Straton stared at me a moment and then turned abruptly away. He picked up a slim, wooden sword and tossed it to me. I caught it as he picked up another.
“I want you to be safe, Pandora,” Straton said. “Let's work on that, shall we?”
“All right, Straton.” I smiled softly. “Let's work on it.”
Chapter Six
I wasn't the only one who Straton trained; all of the men worked on their fighting skills daily.
My bedroom offered the best vantage point to view their training. I had the only window in the tree, hidden among the branches so that it couldn't be seen from below. I could see down very clearly, though, and the view was spectacular.
Straton stood to the side, observing and correcting techniques as the other four paired off to fight each other with wooden training swords. Their muscles glistened with sweat, and their faces were set into ferocious lines. The slam of sword on shield was like tribal drumming as they grunted through the maneuvers.
I sighed, and someone laughed.
“They are most handsome and virile, are they not?”
I jerked around toward the sound of the feminine voice and saw a woman who could have been my twin. She smiled broadly and laid a graceful hand on my cheek.
“How are you, Daughter?” Aphrodite asked.
“You claim me as your daughter?” I asked in surprise.
“My husband made you into my image, using my blood and magic,” Aphrodite explained. “You are as much mine as a child I carried in my body.”
“Then why was it Dionysus who came to my aid, and not you?”
“Who do you think pointed out the injustice to Dionysus?” She smiled smugly. “I don't have the power to do this for you, but Dionysus does, and I know of his weakness for stranded women.”
“You tricked him into helping me on your behalf?” I chuckled.
“My darling girl,” she purred, “there is so much for you to learn about the power a woman can wield over a man. I've been watching over you, and I heard your conversation with the pixie.”
“About the men?”
“Yes.” Aphrodite edged closer to the window and stared down at the sweaty men, their muscles straining in the sunlight. She smiled broadly. “I heartily approve of them all. You shall have them, Pandora, and I will show you how to surmount any of their protests.”
“I would be most grateful.” I grinned.
“You are born of the Goddess of Love,” she declared. “You are a goddess in your own right, Pandora. The Goddess of Hope.”
“Hope?” I looked over my shoulder, to the jar tucked into a nook beside my bed, its lid chained into place.
The bed itself was in another nook formed out of the tree; a curved pedestal that flowed out of the trunk and held a mattress. Walls curved around it on either side, partially hiding the bed. There were crevices set with candles near the head of the mattress, and all about the room, but daylight was currently streaming in from the window, illuminating the polished wood. The only other object within the room was a wooden chest that I had brought with me from Greece, holding the meager belongings that Epimetheus allowed me to take. But the most important thing was the jar. I stared hard at it; the reminder of my broken promise.
“That's right.” She nodded at my look. “You are the Keeper of Hope now, but more importantly, you have magic of your own.”
“I do?”
“That pixie couldn't have taught you to fly if you didn't.” Aphrodite smirked. “No amount of meditating can make you fly. That's ridiculous.”
“No wonder Laren couldn't do it,” I said, and then my eyes widened. “Damn, Tinker Bell,” I hissed. “She could have killed me.”
“Tinker Bell knew instinctively that you could accomplish flight,” my mother waved her hand. “Dionysus made these beings to serve you. They would never hurt you.”
“Wow, that's a lot to be responsible for,” I whispered.
“This is your land, Daughter,” Aphrodite said. “Yes, you are responsible for it, but only in the most basic way. It is more beholden to you for its very existence.”
