The boar chose that moment to charge.
I tried to call out a warning, but it was too late. I winced; there was a lot of blood. It seemed that Persephone would be welcoming her new lover sooner than anticipated.
When I returned to my seaside house that night, Aphrodite was waiting. She sat in one of my plush armchairs, raising a glass of ambrosia to her red lips. One of my cats was nestled on her lap. The beast had the audacity to turn its sleepy half-lidded gaze towards me as it purred under my adoptive mother’s delicate hand.
I readied my excuses. I hadn’t meant to kill poor Adonis, but mortals had an unfortunate tendency to die without warning, and those with dangerous hobbies like hunting wild beasts died even sooner. Aphrodite could pin nothing on me.
‘I need a favour,’ Aphrodite said in dulcet tones. ‘As you have begun to ignore my letters, I thought I’d pay you a visit. I need you to use your skills on a particular girl from Mycenae.’
Nothing about Adonis. She must not yet know. Well, I was happy to play along.
‘A potential lover?’ I asked, my tone easy and innocent. ‘I did not think you cared for women, Mother. Especially ones who rival you in beauty.’
I watched with gratification as the false sweetness melted from Aphrodite’s face like the wax of a long-burnt candle. ‘It’s not that, you insolent fool. She’s an arrogant little creature who thinks she’s better than the gods, and she needs to be put in her rightful place.’ Aphrodite’s hands tensed into claws, makingthe grey cat shift uneasily in her lap. ‘She hasn’t even offered any sacrifices at my shrines, andallmortal girls her age dothat.’
‘This hardly seems like a major crime,’ I noted.
Aphrodite’s eyes, rimmed by thick lashes, narrowed. ‘We can’t let the mortals get out of line, or everything will truly be lost.Apotheosismight even turn those snivelling meat bags into one of us. Have you not heard of Zeus’s new cupbearer, Ganymede? That old lech took a fancy to some mortal youth, and now this Ganymede waits on Zeus in Olympus, eternal as any of us.’ Aphrodite’s full lips peeled back from her teeth in a sneer, as though she would rather share divinity with a slug.
I thought again of what Prometheus had told me.They may even achieve godhood themselves if given the chance. My heart ached at the thought of a mortal giving up the gift of death in favour of this wasteland of eternity.
I heaved an exaggerated sigh. ‘How very like you to use my arrows as a punishment rather than a blessing. And if I agree, what do I get out of it?’
A tense silence followed. I waited as Aphrodite appraised the situation, calculating how far she could push me before I balked. I was her vassal, and she could order me to enact her will without recompense, but that was not in keeping with the balance of power that had developed between us. She had chosen to call me her son, not her slave.
‘A favour,’ she finally replied, leaning back in the chair. ‘Perform this task for me, and the goddess of love herself will owe you a favour. Within reason,’ she added hastily.
It was useful to have a goddess in your debt. I already had one boon from Persephone, but I would happily accept another from Aphrodite. ‘I accept your terms,’ I said.
‘Excellent!’ Aphrodite cried, her good humour returning. ‘Now give me one of your arrows.’ She held out her palm, waiting.
I pulled one from the quiver at my waist and offered it to her. She rolled the wooden stem between her fingers, then lowered her face to whisper to the fletching. A haze of darkness surrounded the arrow, and I felt the chill of magic in the air. All our kind know how to perform magic as easily as breathing. But I had not seen such a powerful display since Gaia carved my home from the bones of her earth, and I had not seen one so ugly since Eris worked her first cruel intrigues.
‘There!’ Aphrodite said, handing the arrow back to me in a flourish. Its surface had blackened, and I felt a sense of unease when I touched it. I hurried to place it back among its fellows in my quiver.
Aphrodite smiled, pleased with her work. ‘Now it carries a powerful curse of my own creation. When the girl is struck, she will fall helplessly in love with the first person she sees. And, even better, when she finally approaches her beloved and they look upon each other’s faces, they will be separated forever. The curse will split them apart like a flame drives away shadow. Imagine it – to forever crave what you can never have!’ She picked up the glass of ambrosia and took a satisfied sip.
I nodded, unimpressed. Tormenting mortals did not appeal to me as a pastime, but a deal was a deal. ‘How will I find this unfortunate girl?’ I asked. ‘What is her name?’
‘She is called Psyche, the princess of Mycenae.’
‘Psyche,’ I said, tasting the name. It was an unusual one.
Aphrodite cocked her head. ‘Do you not think my curse is very clever? Now she will never have a chance at happiness.’
‘Hmm. It seems I was right after all,’ I replied dryly. ‘This girl must be very beautiful indeed to earn your ire, even more beautiful than you.’
The glass soared through the air and shattered against the rock wall mere inches from my head. Aphrodite stood, causingthe cat to bolt from her lap and hide beneath the table. I stayed still as she stomped past me to the thrown-open window overlooking the sea.
‘See that it is done,’ she warned, voice as black as the arrow that lay in my quiver.
Aphrodite hurled herself into the air in the shape of a dove and did not look back.
I sidestepped the broken pieces of glass, unbothered. They would tidy themselves in a moment through the magic of the house.
I wasn’t worried about the cat either. That little traitor could use a lesson in loyalty.
In the quiet hours before dawn, I settled onto the branch of a tree outside the Mycenaean palace. I had spotted the sleeping mortal Psyche through the window of her bedroom. She was pretty enough, I supposed, though the effect was somewhat ruined by the fact that her mouth hung open as she snored, and drool stained her pillow.
