Oath of Moon and Stars

Io, a handmaiden, loved Ares, King of the Gods, but the Mother Goddess Theia and the divine council punished that love. Hunted to a cliff's edge, Io fell and was thought dead. Seven years on, Ares rules with greater power, keeping a broken star-moon necklace he repaired himself as his only keepsake of her. In Athens, Ares meets twins performing on the street: a boy with a bay leaf and a girl tapping seashells. They play the Star-Moon Song, once reserved for him alone. The necklace and the children's pale gold eyes stir a hope he fears to accept. Meanwhile, Io, half-blind and frail, lives in the mortal realm, unaware of the reunion drawing near.