She calls you weak and there was a time where you might have thought Athena misinformed, might have thought her wrong, but you know who you are now and know exactly what she’s referring to. So while you are a better man in oh so many ways, and while you’re comfortable in yourself and realise your own strengths; there’s part of you that is well aware that you’ve tied yourself to the wrong horse in this mere one horse race. Her brother is your cross to bear, the chain that will not break. Yet you have always had the vision, the talent to uphold, so loyalty or enforcement, you’re trapped either way. You’re built of iron, cast in gold, a frame of burning ember, you’re more than architect of a stronghold, you’re the spine of every man who defends the realm. You’re strong, capable, and wise, and still you are a coward, for you see what they can not, lay down to the inevitable. Perhaps it’s the rising of the tide that sets the flames of war, but you’ll be there in the lamplight, offer strength forever more.
So while you cast yourself aside, hold true to gods of war, you are not punished for your pride, you are but fortune’s whore. A side you do not choose to take, but one arrives unbidden, the only way forward in this race, a darkness you see hidden. Lead us not to our own ends, but deliver us to safety, for you’re protector by a trade, you are the route to mercy. And when the day for war arrives, of course, you know it will; you’ll be fighting on the right side, you have and always did.