[Ares stands, his eyes burning a hole into Jackson Cade. He folds his arms, a grunt the first thing to leave his lips.]

“Do you know what your problem is, kid?

You’re ungrateful.”

[The God of War looks disgusted.]

“You’re about to be handed the keys to the Kingdom. You’re mere months away from being the most powerful man in all of Arcadia but you shun the responsibility.

You turn your nose up at it like it’s not worth having.”

[He scowls.]

“Do you even know what it has taken to build Arcadia into the machine you see today? Do you know the toll that has taken? It’s vast, kid. Arcadia is a Kingdom built upon the backs of warriors like me. It was forged in blood that I had to spill for your father.”

[We look at Ares; his body covered in a variety of faded scars.]

“And when you look at it, you see conformity. You see a poison chalice. What you don’t see is what your father saw when he killed his father and took control of Arcadia; opportunity. You can’t see the vision; you can’t even comprehend it. Unlike your father, you cannot see past the end of your nose. It’s why you’re always the victim, kid.

It’s why men like Jasper Redgrave victimise you.

It’s why men like George Cade wilfully lie and betray you.

You think you’ve got valour, but the truth is very different. You’re not the mighty, you’re the meek.”

[He scoffs, shaking his head.]

“And now it’s the meek that shall inherit the Kingdom.”

[Ares rubs the tiredness and exhaustion from his eyes.]

“Your father has tasked me with possibly the hardest task I’ve ever been given. He’s tasked me with turning the meek into the mighty; the pathetic into the worthy. He’s tasked me with opening your eyes to the vision of he and his forefather.

But how do you open the eyes of the blind? How do you force a blind man to see?

Your father is the wisest man I know. He’s a dear friend. But on you, he is wrong, Jackson.”

[That chokes Ares to say aloud.]

“He thinks you’re capable of leading Arcadia in his place, but you couldn’t lace the man’s boots on your best day.

And I’m supposed to ready you to sit on a throne that dwarfs you. The jacket you need to wear is just too big for you, kid. That crown? It’s a necklace.”

[His eyes narrow and his brow furrows.]

“But I’m a loyal soldier and I always have been. What your father commands, I action. I can’t make you ready to lead Arcadia, boy. I can’t open your eyes to the vision. I can’t make you see opportunity.

But bloodied, beaten and battered, I will sit your fucking arse on that throne – a pool of excrement, viscera and blood if needs be…

And you will take your rightful place as heir.

Even if everything we’ve built comes tumbling down because of it.”