Psyche

Chapter 33

Far away, in his mother's palace in Olympus, Eros was drinking beer. Lots and lots of beer. To the point that his immortal stomach, which could normally tolerate all sorts of indulgence, had started to feel queasy and he was intoxicated. Of course, as a god, he was not prone to the silliness and lack of reflexes that plagued humans when they drank too much. But the alcohol did dull the pain and cause his thoughts to form more slowly than normal.

The god of romantic love was sprawled onto the bed, his face bandaged and a wet cloth over his eyes. Hermes came into the room, and his footsteps echoed into Eros's ears.

"Do you have to wear those fancy sandals all the time? The pounding they make hurts my head," said Eros.

"Well," replied Hermes, "Then you shouldn't have drunk so much beer on an empty stomach. We gods have higher tolerances for intoxicants, but we aren't immune to them."

Eros moaned and rubbed his throbbing temples.

"My thoughts are slower, and I am sick. . .very sick," he sputtered.

"Perhaps it's emotional," said Hermes.

"Of course, it's emotional," spat Eros, furious at the question. He was Eros, the god of romantic love. Everything was emotional as far as he was concerned.

"You should go find Psyche," said Hermes, "She's left the palace on a quest to win back your love."

Eros sat up in bed. "Who told you this?"

Hermes folded his arms. "Everyone knows, including your mother. She's currently in Atlantis, pretending that she'll help Psyche win back your affections if she completes certain impossible tasks."

Eros's heart constricted with anger toward his mother, and irrationally, pity toward the woman who had betrayed him and stomped on his heart. She had done the one thing that he asked her not to do. Just one simple thing and she couldn't do it.

"She deserves it for betraying me," Eros pouted.

"Her sisters tried to convince her you were a monster that intended her harm. She had a moment of weakness, a condition common to both mortal and immortals alike." Hermes's voice showed a tinge of impatience.

Eros looked up at his friend, puzzled. "How did her sisters do that? And why was she talking to them? She doesn't like them."

"The foolish Zephyr brought her sisters to her when he could not find her good brother Nikolas. The sisters were jealous of Psyche's happiness and the luxury in which she lived, they wished to cause her to run from you so they could offer to take her place."

Eros laid back down and stared at the ceiling. Though it didn't change anything, the news shocked him. He also suspected that his mother was well aware of this fact, and she had chosen not to inform him. He reached up and touched the bandage on his face.

"It doesn't matter. If she loved me, no poisonous words from one of those stupid bitches should have turned her against me," seethed Eros and he pulled a blanket over himself. "Although, I shall track them down and make them fall in love with a squid and a hyena. Despite the cruelty of that toward the squid and the hyena."

Hermes snickered. "You're too late. The Zephry thought their actions would prevent you from giving him his bride, so he exacted revenge. He pretended to be you and instructed them to throw themselves off a bluff so they could become your bride.

"That's nonsense," replied Eros, "On many levels. It would be stupid for even a mortal to believe such a tale."

"Well," continued Hermes, "It's not so crazy if the message is delivered by Hermes himself."

Eros raised his eyebrow. "You didn't!"

Hermes grinned wickedly.

"They caused my friend pain. It was the least I could do."

"But murdering two mortals?"

"I murdered no one," replied Hermes, "Neither did The Zephry. We simply told them an unbelievable tale and their greed and selfishness prompted them to believe it. The Zephry did not catch either of them. Both of them died on the rocks."

Eros shook his head. That was intense, and he had seen some intense things over the years.

"You should forgive Psyche," said Hermes, "She's devastated. You're devastated. If your love is to last, you must learn to forgive one another's mistakes. That is part of love, as you once said to me."

"I said that? Really?" replied Eros, "Not about mother?"

"By Zeus, no. The Ethiopian princess. . .Alanah. You said that your arrows really only created infatuation. That it was up to the two parties to make it love. You and Psyche made it love, and that deserves a chance to thrive."

Eros felt an intense desire to do as Hermes said, to forgive his wife. But he sucked it back, egged on by the pain in his face and the pain in his heart.

But he couldn't let it completely go.

"I can't forgive her, but would you go and see that she is safe? That my mother's torments aren't hurting her too much?"

Hermes nodded. "I shall go presently, my friend, but more for her sake than for yours."

With that, Hermes bolted out of the room in a flash, and Erik wished very much that he had the courage to follow.