backs on him and his son and hopefully for that, they did something good and let him be reborn or whatever his beliefs and yet it was doubted by his surviving son. Were the gods punishing him for his disgust and disbelief, perhaps but he thought it might be because they chose to hate on him, to pick on him and force him to pick up the pieces they shattered in front of him.

"Are you ok?" Phoebe asked nervously as she hid Jason from their sight. Chronos breathed a sigh, whispering "I do not know anymore. Do the gods exist? Do they really exist?"

"Enough of that talk, my love, please... do not go through this again; the gods have done what they want but soon our luck is sure to turn around"

Under the heat he hammered, sweat dripping into the flames. He heard the flames roar as more sweat dripped into it. He through off his shirt, his muscled chest dripping with sweat and his black curls rested on his head, dampened by sweat as he hammered the metal again and again and again.

"You will surely wear it out if you carry on" Phoebe joked gently.

"I hope not, this shipment shall pay for our food for the next three months, buy us fish for at least that amount of time"

"You need not be so serious, I understand... I love you for how hard you work"

"Do you remember the promises I made? I promised to always protect you, love you and look after you and I will continue to do so, even when I am in battle, I shall do it because I have to, because I promised to and because I love you. I will always look after you, my love... no matter what"

"I know and I know you are a good, honourable man. I knew that when I married you, I knew that before I married you, even my father allowed our marriage. I never thought he would allow me to marry but he told me you had proven yourself worthy, surely we are a match made by the gods! We must stay together, no matter what happens. I cannot bear to be parted from you, my love"

"We shall never be parted, in life or in death, this I vow, we shall always be together"

"I know. I remember the promises we made to each other, me the good wife, married to my faithful husband"

He kissed her passionately as the flames roared. He smudged coal fingerprints on her white dress as he made his way down her arms, holding her waist. She didn't seem to mind, she didn't seem too bothered by it as she just stayed there, holding his hands gently, her fingers locked into his like a lock fit a key. They loved each other, no matter what, their hearts were strong as they beat in sync, both making their own song, a song of love. He promised to always love her, to keep her sheltered, to keep her safe and love her for all time, to marry her and care for her, no matter what happened to the pair of them for their love was strong, stronger than any barrier, anything thrown at them. Love could be stronger than time itself, battling with time itself. She was his forever and he was hers forever, soul mates together facing the same journey together, their paths always intertwined.

A couple of men cleared their throats. Chronos looked up at the men on horseback, shielded in armour he recognised. "What is it?"

"Mind your tone!" a soldier snapped.

"I will not if I do not see the need" Chronos snapped back.

"My love, please, hear what he has to say" Phoebe begged as she dusted her clothes off.

"The king is alive, the assassin failed in their attempts to end his life. However there will be an emperor visiting our lands, the king expects you to make him a gift, present it to him in exchange he shall offer you two thousand gold if it is deemed acceptable. Do you accept this task?"

"Yes but why, may I ask, has it been offered to me?"

"The king recognises your tireless work, he recognises how hard you work, you put time into your blades and in battle they have always served him well"

"What of the rumours about... a war, is there any truth to them?" Phoebe asked fearfully.

"If negotiations fail, we shall have war, if they succeed, we shall not have war" the soldier warned before he rode on. Chronos got to work, hammering a new blade as his darling wife watched him. Tearfully she whispered "what am I to do?"

"If you believe in them, believe they shall help then I suggest you pray to the gods, my love. If we are lucky, they may grant you a favour"

"Do not mock me!" she cried. He grabbed hold of her, hugging her, his rough hands on her shoulders as she cried on his shoulder. "I do not mock you, my love; merely hope it is true and that the gods favour you, my love. I do not want you to fall with me, you and Jason are all I have left in this world and I do not know how long I have left in it, I know. Forgive me, my love; forgive me and my horrible past"

Her tears dripped onto his shoulders. "I remember promising to stand by you as my husband and as your wife; I will stand by your side until my death forces me to stop. If it is in my power then let it be, let it happen to both of us, for both of us"

"Please do not speak of your death, your death would end any fight I have left" he admitted as he let her go. "I only wish I were stronger, more able like our son. If I were able to, I would do it; I would fight for our family"

She touched his painful shoulder, ignoring his low grunt. "This injury does not stop me loving you, this injury does not stop me from being with you for we were joined together by the gods and only the gods may separate us"

"They will never separate us, even death will not separate us" Chronos warned as he carried on working. She smiled brightly, her smile like the sun but brighter, bolder... so much so, the sun must have envied her. Her loss would kill him, like a dagger to his heart, her loss would end any fight left in him, like pain tearing him apart, ripping him inside as he screamed and called her name. She was there for him, there to love him, to take care of him... to look after him when he awoke with nightmares, when he had to grip something hard and pray they left his mind. He could not deny, he was haunted by what he was plagued by, the nightmares in his head seemingly real, his actions seemingly real as he relived the memories of heads rolling, blood splattering and covering his sword. In the name of his king, he spilled blood, killed the commander. Chronos remembered how he died, he relived it every night. He crept up behind him and slowly, with his good arm and trusted blades by his side, he slashed his throat so hard, his head nearly came clean off.

"Father, can I help you?" Jason asked as his father hammered the sword.

"Go and help your mother"

"No, I want to help you"

"I do not need help" he lied as he kept hammering and hammering, his arm weakening under pressure. Jason touched his father's arm and asked "will you let me learn?"

"I will not let you make my mistakes" Chronos snapped as he continued to make the blade.

"Why do you say that every time and yet tell me nothing about what you have seen?! Why do you avoid the subjects I ask about every time they are asked? What have I done? Did I do something wrong, something to make you angry or fear me?" Jason asked rudely as he grabbed his father's hammer.

Chronos merely grabbed it off him and ignored him as if he hadn't heard the question. He cleaned his hands. "Take the blades to the palace, do not dawdle, I need them to arrive!"

"I always deliver them, I never make them. One day I will take over from you but you give me nothing to take over!"

"EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE, I HAVE DONE FOR YOU AND YOUR MOTHER!" Chronos yelled in a fit of rage. He threw his hammer down and stormed inside, ignoring his son as he grabbed a glass of water and drained its contents. Was it so wrong of him to hope his son had a different future? Was it wrong of him to hope and pray for his son's survival? Jason was old enough by some standards to see wars, to watch blood being shed, to make weapons that would allow him to do it quicker, better but that would be going down his father's path, a path of darkness and cruelty, of waking dreams and terrifying nightmares, of tainted memories filled with the crimson red blood.

Phoebe was no doubt at the temple, praying for help and some kind of salvation. She did not want to lose him, lose Chronos or her son, Jason. The last thing she wanted to do was lose both of them or even one of them, lose one of them to a war fought for no real reason... no good reason at least. He wanted to take his family away, take them to a land where they would feel nothing but freedom, taste the waters of freedom, breathe the free hair. He was breaking down, mentally breaking down as he struggled to think, to feel anything but the pain in his heart. He could feel her breaking, even as she tried to smile and pretend everything was ok, he could see the cracks forming, the pain she felt... the real pain she felt. If they lost their son, it could kill the pair of them, break the pair of them... break them up no doubt. Without Jason, she could not live and the war would have claimed his family, not just his son but his wife too, his soul mate, Phoebe. She was the love of his life; she was the beauty in his life, the only thing good in his life. Did he love her? More than anything but there was the pain, there it was, twisting around him, like a knife being shoved into his back and twisted. He did not want to live like that, constantly worrying about his son and his wife, hoping they would be ok with or without him for he could not leave them, that much to him was crystal clear. His heart beat for his family, for the love they had for each other, the love they felt for each other and the ability to stay together for all time, no one was going to steal his family from him for he was not going to allow it to happen.

As the river of tears fell, he felt the pain like a whip cracked on his back several times... like he was breaking down, begging it to stop hurting him. She was the one who kept him as sane as he could be, still scarred and haunted by his experiences but not as badly as he was once... not as badly as he felt without her in his arms and his son joining them. Love, that was a blessing and a curse, it enticed the heart but could break it, could shatter it into a million tiny pieces for love was cruel and real, indescribable for it came in all different shapes and sizes. Sometimes it fought in impossible situations, sometimes it patched up the seemingly impossible. Either way, love was spectacularly beautiful to witness, love was there for all to see, to touch, to feel... when it was good, true and honest, it was a dream and a pleasure but when it decided to be cruel, the bitch could bite, the snake had fangs that bit and drew blood, allowing its poison to circulate around the body, paralysing it for love could be very difficult to fight and to live with. He got lucky with Phoebe, their love was true, pure and delicate like silk thread but she was not cold or a stranger to war after losing her brother to a bloody war some years ago. He was the brother she never met, never had the chance to meet, he died a week or two after she was born, before they had met. Her mother naturally broke down over it; her broken heart forced her to take her own life in front of her god, bowing to him as she cut her throat. For Phoebe's sake, he hoped she found some kind of peace from it and that the gods let her soul be ferried.

"I did as you ordered, father, nine hundred gold coins are ours"

"Good, take five or six and go buy us some nice bread and a large fish, an expensive one!"

"Are we celebrating something?" Phoebe asked as she returned.

"Nine hundred gold coins, we can pay our rent, get some good food in, pay our taxes"

"You work too hard, I worry about you"

"Can you please, please stop worrying so much? I will start to worry about you if you do not!" Chronos warned as he hugged her gently, his arms around her waist. "How is your arm? Did you go to the physician?"

"It feels a lot better" he lied as tried to ignore the pain. She put her head on his shoulder, his injured shoulder. "I love you" he heard her whisper as she held his hands, locking her fingers in his. "I love you too, my love"

"We took a long time to find each other but I am so glad we did, I am glad I can be with you for as long as the gods are willing to give us together. My heart only beats for you, the song of our hearts is a song of love that shall be sung for as long as we are both alive, both together for mine shall never sing for anyone else... shall never know anyone but you, my love" he whispered romantically in her ear. Even after nearly seventeen years of marriage, their love was still as strong as the day they married, as strong as the metal he reshaped. "I will love you forever"

She smiled a little, whispering "that was our wedding vow, the vow we made to Zeus and to each other. I will hold you to that promise for all eternity"

He held her hands as he whispered "you better do"

He felt like that teenager when he was with her, in her arms and her in his, it was as if nothing could hurt them and nothing could claim them. Love was the greatest emotion, the greatest feeling that day when he made the vow of marriage, promising to love and protect her no matter what happened to them. One war and one son later, he felt the same way, like she was his bright star, the brightest star in the sky, guiding his heart to her heart. Love was the one thing that kept them going, the one thing that kept them eternally strong. He was hers forever, she was his forever even when they died, they would meet each other in the afterlife, be together for all of eternity. Not even the gods themselves could part the two of them for he would strike down any man or woman who dared try to hurt her or their son. She was the love of his life, the one he wanted to be with for all eternity, come rain or shine and throughout life or come death.

"How is Jason? I am afraid I had a little bit of a snap at him earlier" Chronos admitted.

"He is fine, merely sulking like a stroppy teenager. He wanted to try and find a blacksmith willing to take him on as an apprentice but I told him that you would say no and for all the right reasons, our son has no place following your family's footsteps, not after what happened to three generations"

"Yes... I know, I understand your reasons as I hope you do, mine"

"I wish we could show him"

"Time is too short. There is a lot I want to show him and to tell him. I wish I could tell him but it is as if those memories are just far too horrible to talk about. Every time I try... I worry about how he will perceive me afterwards, what he shall think of me... I do not want him to look at me as if I am damaged goods... damned by the gods. I do not want to lose him but if I do not tell him, I think I might anyway. How am I meant to tell him? I cannot force the words out of my mouth yet... how am I supposed to do it?"

"I do not know but I do know that time is too short for everyone. Listen to me, you need to be careful when you tell him but you do need to tell him. If not, he could join up for the army, unaware of what he would face. Does anyone want that? I do not want to lose our son because he has your hot-headed trait and stubbornness. I have never known a man be so hot-headed and stubborn. Seriously he as stubborn as a mule, apart from you, there is no one that I know that is more stubborn, honestly"

"I will talk to him"

"Good because I do not want his stubbornness to be the death of us, do you understand me?"

"Do I have a choice but to agree?"

"No" she replied sternly.

"Then I suppose I have to" he replied.

"Too damn right you have to. I will not lose my son because he has decided to sign up for training, I mean it!"

"I know you do and I will talk to him but sometimes things have to come out in their own time... I need to try, I know but there are some things in my life that are just too painful for me to talk about... too painful for me to face"

"You have to face it, face up to what happened if you want to survive. Let the gods protect you, my love as you fight the journey. You need to tell him what happened, what you did and how it all affected you. Perhaps you can help him before it is too late for our family, just listen to me and allow the love for our son to guide you to where we need to go"

"I will try but how am I meant to tell him? He knows I was in the war"

"I know, I told him that much"

"Why did you tell him? What reasons did you have for telling our son that his father has been... in a war?!"

"Because he needed to know and when you started having nightmares, he asked the questions and I gave him the answers. Stop treating this as a big deal; it is not a big deal! All I did was answer his questions... I did what a parent should and now you do not like it and that I am afraid is just tough luck, he deserves the truth, he needed to know the truth!"

"What if I did not want him to know? What if I wanted to shield him from it?"

"Then you are a fool, my love. He wanted to know, he needed to know and so I told him the truth. He deserved to know about you and if it did not come from me, it would have come from someone else, a guard that you served with, perhaps. I did not want to take that risk. Yes you have every right to hate me, I do not care less if you do or do not hate me for my choices but I will not turn my back on what I believe is right. Jason is my son, as much mine as yours and he deserved to hear the truth. When you refused, he turned to me, to his mother and I told him"

"So it is my fault is it? It is my fault! I wanted to shield our son from the world of battle but you had to tell him! Now he shall probably think being a guard or a soldier is honourable when all it brings is blood, death and nightmares. I am scarred by the faces of my victims! I see them every time I close my eyes. Every time I try to sleep, they are there creeping towards me, my nightmares coming to get me, to dump my soul as I do not cross with the ferryman. My suffering means I see their faces every single day and you decided to tell our son half of it, leaving out the other half!"

"What are you talking about?" she asked tearfully.

"You probably made it sound like an honour, something glorious when it is nothing of the sort! Our son will return battle-scarred and mentally scarred by what he has seen in war!" Chronos yelled at the top of his lungs. He put down his hammer as Phoebe asked "where are you going?"

"I need to find him before he makes a mistake and does something I cannot undo!"

"You just needed a push, something to encourage you to tell him! I thought this way, you would be encouraged to tell him the truth and not hide behind your fears all the time! You told me you are scared of losing him and yet you will not fight for our family, for him. I know you; I have known you all my life and unless you are pushed, you do not do anything to help!"

"Do not dare, Phoebe, not when you have offered our son up like a pig to slaughter and they will slaughter him, believe me, they will do it. The next thing you know, he will be dead and buried somewhere and you will be in black, visiting his grave! If you want to help me and help him, you will stay out of the business of war. This war is not yours to fight in and it is up to me to undo your work and save Jason before he does something ridiculous and gets himself or others killed!"

"I did this for you, to push you!"

"By sacrificing our son, well done, Phoebe, I will be late home tonight, do not wait for me!"

He hurried down the streets; the paved stones littered his path. He found himself struggling to walk the path, avoiding the traffic of carts, horses and people who littered the streets. Guards marched up and down in the blazing heat on patrol. They were always on patrol near the markets, trying to prevent market goods from being stolen, no doubt. No one seemed to care less or notice but instead they just seemed to continue going about their business, smiles beaming on their faces, their cold eyes staring, making the people shudder. He gently moved past people, moved around them as more guards marched on patrol. No doubt Jason would be at the temple, it was possibly the best place for him to be, perhaps praying for guidance or for the strength he found himself in need of.

"State your business here!" a guard ordered.

"I have come to look for my son, no other reason" Chronos replied bravely. The guards gave way as he suspected they would. His son stood close to the line of men and boys happy to line up and give their lives for their kingdom should it be deemed necessary. Jason gasped as he saw his father, felt his grip around his arm.

"What are you doing here, father?"

"I could ask you the same thing, son. What are you trying to do?"

"I want to do what is right. You signed up, why do I have to be just a citizen?"

"I signed up, yes but I regret it. I do not want the same for you, son"

"Why the hell not, what I have I done so wrong? I thought you would be proud of me and yet here you are trying to stop me, I deserve answers!"

"You will get them, I promise you. Just do not sign up, not like this, please" Chronos begged as he let go of his son's arm. He watched his son carefully as he struggled to make a decision. Would he join or would he flee? Would he listen and believe? Would he care or just forget? Would he listen to him, his father, the only man he knew? He never met his grandfather; he was old and frail, died before he could meet Jason, died before he could look upon his face and see him, see the third generation. It was ok, he had lived a good amount of years but like his son, he had nightmares about the struggles and perils of war. Could Jason really be the only one not to see all that blood and gore and not have nightmares? Could he fight for his kingdom and survive and manage to get back to normal? Would he be able to settle down, have a wife, start a family and not have the nightmares his father and grandfather were plagued with? Their minds were forever haunted by the memories and cruelty of war. How does a good man decide when it is time to go to war? The truth is, they do not, the gods decide for them. They drag them to war, forcing that to be their only path, their only choice and open option. The rarest of good men were the ones who stayed good after war, their lives completely unaltered by the war they had seen, fought in... lived in, almost died in. He never wanted that for another boy but especially not for his own son, his son who was innocent and gentle, who had never in his life used a sword. Was his son going to lift a sword, put one in his enemy? No, not now, not ever, no matter what the cost, his father was not going to let him taste war, even if it killed him, put Chronos into an early grave, it did not matter as long as his son was safe, out of harm's way and not knocking on death's door.

He began the long, horrifying conversation with his son, Jason, holding absolutely nothing back, letting the truth come out. He did not bother sugar-coating anything to protect his son, he was just being blunt and brutally honest with Jason for once because if it stopped him going to war, then it would be of some help, even if it made relive all those memories. Some were more painful than others were not painful at all, just basics, training and love... his mother, the love he had for his mother. He was so blunt with his son, his tongue could not slice through butter if it tried but that was not all. He failed to notice a gentleman about his age, short hair, barely long enough to see with those eyes, freaky eyes... hunter's eyes. What prey was he hunting in a temple? What was he after?

"All these boys, all thinking they are good and decent by signing their lives away. No, these are not the kinds I want joining me, standing by my side"

"Sir?" a woman questioned, her flowing red hair blew close to his face as her forest green eyes gentle traced over every man, woman and child in the temple.

"If I wanted a butcher, I would take a butcher, if I wanted a child, I would take a child... if I wanted someone who thinks war is glorious and a one-way ticket to a grand life, I would kill myself. These people, all of them... pathetic, unworthy, just look at them, giving their pathetic little lives away as if it does not matter because they have money in their pockets, enough money to sink it into the taverns. How am I meant to build a family using one of these useless sacks of meat I do not even find worthy of killing let alone turning into one of us?"

"Sir, there is one I sense... he is different from the others"

"Yes, Lilith?"

"He has tasted war and is since looking away. He is an older gentleman... no... he feels older... a blacksmith... thirties, wife, one child"

"Interesting but is he honourable?"

"He is thinking of war... to protect his son. I would say there are no men more honourable than him that we have met so far"

"This is interesting... keep an eye on him, Lilith, he could be quite useful to us... to our family"

"Of course but should I approach or keep my distance, father?"

"Keep your distance for now but do not worry, if the country is thrown into war again, I shall indeed approach him"